Chapter 138: Waylaying

"Fusion failed. You have obtained 5% of a Level 1 Mask Fragment."

Yan Luo was not surprised by this outcome. After all, while the accumulated 100 points were mostly shock, they also contained a myriad of other emotions—success would have been a miracle.

In fact, if he were to empty the capacity of his Soulless Puppet right now, he could easily attempt to fuse a Level 2 Mask.

To do that, he would first need to consume his Minion: Dark Spawn!

The scene of Yan Luo being surrounded by a group of people was observed by a party of three perched on a small mound not far away.

This was a three-person team.

"Civilization: Rise of Great Powers", a virtual reality MMORPG jointly launched by the world's top gaming giants, was bound to become a global sensation; even a fool could see that! Therefore, aside from regular players, various professional gaming teams, studios, and live-streamers were all planning to break into the game.

However, entry for the first batch of the Chaotic Continent version 1.0 was restricted to online reservations followed by a lottery draw, which locked out the majority of people.

The three individuals on the mound were members of a studio named "Low-Key".

Their names were:
Low-Key·Dragon Overlord;
Low-Key·Zhao Sun-Shatterer;
Low-Key·Ye Liangchen.

The studio had many other members who, lacking accounts, could only wait outside and yearn for the Chaotic Continent version 2.0: Bronze Age update.

As for these three, they were unquestionable experts within the studio. Furthermore, with the booming popularity of live-streaming, major studios were naturally eager to cash in on this lucrative project, so the three of them were also streamers, though not particularly famous ones.

The first top-up for "Civilization: Rise of Great Powers" cost a mere 6 yuan, with a monthly card priced at 30 yuan. VIP statuses, however, were much more expensive. Game VIP tiers were divided into Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Supreme Diamond. Black Iron VIP required a top-up of 100 yuan, Bronze 1,000, Silver 10,000, and Gold 100,000.

The Supreme Diamond VIP demanded a staggering 1 million yuan top-up!

All three of these men were Bronze VIPs.

VIP status granted the privilege of drawing templates. All three drew the "Soldier" template, which provided 1 extra point each in Strength, Agility, and Constitution compared to commoners. Combined with the 6-yuan first-top-up bonus that upgraded them to Elite Soldiers, yielding an additional 3 free attribute points, their stats after allocation were quite impressive.

Consequently, all three belonged to the elite tier among the first wave of players.

Moreover, Bronze VIPs were eligible to draw weapons. Zhao Sun-Shatterer and Ye Liangchen drew wooden spears—two meters long with sharpened wooden tips. Dragon Overlord, blessed with incredible luck, drew a "Shang Stone Spear," made by grinding stone into a willow-leaf shape and binding it to a wooden shaft.

The three of them stared at the five-meter-long wooden spear strapped to Yan Luo's back.

"It's a Macedonian sarissa!"
"Indeed! That's the exact type of long spear used to form the phalanxes of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia!"

As studio experts, the three had naturally prepared thoroughly before entering the game, researching a vast amount of historical data.

"This guy actually managed to draw a Macedonian sarissa. What blind luck."
"Brothers!"
The three exchanged glances and smiled.

As professional gamers, their PK skills were formidable. Before entering the game, they had specifically spent a month in the gym working out, and their scanned Strength and Constitution were both 3 points. Combined with the stats provided by the Soldier template and an extreme allocation of their 3 free attribute points dedicated purely to maximizing combat power, each of their Strength stats had reached a terrifying 7!

You could say each of them was a match for ten men!

"A Macedonian sarissa isn't something you can just make by chopping down a tree. A weapon like this can even be used against cavalry in the future! With it, and by utilizing its reach along with some homemade wooden shields, we can hunt wild monsters like wolves and bears in the wilderness," Ye Liangchen analyzed. "I just wonder if that guy's strength is any good. After all, he's a VIP too."

"Bronze VIPs can draw weapons; Silver VIPs have a chance to pull bronze-tier weapons; Gold VIPs have a chance at iron-tier weapons; and Supreme Diamond VIPs get an extra mount. There's no way this guy is a Supreme Diamond VIP, right? Wearing these rags for starter gear—no matter how strong he is, how strong could he possibly be?"

"The three of us are veteran PKers and live-streamers. Can't we beat just one guy? That Macedonian sarissa is ours!" Zhao Sun-Shatterer declared with grand bravado.

"Right, let's rob the bastard!" Dragon Overlord made the final decision.

"Civilization: Rise of Great Powers" did not restrict PK. Once a war broke out, tens of thousands of players would clash in massive skirmishes! Of course, killing people outside of war would turn your name yellow or red. If you committed crimes within established cities, constables would hunt you down.

These three minor streamers were notorious in previous games for their fierce and tyrannical behavior.

"Low-Key Studio is running a robbery! Uninvolved people, get lost!"
All three charged at Yan Luo simultaneously.

"It's the Low-Key Studio?"
"Holy shit, it's those three experts!"
"They're robbing his weapon! This is why you put your drawn weapons in your inventory instead of parading them on your back like a show-off. You're no protagonist... Getting spotted by top players means he's about to have a really bad day..."

The group of surrounding players scattered to the sidelines to watch the show. Some looked worried, while others gloated. At that moment, the three experts rushed up to Yan Luo, raising their weapons—wooden spears and a stone spear—thrusting them forward all at once.

"Bang!"
"Thud!"
"Clang..."

A crisp breeze swept through, rustling the grass. Players struggled to push their dislocated jaws back into place. In less than five seconds, all three experts were lying flat on the ground, foaming at the mouth with their eyes rolled back.

Yan Luo looked down at the bodies and lowered his fists.

"I haven't even exerted myself yet. Why have you all fallen down?"

The three were currently in a dying state, sprawled on the ground and completely paralyzed. One more hit would send them straight to the respawn point. However, Yan Luo had no interest in killing them. After all, murder turned your name yellow, and killing three at once would probably turn his name bright red.

He squatted down and reached out a hand.

"What are you going to do?" Ye Liangchen asked in mounting terror.

How could this guy not be terrified? The three of them each had 7 points of Strength, yet they were knocked flat by a single punch? Their health bars were completely emptied. If not for the newbie PK protection mechanic in online games that left targets in a dying state, the three of them would have been instantly one-shotted. Was this guy not a forest elf, but One-Punch Man?

"Robbery," Yan Luo replied.

"What? You're going to take my weapon? Liangchen implores you to think twice before acting!"
"Your actions are utterly overbearing! Don't force me to unleash my studio's connections. I didn't want to start a bloody storm!"
"Big brother, I was wrong. Please don't take my weapon; it's not easy being a newbie! Liangchen expresses his utmost gratitude once again. Another day, I will surely reward you handsomely!"

Ignoring the man's nonsense, Yan Luo snatched the wooden spear.

Then, his hands reached toward Zhao Sun-Shatterer and Dragon Overlord.

"Brother, do me a favor and give Zhao Sun-Shatterer some face!"
"No one can take anything from Dragon Overlord! No one!"

The Macedonian sarissa was universal in the inner world. Yan Luo had successfully robbed two wooden spears and a stone spear. He put away his own weapon, tied the three looted weapons together with grass rope, and strapped them across his back—the stone spear in the middle, with the two wooden spears crossing outward on either sides.

"The Three-Spear Style!"

Pressing forward on his journey, Yan Luo, now carrying three weapons on his back, undoubtedly exuded a strong aura of intimidation, yet two more self-righteous individuals still tried to attack him. Consequently, half an hour later when he arrived at Wu Zetian's tribe, he had four wooden spears and one stone spear arrayed across his back like a peacock spreading its tail.

He looked precisely like Master Zuo from "A Chinese Ghost Story".

"So many people?"

Yan Luo discovered that outside Wu Zetian's tribe, it was a veritable sea of humanity, numbering probably over ten thousand.

It seemed the allure of a beauty was truly powerful.

"It looks like Wu Zetian isn't someone you can just meet whenever you want..."

Yan Luo pondered inwardly, wondering how he could attract the empress's attention... At that moment, a seemingly useless item in his inventory flashed into his mind.

"Selling my looks..."