Although Xia Ling had called their current position “high ground,” strictly speaking—
It was not especially tall.
Still—
There was good news.
Under this terrain, only one road led upward.
Both sides were sheer drops over ten meters high.
If someone fell from there—
They probably would not be fighting again anytime soon.
“Wait.”
Xia Ling stood on the only road and looked down toward the two branching paths.
Then realization struck.
“Isn’t this literally the in-game map for Four Strikes?”
“One central road.”
“Holes on both sides.”
[Yes.]
[The System referenced the game map when constructing the area.]
[That should be reasonable, right?]
While Xia Ling was still examining the cliffs and considering how to shove people off—
Bronya’s artillery fire already thundered from above.
Three shells trailed white exhaust and plunged into the camp.
“I should suggest equipment upgrades to Theresa sometime.”
Xia Ling watched the camp below.
“MiG-13 would be so much better.”
“Three-stage charge for fifteen shells.”
The camp erupted into chaos.
Two hunting hounds were released first.
They sprinted toward Xia Ling.
At the same time—
Four Deep Pool Phalanx Soldiers began organizing into formation.
“Killing dogs?”
“Easy.”
“One shot each.”
Xia Ling raised her weapon.
Two gunshots sent both hounds tumbling midway up the path.
Bronya continued bombarding.
Below—
Casters and sword-and-shield Phalanx Soldiers gradually advanced uphill.
“Need to eliminate the casters first…”
Xia Ling unfolded her giant scythe.
She lowered her body.
Then—
Exploded forward.
Before anyone reacted—
A red flash cut through the front soldiers and went directly for the caster behind them.
Unfortunately—
This slash was far less effective than Xia Ling expected.
The Honkai-coated scythe blade failed to inflict significant damage.
It merely carved a deep crack into the caster’s armor.
“Hiss.”
“Right.”
“Deep Pool’s ridiculous Arts Resistance!”
Inside the Trial, Magic Resistance had been converted into resistance against energy-based attacks.
And monsters from the Deep Pool faction possessed a particularly absurd Talent—
Refraction.
That Talent directly increased Arts Resistance by seventy percent.
She casually raised a materialized Honkai shield.
Then she reversed her grip and removed the Honkai reinforcement from Crescent Rose.
She pulled the trigger.
Using the recoil—
She swung the scythe forward with tremendous force.
This time, it worked.
The caster’s miserable physical defenses could not withstand the pure cutting force.
A huge wound opened across the chest.
But the battle was not over.
Honkai energy surged around Xia Ling.
Several tentacles formed from materialized energy and erupted among the surrounding Deep Pool soldiers.
Their purpose was not to kill.
Only to slow.
Entangled by the tentacles, the soldiers’ advance became drastically slower.
And Bronya’s heavy cannon began saturation bombardment.
“That should be enough.”
“Even if those soldiers reach Bronya, she can probably punch them one by one.”
Xia Ling looked behind the formation.
“But I remember there should be one shielded caster…”
As though summoned by her words—
A black-robed caster surrounded by a dark barrier finally emerged from the camp.
It looked left and right.
Apparently confused that most of its troops were already dead.
“Don’t worry.”
“I’ll send you to join them immediately.”
Xia Ling rushed directly toward the caster again and struck from behind.
In-game—
This high-tier caster with solid physical and magical defenses plus a shield was incredibly troublesome.
Its strong body and area damage often caused serious problems.
In reality?
Xia Ling countered it almost perfectly.
Slow movement.
Extremely long casting wind-up.
By the time it completed one attack—
Xia Ling could strike once and leave the attack radius.
Only now did Xia Ling truly understand the old saying—
Under heaven, martial arts may vary, but speed alone remains undefeated.
The only problem—
Her damage was rather pathetic.
Several minutes later—
Bronya slowly floated down from above.
“All eight Deep Pool soldiers have been eliminated.”
“Big Sister Xia Ling.”
“Should we search the area to confirm there are no survivors?”
Xia Ling recalled the enemy count.
It perfectly matched the game.
She shook her head.
“No need.”
“There shouldn’t be anyone left.”
“I’ll collect the spoils.”
“Then we continue.”
She entered the camp with familiar ease.
Inside one room, Xia Ling found a chest.
She opened it.
Two Originium Ingots.
One Support Recruitment Permit.
And—
One Cipher Plate.
“Nice.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“A Cipher Plate dropped.”
Xia Ling opened the System interface.
Two choices appeared.
[Patrol: Thoroughly survey a node upon approach. Collapse reduction from combination becomes 2.]
[Shaman: Select one combat node and additionally designate two random combat nodes.]
“Easy.”
“I don’t even need to think.”
“Shaman.”
For the currently manpower-starved Xia Ling, red Cipher Plates provided very significant combat support.
She selected Shaman.
The plate inside the chest immediately turned red.
Xia Ling stored it and the Ingots.
Then she checked the detector.
The moment she saw the next node—
Her vision nearly went black.
“Oh no.”
“Emergency Moss Hand.”
For Xia Ling—
What counted as a troublesome node in the Trial differed dramatically from what counted as troublesome in the game.
In-game?
She would have loved seeing this stage.
In reality?
It was miserable.
Unlike the game’s orderly enemy deployment—
Trial enemies did not care about sportsmanship.
Once combat began, they usually poured out together.
And Moss Hand was especially nasty.
Complex terrain made it difficult for Bronya to exploit long-range fire.
Two crossbowmen hid in alleys, constantly harassing the squad.
And worse—
There were multiple Veteran Butchers.
One axe from those giant units was not something Xia Ling could casually block.
One mistake—
And Xia Ling might leave part of herself behind.
“There doesn’t seem to be any branch allowing us to bypass it…”
Xia Ling thought.
Then—
An idea formed.
“Let’s go, Bronya.”
“The next node may be difficult.”
“Prepare yourself.”
“Don’t worry, Big Sister Xia Ling.”
Bronya apparently noticed her concern.
She offered reassurance.
“Bronya is the Silver Wolf of the Urals.”
“In terms of combat experience alone…”
“Big Sister Xia Ling may actually be inferior to Bronya.”
“Oh?”
Xia Ling smiled.
“Then I’ll need to entrust Bronya with a few tasks.”
“Leave them to Bronya.”
“Mission guaranteed.”
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