Deploy troops and start live broadcast! (5600)

Elisa's small mouth parted slightly, and she exclaimed: "Whoa… What a pretty place!"

"Lord, where is this place?"

The Wild Boar Warriors nearby looked at each other's bodies, equally astonished.

"By the Beast God! How did the Wild Boar Warrior's body turn purple? What is this hard stuff, armor?"

"Haha! We've turned into Crystal Wild Boar Warriors, and the Lord has turned into a Crystal Lord!"

"Oh! The Centaur's body has also turned into crystal, will my hooves slip?"

Under the effect of [Crystal Barrier], everyone's bodies took on the same hue as this world.

Cao Xing did not reply, but first looked at Bjorn nearby, and then asked.

"Bjorn, does your Norn Clan have a grudge against the Crystal Dragon Krakatoa?"

For Cao Xing, the war between the Six True Gods and the Ancient Dragon was too distant, and simply not something at his level that he could interfere with.

Choosing the Dragon Faction was naturally also to gain more benefits.

But if anyone among his subordinates had a grudge against the Crystal Dragon, then he might as well forget about this mission.

A look of puzzlement appeared in the eyes of this Dragon Blood Warrior commander, and then he respectfully said.

"Reporting to the Lord, our Norn Clan has spent our lives fighting against the ice and corrupted dragon Zhuoma, and we have never had any grievances with the Crystal Dragon."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared at the corners of Cao Xing's mouth.

"It's good that there isn't."

"Because next, we may have to help this Crystal Dragon fight against other humans."

Everyone looked at Cao Xing with puzzled expressions.

Until Cao Xing explained their objective.

Everyone present gasped, looking at their Lord in shock.

Even the usually indifferent Dragon Speaker couldn't help but say a sentence.

"Lunatic!"

Braum nearby also swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "Lord… your decision is indeed very crazy…"

Little Elisa's mouth was already wide open, and she exclaimed: "Lord! That's tens of millions of lords! According to what you said, that's tens of billions of enemies!"

"Can we beat so many people?"

Cao Xing chuckled and said: "Definitely can't handle them all, but don't worry, just do your best."

"In this world, even if you die in battle, you won't truly die. I can resurrect you again."

Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up instantly.

"You can actually resurrect? Then there's nothing to worry about!"

"Haha! The Crystal Centaur legion will be even more fearless!"

"Oh! And our Crystal Wild Boar Warrior legion!"

The warriors were extremely excited.

For them, they had never experienced a battle where they only needed to fight without worrying about their own lives!

Meanwhile.

Cao Xing glanced at this battle's conditions.

[In this battle, you will receive point rewards for killing all creatures of the four major factions]

[Killing an ordinary combatant will grant 1 point, Elite 3 points, Boss 10 points, Chieftain 50, Commander 200…]

[Killing a Survivor lord will grant 100 points.]

[Points can be used to redeem rewards in the Crystal Dragon shop and resurrect troops.]

[Resurrecting an ordinary unit costs 10 points, resurrecting an Elite unit costs 30 points, Boss 100, Chieftain 500, Commander 2000, Overlord 10000…]

…

…

"So expensive, is the points needed to resurrect troops ten times what you get?"

"I wonder if the conditions on the four major factions' side are the same as mine."

Cao Xing continued to check.

[Note! In addition to killing creatures of the four major factions to gain points, you have a second way to obtain points.]

[Every day at midnight, the four major factions will stop attacking, and point rewards will be settled based on the remaining crystal quantity * days.]

[For example: at the end of the first day, with 90,000 Dragon Crystals remaining, you will receive 90,000 crystals * 1 day = 90,000 points reward; at the end of the second day with 60,000 Dragon Crystals remaining, you will receive 60,000 crystal quantity * 2 days = 120,000 points reward, and so on]

[As long as the Main Crystal exists for a day, you will also receive the corresponding days of gold points. 1 gold point is given on the first day, 2 gold points on the second day, and so on… until the war ends after a month.]

…

Seeing this prompt, Cao Xing's eyes lit up instantly.

"Oh? There's actually a second channel to obtain points!"

"This is fantastic!"

Obviously, this was an advantage exclusive to Cao Xing.

Of course, what concerned Cao Xing the most was the gold points behind it.

Calculated this way, as long as the Main Crystal was defended, gold points would be credited every day.

Over 30 days, he could even obtain 465 gold points, and could even redeem a complete set of [Ancient Winter Set].

Of course, the premise was that he could hold on.

"Very good, now I have no choice but to work hard."

"I must find a way to drag it out as much as possible."

With hope, there was something to look forward to.

Thus, Cao Xing began to quickly inspect the surrounding situation.

"The location where I landed is not actually the very center of the Crystal Land."

"Instead, it's close to the Goddess of Wind's Main City among the four major main cities."

Ahead, a huge dark purple crystal about a hundred meters tall appeared.

The crystal's overall shape was irregular, yet it possessed a unique aesthetic. The top of the crystal was sharp like a peak, while the bottom was wide and stable.

It was deeply rooted in the earth.

It was precisely this crystal that continuously emitted a special power, eroding the earth and crystallizing the soil.

At the same time, it was constantly giving birth to Branded Monsters.

Cao Xing glanced at the attributes.

[Dragon Crystal]

[Level: 50]

[Armor: 3000]

[Durability: 10 million / 10 million]

[Effect 1: Cause all Branded Monsters within 10,000 meters nearby to recover 1% of their health per second]

[Effect 2: Hatch 100 Branded Monsters per second, up to a maximum of 100,000 Branded Monsters, current limit: 100,000 / 10,000]

[Additional Effect 3: Crystal Teleportation (As the only Survivor lord in the Dragon Faction, you can use the power of the crystal to teleport. Teleport yourself and all friendly units to the area where any other crystal is located. This effect can be used 10 times a day.)]

Seeing the attributes above, Cao Xing's eyes lit up instantly.

"Holy shit! Crystal Teleportation!?"

"Does this mean I am equivalent to having a group displacement effect, attacking wherever I want to attack?"

"Awesome!"

Meanwhile.

The second system prompt appeared.

[Because you are the only lord in the Krakatoa Faction, after you approach the Dragon Crystal range, all Branded Monsters will obey your command to fight.]

Cao Xing was overjoyed once again!

"Haha! I can indeed command Branded Monsters!"

"Doesn't this mean that I suddenly possess a legion of 100,000 Branded Monsters?!"

"Much can be accomplished! Much can be accomplished!"

Just as mentioned before.

Legions of the same number, with command and without command, posed completely different threats!

If Cao Xing could control these Branded Monsters, it would become a nightmare for the Survivors!

Taking advantage of the time before the Survivors launched an attack, Cao Xing quickly glanced at the surrounding Branded Monsters.

This was a group of creatures that looked like various beasts in appearance, but were crystalized all over their bodies.

Unlike Cao Xing and the others, who only had a layer of crystal shell on their bodies.

The flesh, bones, and even hair of these monsters had turned into a dark purple crystal-like state.

Cao Xing's gaze swept over.

Instantly seeing a large number of monster names.

[Branded Minotaur], [Branded Slaughterer (Elite)], [Branded Crystal Giant Scorpion (Boss)], [Branded Devouring Scorpion King (Chieftain)]

And a dark purple dragon flying in the sky — Shadow of Krakatoa

This was a Commander-level monster whose strength was comparable to Zhuo Mas Claw!

"Good, good, good, there's actually a Commander-level Crystal Dragon for me to drive, wonderful!"

"The only pity is that I only have command authority over these Branded Monsters, they do not belong to my friendly creatures!"

"Otherwise, under the [Eternal Power] talent, if these Branded Monsters were all buffed by me once, however many Survivors came, as many would die!"

Although they couldn't be buffed, this was still a quite massive force!

With an excited mood, Cao Xing glanced at the attributes of these monsters.

[Branded Minotaur]

[Race: Branded Monster]

[Level: 47 (Tier 5 Ordinary Creature)]

[Health Points: 185,621 / 185,621]

[Attack Power: 1,582 ~ 1,653]

[Armor: 795 ~ 856 (Additional +300)]

[Skill: Primary Crystal Body (Physical damage taken reduced by 20%, armor additionally +300) Horn Charge (Minotaur lowers its head, charging forward with powerful force, causing 187% physical damage to enemies in a straight line and knocking them flying, cooldown: 120 seconds)]

[Talent: Crystal Brand (All attacks inflict 1 layer of branded effect, reducing the enemy's armor by 10% and movement speed by 10%, stackable up to 5 layers)]

[Talent 2: Crystal Resonance (Within the range of the Crystal Land, it will resonate with the power of the Ancient Dragon, increasing health by 500%)]

[Bond — Branded Monster Legion: When the number of Branded Monsters acting simultaneously reaches 10, health increases by 20%; when reaching 30, armor increases by 20%; when reaching 50, movement speed increases by 20%; when reaching 100, activates legion skill: Crystal Impact (50% chance upon attack to attach 1 Crystal Impact, causing equivalent damage to enemies in a 3-meter * 3-meter area ahead); when reaching 1,000, health recovery speed increases by 100%; when reaching 10,000, attack range increases by 100%]

(Introduction: A monster born from the erosion of dragon power, possessing powerful destructive power and aggressiveness.)

[Crystal Dragon: Shadow of Krakatoa]

[Race: Branded Monster / Dragon]

[Level: Level 50 (Tier 5 Commander-level creature)]

[HP: 17,866,262 / 17,866,262]

[Attack Power: 7,895 ~ 8,532]

[Armor: 2,895 ~ 3,124 (Extra +1,000)]

[Skills: Advanced Crystal Body (Physical damage taken reduced by 40%, additionally increases armor by 1,000 points)

(Branded Touch: Condenses the power of crystals, extends a giant claw, and deals tearing attacks to enemies 500 meters ahead, Cooldown: 30 seconds)

(Crystal Shield: Condenses the power of crystals to apply a shield to itself, the shield has 4 million durability, while the shield is active, the Shadow of Krakatoa's armor is increased by 30%, Cooldown: 100 seconds)

(Crystallized Breath: Breathes crystal breath at enemies within a certain range below, quickly applies 5 stacks of Brand effect to the hit enemies, and deals continuous breath damage to them, Cooldown: 90 seconds)]

[Commander-level Skill: Doom Meteor (Condenses a massive amount of crystal power to deal continuous devastating damage to enemies within a 1,000-meter range below, enemies hit by the crystals will suffer 189% damage for 5 seconds, Cooldown: 10 minutes)]

[Talent 1: Crystal Brand]

[Talent 2: Crystal Resonance]

[Bond —— Branded Monster Legion: 10,000 Activated]

(Description: The Shadow of Krakatoa possesses a faint power of the Crystal Dragon…)

…

A look of admiration appeared in Cao Xing's eyes once again. "Not bad, not bad, these monsters all have very strong stats!"

"The most troublesome of them is the Crystal Brand effect, which, just like Zhuoma's Ice Corruption, reduces stats by a percentage with every stack."

"And it can stack up to 5 layers!"

Then, his gaze swept over the skills of the other Branded Monsters.

He then began to analyze their areas of expertise based on these monsters' abilities.

Because what Cao Xing was about to face was an extremely difficult war, he had to utilize every bit of power he could use!

After ten minutes, Cao Xing had a rough idea in his mind.

After analyzing these, Cao Xing looked up toward the top.

"Come down."

Upon receiving the order,

that Shadow of Krakatoa flapped its wings and descended.

"Whoosh— Whoosh—"

A strong wind blew over.

Every time this Crystal Dragon flapped its wings, it kicked up a patch of dark purple crystalline powder that sparkled in mid-air.

It looked exceptionally magnificent.

A moment later, a Crystal Dragon with a pitch-dark purple body and a wingspan reaching twenty meters quietly landed in front of Cao Xing.

This monster contained extremely strong crystal energy, and one could even hear a 'buzzing' current sound.

Everyone was also surprised by Cao Xing's trick.

Elisa covered her mouth and cried out in surprise!

"Whoa… Lord, you can actually make this kind of Crystal Dragon obey you obediently,"

"Could it be that you are actually a human disguised as a dragon?"

Cao Xing gave her a speechless glance.

Then he looked at the Dragon Speaker beside him and asked, "If this Crystal Dragon is handed over to you to control, can it enhance your combat power?"

The Dragon Speaker had a [Dragon Rider] talent, and when controlling a dragon in battle, her combat power would significantly increase.

As the strongest combat force he brought this time, an 84th-level Commander-level powerhouse, coupled with a series of buffs,

the Dragon Speaker was an invincible existence to that group of Survivors!

Therefore, it was naturally better to make her as strong as possible.

Hearing this, a thoughtful look appeared in the Dragon Speaker's eyes.

"I'll give it a try."

With those words, she gave a gentle leap, her entire body jumping a dozen meters high from the spot, and landed directly on the back of the Crystal Dragon.

"Hiss~!"

The Dragon Speaker was originally wearing a pair of white leather boots, but under the effect of the crystal barrier, they also turned purple.

The moment she came into contact with the Crystal Dragon, a sense of erosion washed over her.

A moment later, she spoke indifferently.

"It works."

Hearing this, a joyful smile also appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Very well, then this Crystal Dragon will be left for you to control!"

Seeing this scene, Elisa beside him said, "Wuwah! Lord, I want one too!"

"I also want to ride a dragon into battle!"

Cao Xing rolled his eyes at her, but did not refuse.

"We'll talk about it later. There's only one dragon here."

Elisa immediately jumped up happily.

Liu Muxue, Assam, and the others nearby gathered around Cao Xing.

Liu Muxue asked softly, "Axing, what should we do next?"

Cao Xing was also pondering this question at the moment.

There are a total of 100,000 Dragon Crystals across the entire Crystal Land.

With so many crystals, it is definitely impossible to defend all of them.

Cao Xing took a look just now.

The Giant City locations of the Survivors from the four factions correspond precisely to the four corners of southeast, northwest.

That is to say, they will attack simultaneously from all four directions.

"To rely on my own strength to defend against attacks from all four directions is an impossible task."

"Therefore, today's main goal is still to defend one direction first and see how things go."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing had already made his decision.

At the same time,

a system prompt appeared.

[Attention all Survivors, starting at 6:00 AM, the city gates of the four major factions will open. At that time, the first day of the Battle of the Oracle will officially begin. Please prepare…]

…

…

At the same time,

over at the four major main cities,

as countless Survivors led their combat personnel streaming into the streets of the main city,

everyone curiously looked at everything in these four main cities.

At the same time, they were shocked by the magnificent architecture in this city.

"Good grief, these houses are so damn huge. It feels like entering any random house and accommodating tens of thousands of people wouldn't be a problem at all."

"Indeed, a house this big must have taken a long time to build?!"

"Brothers, the system prompts that the first wave of attacks won't start until 6:00 AM. We still have several hours of rest time."

"Haha! There are many empty houses in the city, we can take our own army to rest inside them."

Upon hearing this, the Survivors immediately reacted.

These houses were obviously private spaces left for them lords.

Thus, one after another scrambled to select some locations with good neighborhoods to serve as their legion strongholds.

At this moment, another Survivor seemed to have discovered something and cried out in surprise.

"Holy crap! There are still armies in this city, did you guys see them?"

"Saw them, their levels look so high, I can't even see their stats."

"Let's go over and try to see if we can trigger any quests."

For a time, a large number of Survivors began to surround and harass these city guards.

However, these armored soldiers completely ignored these Survivors.

No matter how they harassed them, they directly ignored them and looked forward with firm gazes.

Expressions of disappointment appeared on the faces of the Survivors simultaneously.

"No good, these guys are all like mutes, they don't pay attention to us at all."

"Yeah, it seems triggering quests from them won't work."

"Forget it, forget it, let's study the point shop instead."

The Survivors of the four major factions opened the point shop one after another and took a look.

Suddenly, expressions of pleasant surprise appeared in everyone's eyes!

"Holy crap! There are so many things that can be exchanged in the point shop this time, not only advanced Heart of Power and potions, but even various sets of equipment."

"I think I saw the Snowfield Hunter's epic skill book — Summon Bear Spirit, awesome!"

"Awesome, even gold-quality sets can be exchanged, these stats are seriously blowing my mind!"

"I can't wait to leave the city and deal with these Branded Monsters!"

"…"

In the point shops of the four major factions, purple, gold, and orange skill books needed by various classes appeared.

Among them were also some blue, purple, and gold equipment sets, and so on.

Moreover, the points required were not as many as imagined.

It could be said that by exchanging a few things from the point shop, everyone's strength would improve by another notch.

For a time, expectations appeared in everyone's eyes.

In silent waiting,

time slowly passed,

in the blink of an eye, it was six o'clock in the morning!

A system prompt appeared in front of everyone simultaneously.

[Attention, Survivors of the four major factions!]

[The four major main cities are about to open, and you can head to the Crystal Land to campaign.]

[Faction Goal: Kill as many Branded Monsters as possible and destroy more Dragon Crystals.]

[At 00:00 midnight, the Crystal Dragon: Krakatoa will awaken once and cast a purge magic on this plane.]

[Please return to the main city as soon as possible before the Crystal Dragon awakens, otherwise you will be purged.]

[Krakatoa remaining awakening time: 17 hours 59 minutes…]

…

"Holy crap! Purging the entire plane is pretty badass!"

"Are there any big-dick brothers willing to try what happens if we hard-tank this magic? Anyway, we can resurrect here."

"The poster above, go try it yourself."

"The power of the Ancient Dragon must be terrifying. It seems these four main cities are our safe zones."

After a period of exploration, everyone more or less understood the corresponding rules.

At the same time, the mountain-like colossal city gates of the four major main cities slowly opened!

An ancient and dangerous aura hit them head-on!

Looking out, it was all a dark purple Crystal Land.

Inside and outside the city, it felt like two different worlds!

The system prompt appeared once more.

[Attention Survivors of the four major factions, the gates of the four major main cities have opened, and the first day of the Battle of the Oracle has officially begun!]

[The live broadcast channel is now open.]

[Survivors who have not entered the Oracle war can watch the live broadcast of the Battle of the Oracle through the live channel of the World Forum…]

…