Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 4)

Chapter 677 - General?

Lei Su's appearance averted a potential disaster. The players from Asskickers United managed to repel the skeletons once more.

Nie Yan looked over the current statistics of the battle. So far, Asskickers United had lost 60 players. Once the casualties exceeded 100, he would probably call for a full retreat. Losing the Shoro Stronghold wasn't too terrible of a loss. After all, his main goal was to shave away at the strength of Qin Han's skeleton army. Once the walls fell, there was no need to fight until the bitter end.

Nie Yan's basic strategy was to cull the enemy's numbers while minimizing casualties on his side as much as possible. He would make Qin Han pay a heavy price for every stronghold taken. Until finally the skeleton army was weakened enough, at which time he would deal the fatal blow.

As the holder of the Great Prophet title, Nie Yan could mobilize the troops stationed in any of the cities in the Viridian Empire. However, it would be foolish to think that the 8,000 NPC soldiers stationed in Calore could defeat a skeleton army 8,000,000 strong. So, he could only rely on his current turtling tactic.

Even by offering a nice reward for players willfully turning into skeletons and razing any NPC village or town he could find, it still wasn't enough. The large majority of the playerbase heeded Nie Yan's warning to stay as far away from the skeletons as possible. Qin Han was enraged. His skeleton army was slowly dwindling in size. He became all the more determined to destroy the Shoro Stronghold. To that end, he had his troops launch an even fiercer assault.

After another afternoon of non-stop fighting, Asskickers United had wiped out a further 150,000 skeletons. However, they were gradually being overwhelmed. The Shoro Stronghold likely wouldn't hold for much longer. They received an order from Nie Yan. Under no circumstances were they to engage the skeletons if the situation looked unfavourable. Losses had to be kept to the absolute minimum.

Even if the skeletons flooded into the stronghold, the Asskickers United players weren't to tangle with them.

"Boss, we can't hold out much longer! The walls are already overrun with skeletons!"

"Everyone, we're making a full retreat! Evacuate through the transfer point. Warriors, bring up the rear, but don't recklessly throw your lives away. Don't panic! Squad #1 retreat first, then Squad #2, Squad #3, and so on!" Nie Yan ordered. As soon as the words left his mouth, the players began an orderly withdrawal.

"Boss, what do we do about the catapults?"

"Have the catapults continue firing for three more minutes, then destroy them beyond repair. Don't leave a single one for the enemy!" Nie Yan said in a deep voice. Even though his heart ached at the thought of losing 70 Armoured Ice Catapults, he had no other choice. If they weren't destroyed, they would fall into Qin Han's hands. Besides, Asskickers United still had another 500 catapults and trebuchets. This loss was bearable.

The players from Asskickers United withdrew from the Shoro Stronghold en masse. With a flash of light, they teleported away.

The skeletons flooded into the Shoro Stronghold and overflowed into the streets and alleys. But no matter how fast they ran, they were still slower than the fleeing players.

When more than half of the players had evacuated through the transfer point, a series of explosions rang out. The Armoured Ice Catapults lined up in the center of the stronghold were all blown up.

"Go, go, go!" Nie Yan ushered the players through the transfer point. When the last one teleported away, he destroyed it.

At this moment, Qin Han arrived at the top of the Shoro Stronghold's walls. Gazing inside, it was deserted. There wasn't a trace of any players!