HISS~
Billowing smoke spread out, blanketing the stairs leading up.
"Throw grenades!"
Gao Feng roared upon seeing this.
His subordinates pulled out high-explosive grenades and threw them indiscriminately into the smoke.
BOOM~
AHHH~
Player after player from the Star God Guild was blasted to pieces.
Just then, artillery shells began arcing up from the base of the mountain.
"Take cover!"
.....
Qian Lan’s expression changed as he shouted to the others.
BOOM~
Shells blossomed into explosions, killing seven or eight players from the All Stars Guild.
For a moment, the assault ground to a halt.
The Star God Guild’s players seized the opportunity, laying down suppressing fire on Gao Feng’s group as they charged up the stairs.
"Fire!"
Not to be outdone, Gao Feng returned fire relentlessly.
.....
「Northern Staircase Entrance」
A continuous barrage of shells landed and exploded near Long Ming and his group.
The Star God Guild players threw smoke grenades ahead of them, charging upward with desperate abandon.
"Quick, take them out!"
Captain Fan Shi and the others fired continuously.
But the Star God Guild members kept throwing smoke grenades. Combined with the dead of night, their vision was so severely obstructed that it was difficult to land a hit.
After tossing three grenades himself, Long Ming narrowed his eyes, held his breath, and squeezed the trigger.
BANG~
Instantly, a Star God Guild player was hit and collapsed.
He then readjusted his aim, watched the swirling smoke, and squeezed the trigger again, strafing a section of the cloud!
"AHH!"
Just as expected, another Star God Guild player was taken down.
"Not bad! Your aim is pretty sharp."
Fan Shi glanced at Long Ming in surprise, offering a word of praise. He had just taken down two enemies in quick succession.
They had the terrain advantage, sure, but you still needed some real skill to pull that off.
"Just got lucky."
Long Ming replied humbly.
"Keep up the good work. If we win this fight, I’ll recommend you to the guild for a commendation!"
After encouraging Long Ming, Fan Shi refocused and resumed firing.
BANG BANG~
The two sides continued to exchange fire.
「Star Wish Cafe - Main Hall」
Mira, An Qing, and the others were all gathered around the projection platform, watching Sun Zhou’s live stream.
"Hey everyone, I’ve managed to escape to the top of the observatory base. Right now, the All Stars Guild is fending off a sneak attack from the Star God Guild. The firefight is incredibly intense! Although the All Stars Guild has the geographical advantage and is blocking the staircases, the Star God Guild is constantly suppressing them with mortars. The situation is still unclear, so there’s no way to know who will achieve final victory."
Beads of nervous sweat dripped from Sun Zhou’s forehead.
"Bro, are you even trying? That Pilates Streamer is right there on the front lines. You’re so far away, we can’t see a damn thing."
"Yeah, seriously!"
...
A stream of complaining comments flew across the screen.
Watching this, Mira shook her head and sighed helplessly.
"Lord Qian Wei has such bad luck."
"Sister Mira, who do you think has the advantage right now?"
An Qing asked with a smile.
"Even though the All Stars Guild and its affiliates combined still have a slight numbers advantage, their chances of victory aren’t high. They might just get turned on."
Mira wasn’t optimistic about the All Stars Guild’s chances.
After all, that last artillery barrage was devastating. It wiped out nearly half their forces.
"True. I thought tonight was going to be boring, but I didn’t expect such a great show. I just wonder who will win and who will lose."
An Qing said with a sigh as she looked at the stream.
.....
「On the Observatory Platform」
Long Ming continued to fire his weapon.
BANG BANG~
Soon, he had killed another player from the Star God Guild.
"Nice!"
Fan Shi praised excitedly.
He had just been looking to grab some extra firepower for support, but he never expected Long Ming’s skill to be this impressive.
With his help, they had successfully held off the enemy assault on the right staircase.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Long Ming felt a bit helpless. He had originally planned to go easy on them, but the problem was that these guys from the Star God Guild were just too aggressive.
’If I really hold back, they might actually break through.’
...
「Southern Staircase Area」
Seeing that their forces were still unable to break through, Farina turned to Fakam.
"Lord Fakam, we can’t keep this stalemate going. Dawn is about to break."
"I know what you’re worried about, but don’t worry."
Fakam looked as if he had everything under control.
"Understood."
Farina said no more.
Meanwhile, Qian Wei watched with great satisfaction as his subordinates repelled wave after wave of attacks from the Star God Guild.
Just then, Gao Feng walked up to Qian Wei’s side.
"Lord, the situation has stabilized!"
"Excellent. Keep up this pace. As long as we hold out until dawn, victory is assured."
Qian Wei’s confidence surged.
"That’s right. Once dawn breaks and all weapons are restored, they’ll have nowhere to hide. It’ll be their doomsday."
Qian Lan added.
Just then, however, a big, burly man in a bulletproof vest came running over, shouting.
"Lord Qian Wei!"
"Xu Mang, what’s with all the panic?"
Qian Wei turned to look, his brow furrowed.
"Lord Qian Wei, the western staircase has been breached."
Xu Mang replied, his voice filled with anxiety.
Hearing this, the expressions of both Qian Wei and Qian Lan darkened instantly.
Gao Feng cursed angrily.
"What the hell are you guys doing? You can’t even hold a single staircase?"
"What exactly happened?"
A muscle in Qian Wei’s cheek twitched. He suppressed his rage and asked Xu Mang.
"Lord, there was nothing we could do! The enemy pounded us with round after round of mortar fire. Over half our defenders are dead or wounded."
Xu Mang was filled with immense frustration.
"It seems we can’t blame them for this. The Star God Guild must have concentrated their firepower on one flank."
Qian Lan interjected, trying to placate the others.
"Lord, what now? The west has been breached. How are we supposed to defend?"
Gao Feng was also starting to lose his composure.
Qian Wei took a deep breath and made a swift decision.
"Tell everyone to fall back! All units, pull back into the base!"
"Sigh... I guess that’s our only option!"
Gao Feng slapped his thigh in frustration. They were so close to dawn.
The order was quickly passed down.
"Fall back!"
"All units, pull back into the base!"
...
「Northern Staircase Entrance」
Upon receiving the order, Captain Fan Shi immediately scrambled to his feet and yelled.
"Orders from high command! Everyone fall back into the base! We’re pulling out!"
"Right!
Long Ming was the first one on his feet, bolting toward the observatory base behind them.
Fan Shi and the others were stunned to see Long Ming run so fast. They had been about to ask him to help carry the wounded.
Long Ming quickly fled into the observatory base.
"Whoa."
The base was filled with wounded who had been dragged inside. All Stars Guild players rushed around, injecting them with stimulants.
At the same time, many of the combatants who had just retreated were shouting orders.
"Aze, take your men and guard that passageway!"
"A few of you, help carry the wounded further inside!"
...
The entire base was a scene of utter chaos.
Seeing the chaos, Long Ming decisively abandoned his temporary post and ran deeper inside. ’No one here knows me anyway,’ he thought.