In the sky, flying sand and stones, billowing black smoke!

Endless dark clouds spread from afar, quickly darkening the entire sky, while in the sobbing dark wind, a sandstorm was mixed, drastically decreasing visibility around.

"It's here!"

Many players instantly realized that demons were gradually expanding into this historical slice, indicating that the battle between the two sides was about to commence.

This time, however, the situation was clearly somewhat special.

Meng Yuan hid among the crowd, hearing Shenshan's voice in his mind.

"The demons are attempting a deep shield on this historical slice!"

Meng Yuan was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean by 'deep shield'?"

Shenshan explained, "This is a special technique of the demons. Within their controlled historical slice, very powerful demons can spread vast amounts of Demonic Qi to contaminate the entire environment, turning the entire historical slice into a severely unknown and opaque state for us!

"This method consumes a tremendous amount of Demonic Qi, and only the Demon Lord Chi You has the power to use it. Other major demons simply do not have enough power."

Meng Yuan immediately understood; this meant that Chi You had launched a super-enhanced version of war fog!

Originally, war fog also existed on the battlefield.

Each time the demons appeared, they were accompanied by rolling black smoke and clouds covering the sun, but that was more of a visually oppressive effect.

The demons manipulated Demonic Qi from the sky, quickly deploying demon soldiers to the battlefield. However, this Demonic Qi at most made visibility a bit low on the battlefield, and to speak of war fog, it didn't really count.

Moreover, players could communicate in real-time, and what was happening in every corner of the battlefield could be reported, filtered, and summarized, then refined into the command center and acted upon by the command center.

This meant that, in the players' eyes, although there was war fog, it was not well-known.

But now, it seemed the Demon Lord Chi You had realized this point; he spared no expense using Demonic Qi to deeply shield this historical slice, resulting in the Demonic Qi, along with the natural sand of the Great Desert, severely obscuring the players' vision and also limiting their means of communication.

Against the backdrop of the vast sandstorm, the players quickly realized something was amiss.

"Hai Ping? Hai Ping?

"Elite cavalry unit people? Can anyone hear me?"

The players were still trying to communicate within the channel, but they were quickly shocked to discover that they had completely lost contact with the army following General Wei Huo!

No matter how they called, there was never any echo.

As for whether the players with General Wei Huo heard the call from the main force or heard but couldn't respond, most players tended toward the former.

"What's going on? Why could the communication be cut off?"

"Is it a game bug?"

"Weren't the two armies supposed to cooperate? How can we cooperate now!"

The players were somewhat agitated for a moment, this completely different emergency situation making them somewhat panicked.

Even those like Chu Ge who were considering and formulating tactics were stunned; what tactics could be formulated now?

That army had completely disappeared!

...

On the other side, Zhao Haiping, Fan Cun, and the group of most elite cavalry players, had all taken over the bodies of General Wei Huo's personal soldiers.

At the first moment of inhabitation, he felt an indescribably familiar sensation.

This feeling came from the Chu Dynasty armor and weapons on their bodies, as well as the sensation of their feet hanging in the air.

Stirrup-less horses, long missed!

Before, the players had briefly experienced stirrup-less horses in the foot-soldier trial and were tortured by stirrup-less horses during the Cavalry Trial.

Those who finally earned their status as cavalrymen all mastered the skill of riding stirrup-less horses.

However, the original significance of this skill was simply to make them more comfortable and unified with their horse when riding stirrupped horses in other dynasties.

But now, after arriving in the Chu Dynasty's historical slice, riding stirrup-less horses had become an essential skill.

It was imaginable that if the Cavalry Trial had trained using stirrupped horses, players would have probably needed a talent skill related to riding to barely maintain their combat effectiveness.

The players remarked that the game's design really was interlinked; so much early preparation to adapt to stirrup-less horses was now coming into play.

But in reality, they didn't know that Meng Yuan hadn't thought that much about it at all; initially, he had them ride stirrup-less horses merely because resources were limited, preventing everyone from casually riding horses—therefore, he raised the barrier for cavalry status...

In any case, after realizing they had taken over this army, these players immediately engaged in internal communication.

After a brief reorganization and headcount, the players discovered that there were fifty thousand following General Wei Huo.

The current number of beta-test players had reached 300,000, and the fifty thousand with General Wei Huo were just one-sixth of the total number.

Moreover, these fifty thousand were elite cavalry, the true backbone of the Chu Dynasty. If this army of fifty thousand were to be annihilated, the Chu Dynasty's war against the Beidi would completely collapse, and it might not recover for decades.

Therefore, Emperor Wu could only truly rest assured when he handed them over to General Wei Huo.

Those players who were fortunate enough to land with Deputy General Wei Huo or soldiers by his side, their first reaction was to observe General Wei Huo from up close. After all, every emperor of the Chu Dynasty would unconsciously compare his generals to General Wei Huo.

However, at that moment, an anomaly occurred again.

Distant black smoke billowed, and dark clouds covered the sun!

The shielding effect of Chi You on the entire historical segment continued to spread. Soon, the players following General Wei Huo discovered that their connection with the main force had also been cut off, unable to get any response!

Not only that, compared to the main force, they were facing an even worse situation.

They discovered that their numbers were decreasing!

This army of fifty thousand seemed to be enveloped, divided, and surrounded by endless dark vapor. Soon, many players found themselves completely trapped by the black vapor, unable to move.

Moreover, they didn't seem to be trapped in their original area but had fallen into a state of semi-unconsciousness under the erosion of the Demonic Qi, completely scattered from the main force!

...

"Meng Yuan, a worse situation has occurred!

"As General Wei Huo's troop continues to move deeper into the Great Desert, the shielding effect of the demons becomes stronger. Many people can't withstand the invasion of the Demonic Qi and have already begun to lose consciousness, unable to advance any further!"

Meng Yuan slightly furrowed his brow and asked, "How many people will fall behind?"

The voice of Can Shang was filled with concern, "I fear... according to the current situation, if we continue to move deeper without care, we might only have a few hundred left before encountering the first wave of enemies..."

Meng Yuan pondered, "General Wei Huo himself carries a powerful positive energy. What if we use him as an anchor and forcibly inject positive energy to disperse the Demonic Qi?"

Can Shang shook his head and answered, "There won't be much of a difference. That place is deep into the demon's territory; our power can hardly be projected so far. Moreover, the losses during the process are too great, it's not worth it!"

Meng Yuan slightly nodded, "I understand.

"It seems Chi You is pretty smart after all; he's clearly challenging us to a direct confrontation."

It must be said that the demons, having been repeatedly thrashed by players, had finally learned and adapted.

The Demon Lord Chi You had already determined that this Reorderer was highly intelligent and close to the demonic, so he spared no expense to prevent the opponent from using any stratagems.

With the Desert North Wilderness at its core, the Demon Lord Chi You released a large amount of Demonic Qi, transforming a vast area around it into a state of fog of war. The players, unable to disperse the fog, continued to be influenced by the Demonic Qi and gradually lost consciousness and fell behind.

In the end, only a few hundred might infiltrate the Desert North.

But if Meng Yuan used the massive dispersion of the fog of war from the rear to expand his own vision, it would also immediately reveal the players' location, which is equally a very dangerous act.

The main force could do this, but there would be no chance for a surprise attack.

Meng Yuan thought for a moment: "Then... if we don't disperse the fog of war and let a few hundred successfully infiltrate, these few hundred, by eliminating the demons and converting positive energy while continuously dispersing the surrounding Demonic Qi, would that still expose them?"

Can Shang: "We can't guarantee complete concealment, but the chances would be greatly reduced.

"First, these few hundred have a very small mass, and since they are not directly mobilizing power as Reorderers, they likely won't attract too much attention from the demons.

"For example, if we directly use the Reorderer's power to disperse the Demonic Qi for them, it's like dropping a tree out of nowhere, whereas if they themselves eliminate the demons and transform and disperse Demonic Qi to positive energy, it's like a seed thrown into the soil, which will slowly take root and germinate.

"Clearly, the latter has a lower chance of being discovered.

"Furthermore, the demons will soon enter a direct battle with us, and at that time, both of us will be stretched thin, with all our attention focused on the main battlefield.

"Before the final battle, the demons will closely watch the entire battlefield, so dispersing the Demonic Qi for General Wei Huo's army will almost certainly be discovered; but after the final battle starts, General Wei Huo and these players dispersing Demonic Qi on their own, it's very unlikely for the demons to notice.

"The biggest problem with this approach, however, is... how to ensure they can successfully battle continuously from the beginning with just a few hundred people?"

This was clearly the key issue.

Currently, although General Wei Huo's army he led had fifty thousand players, most of these players would continue to suffer from the erosion of Demonic Qi as they moved deeper into the Great Desert, causing many to become disoriented.

And those who ultimately managed to infiltrate the Great Desert, at most only a few hundred of General Wei Huo's troops could be useful.

If these few hundred could continuously eliminate demons and harvest Demonic Qi, then they could use the positive energy to disperse the surrounding Demonic Qi, and Meng Yuan could let Can Shang find those players who were previously disoriented and redeploy them using General Wei Huo as an anchor.

In this manner, it might be possible to gradually roll the fifty thousand-strong army back like a snowball.

However, if during this period any battle failed, encountering an enemy far stronger than themselves, then the entire snowballing process would be instantly interrupted, and the entire plan would fail.

Although the main forces of the demons were engaged with the players' main forces, there were still a large number of Beidi natives on the Great Desert, as well as scattered demonic forces.

From a power perspective, they still held an overwhelming advantage over these few hundred.

Meng Yuan didn't spend too much time considering, "It's okay; I choose to trust General Wei Huo! This might be difficult for others, but for him, who is like a humanoid GPS, there's absolutely no problem!"

Having made up his mind, Meng Yuan immediately announced his battle plans to the players in the form of a public notice.

Although General Wei Huo's team was already starting to be affected by the Demonic Qi and losing contact with the other players, Meng Yuan could still send them a message directly using the Reorderer's power.

[Attention to all players!]

[General Wei Huo's expeditionary force is being interfered with by demons. As they advance deeper into enemy territory, they will continue to suffer losses, and some players will be infected with Demonic Qi and fall behind!]

[Follow General Wei Huo to defeat the demons and you can disperse the Demonic Qi, allowing players trapped by the Demonic Qi to rejoin!]

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