Half an hour later.
East City Wall.
Atop the tall city wall, Lu Ran and Liu Xinxin were together with a few others.
But Yu Qingcang wasn’t there. He had already gone to deploy and arrange the people from the Heavenly Dao Alliance, scattering them across every direction of the imperial capital to handle any unexpected situations that might come up during the monster siege.
As for the professionals within the imperial capital—
Aside from the group that had watched the competition on the plaza, even more professionals had voluntarily headed to the east, south, west, and north sides, waiting patiently on the city walls.
Once the monster siege began, large groups of professionals would team up and charge out to start hunting monsters.
The imperial capital was enormous in size, so it was easy to imagine that the scale of professionals was also massive.
By comparison, the professionals who had watched the Hundred Cities League competition on the plaza were actually less than one percent!
Of the entire enormous professional population of the imperial capital, nearly half had now joined the ranks of the monster siege.
Lu Ran had actually experienced a monster siege before.
Or to be precise, Blackfire City had experienced one.
About four years ago, there was a Level Two difficulty monster siege, and the professionals of Blackfire City had easily dealt with it.
Lu Ran was still a student at the time, and he hadn’t been in the academy for long.
Naturally, he had no chance to come into contact with monsters.
So.
Counting it up, this monster siege in the imperial capital was actually Lu Ran’s first time truly participating in battle firsthand.
At this moment.
Thunderclouds were densely gathered around the imperial capital, with crackling lightning weaving through the clouds.
The whole thing looked like a giant ring, wrapping around the imperial capital’s main city.
“The imperial capital is so huge. In terms of scale, it should be much bigger than other main cities. So the difficulty must be much higher too, right?” Lu Ran looked at the thunderclouds around them and asked curiously.
Liu Xinxin’s expression wasn’t great either at this moment, and she seemed a bit puzzled.
After hearing Lu Ran’s words.
Liu Xinxin shook her head and said, “Difficulty has nothing to do with the main city’s area or scale. A Level Two difficulty monster siege at a Level Three main city and a Level Two difficulty monster siege at a large main city like the imperial capital only differ in quantity. Comparatively, the imperial capital also has more professionals, so there’s actually no real difference.”
What made a difference was the difficulty itself!
Level One difficulty was the easiest.
Level Two difficulty was also very easy.
Level Three difficulty, for some smaller main cities, was just right—it wouldn’t cause too many casualties, and professionals could still profit from it.
It could even be considered a bonus.
But at Level Four difficulty, the monsters that came out—whether elite or boss—were all between Level Forty and Level Fifty!
Not everyone leveled up as fast as Lu Ran or Cong Shuang and their group.
So with Level Four difficulty, if you weren’t careful, the danger was still very real!
Over the years, the overall level of professionals had risen quite a bit, so Level Four difficulty wasn’t considered a big deal anymore.
But in the past, there had been several instances where cities were breached under Level Four difficulty monster sieges, with countless deaths and injuries!
It was called a bonus, but if you capsized in a ditch, that would be a catastrophic disaster!
“So that’s how it is. Difficulty is difficulty, scale is scale. Even though the imperial capital’s monster siege is large in scale, there are also more professionals. It mainly depends on the difficulty.” Lu Ran indicated he understood and nodded.
But Liu Xinxin was looking around with a strange expression on her face.
She had experienced quite a few monster sieges, big and small.
But this time, something felt off.
“If we’re lucky and it’s Level Four difficulty, then it’ll be great for you. The monsters’ levels will be right around your level range, so the experience will be substantial. One monster siege, and unlocking the Abyssal Bone Dragon will definitely be no problem.”
Hearing this, Lu Ran also felt a surge of excitement.
As a Necromancer, reaching Level Fifty and being able to summon the Abyssal Bone Dragon was every Necromancer’s dream!
Although the Abyssal Bone Dragon that Necromancers summon at Level Fifty wasn’t an awakening skill, in a certain sense, the existence of the Abyssal Bone Dragon was infinitely close to the awakening skill that could be unlocked at Level Sixty!
“Then what if it’s not Level Four difficulty? Looking at this situation, is there any chance it’s Level Five difficulty? If it’s Level Five, the experience should be even higher, right?” Lu Ran asked with hope in his expression.
He didn’t have that many thoughts about it. It was actually very simple—the higher the difficulty, the more experience, and he needed experience!
But when Liu Xinxin heard this, she was given a huge fright.
Level Five difficulty!
“It shouldn’t… come to that, right? So far, among recorded monster sieges, the highest difficulty was Level Four. A Level Five difficulty monster siege has monsters ranging from Level Fifty to Level Sixty, and on top of that, the number of monsters increases exponentially. It’s simply not something human professionals at this stage can contend with.” Liu Xinxin shook her head and said.
If it were Level Five difficulty, then the imperial capital would be in grave danger!
Of course.
That was under the premise that Lu Ran wasn’t here. Now that Lu Ran was here, Level Five difficulty wasn’t exactly unplayable!
“Level Five difficulty is no problem for you, so either way works. There’s probably still about an hour before the monster siege begins. No rush.” Liu Xinxin said to Lu Ran.
Lu Ran nodded.
Suddenly thinking of something, he asked, “Then what if it’s Level Six difficulty?”
Hearing this, Liu Xinxin’s expression changed drastically.
She abruptly looked at Lu Ran, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Level Six difficulty—do you know what that means? At this stage, the highest-level team dungeon monsters are only Level Sixty. Even the boss Black Dragon is Level Sixty. But a Level Six difficulty monster siege, if it truly exists, would have monsters ranging from Level Sixty to Level Seventy! For any city, that would be a catastrophic disaster!”
Never mind normal professionals.
Even if all the top combat professionals from the four great guilds—the Heavenly Dao Alliance, the Red Clothed Tower, the War Banner National Guard, and Mirror Flower Water Moon—came, they still wouldn’t be able to win!
Even if the four guild leaders went up, they’d just be delivering themselves as fodder!
Because the gap was simply too huge!
And besides.
The monster siege itself was a special event in the dataized world, and it mostly relied on the number of monsters.
The number of monsters was already that high, and then you add a Level Six difficulty level range on top of that.
Who the hell could beat that!
“That’s true. It should be impossible to trigger that kind of difficulty.” Lu Ran said thoughtfully.
After speaking.
Lu Ran continued asking curiously, “Then how is the difficulty determined? What’s it based on?”
Liu Xinxin explained, “It’s too troublesome to explain. You’ll know once it starts. Hurry up and rest to recover your mana. You’ll be busy soon enough.”
And at this very moment.
In all four directions of the imperial capital—east, south, west, and north—countless professionals had already excitedly climbed onto the city walls, standing ready.
Many professionals, unable to fit on the city walls, had even crowded outside the city, gathering at the edge of the main city’s protective shield, waiting for the monster siege to begin.
The much-anticipated monster siege had long since stopped being as dangerous as it was back in the day.
It had been completely turned into a citywide carnival!
Inside the main city, several teleportation arrays monitored by the Heavenly Dao Alliance had already had their teleportation functions forcibly shut down by the dataization rules.
This also signaled that the monster siege was about to begin!
