I’m a Max-Level Taoist Master, and You’re Throwing Me Into a Rules-Based Horror Game?! - Chapter 173

Chapter 173: The Most Deadly Flex is the Subtle One!

“Commander, our surprise attack force has been completely wiped out!”

Inside the iron fortress, a Dwarven cavalryman who had managed to escape cried out.

He looked as if he had been terrified by something horrifying.

Just as he was about to burst out from underground, he saw a massive, bloody maw waiting outside, accompanied by the sound of crunching bones.

Terrified, he immediately turned and fled.

Luckily, there weren’t many people behind him, or he would have been pushed out into it.

The Dwarven commander’s expression was grim. “Blow up the tunnel immediately! Don’t let them get through.”

The loss of the surprise attack force gave the Dwarven commander a sinking feeling.

However, a few of the Dwarven squad leaders seemed almost gleeful.

“I said it before, what era is this? It’s all about mechanical tech and artillery now, but those guys just wouldn’t listen.”

“Exactly! Just wait until we crush the Greenskins’ mechanical army.”

“Commander, give the order! Our heavy tank units are ready!”

These dwarves had wrench insignias on their chests. They were often criticized by the traditionalists, so seeing the traditionalists fail now, their words were full of sarcasm.

The Dwarven commander nodded. There was no other choice now.

Thus, he ordered a full-frontal assault, determined to crush the mechanical army with their artillery.

After his command, the Dwarven firepower intensified significantly.

They were on the defensive. Even if the artillery exchange was even, once the mechanical army ran out of energy, they would have to retreat.

Then, the Dwarven heavy tank units could launch their attack and rout the mechanical forces.

Twenty minutes into the battle, the other surviving Challengers began preparing for their own surprise attacks.

Because the Challengers were the core of this stage. If the forward artillery towers and the iron fortress’s power supply weren’t dealt with, the Greenskins’ mechanical army would definitely fail to advance this time.

But how to get inside? The Challengers were deep in thought.

The fortress walls were over ten meters high, with no cover around them. Charging in would be suicide.

After pondering for a moment, Bladen, the Challenger from Bullfighter Country, suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, right! The Queen Bee mentioned that the radioactive wastewater doesn’t affect me.”

Who would expect a mechanical organism to attack from that polluted canal?

Perhaps this was the hidden information obtained from the previous stage.

The Strange Tales world stories is indeed a chain of events, and if you lack a little information, you may find it very difficult to pass this stage.

Thinking this, Bladen prepared his team to infiltrate the fortress, create chaos, and cover the main force’s entry.

Although his earlier idea of cutting down trees was somewhat foolish, considering Bladen had risked his life to save the Potbellied Commander, the commander allowed him to lead fifty mechanical guards on a stealth mission. Their task was to dismantle the massive cannons defending the gate.

Ideally, they would create a massive explosion inside the iron fortress.

After all, aside from Bladen’s plan, the Potbellied Commander couldn’t think of a second option.

He hadn’t expected the Dwarven industry to advance so rapidly in such a short time.

If they weren’t eliminated now, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Because the Dwarven race possessed a unique talent for forging.

Once Bladen received command, he took his small unit and left the area.

This would be his only chance. If he missed it, there wouldn’t be a second.

To avoid being attacked by the weird mud monsters, he sent other mechanical guards ahead to scout.

There were indeed no weird mud monsters here.

They were special anomalies, requiring specific conditions to form and being relatively rare.

If they could form anywhere, anytime, the Dwarves would have been wiped out long ago.

As he approached the pitch-black, foul-smelling river, Bladen was hit by a familiar, putrid stench.

The riverbed had been eroded and sunken by the pollution, providing the Challengers with a hidden path.

Their mechanical bodies were already black, and the area was shrouded in darkness. Unless someone looked very closely, no one would notice their approach.

Furthermore, most of the Dwarven forces were concentrated at the front. This was a ‘natural barrier,’ combined with the extreme stench, so few dwarves were stationed here.

At the underground passage leading to the fortress’s waterway entrance, a few dwarves were chatting.

“I wonder how long this battle will last. I want to go back to sleep.”
” I really don’t understand why the commander has us guarding this place. No one’s come here for years.”
” Whatever, if the commander says guard it, we guard it. It’s not like we’re in charge.”

While the dwarves were still complaining, danger crept up on them.

One dwarf warrior seemed to hear the sound of a silenced gun. As he looked up, he saw the dwarf opposite him get shot through the head.

Before he could even raise his weapon, a volley of gunfire erupted.

He too was riddled with bullets.

Before dying, he saw dozens of mechanical creatures quietly infiltrating the iron fortress.

He knew then that this so-called ‘invincible’ fortress was doomed.

He should have gone down to patrol. It was too late for regrets now. He didn’t even have time to sound the alarm.

The dwarf warrior’s consciousness faded, leaving this world one step ahead of his comrades.

Once inside the iron fortress, Bladen divided the mechanical guards into three teams.

One team was to open the rear gate. Another was to create chaos in populated areas.

The third team, which he led personally, was to attack the defensive forces at the main gate.

The other two teams had to wait for him to open fire before beginning their missions.

When it came to carrying out missions, the mechanical guards were fearless.

After preparing an escape route, Bladen began his assault.

Other Challengers who weren’t confident could personally lead a team to accomplish all three tasks themselves.

At that moment, the dwarves’ attention was entirely focused on the battlefield ahead.

But just as they were concentrating intensely, pounding the Greenskin army into helplessness, a series of explosive roars erupted from behind them.

BOOM! BOOM!

The massive defensive cannons were hit, exploding violently.

Dwarf warriors on the walls were sent flying, their bodies torn apart, falling from the battlements.

Then, continuous explosions reverberated throughout the iron fortress.

Panic spread among the Dwarven commander and all the dwarf soldiers; they had no idea where the attack was coming from.

The moment their artillery fire ceased, the Greenskin commander seized the opportunity and ordered the assault.

Mechanical guards that had gotten close quickly scaled the walls. The dwarves, caught between internal and external attacks, were on the verge of collapse.

Most of the defending dwarves lacked close-combat prowess, and their firearms couldn’t penetrate the mechanical guards’ armor. It was a one-sided slaughter.

If they hadn’t sent out the surprise attack force, leaving powerful close-combat dwarf warriors to guard the interior, the Challengers wouldn’t have been able to cause chaos so easily.

So, the moment their surprise attack failed, the Dwarven commander knew things would go wrong.

And most terrifyingly, the rear gate had been opened. Countless dwarves, seeing no hope, simply fled.

“Dammit, those cowards, so afraid to die.”

The Dwarven commander cursed even as he led his troops in a ‘reluctant’ retreat from the city.

He knew the situation was hopeless; further defense was futile.

But as the commander, simply running away would seem cowardly.

So, he put on an act, letting others pull him along while he pretended to be unwilling, putting on a show of being determined to defend the fortress to the death.

But since the others were insistently dragging him away, he had no choice but to reluctantly leave.

Before the Greenskin commander entered, Bladen had the mechanical guards search the command post and other areas for a map of the underground palace.

After finding the map, he hurried to the underground palace to search for the Dwarven treasure.

There, he would encounter anomalies over 1.3 meters tall and the special red-bearded dwarves mentioned in the rules—both terrifying entities.

Although Bladen’s initial performance was a mixed bag, his later actions were fairly standard.

Challengers who employed similar tactics could also enter the underground palace in search of the desired treasure.

That was the situation for the average Challenger.

How did the less skilled Challengers handle this stage?
The viewers in Pasta Country couldn’t bear to watch!

On their nation’s Challenger’s screen, the Greenskins’ mechanical army was driven back by the Dwarves’ heavy tank corps.

Because the Paladin, Sidney, was largely ineffective and unaware of the polluted water situation.

He merely relied on his strong defense to knock down several Dwarven cavalry, captured five dwarves, and then made a quick escape.

He just completed the minimum requirement and got out.

The military operation failed, but he survived.

Watching Sidney’s performance filled Pasta Country’s viewers with anxiety.

It’s not that he was completely incompetent, but the things he managed to do were rather unorthodox, barely scraping by each time.

It’s not that he was skilled either; his performance was quite poor. In this Strange Tales world, aside from the rules, he seemed to gather no other intelligence and acquired no reward items.

This made his chances of survival in the final stage seem slim.

The final stage was often the most terrifying.

The standard approach and the bare minimum method for clearing the stage had now emerged.

Next up was a Challenger who played by a completely different set of rules.

The firepower of the armies led by other Challengers was certainly no match for the defending dwarves.

Zhang Yangqing’s side, however, had the dwarves under immense pressure.

But the dwarves could still hold on, thanks to their sturdy city defenses. Their plan was to wage a war of attrition.

At this point, viewers in the Dragon Kingdom grew worried. After all, Master Zhang hadn’t completed the final task of the previous stage and didn’t know about the accessible sewer.

But Zhang Yangqing used his actions to show them he didn’t need the sewers.

Other Challengers used the 50% defense boost to withstand the charge of the Dwarven cavalry.

Zhang Yangqing was here to show everyone what that 50% defense boost was truly for.

“Wait here for me. I’m going to dismantle the defensive cannons.”

With that, Zhang Yangqing walked out alone.

The mechanical body’s base defense was already high. Combined with the fact that he had exchanged all his points for full attribute upgrades during this period, a terrifying scene unfolded.

On the large screen, Zhang Yangqing slowly walked towards the Dwarven iron fortress.

Violent explosions erupted around him.

In an instant, dust and debris flew, and smoke filled the air.

But when the smoke cleared, you could still see the man, his steps steady and firm.

Bullets striking his mechanical body produced a series of crisp, metallic clangs.

No matter how the dwarves bombarded him, even when the massive defensive cannons targeted him directly…

The earth-shattering energy released couldn’t harm him in the slightest. It couldn’t even scratch his paint.

This was the purpose of the 50% defense boost.

Other Challengers merely ignored the attacks of the Dwarven cavalry. Zhang Yangqing outright ignored all attacks from the dwarves!

This made outside viewers and the Beastman race behind him wonder if this guy had some kind of invincibility aura.

Even the Black Bear probably couldn’t guarantee remaining completely unscathed under such intense artillery fire.

In reality, they were overthinking it. It was simply a case of overwhelming stats.

If other Challengers could reach his level of attributes, they could do the same.

But the total attribute bonuses other Challengers could obtain might not even match what Zhang Yangqing got in the first stage.

That invincible figure reached the base of the city wall and leaped up.

Under the stunned gazes of the dwarves, Zhang Yangqing casually sliced through the defensive cannons, destroying them.

Then, without a hint of being an outsider, he found a spot on the city wall and sat down, perfectly at ease.

It was as if this wasn’t a battle between two armies, but a casual stroll for him.

With a single command from him, his three-thousand-strong army advanced, accompanied by a terrifying-looking black bear.

On that day, the dwarves finally remembered the fear of being dominated by giant creatures.

Outside the towering walls, a massive bear’s head appeared before the dwarves.

The bear’s face was ferocious and terrifying, with red blood dripping from the corners of its mouth.

With just one roar, the dwarves inside the walls could smell a horrifying, bloody scent.

Unfortunately, the dwarves lacked vertical maneuvering equipment, and the black bear’s weakness wasn’t the nape of its neck.

Even the viewers felt fear, especially those with a fear of large objects, who couldn’t help but swallow hard.

The black bear might act like a well-behaved pet in front of Zhang Yangqing, but that was only in front of him.

To everyone else, it was still that ferocious overlord!

The black bear first cleared all the dwarf soldiers near Zhang Yangqing, then performed a graceful one-handed vault, successfully leaping into the iron fortress.

It then forcefully kicked open the fortress’s main gate from the inside.

“Brother, I’ll lead the charge now. We can’t let the black bear steal our thunder.”

The younger Beastman warrior, clad in metal armor, led the main force in a charge.

He felt that if he didn’t perform well, he might lose his position.

Which of the other Beastman squad leaders didn’t want to take his place as commander?

The God-man and the black bear had already cleared the dangers. If they didn’t act now, they wouldn’t even get the scraps.

“Go ahead, but be careful. Remember the God-man’s instructions.”

The older Beastman warrior wasn’t as reckless.

The black bear couldn’t speak, and for a battle of this level, Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to intervene.

The older Beastman warrior was the commander of the vanguard.

Sensing the gaze from above, he understood that this battle was merely his debut.

If he messed up here, he would have no face to meet the Mechanical God again.

Especially since there were more important battles ahead, so he was extra cautious.

When he entered the iron fortress, he found a scene of carnage—rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.

Many Beastman soldiers, their eyes bloodshot with battle lust, were slaughtering the dwarves, relying on the strength of their armor and weapons.

The combat-capable dwarves were naturally drawn to the black bear, so the Beastmen slaughtered the ordinary dwarves.

Dwarves who couldn’t escape into the underground palace in time were mercilessly cut down.

Why was the scene around Zhang Yangqing so bloody? Because he never opened the rear gate!

These dwarves had nowhere to run.

And these Beastman soldiers killed even more ferociously than the mechanical guards, as if to prove that the Beastman race wasn’t the weakest.

The older Beastman warrior looked down at the blood flowing past his feet and the dwarves lying dead in gruesome poses nearby.

For a moment, a wave of human compassion washed over him.

It reminded him of how his own people had been slaughtered by other races.

Wasn’t it just like this now?
The dragon-slayer had become the dragon.

As peace-loving Beastmen, this was their first time slaughtering another race.

Thinking this, the older Beastman warrior shook his head.

Peace-loving?

They were peace-loving, but what about the other races?
If it weren’t for the Greenskins, wouldn’t the dwarves and half-beasts have attacked them too?

It’s not wrong to love peace, but one must possess the military strength to defend that peace. Otherwise, they can only be the meat on the chopping block for other races.

“Ridiculous. As a commander, I actually feel pity for them. It seems I’m really not cut out for this.”

After understanding the brutality of war, the older Beastman warrior suppressed his emotions and began directing his people to take prisoners.

Seeing the older Beastman warrior’s growth, Zhang Yangqing nodded approvingly.

He had no use for incompetents around him. If the older Beastman warrior proved incapable of command, Zhang Yangqing would have considered handing over command to the black bear.

The viewers also noticed with surprise that, somehow, the anomalies and natives around Zhang Yangqing gradually grew stronger, undergoing qualitative changes.

The Beastman brothers in this round weren’t the best example, but the snake-eyed sidekick from the previous round was a prime case.

Though, the snake-eyed sidekick was a mixed-blood superhuman with inherent talent.

In this world, the Beastman race had the lowest talent. To put it bluntly, even the tree-folk and beasts—who hadn’t appeared yet—had higher potential than the Beastmen.

In truth, these two brothers were quite strong within their race. It was just that compared to the powerful beings around them, they seemed weak.

This stage only required capturing five dwarves and one Dwarven engineer.

Zhang Yangqing captured a whole bunch—over two hundred.

The advantage of commanding a large force was that he didn’t have to capture them one by one like the other Challengers.

Bringing so many people was precisely to have them do the work.

Next was the treasure of this stage. It was said the dwarves possessed a treasure called the ‘Dwarf Heart,’ a piece of metal resembling a heart.

Since the rules mentioned the underground palace, and the main force hadn’t found it outside, the treasure was likely inside the underground palace.

There were many entrances to the underground palace; the dwarves seemed adept at tunneling.

Moreover, the underground palace was extremely complex, full of dangers, and poorly lit.

Many Challengers were now inside, facing attacks from anomalies and pursuit by the red-bearded dwarves.

“God-man, let me lead a team down! I guarantee I’ll retrieve the Dwarf Heart for you!”

The younger Beastman brother, seemingly still blood-crazed, was determined to claim this merit.

The underground palace was a maze of narrow tunnels where the black bear certainly couldn’t fit.

This achievement was his for the taking.

However, Zhang Yangqing waved his hand and said, “No need to go down. I have a way to make them come out.”

This statement left many puzzled. Could the Mechanical God use magic?

Magic was something only the elves possessed.

Zhang Yangqing couldn’t use magic now, but he had other methods.

Wasn’t there a long river flowing past the iron fortress?

Zhang Yangqing ordered his subordinates to divert the river and flood the underground palace.

Once the underground palace was full of water, he didn’t believe the dwarves wouldn’t come out.

As for the anomalies and red-bearded dwarves inside, whoever wanted to deal with them could go ahead. Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to crawl underground.

If the other Challengers, struggling inside the underground palace, knew this guy was being so unreasonable, they’d probably cough up blood.

As the river water continuously poured in, many dwarves scrambled out.

These dwarves were either shot dead or captured.

Among them, the dwarf city lord carrying the dwarf’s heart was also captured by his quick-eyed and quick-handed subhuman brother.

Once again, without needing to complete the final task, Zhang Yangqing obtained the Dwarf Heart.

He had skipped the final tasks for two stages in a row now.

Others were risking their lives to clear the stages, while he just skipped them!

Watching this, many on Dragon Tiger Mountain felt something was off but couldn’t quite put their finger on it.

Zhang Xuanjing glanced at the senior brother and said, “The Heavenly Master didn’t seem to do anything major this stage, so why do I feel like he’s still managed to show off?”

Su Muyao shook his head and said, “Actually, he’s been showing off all along; you just didn’t notice. He hasn’t recharged his energy even once since entering this stage!”

Other Challengers wished they could carry a charging station on their backs. But this guy? So far, he’d only swung his sword a few times, and the bio-cannon was merely a decoration.

This realization made many junior brothers break out in a cold sweat. The senior brother indeed had a keen eye; we actually missed that! Truly, the most deadly flex is the subtle one!

If Zhang Yangqing knew what they were thinking, he’d probably say: What nonsense! I’m just conserving energy and reducing emissions!