Watching dozens of zombies die, the global audience was filled with questions.
Those were zombies, with the same health as players, and there were dozens of them!
They just died like that?
After the slaughter, Galen Yu frowned.
"The efficiency is still too low."
About eight or nine zombies and one skeleton.
The drops were only rotten flesh and experience; he didn't even see a single bone.
With this level of efficiency, when would he ever be able to build up the sky island?
Meanwhile...
Elsewhere, Kira Oakmoor wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"The monsters are increasing; surviving alone is truly stressful."
According to the rules, players from the same country could survive together or choose separate chunks.
Considering that island resources might not be enough to share, she hadn't chosen the same chunk as Ronan Mountwell.
Instead, she chose a solo start: the Blacksmith Shop.
It was a place filled with lava, but it contained mineral resources and stone.
Food was scarce, but the blacksmith shop provided a set of leather armor and a wooden sword at the start.
Relying on this equipment, Kira Oakmoor chose to strike out and kill monsters directly as night fell.
"Another zombie!"
Her Bushido training and keen sixth sense allowed her to perceive the killing intent behind her.
She rolled to dodge the zombie's attack and swung her wooden sword in a counter-blow.
"Ugh!"
The zombie let out a pained howl and retreated a step; Kira Oakmoor pressed her advantage, landing two more hits.
[PLAYER RANKINGS]
[FIRST PLACE: SAMURAI NATION, ZOMBIE KILLS * 15]
[SECOND PLACE: FREEDOM NATION, ZOMBIE KILLS * 14]
[THIRD PLACE: INDUS KINGDOM, ZOMBIE KILLS * 10]
[...]
Thanks to having two chunks and both of them attacking simultaneously, their ranking had briefly surpassed the powerful Freedom Nation!
"It seems this time, the competition is with the Freedom Nation!"
Kira Oakmoor pulled out some food and took a brief moment to catch her breath.
Food in the Square Civilization was mystical; it was linked to health and stamina—as long as food was guaranteed...
...stamina issues could be largely resolved.
Looking at the mere four potatoes remaining in her inventory, Kira Oakmoor knew that in a battle of food, she could never beat the resource-rich Freedom Nation.
She had to accomplish more with her limited stamina!
"In that case... *sigh*."
Taking a deep breath, Kira Oakmoor's eyes gradually turned green.
"In the name of the Tachi Craftsman, Drawing Art!"
The wooden sword in her hand gradually transformed, manifesting a scabbard and becoming a long blade.
Having survived the Tachi Craftsman's trial within the Blade Civilization, Kira Oakmoor could briefly transform her weapon into a SlashBlade.
What Kira Oakmoor held was the most basic SlashBlade, and the only one she could currently manifest.
[UNNAMED BLADE - MARIONETTE]
It had a faster attack speed than an ordinary sword, and every time she struck an enemy, Kira could see a rating bar.
It went from the basic B-rank, up to A-rank, and then S-rank.
With every rank increase, her attack power would grow higher, all the way up to SSS-rank.
She was already capable of finishing off a zombie in just two hits!
Even when Skeletons appeared on the island—creatures that usually made anyone run on sight...
Kira Oakmoor showed no fear and faced them head-on.
Slap! Slap!
After two slashes, the Skeleton collapsed and dissipated into a pile of green experience orbs.
As she cleanly slaughtered the zombies, the people of the Samurai Nation cheered.
"Wow, Oakmoor-kun is so cool!"
"I want to have your babies, Oakmoor-kun!"
"Mountwell-kun isn't bad either; he's killed five zombies without any armor!"
"The Samurai Nation is proud of you!"
The SlashBlade state didn't last long; after three minutes, it shattered along with the original wooden sword.
Yet in those brief three minutes, the Samurai Nation's kill count made a massive leap.
[FIRST PLACE: SAMURAI NATION, ZOMBIE KILLS * 34, SKELETON KILLS * 3]
A total of thirty-seven monsters!
Other viewers couldn't help but marvel.
"That's really strong; the SlashBlade is way too OP!"
"The attack speed is too fast; an ordinary sword can't even compare!"
"It's a pity our Britain didn't draw good resources, so we can't go up there and fight!"
"Sigh, our Soren Park isn't actually weak, he just doesn't have a weapon."
"Mark, Jett, keep going!"
On Pumpkin Island, Mark and Jett worked together to strike, and their kill count soon broke twenty.
Opening the rankings, they saw the Samurai Nation's position.
"A SlashBlade, huh? That is indeed a powerful offensive tool."
Knowing exactly what Kira Oakmoor had used, Mark smiled.
Although the SlashBlade was strong, he knew that Kira Oakmoor's blade could only exist for three minutes.
The sudden surge was nothing more than a temporary result of clearing all the monsters on her island.
As for afterward, without a guarantee of sufficient food and weapons, they definitely couldn't compete with them!
"Jett, look over there!"
Tossing aside the durability-depleted axe in his hand, Mark swapped to a new weapon.
There were six ready-made weapons on the island, and to seize the initiative, they decided to use them all up tonight.
"A skeleton? A zombie? Wait."
"It's an armored skeleton and zombie!"
Following Mark's direction, Jett saw two special monsters.
The two of them instantly realized these were very troublesome monsters!
Normally, a skeleton's bow could wear you down from a distance; its weakness was low HP, but the armor compensated for that.
The golden sword dealt extremely high damage and was difficult to handle!
After a moment's hesitation, Mark began thinking of how to deal with them.
The difficulty was higher, but the rewards for killing them might be even greater!
"Kill the zombie first; I'll lure it over!"
Taking the lead, he rushed over to draw the gold-sword zombie's aggro, watching as it entered its tracking state.
Mark retreated until he was out of the skeleton's line of sight.
[-9!]
Jett, hiding behind a block, launched a sneak attack, cutting off nearly half the zombie's health.
Having drawn the aggro back, Mark stopped running, turned around, and landed a jumping strike.
[-13!]
A critical hit was triggered, instantly killing the gold-sword zombie!
It collapsed and vanished into experience, leaving a shimmering golden longsword on the ground.
"Equipment dropped!"
Jett was overjoyed.
Although there was much they didn't understand about the block world, they knew a golden weapon definitely qualified as high-end gear!
"What a profit!"
Quickly stowing the golden sword, he turned his attention to the skeleton.
Wearing chainmail armor made its defense higher, making it indeed harder to kill than an ordinary skeleton, but for Mark and Jett, it was just a matter of a few more swings.
Using the same tactic of one drawing aggro and the other attacking, they soon killed it.
No more equipment dropped, which made them feel a slight bit of regret.
However, looking at the zombies cleared around them, they began eating pumpkin pie and opened the player rankings.
[FIRST PLACE: FREEDOM NATION, ZOMBIE KILLS * 34, SKELETON KILLS * 3, SPECIAL MONSTER KILLS * 2]
[SECOND PLACE: SAMURAI NATION, ZOMBIE KILLS * 37, SKELETON KILLS * 4]
Just as Mark had said, after the initial burst, the Samurai Nation's kill speed had visibly slowed down.
Special monsters carried more weight in the trial, and they were firmly in first place!
"With half our food left, I can keep killing for another half of the night!"
After finishing his pumpkin pie, Jett's stamina was restored, and he was brimming with energy.
He wanted the whole world to see the power belonging to the Freedom Nation!
"Wait, Jett, it looks like our ranking has been overtaken again."
"The Samurai Nation? It's fine; they don't have food!"
"It's not the Samurai Nation; it's the Nine Provinces!"
Clicking into the rankings, Jett indeed saw it.
[FIRST PLACE: NINE PROVINCES, ZOMBIE KILLS * 103, SKELETON KILLS * 14, SPECIAL MONSTER KILLS * 5]
"What??!!!"