The shadows of Moonlight Forest were deeper and colder than anywhere else.
Lin Mo's figure silently blended into them, like a drop of ink falling into a deep pool, without stirring the slightest ripple. His breathing was long and steady, his heartbeat calm and powerful, as if he had entered a state of absolute serenity, like a top Predator patiently lurking before delivering a fatal blow.
"Plan? Ahead of schedule?"
In his mind, he heard the roar Fierce Dragon ext{丶} Overlord Sword had let out in the team channel before his death.
Though the information was minimal, the killing intent it revealed was undisguised.
Was Mad Dragon Guild, that behemoth that had crossed him since Novice Village, finally going to shed all pretense and come for a total reckoning?
Lin Mo's eyes showed no fear; instead, they flickered with a cold excitement.
He knew very well that, given his current renown among players and the mystery and deterrence brought by his 'Anonymous God' identity, if Mad Dragon Guild truly intended to act, it wouldn't be a minor skirmish. They would undoubtedly employ thunderous means, gather an absolute numerical advantage, set up an inescapable net, aiming for a single, decisive kill to reclaim the face they had repeatedly lost at his hands.
"How will they do it?" Lin Mo's mind raced, putting himself in the perspective of Mad Dragon Guild Leader Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven.
"First, they need to determine my location. That small team was wiped out just now, so my position has been exposed in Moonlight Forest."
"Second, they need to prevent my escape. They will immediately blockade the main exits from Moonlight Forest to City of Glory, as well as the roads connecting to other leveling areas."
"Finally, they'll conduct an encirclement. They'll mobilize all online elite players from the guild, forming several, or even dozens, of elite teams to conduct a carpet search from all directions, constantly compressing my activity space, eventually cornering me in a certain area, and completely overwhelming me with a human wave tactic."
This was the most reliable and effective overt strategy.
Facing the full-force strangulation of a top guild, any lone player, no matter how skilled or how well-equipped, would ultimately be worn down to death.
It's just a pity... this time, they were facing Lin Mo. A monster who had just broken free from his cocoon, possessing the perfect killing machine that was Shadow of Deadly Poison!
"Want to treat me as prey?"
A bloodthirsty arc slowly curved at the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.
"Then let's see, in this jungle, who is the real hunter!"
He did not choose to immediately return to the city and avoid the confrontation. He knew that evasion wouldn't solve the problem. Since Mad Dragon Guild had made up its mind, this pursuit would follow him like a shadow, no matter where he ran, until he was killed back to level zero.
Only by fighting back!
He would use the most ruthless, bloodiest, and most terrifying methods to break their spirit, making them tremble from the bottom of their hearts every time they heard the name "Lin Mo" from now on!
After making his decision, Lin Mo didn't hesitate. Instead of moving towards the outskirts of the forest, he activated Stealth and dove deeper into the forest, towards areas with dimmer light and more complex terrain.
His first step was to figure out how many people Mad Dragon Guild had dispatched this time, who their commander was, and how extensive their encirclement had become.
Knowing oneself and one's enemy ensures victory in every battle.
With the bonus from Shadow's Protection, Lin Mo moved extremely fast in the shadows, like a true phantom, silently weaving between tangled ancient trees and bushes.
About ten minutes later, he arrived at a narrow pass in Moonlight Forest, near City of Glory. This was the main passage for players entering and exiting the forest, with a confined terrain and steep mountain walls on both sides, making it an excellent ambush location.
Indeed, it was as he expected.
Figures of Mad Dragon Guild players appeared at several key positions in the pass. They were in groups of three to five, disguised as ordinary teams grinding monsters, but their positioning was extremely meticulous, supporting each other like horns, sealing off the entire pass impermeably. Any player attempting to pass through would be immediately interrogated.
Lin Mo's gaze, like the most precise radar, swept over everyone's equipment and ID.
"All level 18 or above, equipment is at least a mix of blue and green, and a few of the team leaders have gleaming silver-grade weapons... It seems Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven has really invested heavily this time."
Lin Mo sneered inwardly. He didn't alert them, but quietly retreated, changed direction, and continued his reconnaissance.
Half an hour later, he had surveyed all the main entrances and exits of Moonlight Forest. The result sent a chill down his spine.
Mad Dragon Guild had dispatched at least two hundred people! They had surrounded the entire Moonlight Forest like an iron barrel! Moreover, in one team, he even saw a familiar figure—Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven!
The supreme leader of Mad Dragon Guild was personally leading the team and commanding! This showed the importance they placed on this operation.
"Very well, saves me the trouble of finding you."
A killing intent flashed in Lin Mo's eyes, then vanished.
He didn't continue scouting because he knew that the outer blockade was just an appetizer. The real main force must now be sweeping through the forest like a comb from all directions, heading towards the center.
He had to act immediately, before this inescapable net completely tightened, to tear open a gaping hole and let these hunters know exactly what kind of existence they had provoked!
Lin Mo's figure once again disappeared into the shadows of the dense forest.
This time, his goal was no longer reconnaissance, but — hunting!
..."Everyone, stay alert!"
In Moonlight Forest, a search team of ten elite Mad Dragon Guild members was cautiously advancing. The team leader, "Mad Dragon Blood Wolf," whispered in the team channel.
"The Guild Leader gave a death order: we must find that guy Lin Mo today! Whoever discovers his whereabouts first will be rewarded with 10,000 guild points, plus a Level 20 silver-grade item!"
Under such heavy rewards, the team members were instantly energized and began searching even more meticulously.
"Captain, do you think that Lin Mo is really that amazing? He alone wiped out Fierce Dragon ext{丶} Overlord Sword's entire elite team?" a team member asked curiously.
"Hmph, Fierce Dragon ext{丶} Overlord Sword, that fool, underestimated his enemy and charged in recklessly, he deserved to die!" Blood Wolf said disdainfully. "However, that Lin Mo does have some skill; I heard he's some kind of Assassin who uses poison. Everyone, remember to keep your distance, and the Healers should be ready for Purification at all times. Once you spot the target, don't get bogged down in combat; signal immediately!"
"Understood!"
As they spoke, a scout Ranger at the very end of the team habitually looked back.
That glance, however, instantly froze his blood!
Under the shadow of a giant tree about twenty meters behind him, a blurry and ethereal figure had, at some unknown moment, silently stood there. The figure seemed to be one with the darkness; if he hadn't happened to look back, it would have been impossible to notice!
"Ene..."
The Ranger's pupils contracted sharply with fear. He was about to open his mouth to sound the alarm, but the word "Ene" was forever stuck in his throat.
Shadow Strike!
Lin Mo's figure, as if teleporting, crossed the twenty-meter distance and appeared like a ghost behind the Ranger.
The dagger, coated with Deadly Poison and empowered by Abyssal Gaze, transformed into a deadly streak of light, precisely and elegantly flashing through the back of his heart!
-955!
A terrifying critical damage, accompanied by a bright red "-1" poison damage, simultaneously appeared above the Ranger's head.
The Ranger's body stiffened abruptly, all sounds and movements abruptly ceasing at that moment. He didn't even manage to clearly see the enemy's appearance before he transformed into a white light, his face filled with horror, and vanished from the spot.
Killed in one hit!
"What's going on? What happened to the scout?"
Blood Wolf, at the front of the team, noticed the anomaly and turned sharply, only to see a pair of leather boots, dropped by the deceased Ranger, on the ground.
"Damn it! Enemy attack!"
Blood Wolf reacted incredibly quickly, roaring out instantly, while a massive shield was already raised in front of him.
The other team members also reacted, mages' Frost Novas and hunters' traps were instantly deployed, and everyone stood back-to-back, nervously scanning their surroundings.
However, the surrounding forest remained silent, with no sound other than the rustling of wind through the leaves.
The mysterious enemy seemed to have vanished into thin air again after delivering a single blow.
An invisible fear, like a cold viper, instantly coiled around everyone's heart.
The unknown is the most terrifying.
They seemed to be facing not a player, but a true jungle phantom, a death that could launch a fatal blow from any shadow at any moment!
"Everyone, tighten formation! Move closer to me! Quick!" Blood Wolf's voice carried a hint of imperceptible tremor.
However, his command came too late.
The moment their formation shifted, revealing a slight opening, Lin Mo's figure launched Shadow Strike again from the shadows on the other side!
This time, his target was one of the two Healers in the team!
Same recipe, same taste!
When that deadly dagger gleamed, everything was already settled.
-920!
Another high damage number appeared, and that Healer, without even having time to activate his Holy Light Shield, followed in the scout's footsteps.
"Damn it! He's over there!"
"Ice Mage, Blizzard cover that area!"
Blood Wolf's eyes were bloodshot as he roared frantically.
However, after killing the second person, Lin Mo didn't even look at the overwhelming skills coming his way, directly activating Poison Shadow Shift. His body transformed into a puddle of shadow, merging into the ground, and all attacks once again completely missed their mark.
Five seconds later, when he reappeared, he was already in another dense part of the forest, a hundred meters away.
He didn't hesitate, like the most efficient hunter, searching for his next prey.
Over the next hour, similar scenes constantly unfolded in various corners of Moonlight Forest.
The search teams dispatched by Mad Dragon Guild were like torches in the night, conspicuously bright before Lin Mo, the king of darkness.
He used his familiarity with the terrain and the elusive, powerful mobility of Shadow of Deadly Poison to completely outmaneuver the entire Mad Dragon Guild's encirclement force.
He never engaged any team head-on; his strategy was singular—
Find a weakness, kill in one blow, then flee a thousand li!
One after another, elite members of Mad Dragon Guild, without even seeing the enemy's face, turned into white light with suffocating frustration and returned to the resurrection point.
Panic, like a plague, spread wildly through the hearts of all Mad Dragon Guild members involved in the encirclement.
They felt as if they weren't encircling a single person, but challenging a death walking in the jungle!
"Guild Leader! It's no use! We've already lost over thirty people! We haven't even touched his shadow!"
"Yes, Guild Leader, this guy is too bizarre! We can't fight him at all! The brothers' morale is about to collapse!"
The Mad Dragon Guild's command channel was in Chaos, filled with frantic reports from various team leaders.
"Useless! A bunch of useless people!"
Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven's face turned ashen with rage, listening to the continuous battle damage reports, and he slammed his fist against a nearby tree trunk.
He couldn't understand how his meticulously planned, hundred-person encirclement, designed to crush any expert, had devolved into a one-sided slaughter.
"Guild Leader, this can't go on!" a strategist-like player beside him said in a deep voice. "The opponent is clearly a top-tier Assassin, utilizing the terrain to its extreme. Our dispersed search is just giving him opportunities to defeat us one by one!"
"Then what do you suggest?!" Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven roared.
"Contract! Have everyone immediately stop searching and gather at our central point!" A ruthless glint flashed in the strategist's eyes. "He likes to play hide-and-seek, doesn't he? Then we'll gather everyone together, leaving him no place to strike! At the same time, tell 'Eagle' to prepare; it's time to use that thing!"
"You mean..." Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven's pupils contracted.
"Exactly!" the strategist sneered. "As long as we can pinpoint his exact location, even if he's a god, he must die here today!"
"Good!" Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven gritted his teeth. "Pass on my order! Everyone, immediately gather at coordinates (XXX,XXX)! Those who disobey will be kicked from the guild!"
"Eagle! Prepare your 'Blood Falcon's Eye'! In three minutes, I want to know which rat hole that scoundrel is hiding in!"
The order was quickly disseminated.
The Mad Dragon Guild members, who had been on edge throughout the forest, felt as if they had received a great pardon and frantically converged on the designated coordinates.
And in the canopy of a towering ancient tree not far from their gathering point, Lin Mo's figure stood silently in the shadows like a statue, watching it all with indifference.
"Oh? Are they starting to gather?"
He muttered softly, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"It seems they're preparing to reveal their final trump card."
He did not try to stop their gathering, for he knew that the real show had just begun.
Three minutes later, as Mad Dragon Guild's nearly two-hundred-strong force gathered in a dense mass in a clearing in the forest, a hunter player wearing leather armor and carrying a blood-red longbow walked to the front of the team.
From his backpack, he carefully took out a pulsating, heart-like, blood-red crystal.
He closed his eyes, muttered incantations, and then fiercely crushed the crystal!
"Screech—!"
A sharp, high-pitched eagle cry, as if it could pierce the soul, suddenly echoed throughout Moonlight Forest!
A blood-red light shot into the sky, condensing into a giant hawk with a wingspan of over three meters, its entire body burning with blood-red flames!
Blood Falcon's Eye!
An extremely rare tracking divine skill capable of forcibly locking onto the location of any player within a designated area!
The blood-red hawk circled once in the air, its sharp eyes, like the most precise radar, sweeping over every inch of the ground below.
Suddenly, it seemed to discover something.
"Screech—!"
With another shriek, the Blood Falcon sharply changed direction, flapped its wings, and transformed into a blood-red lightning bolt, plummeting fiercely towards one direction!
That direction was precisely the towering ancient tree where Lin Mo was hiding!
In the clearing, Raging Dragon Howls to Heaven looked in the direction of the Blood Falcon's dive, a savage and cruel smile spreading across his face.
"Found him!"
"Let's see where you run this time!"