Maplefall directly borrowed the popularity of several live rooms and boosted the post's traffic.
Since the battles hadn't started yet, players all clicked into the post.
The video was only a bit over 30 seconds long. But these 30 seconds brought players infinite shock. The post's comments were instantly flooded with HIM's three sentences.
———
"First, protect yourselves well."
"Second, protect this world well."
"Remember, the priority of the first rule is always greater than the second."
———
Although HIM's words might not seem the most favorable for players, after all, it showed he cared more about his subordinates' lives than the world, not a single player criticized it. Instead, it made them feel HIM was even more real and even more charming.
[After watching this video, I just want to say, being one of HIM's subordinates must be the happiest thing ever?!!]
[Oh my god!! HIM actually has such a gentle side.
Such a powerful existence would actually care about the lives of his subordinates!]
[Did everyone notice? The camera angle of this video isn't sneaky filming, and all the Demon Kings were present,
meaning the person who filmed it was most likely Pengpeng or Black Blade...]
[!!! Hiss... This kind of level of meeting, players actually also can participate?!!!]
[He cares about his subordinates, cares about zombie players, cares about players, and also cares about this world...]
[Solid evidence now, HIM indeed all along has been silently protecting this world. Looks like those previous rumors about some existence of the Void were real...]
[Probably those Cthulhu monsters and Wither are the work of the Void! HIM must have predicted it, that's why this meeting happened!!"]
[He really... I'm crying to death... This video and those livestreams made my blood boil! Made me want to contribute too!!]
[+1!! But monsters at this level, can we really handle them?!]
Sure enough, after the video was released, many players felt like they too had the obligation to participate in this battle.
After all, this game world belonged to the grand community of players, and players had the duty and responsibility to protect this world.
These monsters emerging from the Void were destroying players' homes, destroying the things players had worked hard to build.
They seemed like they shouldn't stay out of it, maintaining a "none of my business" attitude.
Though many players under the post expressed that they wanted to join, there still was no real drive to take action. After all, currently those responding to the monsters were all Demon King-level existences.
Players at the bottom of the food chain, could they really fight against such powerful monsters?
Just as the players were heatedly discussing, the livestream rooms of the teams led by Pengpeng and Black Blade slowly started rising in popularity.
When players saw Pengpeng and Black Blade's livestreams, their inner passion was instantly ignited.
Pengpeng was leading over 2000 zombie players, entangling with a Wither.
The players were divided into four teams.
One team was speed-type players, responsible for attracting the Wither's attention, dodging its bombing damage with high speed.
One team was responsible for long-range attacks, each holding bows and arrows, sniping at the Wither from afar.
One team was strength-type players, responsible for launching heavy hand-to-hand attacks once the Wither became immune to ranged damage.
The last team was medics, carrying splash-type healing potions in their backpacks, moving around the battlefield to provide healing.
If Pengpeng's side could be considered the ultra-elite team that ordinary players couldn't match, then Black Blade's side was the ultra-budget version.
The players on Black Blade's side weren't even wearing armor because they clearly understood that normal players, when facing a purple-tier Wither, could no longer rely on skills or gear to make up the gap.
They could only use a human wave tactic.
Black Blade's team had more than 3000 players. They didn't have good equipment, only iron or stone weapons in their hands. But their battlefield was filled with beds of various colors.
Even if they died, they could immediately respawn nearby and rejoin the battle. As the saying goes, barefooted people aren't afraid of those wearing shoes, players with no valuable equipment or items were the scariest.
They had infinite lives. As long as they could damage the monster even a little, they could exhaust it to death.
In fact, Black Blade's arrangement was intentional, aiming to stir players' impulse of "I can do it too." Obviously, Black Blade's strategy was effective. This ultra-low-cost team also sparked players' passion.
The World Channel was immediately flooded with players' team-up messages.
[Coordinates (XXX,XXX,XX), any bros bringing beds to fight?!!]
[Anyone organizing a team? My broadsword is already thirsting for blood!!]
[Damn it, it's just a few lousy Withers! Don't you know the weight of the Fourth Calamity?! Brothers, (XXX,XXX,XX) hurry up and gather!!]
———
[At this moment, inside the Nirvana Guild's base.]
The Nirvana Guild was relatively lucky; there were no Withers or Wither Storms near their base. So the base remained preserved.
Since the event started, Steve had been closely watching the developments.
The Demon King Army's battle videos started at the same time, and not long after, the Demon King Army's meeting video was also released.
Finally, Pengpeng and Black Blade's livestreams of fighting the Wither went live.
Steve, being meticulous, guessed that someone must have been orchestrating this series of events. The goal, naturally, was to let players join the war.
Actually, even if the Nirvana Guild's base hadn't been damaged, Steve probably still would have joined the battle.
Steve liked this game very much, and he was deeply attached to it. He knew very clearly: if no one stood up to stop these Withers and Wither Storms, this world would soon become ruins.
Steve didn't want to see that happen. So even if the fight against the Withers would come with heavy losses, he would still do it.
But right now, seeing how things were unfolding, Steve hesitated.
He had two doubts at this moment.
First, where did HIM go? Since HIM had expressed at the Demon King Army's meeting that he wanted to protect this world. Now that something this urgent happened, why didn't HIM show up? With HIM's strength, he should be able to easily solve these monsters, but he never appeared.
Second, why were Pengpeng and Black Blade orchestrating these things on the forum, getting players involved?
Clearly, all those movements on the forum were most likely planned by Pengpeng and Black Blade, and they were the most loyal to HIM.
Maybe it was HIM's intention.
And possibly, all these events were orchestrated by HIM himself.
HIM had always been meticulous and good at reading people's hearts, Steve had witnessed it before. And HIM could control Withers too.
Maybe those monsters were created by HIM to put on a show, trying to change players' mindsets and make players submit to him.
If that was true, then Steve absolutely would not participate in this battle. Although Steve no longer harbored hostility toward HIM, he didn't want this game world to be controlled.
This world didn't belong only to HIM, it belonged to everyone. If HIM wanted to unify the world, Steve would unhesitatingly stand against him.
Thinking of this, Steve looked down at the Blade of the God of War in his hand.
"Could it be that when he returned the Blade of the God of War to me, he was trying to win me over?..."
Thinking about it, Steve still felt something didn't add up.
Someone as powerful as HIM, if he really wanted to unify the world, could have just used force directly. Why go through all this trouble?
While Steve was thinking, a guild player rushed over anxiously. Seeing this, Steve asked, "What's the matter?"
"Guild leader, we received a message. A guild player said his younger brother got trapped inside some Divine Realm Competition easter egg..."
"And he said he saw two HIMs..."
"His younger brother was trapped for a whole day, couldn't get out. Only when the dorm supervisor did a room inspection and forcibly cut off the power, he got out, and he immediately told his brother."
Hearing this, Steve was quite shocked.
"Two HIMs?! Wait... You said they were trapped for a day?"
Although Steve was surprised by the news of two HIMs, he caught the important detail in the player's words.
Seeing Steve ask, the player nodded and said, "Yeah, he said as soon as he entered that easter egg space, he saw two HIMs confronting each other, and one of them was claiming the other was a fake..."
"And both HIMs were trapped there with them, seemed like they couldn't get out..."
Hearing this, Steve thought for a moment.
'A whole day... which means the appearance of these monsters has nothing to do with HIM.'
Actually, Steve had been hesitating to act because he was afraid it was all HIM's trap. But based on the timeline, HIM had already been trapped inside that so-called Divine Realm Competition easter egg space before the monsters appeared.
That alone was enough to conclude that the monsters' appearance had nothing to do with HIM.
It also meant that the Demon King Army meeting wasn't staged.
Probably, HIM had received some news about the Divine Realm Competition easter egg, and before leaving, he had given instructions to his subordinates.
That alone proved that HIM really was protecting this world.
Thinking of this, Steve's doubts about HIM completely disappeared.
Although HIM returning the Blade of the God of War had made Steve lower his guard a bit before, the things that happened when he first encountered HIM had always been a knot in Steve's heart.
He never understood HIM's true purpose, what he really wanted to do. So he could never fully lower his guard. But after this incident, Steve finally figured it out.
His enemy was not HIM, or rather, the players' enemy was not HIM. It was the existence that created these monsters and tried to destroy the world.
'Since we have the same goal, then let's fight for this world together!'
After figuring it out, Steve immediately gathered the guild players.
"Go gather all the locations where Withers have appeared and post them on the forum."
"Little Sausage, notify the branch guild leaders, tell them to go to the nearest Wither locations and help gather and command players who want to join."
"Old Tree, organize strategies on how to fight Withers and post them on the forum."
"The rest of you, come with me!"
Steve, as a representative of the player faction, still had strong leadership skills. He clearly knew that although many players wanted to join the fight, most of them were like scattered ducks. If they wanted to actually help, they needed command.
Steve still had 6-7 branch guilds under him. Those guild leaders and vice-leaders could serve as commanders, and Steve himself had great prestige among players.
Branch leaders would also be trusted by players. This way, handling a dozen or so Withers shouldn't be a problem. This was already the limit of what Steve could do right now.
———
While Steve was busy commanding his people to join the battle, inside the Notch Office of Zero Point Guild, Rookie scratched his head and asked Notch somewhat puzzledly.
"Ah? Let me go deal with those Wither Storms?..."
Hearing Rookie's words, Notch corrected him. "Not those, it's that one Wither Storm that no one has taken care of yet."
After hearing Notch's words, Rookie nodded, thought for a moment, and then asked Notch.
"Then after I finish dealing with the Wither Storm, can I go find Entity 303 to play with?..."
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