Famine 160: Tower Defense

The players surged forward as one.

Sha Tong was shouting, though he could barely hear himself; the wind howled past shrouded in mist, heart pounding so hard he felt it would leap from his throat, a metallic taste flooding his mouth.

Seven years!

He had survived in the Famine game for seven years. Everyone alive by now was steeped in battle. Sha Tong thought he had long grown numb. Yet in this moment, it felt just like the first time he barged into a dungeon—blood rushing, vision surging red, hands and feet shaking.

Balanced on the razor’s edge between life and death, his heart roared in his ears; he was as fiercely alive as he had ever been, almost frighteningly so.

Seven years! At last, they had the power, the chance, to raise their weapons against the entity that had defined them as [players]!

Sha Tong knew he would never forget this moment—whether they won or lost, lived or died.
He would always remember the sight of Mr. Si Zhiyan, the farm owner, standing at the front, banner held high against the Eye.

It was a beacon of human defiance.

As the only large-scale combat corps still operating, used to group tactics even in the apocalypse, every member of the Skeleton Ferryman Guard was a precious commander. They had been dispersed and assigned to squads, leading players of the farm, coordinating and executing command.

After the first volley, the ranged teams split, dividing into eight groups and spreading out.

Players scattered like stars among the undulating hills, vanishing in an instant.

The [Eye] trembled in fear.

There was a second benefit to having dragged it down—this close, its focus was too short to perceive detail.

It tried to rise again, but Nidhogg and Shi He still clung to it, two burning hooks buried in its eyelid, drawing rivers of blood, pinning it fast.

The ground shook as the massive eye, its network of blood vessels writhing like snakes, roared its fury, rattling the land.

It had been utterly enraged.

From the dark distant horizon, a collective, chittering, fluttering sound swept in.

The perimeter scouts quickly relayed news: “Anomalies incoming! Huge horde!”

“Those man-faced moths are back, and—what the hell—flying ants? Wait, their heads! They’re three stories tall!”
“Urgh, disgusting—so many bugs… Mr. Si, do you need the main force to pull back and assist?”

“No.” Si Zhiyan half-lifted his eyelids. “Anderson.”

“At your command.”

Snap.

Anderson snapped his gloved fingers. A pale blue silhouette flashed in the air.

Looking around, the farm’s periphery was already flooded with a sea of black and red. From afar it looked like water; up close, it teemed with writhing insect limbs. Some were thin, many-legged bugs; others like grasshopper-bodied, headless bloodkin, crawling forward on four spasming limbs.

Legs twisted, wings hummed, making any trypophobic shudder.

For a moment, Anderson refused to look at the ocean of insects—his gaze instead fell deep within the writhing host, to a single colossal figure.

The queen.

She was a giant ant queen, several meters tall, swollen with a translucent, greasy yellow belly, distended like rotting squash, crosshatched by engorged purple veins. Under her thin, membranous skin, thousands of ants writhed, crawling up and down inside her pulsing body, only to be sprayed out, tearing free of the egg sac to join the raging tide.

As she moved forward, new broods trailed from her; mucous oozed from gaps in her shell, dripping to pool in slick puddles in her wake.

Until the queen fell, the swarm would never end.

Anderson’s cloak caught the wind. Raising his masked face, he charged straight at the churning anthill!

On his magic mask, an ornate ice-blue chain caught a glimmer of phase-glow, sparkling for a moment.

Farm-exclusive harmony gear: +5% universal stat, cooldown time reduced!
Farm-mined enchanted blue crystal: spell power +10%, phase-jump distance extended!

Such minor percentage increases, negligible to ordinary players, meant everything in the hands of a specialist like Anderson!

Three consecutive phase-skips in an instant—no bug had a chance to stop him; in the blink of an eye, he was hovering above the queen. Smiling faintly, he drew a bottle of cola, twisted the cap—

Psst!

The swarm reared its collective head.

He popped the bottle, shouting a countdown.

When cola is opened, every creature within sight is instantly attracted.

A huge torrent of icy brown liquid rained from above!

Within a 100-meter diameter, foam exploded!

The queen had no time to react—crushed instantly, viscera and ant limbs spraying in every direction.

Before the entire player base’s eyes, Anderson reappeared high above the farm, standing before the orbital energy cannon’s waterfall, leaving the shattered ants behind. Without looking back, facing Si Zhiyan, he bowed with flourish, short wand in hand:

—“A curtain call for you, sir.”

The cheers erupted:

“Phase Magician! Too cool!!”
“It’s murder comparing people—he’s gotten even stronger since the farm owner’s favor…”
“The farm buffs are just broken—even a top-tier can still improve?”

Si Zhiyan couldn’t help but laugh.

The ant queen was dead, but countless bugs still blackened the field.

But that didn’t matter—he looked up.

At the edge of the farm waited a ring of seething, bubbling crimson lava.

[S-Rank Facility: Magma Moat]

Above the magma moat, Kazuko’s red threads gleamed in taut, murderous lines.

Wave after wave of insects charged the moat.

Creepers fell into lava below; flyers hit the shrine maiden’s lethal web. One by one, swathes of the army fell, their corpses burning up in the magma.

A lucky few might make it through the moat’s killing field—

Only to plunge into the [Lord of Existence’s Forest] beyond.

[Lord of Existence’s Dangerous Forest]

The farm’s second forest.
Good news: Vibrant jungles can now flourish wherever you like, no nutrients required!
Bad news: They need to eat something else.
Within the lord’s forest, all plants evolve [Carnivorous] as a trait.
All [living plants] gain +200% offensive capability.
If left unfed, the forest will expand outward.

[Inescapable aura]
Set foot within, and you’ll start doubting your very existence, forgetting whence you came and whither you’re bound.
Without intervention, you’ll wander lost—forever—within.

—Every tree, every blade of grass, every flower or vine is a monstrous flytrap.

For seven days, Si Zhiyan hadn’t fed the forest at all—it was starving.

With their mother and reinforcements gone, the swarm could only beat futilely against the farm.

The ravenous forest devoured every insect desperate enough to stumble in, snapping them up before they could even get lost inside. The plants themselves scuffled, fighting in greedy rivalry for each morsel.

The way the plant life scrambled over each other for prey… was honestly a little amusing.

Si Zhiyan watched with an easy smile.

During the last [Eye] assault, the battles atop the walls had nearly ruined the farm.

Since then, he had been determined to install more and better defenses.

Now, everything was in place. Watching the dense clusters of enemies mowed down wave after wave was almost soothing, like some cathartic ad game, or a lawn-mowing sim—tower modules arrayed just so, your years of work let loose to wreak havoc by the thousands—

Strangely satisfying!

He still had reserves left. Even if some anomalies broke through the forest, it was no matter. Kazuko, after negotiating with the dairy cows, had unlocked a second-tier [Spring Eye] fountain—fresh milk, [Cow’s Gratitude], could be distributed long-term. On the farm’s wall, Si Zhiyan had stationed a squad of machine gunners.

This time, all were veterans, chosen and trained for this defense.

And should the gunners fall, the walls still had [Flowerbed], [Drowned’s Dirge], and [Yogurt Moat].

A multi-layered fortress.

He was determined not to stumble on the same ditch twice.

So long as the farm and the rear stayed secure, all power could focus on a direct confrontation with the [Eye]!

The ranged teams split and vanished, repositioning constantly under central control, alternating bursts of fire.

The [Eye], stung by a left-flank barrage, would find the source vanished into dense undergrowth, only to be struck again from behind and right.

Driven mad, the immense crystalline sphere smashed the ground, tears spraying in agony with every strike.

Like being set upon by hornets—no fatal injuries, but enough to send it into a frenzy.

[Where… where are you!?]
[All of you—damn it, damn it, damn it!!]

The [Eye] spun in rage, white light condensing far faster.

Several players, reveling in the thrill of wounding the [Main God’s Eye], let their guard down, failed to dodge, and were sent flying—half their bodies dissolved in white light, instantly dead.

“When I say retreat, you retreat! Listen to your officers!!” Lin Qiushui bellowed, “All of you—don’t gamble with your lives!!”

But nothing to be done. Most players weren’t soldiers, had no experience in open combat, and this fight had needed rehearsals they hadn’t had time for. That they could be coordinated at all was impressive; overall compliance left much to be desired.

Some losses were inevitable.

Up at the front, Gao Zhai straightened his clothes, bowing in admiration: “At times like this, I’m always amazed at the Skeleton Ferrymen. How do you build such a team?”

Nie Du pulled up his hood, hiding his scarred face, shouldering his black scythe. In brief, he replied, “You need faith, you need time. The farm is still too young.”

He paused, then smiled and shook his head.

“But give it time, and the farm will outdo anything I ever did.
In the future… just wait and see.”

With that, he flung back his cloak and leapt forward—dark miasma surging, scythe raised, a jet-black bone-worm twined up his arm, the raven on his shoulder soaring ahead to clear the way.

“Go—we fight for the farm’s tomorrow!”

“Spring Grass Mercs, on me—attack!!” Gao Zhai bellowed, blade swinging.

With the [Eye] rendered berserk, every close combatant swarmed the mountainside.

The farm produced about 130 refined stones daily; over twenty-odd days, after reserves and losses, 2600 had been armed.

Ranged harriers, melee strikers—at the front, Grim Reaper Nie Du led the 2600 finest fighters in a headlong charge at the [Main God’s Eye].

[Silver-Eyed Shadow] Liang Qingshuang, an agility expert, shot ahead of the pack—skirt fluttering, twin ice blades traced an S through the vanguard, circling to the flank. A flick of her hand, and the ground glazed with ice, freezing toward the [Eye] in a triple attack from both sides and rear.

Around her swan-white neck, two necklaces gleamed—one blue crystal, one red.

Crack!

A surge of frost exploded. Yan Cheng leapt from the ranks in silence—a hunter’s axe growing massive in his grip, swirling with lightning, and with a single mighty blow, he smashed it down on the ice!

Instantly, every patch of ice blazed with lethal thunder!

This combo couldn’t gravely hurt the [Eye], but it forced it to stand in the one spot untouched by lightning—pinning it down, giving the bombardiers a clear shot.

“Beautiful!” Liang Qingshuang, magnificently made up, eyes shining, grinned at Yan Cheng, “Never fought beside you before, but this works! Captain Yan, let’s team up more often!”

Yan Cheng returned the smile.

[So numb… damn it, damn it…]

[You snipers hide, but you melee fools—how far can you run? You’re finished!]

The [Eye]’s voice was hoarse with pain and rage.
A blood-red formation rose around it.

Time to massacre these arrogant players.

A gentle chuckle drifted out just then.

Ssst!

A bright red banknote lanced deep into its pupil.
This blow clearly hurt the [Eye] more than any before—it writhed, its whole form trembling.

Standing right in front, Si Zhiyan, long black coat and high collar, strode from the mist at a measured pace, stopping squarely before the [Eye]. His carriage was straight, his gaze gentle, in one hand a gun firing blood-red bills.

[A-rank Construct: The High-roller’s Sugar-cannon (Upgraded)]
With enough money, nothing is impossible.

Each bullet now cost double—20,000 points per shot; the weapon’s power had soared.

“I am candidate number two, Si Zhiyan, owner of this farm. I intend to begin the second-tier [Eye] trial here.”
His voice was calm, unhurried.

“Your opponent is me.”

Within the fog, half-shadowed, was his composed, handsome face.

“I thank you, Aiko, for every effort you’ve made up to now.”
“Yet, in this moment, I must ask you an unreasonable favor.”

His eyes lifted, gaze crimson as he met the [Eye], and enunciated—

“Come down from the sky. You do not deserve to be there.”

“No one has the right to look down on us.”