"Um, sorry..."
Anan suddenly lowered her head and said, "As I thought, I still can't chat with you like a normal girl on a real date."
"I understand. After all, as one of our main combatants, there's no way you can stay relaxed in the middle of a war. But making my date happy is also my responsibility."
As Carl spoke, he used his illusion magic to construct a large map of Oath's world.
Because Anan, their strongest combatant, was present, Carl did not need to worry about the Empire spying on him. He explained his next plan to her directly.
"Then let's talk about sothing that will make you happy. As it happens, I need to discuss my next plan with you anyway."
On the map, the Holy Nation's City of Glory and the Empire's Imperial Holy Capital were actually not that far apart.
That was also why Oath's official team had chosen this location as the main city for Version 2.0.
"I want to confirm sothing with you first. How far can the incoming Plague Torrent spread? Can it reach the Imperial Holy Capital?"
The mont Carl asked that question, Anan imdiately understood what he wanted to do.
"You want to lead the Plague Torrent toward the Empire's city?" Anan asked.
"Not into the city itself. I want to lead it across the wilderness between the two cities and use that area as the battlefield."
Carl marked out the wilderness between the City of Glory and the Imperial Holy Capital. The area contained all kinds of terrain and landscapes, so there was no need to spend extra resources reconstructing the map.
"If we draw in the Plague Torrents from both the Holy Nation and the Empire, they can definitely cover that area."
Anan pointed at two nearby regions marked in red.
The Plague Torrent did not appear out of thin air. The reason it was called a torrent was because it was a phenonon that already existed in various regions of Elysium.
After Elysium cut away the plague seal from one area, another area would gradually beco infected.
What Anan did was simply accelerate that process.
"But that still won't be enough to stop the Empire from invading the Villager Saviors' City of Glory."
Anan pointed out the biggest flaw in Carl's plan with a single sentence.
"Madam Calamity also has the ability to control the torrent, and she might even use it to intensify the assault on the village players' city."
"Let ask sothing first. Are the residents of the Imperial Holy Capital refugees like those in the Holy Nation, or..."
Before revealing his next plan, Carl felt a little guilty, so he asked Anan this question first.
"Soldiers," Anan answered directly.
"The Empire does not have a tradition of using refugees as NPCs. In their view, only trained soldiers acting as NPCs can extract more Emotional Antidote from players. The Holy Capital is a city built to welco the Saviors, so the residents inside are definitely all soldiers."
Realizing what Carl was hesitating over, Anan suddenly placed her small hand on the back of his.
"No matter what your plan is, I will do my best to minimize casualties."
"It feels like I'm the one being indecisive. All right, this is the next Open World gaplay mode I'm planning to design."
Carl showed Anan a UI interface he had just created.
"City of Glory Corruption Level: 11%"
"Plague Torrent Corruption Rate: 1.4/h"
"Savior Purification Rate: 1.5/h"
"What is this?" Anan asked.
"A gaplay mode that spreads the flas of war across the entire world of Oath."
As Carl spoke, he materialized a black chess piece and knocked over the white piece representing the City of Glory.
"The reason the Empire and so Oath players can invade the village players' Open Worlds so recklessly and destroy everything without a second thought is because, in those players' eyes, it's all just a ga. Just PvP."
"And the City of Glory 'purged' by the Empire doesn't look any different to the players either. After all, the NPCs are only being replaced by Imperial soldiers."
"But what if the City of Glory truly falls? What if it is actually erased from Oath's history if the players fail to defend it?"
What Carl was saying was simply the reality of Elysium's world. If the City of Glory failed to stop the Plague Torrent, that area would be cut away, and a brand-new City of Glory would be built on its foundation.
But most players had no real sense of that, because the City of Glory could be rebuilt by Elysium countless tis.
"This plan of yours is truly devious."
Anan understood very quickly.
This was the current situation faced by the village players.
The Open Worlds led by the Navigator Guild, which had already unlocked Pokémon gaplay, were currently under assault by the Imperial army.
They were also being invaded by large numbers of players who did not know the truth and simply thought it was fun, along with Oath diehards and even players who just enjoyed PvP.
Since the Empire and those players loved invading and destroying the City of Glory so much...
Then Carl would have Anan summon the Plague Torrent with the goal of destroying every player's City of Glory across the entire server, starting a true invasion war.
"But it is indeed practical. It can unite all the Saviors against the Plague Torrent."
Anan also knew that Carl did not truly want to destroy every City of Glory.
This simple invasion progress bar would be enough to unite all Oath players across the server and make them defend the Super City of Glory.
"But what if the Saviors choose to abandon the City of Glory?" Anan asked the most important question regarding Carl's plan.
Although she could not watch Oath's official event livestreams, her intelligence network was extrely well inford.
She knew that after she gave up her role as the main focus of Version 2.0, the players would all head to the Imperial Holy Capital for their new adventures.
By then, in the players' eyes, the City of Glory would be like an abandoned old favorite, with no value left worth defending.
"The best solution is to let the flas of war spread to the Imperial Holy Capital as well. After all, it would be a little boring if players only had to defend one city, wouldn't it?"
As Carl said this, he truly felt as though he had secured his role as the mastermind behind the scenes.
But Elysium had no objections, because Elysium knew that Carl's gaplay modes could effectively mobilize the players' enthusiasm for purifying the Calamity Plague.
If nothing else, just sticking a notification in the players' faces that said "The City of Glory is about to fall"...
Would probably be enough to make a huge number of players farm the Calamity Plague day and night.
"The key question is, how am I supposed to sneak into the Imperial Holy Capital?"
Anan asked about the biggest obstacle in Carl's plan.
"The Imperial Holy Capital is personally protected by Madam Calamity. I certainly can't go there openly."
In Anan's view, if she could not manifest as the Plague Torrent within the Imperial Holy Capital, she might not be able to give Oath players a real sense of crisis.
They might simply think it was nothing more than another large-scale official event.
"I actually have a way. The Trial of Glory has ended, and the award ceremony is being held in the Imperial Holy Capital."
"The award ceremony must be very grand, and the player who took first place in the Trial of Glory is the president of the Do Alliance, Vengeful Blood."
Carl had not expected Vengeful Blood to actually take first place in the Trial of Glory with both her main account and her alt.
"I'll talk to her and see if we can bring you and the Abyssal Knights into the award ceremony in the form of Poké Cards."
"If that really works, it'll be quite the spectacle!"
Hearing this, Anan also beca excited. She kicked her small feet lightly and imdiately leaned across the table, looking exactly like a little girl waiting for Carl to pick her up.
"Let's go! I'll go with you to convince her!"
As Anan tried to pull Carl toward Vengeful Blood's Open World, she seed to suddenly rember sothing.
"Um, we said this was a date, but in the end, it feels like it turned into a strategy eting again," Anan said apologetically.
"I don't mind. Besides, isn't the point of a date to make your partner happy? I think I've achieved that."
Looking at Anan's eager, restless expression as she tried to hurry to Vengeful Blood's Open World, she really was as excited as a little girl.
Hearing Carl's words, Anan's cheeks turned faintly red for once, and she finally said to Carl sowhat awkwardly,
"Then doesn't that an my goal hasn't been t? Carl Agata, I always feel like you're constantly thinking about how to make other people happy."
"Do you understand the kind of happiness that cos from a proud shipper grin? For , as long as the players are happy, I'm happy."
Carl did not really care about such trivial matters.
"Then, if I can co back alive..."
Anan grabbed Carl's hands again and made a solemn promise.
"I... I will place everything I have at your disposal."
"Don't set up a death flag like that! We'll talk about everything when the ti cos. All right, let's go to Vengeful Blood's Open World and talk business!"
Carl directly picked up Anan's petite body and carried her all the way to Vengeful Blood's world.
(To be continued.)
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