Chapter 574

Chapter 574: Unlucky Kid

With such a massive deployment, Luo Ji’s military expenses for this wave were undoubtedly astronomical.

However, it did not matter much.

He was aiming to plunder a city.

In other words, spending hundreds of thousands in military fees to bring back a large-scale city, while picking up resources and population along the way, was not a losing deal no matter how he looked at it.

The invasion battle began quickly.

At this moment, Long Taojia, who was in his own world, was stunned when he heard the system notification informing him that a player named Luo Ji was invading.

“Luo Ji? Why does that name sound a bit familiar?”

For a moment, he couldn’t quite remember.

This wasn’t surprising.

Between the one who backstabs and the one who gets backstabbed, the victim always has a much deeper memory.

The one who did the deed often forgets as time passes.

After all, in terms of normal time, over half a year had already gone by.

Long Taojia, unable to recall the name, immediately issued orders to assemble the troops within the city and prepare to support the front line at any moment.

On the other side, Luo Ji, who had led his troops into the invasion, looked at his surroundings with a look of utter disbelief.

Damn! If he wasn’t hallucinating, he was currently standing in the middle of a desert…

The sun overhead was lethal.

Luo Ji, wearing his Bright Mirror Armor, felt like he was about to pass out from the heat.

He quickly stripped off the heavy armor and changed into a suit of light leather armor before finally feeling a bit more comfortable.

But this time, he had truly seen a ghost.

That unlucky kid, Long Taojia, actually had his territory in a desert!

Luo Ji didn’t believe for a second that the guy had voluntarily moved to a desert to build a city.

How scarce would water and food resources be in a desert city?

The living environment was too harsh; it was unsuitable for human habitation no matter how one thought about it, especially for humans of this era.

Undoubtedly, the other party’s starting location must have been randomized to the desert when they first entered the game.

Just how unlucky was this kid?

Luo Ji felt a strange sense of satisfaction in his heart.

However, at the same time, he could not deny that desert terrain possessed distinct geographical characteristics.

For example, it was easy to lose one’s direction in a desert.

Furthermore, the harsh climate and environment radiated an atmosphere that was extremely unfriendly to invaders from start to finish.

Some of the Goblins who had followed him on this expedition were already hopping around because the yellow sand beneath their feet was scalding hot.

This made Luo Ji clearly realize that this desert was a double-edged sword.

While the lack of developmental resources caused Long Taojia’s early progress to be slow, it also formed a natural barrier, greatly increasing the difficulty for any invading player.

At the very least, his five Triple-Bow Bed Crossbows were basically junk now…

Sure enough, after walking over to confirm, Luo Ji couldn’t help but facepalm.

These heavy siege weapons were not light.

Currently, the wheels were nearly sinking into the yellow sand.

The further they pushed, the deeper the wheels sank.

The thought of trying to maneuver these five Triple-Bow Bed Crossbows through this desert was enough to make one emotional.

A bad start!

He had already suffered a loss before the fighting even began.

Fortunately, with the “Goblin Tech” effect, the military cost for these five fragile versions of the Triple-Bow Bed Crossbow was only around 50,000 or 60,000 points.

Factoring in production costs… he did a quick calculation in his head.

It was acceptable; the loss wasn’t devastating.

Luo Ji pondered that since they were just getting in the way, he might as well destroy them.

Better to cut his losses than to let the chaos continue.

The sting of the loss would only last a moment, and it was better than letting them fall into the enemy’s hands later.

Luckily, his experience as a “veteran player” helped him here.

He hadn’t played it risky and had chosen a very stable troop composition.

Even without the Triple-Bow Bed Crossbows, the two Elephantmen Slingers were still excellent siege units.

Fact proved once again that in many terrains, two legs were much more reliable than wheels.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Luo Ji finally sighed.

“Destroy them.”

Thoroughly destroying five Triple-Bow Bed Crossbows was an easy task for Luo Ji.

He just had to let the two Elephantmen deliver a heavy punch to each of the machines.

Ignoring the wreckage left on the ground, Luo Ji surveyed the surroundings.

Aside from sand, there was only more sand.

Within his field of vision, he could see no buildings that looked like a player’s city.

In this kind of terrain, he really didn’t dare to scatter his scouts.

If they all got lost in the desert and couldn’t find their way back, what then?

Fortunately, he had brought Shadow along on this expedition.

An aerial view would be much broader, making it harder to get lost.

Stroking the glossy black eagle feathers, Luo Ji spoke to Shadow…

“Go and find the enemy’s city.”

As he spoke, he jerked his arm upward, and Shadow immediately spread its wings and soared high into the sky.

After seeing Shadow fly off into the distance, Luo Ji ordered the entire army to take a short rest.

Theoretically, they should be on the outskirts of some desert city.

The margin of error wouldn’t exceed a few dozen kilometers.

Given Shadow’s flight speed, he should discover something very soon.

During this waiting period, Luo Ji naturally checked the adaptability of the various units to this desert terrain.

He then clearly realized that the beastmen civilization was truly a civilization built for war.

These warmongers seemed to adapt to all kinds of terrain.

Their resistance to harsh environments was also quite high; they could be described as hardy and hardworking.

Even the Wolf Riders could move freely in the desert.

In contrast, Liaoyuan Huo’s (Red Hare) speed was noticeably affected when running on the sand.

As for the Goblins, those little guys were so hot they were about to stick their tongues out.

Every one of them looked like they couldn’t wait to leave this hellhole.

They were really suffering this time.

Just as Luo Ji was thinking this, an eagle’s cry came from the distance.

Shadow was back!

Shadow flew back quickly, flapping its wings and circling continuously within his line of sight.

It looked as if it were telling Luo Ji to follow it.

Without hesitation, Luo Ji flipped onto his horse and led his troops to follow.

Perhaps because everything looked the same, this stretch of road felt exceptionally long.

Meanwhile, the desert and the sun overhead were constantly stripping him of his stamina and the moisture in his body.

By now, Luo Ji didn’t care about appearances and had draped his cloak over his head to block out the lethal sun.

“Your Majesty, I see the enemy’s city.”

Taking advantage of the height, Luo Ji had a Goblin stand on an Elephantman’s shoulder and use binoculars to confirm the location.

They had undoubtedly locked onto the enemy city.

Hearing this, Luo Ji immediately signaled the two Elephantmen to lower their silhouettes to avoid exposing their presence prematurely.

Then, maintaining a cautious mindset, he sent out a team of scouts to creep toward the city’s location to gather some basic intelligence first.