Liu Xuan's "Black" Health Bar

As the countdown drew closer to zero, Ikeda Masato began arranging for the others to buff him.

The buffs with shorter durations would be applied at the very end.

“Mine increases attack speed by 30%.”

“Mine increases damage by 20%.”

“Your first attack will deal double damage.”

“I can poison your weapon.”

“Mine can block one instance of damage.”

Among the thirty thousand people, there were quite a few hidden support classes, and the buffs they provided were extremely powerful—like the one that doubled the damage of the first attack.

Feeling his attributes swell continuously, Ikeda Masato’s confidence grew stronger and stronger.

With all these buffs stacked on him, dealing one hundred thousand damage before dying might really be possible.

No matter how powerful Liu Xuan was, it was impossible for him to have that much health, right?

Ikeda Masato had made some inquiries. Among the thirty thousand people, there were even hidden tank classes. At around Level 13, they had only seven or eight thousand HP.

That might sound low, but it was already comparable to the health of an ordinary boss of the same level. Besides, tanks had plenty of damage-reduction skills, making their health bars exceptionally durable.

When asked how much health they thought they could have at around Level 26, everyone answered that they could have, at most, tens of thousands.

As for Liu Xuan’s so-called [Pacifist], it obviously wasn’t a tank class. It sounded more like some kind of mystic class.

So even if they gave him the most generous estimate, he probably had only a few tens of thousands of HP.

Even if he had a little more—say, one hundred thousand—so what? He would still die.

……

As the countdown neared its end, the battle that had captured the attention of hundreds of millions of people was about to begin.

The fog separating the attackers and defenders gradually thinned, finally disappearing completely the moment the countdown reached zero.

At last, both sides could see one another.

The defenders stationed at the eastern, western, and northern gates were stunned to discover that they could barely see any attackers on their side of the battlefield.

The several commanders hurriedly reported the situation over the channel.

“We don’t see anyone at the North Gate for now.”

“There are only two or three people at the West Gate.”

“No one at the East Gate!”

Zhang Meng’s heart tightened. “Then where are all their people…?”

Blue Star’s Number One Warrior, Light of Orenburg, Star of Sun and Moon, Liu Xuan: “Don’t panic. They’re all here with me.”

As soon as the fog dispersed, Liu Xuan noticed that there were quite a lot of people on the other side.

However, once the number reached several tens of thousands, it simply looked like a densely packed mass from a distance. Unless someone was extremely experienced, it was difficult to estimate the exact number of people from a head-on view.

So at first, Liu Xuan had merely assumed that the attackers had deployed the greatest number of troops at the South Gate.

Who would have thought that it wasn’t merely the greatest number, but nearly their entire force?

After learning through the channel that there were almost no attackers at the other gates, the smile on Liu Xuan’s face became impossible to suppress.

The more people, the better. With so many targets, his [Corpse Explosion] and [Peace Pact] would have much more room to shine.

Therefore, when Zhang Meng asked whether he should send reinforcements, Liu Xuan thought for a moment before saying with a smile, “Send two hundred people from each direction. Don’t send everyone. There might be invisible units lurking at the other gates.”

Zhang Meng was surprised by his answer, but also relieved.

He was surprised because he hadn’t expected Liu Xuan to accept reinforcements. He was relieved because he also felt that sending some people over would be the safer choice.

Then Liu Xuan continued, “Send some people over to help pick up the equipment.”

“???”

……

On the other side, Ikeda Masato saw that there was only one lone person beneath the city gate. He completely ignored the Eagle Spirit. First he froze, then he was filled with joy.

“Only one person? Hurry, hurry! Put the short-duration buffs on me. I’m going in!”

Ikeda Masato had never expected the South Gate to be defended by only one person.

Needless to say, that person had to be Liu Xuan.

“What arrogance!” Ikeda Masato sneered as the others applied their buffs. He then concealed his presence and charged toward the figure outside the city gate.

As long as they killed Liu Xuan, they could march straight into the city and win the war!

Everyone else thought the same. Chen Weijie and the others were practically beating their chests in frustration. If they had known there was only one person, they would have fought to be the first to attack.

That was Liu Xuan they were talking about! What an honor it would be to kill him.

Ikeda Masato had stacked a variety of movement-speed buffs on himself, and his speed was astonishing. He quickly closed to within several dozen meters of Liu Xuan.

At that moment, the Eagle Spirit circling overhead let out a cry. Ikeda Masato immediately noticed that Liu Xuan’s gaze had fallen upon him.

“An ability that breaks invisibility? But he only spotted me at this distance. It’s already too late.”

When Liu Xuan looked toward him with a smile still on his face, Ikeda Masato sneered inwardly.

Still smiling? You’ll be a corpse in a moment.

But this guy sure loves showing off. Why else would he have such a long string of titles over his head? Is he afraid people won’t notice him?

And his health bar is awfully long. Why is it black, though?

Ikeda Masato suddenly noticed something: Liu Xuan’s health bar was black.

“Could it be some kind of special shield?”

That was the only explanation Ikeda Masato could come up with.

After all, many shield skills manifested directly on the health bar.

It never occurred to him that there was another possibility: on this battlefield, health bars were displayed in segments, and the amount of health represented by each segment varied according to the observer’s level.

For example, if you were below Level 10 and looked at a target’s health bar, each segment would represent ten HP.

When he had first entered the battlefield at Level 1, the [Hound]’s health bar had contained fifteen segments, representing a total of 150 HP.

For those between Levels 10 and 20, each segment represented 100 HP.

Above Level 20, each segment represented 500 HP.

This was originally a convenient system. During battle, an expert only needed to glance at a health bar to immediately estimate how much health an opponent had left.

However, Ikeda Masato was only Level 15. In his eyes, each segment represented just 100 HP. That meant Liu Xuan’s health bar, with his 550,000 HP, contained 5,500 segments.

Although the system had extended the length of Liu Xuan’s health bar, more than 5,500 segments were still crammed tightly together.

As a result, his health bar appeared black.

Ikeda Masato merely thought that Liu Xuan’s health bar was unusually long and that he must have a great deal of health—perhaps even 100,000 HP.

He never imagined that the black color was caused by the segments being packed so densely together.

So when he saw that the Eagle Spirit had exposed him, he immediately activated the Ninja skill [Body Flicker], instantly appearing behind Liu Xuan.

Before he could even attack, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky. However, the shield on his body, which could block one instance of damage, absorbed it.

“An automatically triggered skill? What a shame. I came here covered in buffs! You failed to kill me just now, so you’re the one who’s going to die!”

The fist blade in Ikeda Masato’s hand flashed as he drove it fiercely toward the back of Liu Xuan’s heart.

“Die!”

“-1,074,568!”

A massive damage number appeared. The next second, Ikeda Masato found himself in a white space...

Before he could react, he instinctively tried to use Stealth, planning to give Liu Xuan another combo. But his target was already gone, and a notification popped up:

【You have died in the Promotion Defense Battle. You are currently in a special standby space and cannot use skills.】

“What? I died?”

Ikeda Masato couldn’t understand. Hadn’t he just stabbed Liu Xuan with his claw and dealt over ten thousand damage...?

No, wait. That number just now didn’t look like ten thousand. Why did it seem more like a million? There wasn’t even a decimal point at the end.

There was no way he could deal that much damage, right?

Could that damage have belonged to Liu Xuan? But he hadn’t even attacked.

Confused, Ikeda Masato scratched his head. Then he suddenly felt that something was wrong. His hand felt strangely light.

He looked down at it.

His fist blade was gone.

Then he checked again.

Wait a second—where was all his equipment?!

Wait a second—what happened to the items and money in his bag?!!

Wait a second—why had his experience bar dropped too?!!!

“AAAAAAAH! What happened?!!!”

Inside the special space, Ikeda Masato completely lost it.

Outside the southern gate of Orenburg, Liu Xuan scratched his back.

“What the heck? He suddenly appeared behind me, then suddenly died.”