This Strange Three Kingdoms Game Is Too Brutal 38

Chapter 38: Wild Ox Armor Set

“According to the intel my Wraith sister collected!”

“After Ma Yuanyi suffered a gruesome death by dismemberment (a traditional Chinese form of execution), perhaps due to an incredibly strong lingering attachment, he was chosen by the Abyssal Will to become a pollution vector, capable of contaminating other beings and dragging them into the Abyssal Nightmare. Once trapped in the Abyssal Nightmare, one cannot be killed nor find peace, eventually becoming increasingly demonized through repeated nightmares over time.”

“The Abyss’s settings are extremely complex.”

“I’ve only grasped the tip of the iceberg. I will collect more intelligence and evidence; I’ll open a dedicated thread for research and discussion on this topic when I have the chance. I won’t make excessive and unfounded speculations here to avoid spreading misinformation and misleading other players.”

“The second most important person in Hexi Village is called Li Niu, born in the first year of Zhongping (183 AD), the same year Ma Yuanyi was executed. Yet he is now twenty years old. This indicates that at least twenty years have passed since the Yellow Turban Rebellion.”

“The first year of Zhongping is 183 AD.”

“Twenty years later is 203 AD.”

“According to the historical progression of the Three Kingdoms, 203 AD is the eighth year of Jian’an. The Battle of Guandu ended three years earlier, and the entire Central Plains region was unified under Cao Cao’s rule.”

“However, our location is clearly not within the Three Kingdoms timeline of normal history. Therefore, I believe that from the moment the Heavenly Tribulation and the Abyss descended, the timeline in this region deviated from historical timelines and moved to another Abyssal timeline created by the game developers.”

“Based on the available clues,”

“I speculate that the ‘诡三国’ (literally ‘Ghost Three Kingdoms,’ referring to the game) game world is composed of countless maps pieced together!”

“The time and space of each map are not continuous, indicating that the Abyss’s invasion of the Three Kingdoms wasn’t merely spatial, but enveloped the entire Three Kingdoms era, along with hundreds of years before and after it, creating pollution.”

“This process shattered hundreds of years of time and space into tens of thousands of independent dreamscapes. Each nightmare has a core pollution source continuously emitting pollution, thus forming an independent timeline. The longer the pollution lasts, the more severe the demonization and distortion, and the higher the level of the corresponding map.”

“Perhaps this is abstract.”

“But if this guess is correct.”

“Players in the game could encounter the peak periods of various famous generals.”

“Of course, they could also participate in battles or historical events from many different periods!”

“They could encounter early figures like Zhang Jiao, and also meet later figures like Jiang Wei, Deng Ai, Lu Kang, and Wen Yang. However, a question arises here: is it possible to encounter the same person in different timelines? Or, could a single character exist in multiple forms within the game? Based on the current clues, this remains unanswered.”

“…”

“In short,”

“Based on the current situation,”

“‘诡三国’ has an extremely complex and vast setting.”

“The game developers, through the clever design of two timelines, used the Three Kingdoms as a blueprint for massive secondary creation of content.”

“This allows the game to retain the elements and plots of the Three Kingdoms while also being full of countless unknown mysteries and puzzles. From the Abyss and the stars outside the ‘诡三国’ worldview to the joys and sorrows of every small character, the world’s plots and stories seem inexhaustible. It’s a treasure trove and paradise for us plot and setting enthusiasts.”

“…”

Hang Yu finished reading the post.

Although there were several inaccuracies.

The overall direction was correct, and it did contain some useful information.

Chi Mei Wang Liang’s classification of timelines was also interesting. She divided the ‘诡三国’ timeline into two:

One is the normal historical timeline.

The other is the distorted Abyssal timeline.

This classification method is worthy of adoption and reference!

The historical time of Luoshui Execution Ground is 183 AD, while the Abyssal time is Abyssal Year 20. In the future, using this method to categorize other maps, the time node and development of each map will have a more intuitive representation.

Because the pollution source intensity of each map is different, the Abyssal time is also different. A longer Abyssal time usually means more distortion, and more terrifying monsters.

He also glanced at other posts.

Different players have different styles.

Chi Mei Wang Liang, as a plot and setting enthusiast, focuses more on the game’s plot, story, and world setting.

Hei Tong Rui Ge and Xian Yu Tu Ci are strategy experts, so their content is naturally more hardcore, mainly writing about various monster information, discussing gameplay strategies, and researching game mechanics and new technologies.

Recently, there have also been many more lifestyle players like Chen Xi and Xiao Ling Dang. They focus more on the humanistic scenery and the game experience itself, showcasing the mystery and charm of the ‘诡三国’ world from different perspectives.

Impeccable.

All of them were well-written.

No wonder Xiao Ba carefully selected these high-quality players.

Because of these players’ tireless posting and sharing, the popularity of ‘诡三国’ continues to rise.

Of course, even with screenshots and photos as evidence, many netizens still question the game’s authenticity. Regardless of the possibility of AI technology and simulation accuracy, the texture and lighting of these photos seem too realistic—something impossible to achieve with current virtual reality games.

Rather than screenshots from a virtual game.

They look more like real-life photos with special effects processing for movie posters.

Hang Yu didn’t care about these controversies. With the current popularity of ‘诡三国,’ the number of pre-registered players will soon exceed one million, giving him a sufficient talent pool to select early players.

“Lord, it’s time for your meal!”

A clear and pleasant voice came.

Yan Ling brought the lord his lunch.

A bowl of snaketail chicken soup, a Skeletal Scorpion Tailed Ox steak, and several types of fruit as tribute from Hexi Village.

Hang Yu realized he had spent several hours on the forum without noticing, quickly closing it; he couldn’t keep reading.

When his gaze fell on Yan Ling, he saw the fox girl’s pale face, indicative of severe anemia. Knowing she had overworked herself again, he inquired about her recent work.

“New equipment has been successfully forged!” Yan Ling exclaimed excitedly.

Hang Yu was slightly surprised: “So fast? Let me see!”

Yan Ling showed him the equipment she had crafted using high-quality leather from the Skeletal Scorpion Tailed Ox.

【Skeletal Wild Ox Helmet】, Tier 1 equipment, White Low-Grade, Physical Damage Mitigation +4, Independent Defense +12, Strength +1, Durability 20/20.
【Skeletal Wild Ox Breastplate】, Tier 1 equipment, White Low-Grade, Physical Damage Mitigation +4, Independent Defense +12, Strength +1, Durability 20/20.
【Skeletal Wild Ox Boots】, Tier 1 equipment, White Low-Grade, Physical Damage Mitigation +4, Independent Defense +8, Strength +1, Durability 20/20.
【…】
【Skeletal Wild Ox Set Effect】, All Attributes +2, Physical Mitigation +6.

Whoa!

Such high attributes?

Hang Yu was astonished by the equipment’s effects.

He quickly asked: “How many sets of this armor can be produced?”

Yan Ling reported: “My lord, we have forty units of high-quality leather in stock, enough for approximately six sets of equipment. I can also craft sets using ordinary leather; since we have plenty of ordinary leather, it should be sufficient to equip all your subjects!”

This Wild Ox set comes in two qualities: white and grey.

The former is made using materials dropped by the Skeletal Scorpion Tailed Ox, resulting in higher attributes and quality.

Although players have a tenfold drop rate, the amount of materials dropped by a single monster is limited. The current projection of six sets is already very ideal; it’s sufficient to significantly increase the combat power of elite subjects.

The latter is made from ordinary Scorpion Tailed Ox leather.

Due to the difference in materials, the grey mid-grade quality is naturally inferior.

Hang Yu looked at the attributes of the ordinary Wild Ox set. The helmet and breastplate provide 1 mitigation and 5 defense; other parts provide 1 mitigation and 3 defense, granting a total of 6 points of physical mitigation to the full set!

What is independent defense? What is physical damage mitigation?

The former is damage reduction from the armor’s inherent strength, only effective when an attack hits a specific protected area; thus, it usually has blind spots. If an arrow pierces a gap in the armor, it won’t offer any protection—consistent with real-world physics.

The latter is a whole-body damage absorption; even if the attacked area has no armor, it provides mitigation without blind spots.

If a player has 6 physical damage mitigation, when they receive 10 points of damage, 6 points will be offset by the equipment’s energy, resulting in only 4 points of health loss.

The ordinary Wild Ox set is not bad either.

It also has a set bonus of +1 to all attributes and +2 to damage mitigation.

Although it is only a grey mid-grade quality, equipping the full set gives it value on par with grey high-grade equipment; it’s undoubtedly a very high-quality armor set in the current stage!

Yan Ling’s contributions exceeded expectations!

Her craftsmanship and work ethic gained the lord’s approval!

Once these two sets of equipment are distributed to the troops, the army’s strength will significantly increase!

But there’s a practical problem.

Hang Yu felt very troubled.

Although he had excellent equipment and wanted to equip his army quickly to improve his territory’s strength…the players were simply too poor to afford such expensive equipment!

What to do?

The only solution is to increase currency issuance.

But he can’t just give players contribution points and equipment for no reason!

The only solution Hang Yu could think of is to quickly give players missions, preferably high-difficulty, high-risk, high-reward ones.

This way, he could make the players suffer more, contribute more Essence Energy to Hang Yu, and increase contribution point issuance—or even directly reward full sets of equipment, causing players to face challenges head-on, tirelessly, even frenziedly, and willingly!

(End of Chapter)

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