Elsewhere, **Hu Tao** stared gloomily at the group of zombies standing right outside her city gates, irritation rising by the second.
Those zombies were planted firmly at the entrance—she couldn't even *leave* the city.
"What is this nonsense?"
Hu Tao seriously suspected that **Valerius** was deliberately targeting her.
No resources at the start was one thing—but monsters *blocking the gate* right from the beginning?
Worse still, the zombies just stood there blankly. She couldn't even tell how many there were.
Charging out to fight them felt risky. She only had **50 Skeletons**, and they were all **Tier 1 units**.
The zombies outside were **Tier 2**.
Even if their attack and defense weren't much better than skeletons, their **HP was 15**.
Her skeletons?
**6 HP.**
There was barely any comparison.
Thankfully, although everyone's spawn point was random, teammates could still communicate via voice chat.
[Hu Tao: Help! I'm trapped by a group of zombies guarding my gate—I can't get out! Someone save me!]
[Xiangling: Hahaha, serves you right for picking Necropolis. I already found a lumber mill—give me a few days and I'll be recruiting Wood Elves!]
[Keqing: Zombies blocking the gate? Why don't you just kill them?]
[Hu Tao: I only have 50 Skeletons! How am I supposed to win?]
[Ningguang: Fifty?! That many?!]
[Beidou: What's going on? How do you have that many skeletons?]
[Hu Tao: Is 50… a lot?]
[Keqing: I only have 25 Spearmen and 6 Archers.]
[Beidou: I've got 21 Wolf Raiders and some Lizardmen—nothing close to that.]
Hu Tao blinked in surprise.
Why were everyone else's armies so small?
How did *she* end up with 50 units?
Looking at it that way… maybe those zombies weren't impossible after all.
[Dehya: Is 50 really that many…? I've got 68 Troglodytes.]
[Candace: I have 40 Troglodytes, but I also got 7 Harpies.]
[Raiden Ei: 30 Goblins and 13 Wolf Raiders. I've already taken a quarry and a lumber mill—tomorrow I can recruit Orcs.]
Seeing Hu Tao stuck at the gate, Raiden Ei couldn't resist showing off a little.
After all—she was the Raiden Shogun.
This kind of strategic warfare was trivial to her.
[Yae Miko: Are you dumb? Why are you building Orcs first? Rush Thunderbirds, then go straight for Behemoths.]
[Raiden Ei: Aren't buildings supposed to be constructed tier by tier?]
[Yae Miko: Only idiots build them in order. Didn't you check the building tree?]
[Raiden Ei: I—of course I checked!]
After carefully reviewing her city's building tree, Raiden Ei realized she didn't actually need to build Orcs at all.
She could skip straight to **Thunderbirds**, then unlock **Behemoths**.
"…Nice."
She smiled with satisfaction.
"Figures. Even my choice of city is top-tier."
While other players still had to crawl up the tech tree step by step, she could jump straight to the endgame.
Just imagining everyone else still struggling with Tier 3–4 units while she marched around with **Tier 7 final units** was enough to make her mood soar.
[Dehya: Wait—how can Raiden just skip the building tree?]
[Beidou: I can do that too. As long as I get wood, I can directly recruit Wyverns.]
[Keqing: That's ridiculous. What kind of cities did you all pick? How is this fair?]
[Ningguang: It does seem… uneven.]
[Nahida: Each city likely has its own strengths. Perhaps cities that can rush high-tier units are designed for early aggression.]
[Zhongli: That explanation makes sense.]
[Venti: Then I suggest players who can rush high-tier units explore aggressively, while the rest of us develop in the rear for the final showdown.]
[Yae Miko: Leave it to the wise and beautiful Lady Guuji~ Clearing the map with Thunderbirds feels amazing.]
[Beidou: No wood. Can't build them.]
Beidou sounded genuinely envious.
Even though she technically could unlock Tier 6 units, the Wyvern Nest required **15 wood**, and she had no clue where to find that much.
[Zhongli: Have you built a Marketplace?]
[Beidou: Not yet. Why?]
[Zhongli: Once markets are built, we can trade resources with each other.]
[Raiden Ei: What—seriously?! Then give everything to me, I'll wipe them all out myself.]
[Hu Tao: Hey—can someone remember I'm still stuck here?!]
[Yae Miko: Do you have a marketplace?]
[Raiden Ei: Do you have a marketplace?]
Hu Tao wanted to cry.
She was trapped inside the city the moment she spawned—what resources was she supposed to use to build a marketplace?
At this point, the zombies outside her gate were becoming more and more unbearable to look at.
"…That's it. I'm going all in."
Gritting her teeth, Hu Tao threw open the city gates and charged straight at the zombies.
Staying trapped inside meant she could do *nothing* anyway.
Better to gamble than wait helplessly.
If she died to monsters, so be it—
better than being eliminated by another player.
As she rushed out, the battle began.
On one side: **50 Skeletons** under Hu Tao's command.
On the other: **thirty-something shambling Zombies**.
"Charge! Kill them!"
At her command, the skeletons surged forward—no tactics, no formation, just a headlong rush.
Fortunately, skeletons were naturally faster than zombies.
With Hu Tao's Skeleton specialty boosting them further, they moved with startling speed.
The two sides collided.
At only Tier 1, the skeletons' damage output was limited.
But the zombies weren't exactly offensive powerhouses either.
Aside from being tougher, they had no real advantage.
"…Huh?"
Watching the zombies fall one by one, while her skeletons suffered minimal losses, Hu Tao froze.
"I think… I might actually win?"
One zombie after another collapsed. Her skeletons kept standing.
Hu Tao stared, stunned.
"So they were this weak?"
She paused, then nodded firmly.
"No—this must mean *I'm* just that strong."
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