Although they did not understand John’s choice, they were all members of his legion.

Even if the decision seemed absurd, they still chose to carry it out without hesitation.

As John and the other sixteen players all chose the Warden Faction, the event announcement rang out.

[The Warden and Survivor Factions have been assigned. The game has officially begun!]

[Warden Faction members: 17]

[Survivor Faction members: 500,000]

[All players, please check your faction information!]

The scenery around John and the others shifted rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, they appeared on a massive deserted island.

Mountains and dense forests stretched across the island, which was surrounded on all sides by seawater.

A scorching heat unique to tropical rainforests washed over them.

A system prompt sounded beside John’s ear.

[Player identity assigned: Warden!]

[All current player attributes temporarily reduced by 50%. This effect will be removed after the event ends!]

A temporary personal panel automatically appeared before John and the others. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

On the panel, all their attributes began plummeting at once.

"My attack power went straight from ten thousand to five thousand!"

"Same here. I’m clearly an assassin class, but after getting cut in half, I’m down to barely two thousand. I’m not even as fast as a warrior now."

"How are we supposed to play with these stats?"

"We’re the only ones who chose Warden, and the Survivor Faction has five hundred thousand people!

"Can we really win this?"

Although they had obeyed John’s order, after seeing their attributes directly halved and the exaggerated difference in faction numbers, some players could not help but complain under their breath.

Alan frowned slightly. "Shut up. What do you know? If the guild leader chose this, he naturally has his reasons."

John’s attributes had also been cut in half.

...

[Class]: Omni-Class Fusion (Assassin, Archer, Mage, Priest, Warrior)

[Talents]: Wrath of the Raider (SSS), Absolute True Damage (SSS), Wrath Sovereign (SSS), Lord of Beasts (SSS), Dominion Lord (SSS), Universal Synthesis (SS), Heart of Thorns (SS)...

[Attributes]: Strength 56,963 (reduced), Agility 56,963 (reduced), Mind 56,963 (reduced), Stamina 56,963 (reduced)

...

The other players were on the verge of breaking down.

John, however, merely smiled faintly. "It’s fine. I’ll lead you to victory this time. You just need to help me bait the fish."

When everyone heard this, their expressions became somewhat complicated.

They knew that John, as a level 100 player, definitely had far higher attributes than them.

But his attributes had been cut in half!

Even a level 100 player, after having his stats halved, probably could not fight against five hundred thousand survivors, right?

At the thought of facing five hundred thousand survivors, even Alan, who trusted John the most, felt somewhat uneasy.

John, however, did not panic in the slightest.

There was no other reason.

John had already forcefully raised every one of his attributes to an absurdly terrifying level.

Even after being cut in half, his stats still crushed 99% of current players.

Not to mention, he had yet to summon pets like the White Tiger Spirit.

He opened the [Warden] vision.

On the island map, countless red dots instantly appeared with perfect clarity.

He could see the real-time location of every survivor.

All five hundred thousand survivors were scattered across the island.

The nearest one was barely one kilometer away from the beach where John stood.

John’s eyes flickered.

"This place is practically a hunting ground tailor-made for me."

He waved his hand. "Come on. Let the hunt begin."

...

At the same time, the Survivor Faction had already exploded into chaos.

They had their own exclusive chat channel, and almost every player from the other four zones was inside it.

[Ricana] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "Holy crap! There are this many survivors!"

[Adrian] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "Five hundred thousand people in the Survivor Faction. This is awesome!"

[Lucien] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "Hahahaha! The Wardens get their attributes halved, and there are only seventeen of them. Isn’t this an easy win?"

[Leonard] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "Tsk, tsk. Those seventeen idiots must be regretting it to death right now.

"This event was obviously designed to screw over the Wardens!"

Just then, a Zone 1 player dropped a bombshell.

[Edward] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "Everyone, according to the discussions between the guild leaders of several zones, there’s a very high chance that John is among the Wardens from Zone 5!"

After this message appeared, the entire Survivor Faction instantly erupted.

[Maximus] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "That bastard John actually joined the Warden Faction? Hahaha, what an idiot!"

[Aldric] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "His attributes have been cut in half, and there are so many of us. We can bury him with sheer numbers!"

[Cedric] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "Brothers, our top priority in this event isn’t escaping anymore. It’s killing John! Got it?"

[Everett] (Zone 1, Glory Guild): "Absolutely. That son of a bitch stole our Leviathan dungeon last time. This time, we’ll make him pay in blood!"

[Alois] (Zone 4, War God Guild): "John was indeed terrifying before, but now that his attributes have been halved, how much strength can he possibly have left? He must die!"

[Gabriel] (Zone 2, Thunder Guild): "I heard that guy’s base stats are ridiculously high. Could there be a trap?"

[Raymond] (Zone 3, Death Guild): "What are you afraid of? Five hundred against five! No matter how high his base stats are, can they really reach the heavens?"

After learning that John was in the Warden Faction, the survivors from the four major zones were all eager for action.

Almost everyone reached the same consensus.

They would reverse-hunt the Wardens, especially John!

After all, John had been far too prominent recently.

He had taken the relic dungeons from Zone 4 and Zone 1, looted the Glory Guild’s treasury...

Every single thing he had done made the guilds and players from the other zones feel a sense of crisis.

Who knew whether they would be the next ones John set his sights on?

And this event was the perfect opportunity to strike down this major threat.

...

Meanwhile, John had already led his group toward a batch of survivors.

Under stealth, they silently lay in ambush nearby.

This group of players numbered a full five hundred.

If they killed them all, they would directly gain 500 points.

Seeing so many people, one Zone 5 player swallowed hard.

"Boss John, this seems a little risky.

"There are five hundred survivors here, and only seventeen of us. Our attributes have been cut in half, too..."

John glanced at that player and said calmly, "In a bit, after you expose yourselves, lure them over here. Then find somewhere to hide. Just don’t die."

Everyone froze.

"Guild leader, do you mean..." Alan asked tentatively.

"I’ll kill them myself."

John’s tone was calm.