Chapter 9

Update Time: 2014-02-11

Aozhonghua looked at the Qingfeng Patrol Guard in front of him, his face unable to hide his excitement. Judging by the boss's appearance, it must be at least a Silver-level boss! He couldn't wait to see what equipment would drop after taking it down. As for the possibility of not being able to defeat it, that was not even in his consideration. In his mind, their team was extremely powerful, with six of the top 20 players from Tiangshuang City present. How could they not handle a mere boss?

Unfortunately, Aozhonghua and his team were truly unlucky. Their highest level was 19; they originally had a level 20, but after being killed by Lin Zheng, they were left at 19. This one level difference meant they couldn't gather the boss's data, leading them to underestimate its strength. This was the beginning of their tragedy!

"Warriors, charge! Priests, keep an eye on the warriors' health! Everyone else, hit it hard!" Aozhonghua shouted, with the air of a commander. Under his command, four warriors charged at the boss, using the skill "Challenge" to draw its attention. This had the advantage of confusing the boss's target, reducing its attack frequency to some extent. Their strategy worked, and the boss was momentarily unsure of which target to attack. At this moment, Aozhonghua's team unleashed a barrage of attacks—fireballs, ice bolts, lightning arrows, and melee weapons—all landing on the boss. However, the damage numbers that appeared left Aozhonghua's team stunned: -25, -30, -100, -56, -45... There were very few hits over 100, and they were all from the mages. Before Aozhonghua's team could react, the boss went berserk!

"Roar!" The boss let out a deafening roar, making everyone cover their ears. The Aozhonghua members surrounding the boss were horrified to find their health dropping by 200 points per second. Aozhonghua immediately shouted, "Priests, heal! Heal quickly!" The priests, who were far away, ignored the roar and quickly cast healing spells. Unfortunately, there were only four priests, and there were over a dozen people attacking the boss. They couldn't keep up, and several of the more fragile members tragically died within five seconds of the boss's roar. After barely surviving the roar, Aozhonghua's team let out a sigh of relief, only to be startled again by another roar from the boss. They were terrified, but then they realized their health wasn't dropping. They relaxed and cursed, "What the hell, why are you roaring for nothing? Scared us to death!"

"Run! Run quickly!" the ranged members of Aozhonghua's team shouted. The melee members noticed that the boss's eyes had turned red after the roar, indicating that it had used some kind of enhancement skill. This meant its attack power had significantly increased. Unfortunately, they realized this a bit too late. The boss swung its axe at a warrior, and a massive -1125 damage number appeared above the warrior's head, instantly killing him.

"Damn!" Lin Zheng and his group, hiding nearby, sucked in a breath. This damage was insane! Enraged! That's right, Lin Zheng had already discovered that in the Enraged state, the boss's attack power doubled, but its defense dropped by 75%. However, in this state, defense was irrelevant; one axe swing could kill anyone. Who could survive until the boss's health was depleted?

"How can we kill this monster?" Longya stared at the boss, which had already killed several people, in disbelief.

"Gold-level boss! Do you think it's easy to kill? I estimate we'd need full Silver-level equipment to stand a chance!" Chunfeng analyzed, "At this stage, most of us are still in White-level equipment. I don't think anyone can kill this boss!"

"Hmm! Not necessarily!" Lin Zheng, who had been staring at the boss for a while, said. He had a rough plan, but it was difficult to execute, and he was worried about the team's skill level. So he thought of someone!

"I know someone named Hongchen YanYu. Should we call him for help?" Lin Zheng asked. After all, this boss was discovered by their team, and according to the rules, he needed their consent to call for help.

"Hongchen YanYu!?" The others were surprised. This guy was one of the top five players on the leaderboard!

"Yep!" Lin Zheng nodded, "He's living with me now. He's a good guy. What do you think?"

"Since you know him, it's fine. But even if he comes, can we really defeat this monster?" Bangwang pointed to the boss, which was almost about to wipe out Aozhonghua's team. At this point, all of Aozhonghua's melee members were dead, and most of the ranged members were also gone. The boss was now chasing a marksman, and with one axe swing, the marksman was also killed.

Damn! This is a monster! Lin Zheng was also losing confidence, but regardless, he decided to call Yang Qi, a veteran player, to see what she thought. He initiated a call, and soon the connection was established.

"Xiao Lin! What's up? Want me to help you level up?" Hearing Yang Qi's annoying voice, Lin Zheng's forehead veins bulged. He took a deep breath and said, "There's a monster here. Come and help!"

"Monster?" Yang Qi was confused, "What kind of monster? Did you get into a fight with someone? Got PKed?"

"Can't you be a bit more imaginative!?"

"Is it a boss!?" Yang Qi immediately got excited! Hearing Lin Zheng's affirmative "Yep!" she jumped up, "Damn! Wait, I'll be right there! What? You're in a group? No problem! I know the rules! See you soon!"

"That's it, he'll be here soon!" Lin Zheng shrugged at the others.

Yang Qi was also leveling up in Qingfeng Forest, but she was deeper in, where the monsters were stronger and the experience was better. After receiving Lin Zheng's call, she opened the friend location and rushed to Lin Zheng's location. Meanwhile, Lin Zheng and his group were taking advantage of the boss's distraction to loot the fallen Aozhonghua members' equipment. They quickly gathered all the dropped items, and the few who hadn't resurrected yet were furious but had no choice but to resurrect and leave. After looting, Lin Zheng and his group quickly hid to avoid being caught by the boss and started dividing the loot.

Aozhonghua, being a well-known guild in Tiangshuang City, had wealthy members. The dropped equipment included many Bronze-level items, which must have cost a lot to acquire. Now, they all went to Lin Zheng and his group. Lin Zheng, who originally only had a dagger, now had a full set of armor. The others also completed their missing armor pieces, and there were even a few left over, which they gave to Bangwang to sell. They were all smiling, as they had made a profit even if they couldn't kill the boss.

After finishing off Aozhonghua's team, the boss returned to its original spot. Yang Qi hadn't arrived yet, so the group chatted to pass the time. Soon, Yang Qi contacted Lin Zheng, saying she had arrived and wanted them to come out. Lin Zheng left the bushes and quickly spotted Yang Qi, who was now wearing a helmet that covered her entire head. If it weren't for the "Hongchen YanYu" name above her head, Lin Zheng wouldn't have recognized her! Yang Qi also saw Lin Zheng and circled around to avoid the boss, running over to him.

"Here! Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Hongchen YanYu, currently third on the leaderboard. YanYu, these are my friends: Bangwang, Tifa, Xiaomiao, Jiduchunfeng, and Longya!" Lin Zheng introduced them.

Yang Qi smiled, "Nice to meet you all! Please take care of me!" The others smiled back, but then Yang Qi looked at Lin Zheng and said, "When did you start stuttering? Your speech is so awkward!"

"Me? Stuttering?" Lin Zheng was confused but quickly realized the reason. The others, except for Longya, burst into laughter. Lin Zheng angrily said to Longya, "You! Introduce yourself next time! Damn!" The group laughed even harder, while Yang Qi looked confused and Longya looked frustrated.

"Alright, stop fooling around! YanYu, look at that boss. How do we kill it? By the way, can you hide that helmet? It's really unflattering for a girl to wear something like that!" Lin Zheng wanted to get straight to the point but couldn't help commenting on Yang Qi's helmet.

"Sure, I'll hide it!" Yang Qi opened her character interface and hid the helmet, revealing her youthful and beautiful face. She smiled mischievously and hooked her arm around Lin Zheng, "What? Missed me already? If you like me, just say it! We're friends, and I'll give you a chance!"

"Go away! You're so full of yourself!" Lin Zheng playfully bumped his head against Yang Qi's. The others were stunned, not expecting Lin Zheng's "thug" to be such a beautiful girl. Lin Zheng quickly said, "Don't be fooled by her looks! She's a tough girl and a thug! She'll do anything without hesitation!"

"Friends are friends, but if you keep badmouthing me in front of others, I'll sue you for defamation!" Yang Qi glared at Lin Zheng, "Want me to let you off? Hand over your loot!"

Lin Zheng didn't respond, just shrugged at the others, "See? She's a thug!"

"Stop thinking about the loot! Focus on how to deal with that monster!" Lin Zheng pointed to the boss. "We need to act fast, or others will come and take it!"

Hearing this, Yang Qi became serious. She had already checked the boss and understood its capabilities. After a moment of thought, she said, "A direct attack won't work. No one can withstand the boss's attack, especially since it can go into a rage and instantly kill anyone. So, we need to use a 'block exchange' strategy."

"What's a 'block exchange'? How do we do it?" Jiduchunfeng asked, frowning.

"It's a method for dealing with humanoid bosses!" Yang Qi explained, "Humanoid monsters usually have weapons. When you block their attacks, both parties will be pushed back and become unbalanced after one second. This is our chance to attack the boss! However, the boss has high attack power and can go into a rage. Since the weaker party will take damage during the block, we need at least two people to block to prevent being instantly killed."

"Right, I considered this before, but I was worried about one person not being able to handle it," Lin Zheng nodded.

"Everyone, report your attack power so we can assign positions!" Yang Qi said.

"228!" Bangwang, "335." Tifa, "296!" Jiduchunfeng, "375!" Longya, "547!" Lin Zheng, "291" Xiaomiao.

"Wow! Your team has strong output!" Yang Qi was surprised, then even more surprised, "Xiao Lin, what was your attack power again?"

"547!"

"Damn!" Yang Qi's eyes widened, "I'm level 20 with a Black Crow Sword, and my attack power is 594. You have 547! What weapon are you using? Show me!"

Lin Zheng had no choice but to show the dagger's attributes. When they saw the dagger's stats, everyone was stunned. Not only did it have an insane base attack, but it also prevented healing and increased skill proficiency by 10 points! And this was a beginner's dagger? How could a beginner's dagger be so powerful?