Chapter 81

"......"

Watching Alpha vanish into thin air without even leaving a residual image as before, Xiu Qi's expression remained as calm as ever, but his right hand, which held the [Golden Snake Sword], trembled slightly. The [Golden Snake Sword] had lost its terrifying momentum and now shook erratically with Xiu Qi's hand, like a frightened venomous snake.

— Perhaps the terrifying third strike had overloaded him, or perhaps the sudden disappearance of that person had unsettled him. In any case, Xiu Qi was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

After standing still for a while until his right hand stopped trembling, Xiu Qi slowly sheathed the [Golden Snake Sword] and sent a message:

"The third strike, it missed."

In a private residence on Missail Street, a young man with a handsome face, dressed as a martial monk, smiled and sipped the wine from his goblet, then said to the person beside him:

"Interesting, the third strike missed."

"Missed... Are you sure that 'Waste Brother' is a level 20 novice?"

"Should be sure... I'm just curious how he managed to survive the first two strikes."

The young man frowned, but his smile remained unchanged, as if it were a natural part of his face.

"Surviving the first two strikes is easy, but dodging the third strike is not."

"Oh, right, right... Surviving the first two isn't a problem, but the third strike missing is more serious."

The young man's face showed a sudden realization, but his smile clung to his face like a leech.

"Can you stop smiling..."

Accompanied by a faint murmur, a delicate, boneless hand picked up another cup from the table and gently brought it to the edge of crimson lips.

A woman...

-------------------------

"Fang Shiyu?"

Alpha looked at the young man lying unconscious in the arms of a middle-aged beautiful woman, his joints a bloody mess, and asked softly.

Since the mission "Red Flower Plunder" was to protect Fang Shiyu and his mother to save Li Guobang, the Fang Shiyu with his tendons severed in the movie was undoubtedly in front of him, and the tearful middle-aged beautiful woman was naturally Fang Shiyu's mother, Miao Cuifang.

Indeed, Alpha was now in the [Hero Space] mission.

When Alpha could no longer avoid the inevitable, he had to face Xiu Qi's third strike of [Golden Light Snake Shadow], which had a 400% damage increase and an [Absolute Penetration Effect]. Without hesitation, Alpha accepted the martial arts acquisition task that appeared in his skill bar.

The result was very satisfying for Alpha:

At the moment the blood-red [Golden Snake Sword] pierced his chest, Alpha disappeared from the military camp. The next second, he found himself in the [Hero Space], in Li Guobang's home, in front of Miao Cuifang and Fang Shiyu.

"Who are you?"

Alpha's strange hairstyle and attire, typical of the late Qing Dynasty, naturally raised suspicions about his identity, especially when such a strangely dressed person appeared out of nowhere.

This was evident from the long sword Miao Cuifang now held at the ready.

"Don't worry, Madam Fang. I'm here to save you. You should leave first, and I'll go help Senior Li Guobang."

"Are you not one of Yu Zhenhai's men?"

"Strictly speaking, I'm one of Chief Chen's men."

Alpha smiled. As a die-hard fan of the TV series "The Legend of Chen Jialuo" starring Adam Cheng, Alpha wasn't lying. Besides, his mission was to save people.

"Senior Li Guobang's fiancée is waiting for you at the back of the mountain. Please take Master Fang there."

If Alpha remembered correctly, in the movie, Fang Shiyu was rescued from the back of the mountain by Li Guobang's fiancée. Yu Zhenhai's men were now blocked outside by Li Guobang, who would soon be blinded by lime and killed in the ensuing attack. Time was of the essence, and Alpha needed to save them quickly.

"Great deeds require no thanks. What is your name, young hero?"

"Let's talk later. I need to help Senior Li Guobang. Time is of the essence."

With that, Alpha made a gesture to invite them to leave and turned to go.

Miao Cuifang, a renowned female hero, acted decisively and without hesitation. She picked up the unconscious Fang Shiyu and left through the back door.

When Alpha rushed to the front courtyard to find the besieged Li Guobang, he heard a loud shout from outside:

"Li Guobang is here!!!"

Then... Then you all know what happened, right? A tribute to the old hen with the [Zhongshan Point] struck!!!

......

......

Reappearing in the military camp, the blacksmith's small house was now filled with many people, to be precise, a group of casual players who had formed a wild team.

With a complete lineup, Alpha had no interest in continuing to work the blacksmith. The newly acquired [Blood Pointing and Pulse Cutting] made him eager to try it out on someone.

Unlike [Swift Shadow], [Pointing Hand] did not level up after reaching level 9 but instead improved through the acquisition of [Blood Pointing and Pulse Cutting]. The attributes of [Pointing Hand] itself remained unchanged, but it now had the effects of a level 9 skill:

[Pointing Hand (Level 9): 1st Rank Unarmed Martial Art, using upgraded techniques, fingers swift as the wind, attacks enemies with finger force. Attacking specific acupoints has a chance to produce a point effect.

Causes (Base Agility + Additional Agility / 2 + Base Strength x 2 + Additional Strength) x 200 (300)% physical damage to a single target;

No casting time,

Casting interval: determined by unarmed attack speed,

Attack range 0-1 yard,

No mana cost,

No casting requirements;

Inner force enhancement effect: increases attack damage and point effect. Different acupoints have a 25 (55)% chance to cause a point effect, and additional inner force value x 1.5 (2.25) inner force damage is added. The maximum inner force enhancement is 240 points.

Note: The data in parentheses is the [Blood Pointing and Pulse Cutting] enhanced data.]

The most significant change was the increase in the point success rate. An additional 30% success rate, combined with the 25% point success rate of the level 9 [Pointing Hand], now brought Alpha's point success rate to 55%. Hitting once every two attempts was enough to make [Pointing Hand] a legitimate control skill.

The damage increase was also significant, boosting the inner force damage of [Pointing Hand] by 50%!!!

Now, with full inner force, Alpha's [Pointing Hand] could deal around 600 damage, a damage output that, while not comparable to Xiu Qi's [Golden Light Snake Shadow], was unmatched among level 20 players.

— Now, if he could hit a vital point, even a minor one, Alpha was confident that few level 20 players could survive.

Seeing that Lancelot was online, Alpha immediately called him over. Lancelot, with his thick skin and high health, was perfect for testing his skills.

Of course, the reason for calling him wasn't to say, "I want to practice on you," but to tell Lancelot that he had discovered Arugal's Son, a legendary newbie killer, in a forest.

Arugal's Son was a hybrid of a werewolf and a wolf, a reinforced elite monster ranging from level 22 to 25, stronger than an elite but not as powerful as a boss.

In fact, except for walking upright, these creatures were more like wolves in terms of intelligence:

Fast, strong, and fearless—meaning they never ran away—were the characteristics of Arugal's Son.

Of course, the last point was useless for players around level 20 near the Defias Outpost, as no one could defeat Arugal's Son alone, so it never had the chance to "be fearless."

Another characteristic of Arugal's Son was its unpredictable movements.

— According to player summaries, the movements of Arugal's Son could be described as "good luck doesn't come, but bad luck does":

Often, when you were looking for it, it wouldn't appear, but when you didn't want a terrifying wolf-headed monster to appear behind you, it would be there, smiling and drooling at you...

Some said that wolves could smell fear, and perhaps that's why Arugal's Son would come sniffing around when players were afraid of encountering it.

Of course, Arugal's Son wasn't entirely useless or a menace to newbies. This high-level monster had some benefits:

For example, it could drop good equipment and skill books, especially skill books. Alpha had found very few in the vast Blackwater Murloc treasure trove, indicating that skill books were very rare. Therefore, for a team, seeing Arugal's Son was a blessing.

Upon hearing about Arugal's Son, Lancelot immediately responded:

"Where? Can't you handle it?"

"Silverpine Forest, of course. I'm level 20, and it's a level 25 reinforced elite. Do you think I can handle it?"

"Damn, you even ran into the highest level. How unlucky are you? Wait, I'm flying over."

The private chat was filled with the sound of birds, likely the sound of a flying griffin. Such expensive routes were usually established between major cities, indicating that this guy wasn't in Silvermoon City and was probably out killing people or something.

While Alpha was listening to the bird sounds, a tall figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision, darkening his view, and a pungent wind hit his face.

Alpha instinctively took a step back and activated [Inner Force Shield].

These nearly instinctive actions saved Alpha from being hit directly by a shiny black claw, which only grazed his shoulder. Even so, it consumed nearly 50 points of Alpha's inner force.

With 1.8 times damage reduction, this single graze was equivalent to 90 points of damage. If it had hit solidly, it would have dealt 200-300 points of damage, enough to leave most level 20 players with low health critically injured.

Who in the area around the Defias Outpost could have such destructive power?

Alpha took a few steps back and finally saw the black figure that had suddenly appeared. He shook his head and replied to Lancelot:

"Never mind, don't come."

"Damn, I'm already on the bird, 2 gold coins, you pay!! Why don't I need to come?"

"Because Arugal's Son really appeared."

With that, Alpha cut off the private chat and brought his right hand's two fingers together, glowing with a golden light...

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