Chapter 346 - 323: Rats in the Sewer
Ancient City Ruins, after a lull since the start of the race and small-scale localized battles, the Multi-National Joint Army’s net had begun tightening, and players from the China Region had also completed their rendezvous. The numerical difference between the two sides was roughly 12 to 1, and under the lead charge of Japan, the battle of encirclement and counter-encirclement commenced. If the Multi-National Joint Army united wholeheartedly, annihilating the players from the China Region would not be a challenge at all.
Of course, not to mention that the Chinese side doesn’t trust the foreign players to be united, the Japanese side themselves don’t trust it either. Various acts of going through the motions without real effort, surrounding without attacking, and posturing were all anticipated by Japan. But it didn’t matter because Japan never planned on relying on foreigners to annihilate their arch-enemies. Japan’s main goal in uniting was to avoid unnecessary battles with international friends. What Japan needed to do was to defeat their arch-enemies in front of all foreign friends and establish an image of an international leader.
At this moment — clang! The bell from the Bell Tower rang across the battlefield again, marking an hour passed in game time.
The bell caused a ripple of shock among all players present. It served as a reminder of who was the key figure on this battlefield! But where was this key person?
At this time, this key person was progressing fervently in a sewer towards the second treasure.
In front of the sewer, a group of Kobolds wielding arson sticks charged at Da Fei’s troops with blazing speed. However, a volley of arrows instantly halted the charging Kobolds with a forceful repulsion by the Secret Archer’s special skill! Although ineffective against large and medium units, with Invincible Luck triggered at 100%, it was guaranteed to hit these sleazy small-sized creatures like Kobold! Coupled with the Secret Archer’s long range, these Kobolds fell one after another, hardly advancing. They were met by a second volley of shots from the Banshee and Druid, falling back to the ground.
This battle was much easier than the previous one against the Lizardman. Other than their high number and decent health, Da Fei couldn’t see any formidable traits in them!
Finally, the largest-sized, apparently the boss of the Kobolds, roared and charged forward. This size was too big for the Secret Archer to repel, and it finally got a chance to throw its arson stick! Only after so long did Da Fei realize these Kobolds were capable of long-range attacks!
A Fire Meteor roared in – boom! Oil fire splashed, exploding like a shell in Da Fei’s congested troop formation!
— System Prompt: Dogman Arsonist leader dealt 2310 points of flame damage to your Artillery Emperor Army (7731 points of flame damage resisted), and inflicted an oil fire burning effect of -1 flame damage per second, lasting one hour.
Da Fei’s eyes widened in shock! Damn, it was fortunate it hit the high Fire Resistance Artillery Emperor! If it had hit the Secret Archer, it would have been total annihilation! Is this damage too high for a wild monster?
There was nothing more to say, tons of damage poured out, and the leader of the Kobolds wouldn’t get a second chance to attack, collapsing thunderously.
— System Prompt: Congratulations! You have defeated the Dogman Arsonist, discovered the sewer treasure guarded by Kobolds, and obtained +1 Hero’s Proof.
— System Prompt: You have opened the treasure and obtained the match item "Dogman’s arson stick".
— Dogman’s arson stick: Upon use, all troops gain the Flame Cloak effect, causing 3 points of flame damage per second to nearby enemies. It also has a certain chance to cause an oil fire burning effect on the enemy’s troops. Lasts 1 in-game day. Match items can only be used in this competition.
— System Prompt: You have received competition prize money +180,000 Gold Coins, obtained the competition award "Life Book" +1, received 10 units of Refined Crystal and 10 units of refined gold iron ore. The competition rewards will be issued to your account’s mail in the server region after the competition ends.
...
Da Fei breathed a long sigh of relief! Except for a bit of thrill encountering the boss, the entire battle was quite relaxed. Of course, he hadn’t expected these Kobolds to have ranged abilities, thankfully there were the long-range Secret Archers and Invincible Repel, otherwise avoiding damage would have been truly difficult - facing ranged monsters was his biggest fear. Certainly, no player wasn’t wary of that.
Although the battle was over, the Sweetheart Cannon Emperors were still ablaze, continuously losing health at -1, -1! Darn it! A Skeleton Soldier has only 5 health points라, a gunner has 10 health points, and this continuous -1 per second lasting an hour for 3600 seconds would lay even a Level 8 soldier boss flat! It turned out these Kobolds had some tricks up their sleeve!
In a moment of alarm, Da Fei urgently said to Selvia, "Dispel, heal them!"
Selvia shook her head seriously and said, "I apologize, Commander, this is a special oil with bone-clinging effects and is not magical, so it cannot be dispelled. Also, I do not possess Dark Healing Skill, so I cannot heal them!"
Ah, he really wasn’t used to being addressed as Commander. It’s true though, Light Magic can’t heal dark creatures. It seems that from now on, whether it’s Deirdre or Selvia, mastering Dark Magic will be a necessity. For now, only the Lizardman’s Staff could be used.
— System Prompt: You have used the match item Lizardman’s Staff, increasing your troops’ Poison Resistance by 50% and restoring 5% of health per second for one game day.
After using the item, all troops were covered in a faint green glow, immediately reducing the rate of health loss and quickly regenerating their health.
Da Fei’s eyebrows shot up! For the Artillery Emperors with 300 health, 5% health recovery per second equates to 15 health points; this effect effectively countered 15 damage per second! What did 15 points of damage signify? The damage level of a Level 5 Soldier! If a Level 5 soldier attacked once per second, this meant that troops below Level 5 were barely able to damage high-level soldiers!
Damn, is this staff really comparable to a Divine Artifact for High-level Soldiers? Isn’t this too awesome? Can I just rush out now and go on a killing spree? Is it really okay for a match item to be this strong?
If that’s the case, what about this Dogman Arson Staff? 3 points of Flame Damage is fine, but what about the chance to cause Oil Fire Burning, just like the move used by Artillery Emperor earlier? Doesn’t my Invincible Luck guarantee it’ll always trigger? Then what’s the use of this item? Hit and run guerrilla tactics or whittling down bosses? This staff seems far inferior to the Lizardman’s Staff, but as long as the rewards aren’t too far off, it should be fine.
Next treasure, let’s continue!
Just then, Brother Fei’s message alert went off, and it was from Harem Beauty.
Harem Beauty: "Brother Fei, a lot of foreign players are gathering near the Bell Tower. My friend will try to delay them as much as possible."
Delay? Dragging it out like a dragging oil bottle! Damn! I’m busy farming in the wild to make up for the loss of missing the championship, who’s got time to care about that? You guys just play it cool and contribute a bit. International contests aren’t that easy to blend into, and the world’s heroes aren’t overlooked by you little girls. Just let the foreigners butcher your delicacy, ha.
Brother Fei responded nonchalantly: "I’m trapped right now, but as long as I’m alive, I’ll figure something out."
Harem Beauty laughed: "Understood, Brother Fei. The situation seems bad, but we won’t cause you trouble."
Bad situation for me? Pfft! With my Invincible Luck plus Lizardman’s Divine Wand, I can wipe out whoever I want right now! But what I want to wipe out the most are the wild boss monsters, haha!
Speaking of the Bell Tower, I’ve been skirmishing these past few battles purely on my Invincible Luck. If it were under normal conditions, wouldn’t you need a tank-type unit in front? But hey, a Stone-statue Ghost, a flying tank, is truly top-notch among tanks, but that’s just in normal conditions. I’m not in normal conditions now, and time is pressing, so I better get moving.
Now that the treasure radar isn’t showing any treasures, Brother Fei’s troops can only grope their way forward in the dark sewers. No way, such a large map with just two treasures? That’s too wasteful of expressions, right?
Catherine suddenly said: "Commander, have you noticed the direction of the sewer’s water flow?"
Brother Fei’s eyebrows twitched, Catherine spoke up! Speaking of which, her intelligence hasn’t been fully copied over yet? Even so, she was still able to clue me in on how to open the lid earlier, so if she has something to say now, it must be important.
Brother Fei looked down at his feet, uncertain: "Seems like we are moving against the current?"
Catherine nodded: "I think if we follow the flow of water to the end, we’re bound to make a major discovery."
A major discovery? Could it be the final boss? Absolutely! With such a huge map, and having set up sewers as a hidden map, it’s completely unreasonable not to have a final boss! With my state of Invincible Luck, not killing the final boss is simply intolerable!
Immediately, Brother Fei clapped his hands: "Great! Let’s follow the flow!" Then he added: "By the way, could you lead the way? I’m a bit unclear about the direction of the current, it’s too dark to see clearly." Well, as a captain, I’m not quite up to par.
Catherine nodded: "Leave it to me!"
Oh yeah! My hero is super smart! Wahahaha!
With Catherine’s skilled guidance, the team moved along the water flow. The sound of the water gradually grew louder, the stream grew deeper and faster, clearly indicating this was the main sewer line. Now, Brother Fei was even more convinced there was a final boss here!
Now, the troops arrived at a crossroad, and the darkness of the surrounding tunnels suddenly lit up with countless red lights! Brother Fei’s screen exploded with red light!
—System Prompt: Reconnaissance Skill warning! You are surrounded by a huge number of tiny enemies, you’ll be attacked if you get too close!
Just then, Anlicia exclaimed: "Rats! They are rats!"
Brother Fei’s eyebrows jumped in alarm! So that’s it! What army in the game is the most baffling for players? As previously mentioned, it’s not Level 7 or Level 8 Soldiers or Bosses, but those tiny creatures like Soldier Ants, Soldier Bees, Piranhas, Roaches, these tiny wild monsters that don’t even qualify as Level 0 Troops! Their massive numbers are overwhelming and their attack methods—crawling all over the body—are a real nightmare!
What to do? Will my Invincible Luck really be stopped by these rats?
(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for it, and show your support by purchasing monthly tickets. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)