Chapter 347 - 324: Confronting the Plague
Da Fei’s journey would certainly not be halted by the mere obstruction of rats. Da Fei finally understood what the Dogman Arson Staff was for, so let’s use it!
——System Prompt: You have used the Dogman Arson Staff, your troops have gained the Flame Cloak effect, dealing an additional 3 points of flame damage per second to nearby enemies, with a certain chance to inflict an Oil Fire Burning effect on the enemies.
In an instant, Da Fei’s troops were shrouded in a faint ring of flames on top of the green glow enveloping them.
points of flame damage might not be significant for high-level soldiers possessing magic resistance, but it was a terrifying additional kill power for those 1st and 2nd level soldiers with around 10 health points, not to mention these tiny rats. How much health could these mere rodents possibly have?
The battle began, and the rats surrounding the corridor let out piercing shrieks. They launched a suicidal attack on Da Fei’s troops from the water, from the walls, from the ceiling, overwhelming from every direction, numerous rats perishing in the flames. But even so, they managed to breach the barrier of flames and climbed all over Da Fei’s troops, inflicting damage.
After all, the Flame Cloak dealt damage every second, not constantly, and could not stop the relentless and seamless attacks of the rats. But it doesn’t matter, with the Lizard God Staff, Selvia’s healing, and especially the coverage of the Flame Cloak, eliminating the rat swarm was only a matter of time. Under normal circumstances, once overwhelmed by these small creatures, it would truly mean doom. This means without this arson stick, I couldn’t even think about coming here! Perhaps, Catherine’s sudden speech was not just an AI outbreak but was triggered by using the staff, setting off the scene’s plot? It seems this sewer is far from devoid of depth!
Just as he was pondering this, a black light suddenly enveloped the top of his troops!
——System Prompt: Warning! Your troops have contracted the "Super Plague Black Death", which will continually reduce your troops’ stamina, damage, and life. The plague may spread to other players, and the duration is unknown!
Da Fei was shocked, his eyebrows shooting up! What! The Black Death? The legendary super plague that caused tens of millions of deaths in medieval Europe? Damn it! These rats weren’t just simple cannon fodder; they had depth too! And it can even spread to other players? What a painfully annoying setting! Fine, that’s normal, a plague that can’t spread wouldn’t be called a plague, right? But what does this unknown duration mean? Is this a trap that will bring me to my death?
Indeed, at this moment, the attributes of Da Fei’s troops were all redlined and continuing to decrease!
Da Fei anxiously asked Selvia, "Can you dispel the plague?"
Selvia shook her head, "I am not a physician, but I will do my best to sustain the troops’ lives."
That makes sense. In the end, there’s a difference between physicians, priests, and nuns; magic could never replace medicine. While it’s possible to sustain life, damage and stamina were irrevocable. Without stamina or damage, how could one even dream of fighting the final boss! When the stamina drops to zero, one couldn’t even walk, much less fight!
Right! Wait a minute! There’s a more serious problem, what about the Banshee Army? They are dark creatures, Selvia can’t restore their health either; could it be that they could only rely on the Lizard God Staff to rigidly endure?
At this moment, Catherine spoke again, "Commander, encountering plagues at sea is quite common. As long as you successfully endure it, it’s very unlikely to be infected again next time."
My dear, are you trying to comfort me this time? Where will my next time come from?
Right! Wait a minute! Sailing? Damn, I still have a big move! Da Fei immediately took out the "Extreme Survival" Skill Book, a reward from Old Coltner, from his backpack and it was finally time for it to shine! I just happen to have one Skill Point left!
——System Prompt: You have spent 1 Skill Point and learned the Navigator’s sub-skill "Extreme Survival".
——Extreme Survival: Significantly increases your troops’ survivability in situations of hunger, disease, and fatigue.
What is called Extreme Survival, when the Great Navigator Magellan was the first in human history to cross the Pacific Ocean without provisions, it was Extreme Survival, because people had no idea how wide the Pacific Ocean actually was. Of course, that was just a victory against hunger.
Speaking of Extreme Survival related to the plague, there is a very famous battle in history that was critical to the fate of Spain.
In the 15th century, when Spanish colonizers were exploring South America, they were stunned by the region’s wealth. But soon, they discovered the ancient Inca Empire with millions of its population, and tens of thousands of able-bodied fighters, that time Spanish firearms did not present an absolute advantage over the primitive flying spears and bows, not to mention that the entire Spanish fleet did not even consist of a thousand men, making it impossible to conquer such a vast empire on such a distant shore.
Yet, a miracle occurred. The plague spread throughout the Inca Empire, carried by the colonizers themselves. To the sailors of the ocean, the plague was no longer a threat, almost to the extent of being unaware of its existence. But for the Inca encountering the plague for the first time, it was nothing short of a catastrophe from the Death God. And what was more tragic, the ignorant Incas had no idea about using quarantine methods to minimize the harm of the plague. Within a short period of three months, over ninety percent of the millions of Inca population died!
The startling change caused the despondent Spanish colonizers to erupt in ecstatic delight, their only activity burning the piled-up mountains of corpses from one village to another.
With less than a thousand men, Spain conquered a massive empire with millions of inhabitants within just three months effortlessly, leading the colonization frenzy of the great powers from afar and laying a solid foundation for Spain’s later development. Even plagues helped Spain, giving the Spanish the powerful confidence of a "nation destined by heaven," with profound historical impact.
All in all, Extreme Survival, as a counter to the plague, is an utterly awesome skill! At this moment, after learning Extreme Survival, the decline in troop stamina and damage sharply slowed down! And with the protective power of the healing skills, the decline in life completely stopped!
Da Fei breathed a long sigh of relief; he finally managed to Hold on temporarily! Lucky it was me who encountered the plague. If it were an ordinary player who came here, even if they weren’t gnawed to death by the rats, they would have been done in by the plague. Well, it seems any player that could come here wouldn’t be ordinary, but I refuse to believe that anyone could be tougher than me!
Could it be that before coming here, I should’ve busted a few BOSSes and scored some Divine Wands immune to the Super Plague? That’s the only possibility, otherwise there’s no way to fight them. So, are there still wild mobs hiding in dark corners waiting for Brother to clear them out? Even a bunch of rats are so meaningful, so what about the predicted main BOSS? It must be awesomely strong to the point of vomiting blood, not just easily handled by brute force, right? So Brother’s current status is not invincible after all, and the original plan to clear the entire sewer must be followed?
Just as I was pondering, the rat swarm’s onslaught slowed down and finally, the last batch of rats perished under the fire of the Flame Cloak.
——System Prompt: Battle Victory! You have defeated the Plague Rat Swarm, earning a match reward of +500,000 Experience.
——System Prompt: You are currently in a state of plague. If you can completely overcome the effects of the plague, or manage to collect 10 proofs of Heroism while under its influence to qualify for the competition, you will earn the match reward achievement "Plague Antibody": Stamina Limit for troops +5%, Life Limit for troops +5%, and the effect of the plague on the troops reduced by 50%. The match rewards will be sent to your account in the region you belong to after the competition.
Da Fei’s eyebrow twitched. This is the reward for defeating the rats? Catherine truly hit the nail on the head, enduring it really does come with a prize! Could it be that Catherine is making a guest appearance as a match commentary analyst?
Speaking of which, this achievement is quite great. 5% might not mean much for Low-level Soldiers, but it’s better than nothing for High-level Soldiers, and most importantly, it comes with a 50% reduction in plague effects, which is just perfect for a navigator like me! Anyway, with my awesomeness, whether it’s qualifying or enduring, it seems there’s no issue, and this achievement is almost surely mine! Ah, achievements are great, they benefit you for life, hmm hmm.
Wait a second! This plague is obviously targeted at living organisms, right? If an Undead player comes along, or a player with only Elemental, Mechanical, or Spiritual Body armies, wouldn’t they easily get this achievement? What the hell! That’s just unfair! If that’s the case, it wouldn’t showcase how awesome I am but would just make me look like a clown!
No, that can’t be easy, the promised game competition rules have to be fair. If non-life forms come, there must be a monster to counter them, right? It must be! It can’t just be as simple as rats here; there are definitely more wild mobs waiting for Brother to clear out, waiting for Brother to snag a Divine Wand, and then the main BOSS to gift Hero’s Proofs for Brother to qualify!
There’s no time to lose, keep moving along the current, and hurry up.
..........
At the Freedom Wings Team headquarters, the professional players were watching the progress of the match.
Meanwhile, the three coaches including Jin Xiyong were slowly replaying the video of the match between Li Yinzhu and Da Fei.
For professional players, analyzing the footage and damage data is an essential task. From the damage data, one can infer the opponent’s troop strength, special skills, hero abilities and attack, and defense, etc. From the initial data analysis, it’s been concluded that Da Fei’s forces are incredibly strong beyond imagination; stronger than any Super Hero from any national team in the world.
Li Yinzhu’s loss was, indeed, not undeserved. Even if Da Fei weren’t merely sitting in the streets, Li Yinzhu wouldn’t have been able to easily take him down. After all, the street fight limited Da Fei, but it also limited large-sized troop types like Unicorns.
Suddenly, Park Dong-hoon rubbed his eyes: "Wait! Rewind to the last 3 seconds of Little Zhu’s defeat, I think I saw something strange."
Jin Xiyong paused the video: "What’s strange?"
Cui Yonghao’s eyes widened: "Is that Da Fei sitting on something?"
Jin Xiyong had an epiphany and exclaimed: "A manhole cover! A sewer manhole cover! No wonder he struck such a pose; he was opening the cover to the underground city! Insane, this is just too insane!"
Park Dong-hoon was shocked: "But according to the inside information from the committee, to open the manhole cover, one needs to kill the street BOSS to obtain a tool, right? Could it be that he doesn’t need a tool to open the manhole cover?"
Jin Xiyong said gravely: "It’s possible! Judging by the special effects of his Divine Artifact, anything is possible!"
Cui Yonghao gravely said: "Why not go and see? Which of our team members is on the field?"
Park Dong-hoon pulled a face: "Lee Min-ho, the three-time World Champion and biggest star of the National Team, how could he possibly listen to some old retirees like us."
Cui Yonghao coldly smiled: "With his temperament, getting him to listen is simple. Just tell him that the amateur player Da Fei is in the sewer and ask if he dares to abandon his bulky Unicorn and chase after him."
Jin Xiyong said with a smile: "What if Da Fei hasn’t removed the manhole cover? Would he think we are playing him?"
Cui Yonghao coldly replied: "Isn’t that even better? We’ll just say we found the manhole cover and challenge him to open it if he’s capable."
Park Dong-hoon smirked: "What do you think, if they really meet in the sewers, who can win?"
Cui Yonghao spoke indifferently: "Out of regard for the interests and honor of the National Team, of course, I hope Lee Min-ho can win. But for the sake of the growth of young people, I’m actually eager for an amateur player to deflate his arrogance!"
The three of them couldn’t help but burst into laughter. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)