Chapter 737 - 700: Hydra Cannon Takes the Stage
Now that Da Fei was trapped in the Melt Cave, he had no choice but to fight. The sooner he died, the sooner he could resurrect and hurry up to get rid of the three temporary Crusader’s Tokens.
But the small Earth Dragon hadn’t been dealt with yet; he couldn’t just die for nothing, right? Oh, he had been thinking about positioning, but hadn’t asked about the small Earth Dragon yet.
So Da Fei hurriedly asked Tamilia, "What’s going on with this Earth Dragon transplanted with Holy Vine Seeds? Why isn’t it dying?"
Tamilia solemnly said, "Currently, the Holy Vine is continuously absorbing the Earth Dragon’s life, while the Earth Dragon constantly consumes minerals to sustain life, leading to this standoff. Once the Earth Dragon can’t replenish its life, it’ll die. Similarly, if the Earth Dragon manages to suppress the growth of the Holy Vine seeds, the Holy Vine will be digested by the Earth Dragon’s body. However, with Lord City Lord here, the latter situation won’t occur."
Da Fei nodded repeatedly in astonishment, "I see! Yes, the latter situation won’t occur. So, when can we finish here?"
Tamilia shook her head, "I suggest observing a bit longer to gather more information about this situation."
Da Fei nodded, "Alright, no problem, and it gives the Holy Vine more time to absorb nutrients and grow."
Tachiusu couldn’t help but exclaim, "Having such a situation occur is truly marvelous. This should be the latest discovery of the Holy Vine’s uses."
Da Fei’s eyelid twitched, "So, does this mean as long as we encounter powerful large creatures in the future, we can plant Holy Vine on their wounds to deal with them?"
Tamilia shook her head, "No, it must be that the Earth Dragon’s body is very special and suitable for plant growth."
Elena chuckled, "I agree too. In fact, when I saw the soil-yellow flesh in the Earth Dragon’s wounds, I thought of a poisonous underground spider with a moss and glowgrass-covered back. This spider consumes minerals, and its body’s flesh is packed with mineral-rich soil color, making it very suitable for parasitic plants, thus camouflaging itself and luring herbivorous prey. Since the Earth Dragon consumes minerals too, it’s highly likely that it supports the growth of strong parasitic plants like the Holy Vine!"
Tamilia came to a sudden realization, "So that’s where Miss Elena got the idea of transplantation!"
Elena laughed, "Exactly, and given Lord City Lord has plenty of seeds, it’s worth a try."
Da Fei’s heart trembled, "Then, what would happen if we planted all the remaining seeds on this sleeping giant Earth Dragon? This giant dragon’s outer skin has formed into rock, making it even more suitable for plant growth, right?"
Everyone was startled!
Elena cleared her throat, "This sleeping giant dragon doesn’t have suitable wounds for planting."
Tachiusu said gravely, "I think the giant dragon is too powerful to be suppressed by the Holy Vine."
Tamilia also exclaimed, "Lord City Lord, though theoretically—uh, I still need to recover the Holy Vine from the small Earth Dragon to refine the theory!"
Da Fei nodded in agreement, "Okay, let’s recover the small Earth Dragon first, and we can discuss it while everyone rests and waits."
Thus, some meditated, while others rested and observed. After exploring the new use of the Holy Vine, Da Fei’s thoughts became more active.
In short, along with the Divine Suppression Technique and the positional technique, he had another new method to deal with bosses. Even if none of them were reliable, what if the three methods combined? That would be the legendary "Life-taking 3000," right? Surely one of them would work?
Wait a moment! Let’s not discuss bosses; when I reclaim the small Earth Dragon, what method should I use? Should I just charge in with a large force? Damn! This is fighting a boss on its bed; if the small Earth Dragon shouted, "Mother, help!" it would wake the boss, and I’d be screwed!
Oh no! Does this mean I’m not even confident in taking down the small one? So what’s the point? In the end, it’s still about positioning, or else there’s no safe way to attack. Can someone tell me which of the small and large Melt Caves has the best spot for positioning?
Speaking of which, Da Fei suddenly recalled that he still had a weapon he hadn’t used. Da Fei hurriedly took out his War Machine package:
—Hydra Cannon: Divine Artifact, War Machinery, Basic Attack 20, Basic Defense 20, Basic Durability 1000, Basic Damage 1-2, Move Speed 1, Special Skill: Knockback, Piercing, Nine-Headed Wide-Angle Shooting, Self-Durability Recovery. Each level increase in War Machine Science adds +10 points to Hydra Cannon’s attack and defense, +1 point to basic damage, and increases life limit by 200 points. Can be carried by player units and equipped on Arrow Towers, ship’s bow gun positions.
—Nine-Headed Wide-Angle Shooting: The Hydra Cannon has nine rotatable barrels and can load nine rounds simultaneously, capable of shooting at a 270-degree angle. It does not support "Crossbow Master" and "Crossbow Cannon Triple Shot" skills.
—Self-Durability Recovery: After the Hydra Cannon’s durability depletes or gets entirely destroyed, it can recover and repair its durability on its own.
That’s right; this was one of the Divine Artifact rewards Da Fei received after slaying the Divine Beast Hydra. Calculations showed that a single shot from this cannon equaled nine times the firepower of a standard crossbow cannon! Of course, because it didn’t support rapid fire and took time to reload, its actual power might only be two or three times that of a standard crossbow cannon. But the key was its God-level special trait, "Nine-Headed Wide-Angle Shooting"! It could shoot at a 270-degree angle; what does that mean?
The legendary corner cannon! Yes, there indeed are some urban-combat-specific guns in movies with comically bent barrels that completely overturn urban combat concepts. I can hit you, you can’t hit me; this is positioning too!
Da Fei’s heart pounded wildly. It was feasible! With this corner cannon, many unsuitable positioning spots would become workable, and maybe the result would be even better! So why wait any longer? Quickly assemble the Divine Artifact Crossbow Cannon!
When Da Fei overcame the biggest positioning difficulty, his passion burned uncontrollably like a flame! As for possibly losing the crossbow cannon if he failed, Da Fei didn’t even consider it. Right, since the battle had reached this point, victory was mandatory; failure was not an option!
...
European Union Zone, Divine Punishment City.
Prince George, Lancelot, and other Round Table Knights fell into deep contemplation. The first wave of launching out of the city to destroy the siege machine had ended in a near failure.
Though the advisory group’s attack tactics were effectively implemented and the Royal Ark Team’s new members played their cannon fodder role well, Lancelot’s main force Angel Army finally succeeded in reaching under the siege machine and struggled to chop off the 10,000-durability machine components. However, Demon Hero’s reinforcements retaliated promptly. To preserve his troops, Lancelot was forced to retreat with regret.
In this battle, all 40 new cannon-fodder cover members perished in the enemy lines and were now squatting in Divine Punishment City’s plaza, awaiting the end of the 10-minute post-death weakness period.
Where did it go wrong? During the 10-minute wait, Prince George convened an emergency meeting for the battle strategy team.
Gao Wen sighed, "Obviously, our troop selection was flawed. We recruited mainly Blazing Angels who throw crystal spears, only the melee Power Angels have the ’Heavy Weaponry’ special skill, which grants an attack bonus against siege machines and walls. If it had been Power Angels perhaps—"
Lancelot sternly interrupted, "—If the main force were melee Power Angels, we couldn’t even get close to the siege machine. Our Blazing Angels’ strong firepower blasted open our path; the troop type wasn’t the main cause!"
Bedivere shook his head, "Things might not be that simple. I’ve always found it odd, why did Divine Punishment City’s difficulty suddenly escalate? First, demons dispatched heroes, then siege machines? During the public test, Divine Punishment City was a place for farming reputation and accumulating angels, right? Back then, even when we had 50 players in Divine Punishment City and 500 angels, the demons didn’t react so aggressively."
Gao Wen wondered, "Could it be due to Fallen Angel Elda? Ever since she appeared in Divine Punishment City, weird stuff has been happening."
Bedivere smiled wryly, "You mean to say this Fallen Angel is a demon collaborator?"
Lancelot smacked the table in anger, "Nonsense! Is this how a professional player talks?"
Prince George shook his head and sighed, "I’ll have to ask our friends from the United States about what’s really going on."
Lancelot urgently said, "Your Highness, you mustn’t! The Americans don’t want allies developing ahead of them. Perhaps our current predicament is exactly what they are pleased to see."
Prince George sighed deeply, "We cannot rule out the possibility the Americans secretly altered Divine Punishment City’s setup after the public test ended."
Lancelot resolutely stated, "The difficulties are temporary. As long as we keep sending reinforcements to Divine Punishment City at this scale, we’ll surely overcome the difficulties. Of course, our second and third-line members may have to make more sacrifices in lost experience and levels."
Prince George said gravely, "All sacrifices will be worth it."
Just then, a secretary came in to report, "Your Highness, the £5 million acquisition fund has been fully spent, and the gathered mission materials can now enable 116 team members to advance simultaneously."
The entire command room erupted in cheers, "116 members are enough to solve any problem!"
Prince George suppressed his heartache and energetically said, "God bless Britain!"
The Round Table Knights stood up and shouted in unison, "God bless Britain!!!"
...
Ten minutes later, Da Fei successfully assembled the Hydra Crossbow Cannon and began adjusting the direction of the cannon barrels.
Under normal circumstances, an ordinary crossbow cannon couldn’t possibly bombard targets directly below at this angle, but the Hydra Crossbow Cannon could! Not only could it, but all nine snake-headed shapely barrels were uniformly pointing downward, targeting the large body of the giant dragon. Da Fei was so excited he could hardly resist firing!
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