Raging Sea of Blood ate as he watched the television for the 24-hour live stream of the Hero News.
Raging Sea of Blood wanted to know how big of a commotion he caused in the China server after revealing his skills in the Hall of Destiny. He searched for the Admiral, and the recording of the 12 PM news popped up. He sat up and watched with interest. This Hero News was indeed quite responsive.
Host: "Hello, everyone. According to the latest news, a rare player with the Admiral ability has emerged from our China server. This player has caused quite a commotion in the Hall of Destiny. We have contacted the captain of the China Star Team, Mr. Jiang Dawei. Let's welcome him to express his thoughts on this account. Captain Jiang, hello!"
"Hello, host!"
"Please let us know what you think about this Admiral."
Captain Jiang: "A huge area of the Hero Genesis world is covered in ocean. Furthermore, there are many islands and subcontinents lying around. Most importantly, the Old World and the New World are connected by portals in the ocean. Hence, naval battle type heroes possess strong strategic value. In fact, sailing is one of the main selling points of this game. Currently, over 100,000 players in the China Server alone have chosen to become shipping merchants. As more and more players shift their attention to the ocean, naval battle type heroes will see a continued rise in their value."
Host: "Then, Captain Jiang, how much do you estimate this hero to be worth?"
Captain Jiang smiled and said, "We just worry about battles, not about money. If I have to give a comparison, I think, he might be able to win against that Mobile Master in the Japan server."
The Host smiled as well. "In other words, China Star Team is willing to pay ten million US dollars to purchase this account?"
Captain Jiang: "About that, our team is currently still focused on fighting for resources on the land. Regardless, that's our boss's decision. Anyways, I have to congratulate this player now. If he's interested in joining our China Star Team, we will surely welcome him."
Raging Sea of Blood laughed! "Star Team? Does he really think that he represents the national team or something? Laughable! Once I'm done with this Novice Trial, I'll get started on building my own Blood Sea Studio. I will be the One Piece in the China Server! By then, I'll bring all those Goddess gamers here and let my brothers have some fun together! Wahahaha!"
Host: "Thank you for the response, Captain Jiang. Now that the game has been open to the public for three and a half days, let's shift our attention to the current rankings around the world. The player in the first place is still the female player from France, Natasa. She's a Level 24 Vampire Princess. She's far ahead of the player in second place from China Star Team, Little Pig Run Fast. He's a Level 22 Griffon Breeder. The player in third place, Baplov from Russia's Angel Team, is a Siege Technician at Level 22. As for the Swedish player Vurtne with the highest valuation of his hero, Death Lord, he's only at Level 20 right now. He's currently ranked outside of the top 100,000 on our list. Captain Jiang, what do you think about these rankings?"
Captain Jiang smiled. "Natasa, right? She spawned as a Level 4 Undead Vampire. That early-game advantage is way too significant. She can take on challenges by herself without needing any troops. In comparison, Little Pig Run Fast from our team is a Griffon Breeder. Although he has a Level 4 Griffon by his side from the start, a Griffon's combat abilities and stamina cannot be compared with that of a Vampire who can regenerate just by sucking blood."
Host: "A Level 4 Griffon cannot defeat a Vampire, but this game is all about cooperation between different troops. As compared to the slower moving Undead troops, a Vampire can appear out of place, as it won't have any backup available if it chooses to make its way deep into enemy troops. However, Griffons can attack from the air, so they do not share this concern. They can easily attack the opponent's supporting magic troops before making a clean exit. That's an advantage the Vampires do not possess."
Captain Jiang: "Indeed. As for the Russian Siege Technician player, Baplov, he's only in third place because of the excruciatingly long time that the ballistas require for movement and assembly. However, since the transportation of ballistas is so troublesome, he probably picks and chooses his battles very well. The BOSSes that he kill will certainly have the best equipment and gear. Hence, his combat prowess must be the best in the world. After all, ballistas have such an advantage in early-game battles against monsters. His ability gives him an additional 1 Attack and 1 Defense point every two levels. Hence, he has built a sizable lead over normal ballista players since Level 10.
Host: "What about Vurtne's Death Lord?"
Captain Jiang said seriously, "The Death Lord's talent is insanely powerful. Half of the Undead troops that he encounters in the wild will join him unconditionally. Regardless of whether they are Level 7 Bone Dragons or Level 1 Skeletons. If we have such an account, we will be thinking about raising the Undeads' Defense Skills and the Hero's Command Power. After that, the player should complete missions to obtain official ranks within the Undead Empire so that he can build his own city and gain even more Command Power. The troops that he can't carry on him will be sent to the city for accumulation. After all, the stat that matters the most to him should be the number of troops he can lead. His level is unimportant. Hence, it's expected for him to be ranked lowly. However, his actual prowess should not be underestimated."
Host: "I see. Seems like our China server will be facing a lot of pressure…"
Captain Jiang: "Indeed. Hence, the only things that we can do are to train hard, divide the labor clearly, and develop quickly…"
…
After witnessing the other top players' developments, Raging Sea of Blood could no longer contain his excitement as a Godly Hero himself. He hurriedly swallowed his steak and logged in again. He would get to Level 10 tonight! Get the Magic Book! Get the wrecked ship!
…
In the artillery cabin of the wrecked ship, Da Fei finally fixed his damaged ballista after rummaging through the remaining ballistas for spare parts. This was one of the troublesome issues of being a mechanical-style player. Players always had to carry spare parts on them, and spare parts could only be purchased. In other words, not every player could afford to play this style.
Anyways, I can't let my ballista be destroyed completely in the upcoming battles.
After Da Fei opened the gate within the cabin key he just obtained, he caught a whiff of foul, rotting smell.
This was the entrance to the staircase leading to the lower level cabins. Usually, large sailing ships often had three levels of cabins below deck. Since the huge artillery cabin was on this level, the level below must be the cabin for storage of items that stabilized the ship. Otherwise, if the ship's center of gravity was too high, it would capsize easily in a storm. Usually, only highly valuable items would be locked behind a metal gate! Treasures? Here I come!
Da Fei activated his Hidden Movement and went downstairs. He first peeked out from the staircase. The dimly lit cabin was narrow and empty. There were no signs of even normal wooden crates and barrels, let alone treasures! This is bullshit!
Da Fei hugged the cabin wall and walked forward. Then, he saw dead bodies sprawled out across the entire floor! He had no idea how so many bodies got here, and there was nothing much he could say about the situation. There was no other way to go about this than to clear the monsters!
Da Fei quickly retreated to the staircase. The size of this place fitted a ballista perfectly. Furthermore, he was surrounded by walls on all the other three sides, so he did not have to worry about any monsters flanking him. This landscape was designed for players to shoot at the monsters!
Da Fei quietly took out the parts from his storage pack and assembled the ballista there. After ten minutes, he finished the assembly and loaded two arrows into the ballista. Then, he took out the Novice Tool Bag provided for free by the System and whipped out the torch. After he lit it up, the entire cabin turned bright. This was how Raging Sea of Blood attracted the monsters last night.
They were moving! All the dead bodies slowly got up, and there were five or six larger monsters amongst the crowd. Da Fei's heart jumped. Are they BOSSes? Impossible! How can there be so many BOSSes at once?! They must be slightly stronger, mutated zombies. I need to remain calm!
Da Fei's Elementary Study of War Machine Ballista attributes were: Attack: 10, Defense: 10, Base Damage: 2-3 (Total Damage = Base Damage * Total Hero attributes), Health: 200, Attack Speed: 5, Movement Speed: 1, Special Skill: Knock Back, Puncture.
Da Fei was on Level 8 and possessed 7 total attribute points. Hence, the total damage for ballistas operated by him was 14-21. The zombies' 2 points of Defense would reduce his Attack attribute to 8 points. For each Attack point, his damage increased by 5% or 40% in total. That meant his damage was 19-29. However, the zombies' Intermediate Defense Skill reduced their damage taken by 20%. Therefore, the final damage inflicted by the ballista on each zombie per shot was 15-23! Since the Master of Ballista skill allowed him to fire two shots consecutively, he could easily kill a zombie with 17 HP! The ballista had 200 HP and 10 Defense, or a Level 7 soldier's HP and a Level 4 soldier's Defense. So what if there was a crowd of zombies?
The group of zombies moved slowly toward Da Fei. He aimed at the most densely populated spot—Fire!
—Boom! Boom! After two consecutive explosive sounds, the arrows were launched!
—"-17" "-3" "-17" "-6"
Two zombies dropped to the floor, yet the arrows were not stopped as he had the Puncture skill. The two zombies behind were damaged for 3 points and 6 points respectively! Furthermore, his shots had the Knock Back effect as well!
This feels so good! Continue!
Da Fei hurriedly reloaded and paid close attention to the larger zombies at the same time. It seemed like they were moving very slowly and did not exhibit any signs that they were going to jump. Good!
After his reload, he continued—"-14" "-7" "-11" "-10"!
The zombies in front fell down again and the arrows that punctured them had the Knock Back effect again on the zombies behind. This was super effective on zombies who already only had a pathetic Movement Speed of 4 points!
—System Message: You collected incomplete information on Assault Zombies!
I got big ones! If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Since I have ample time while reloading, let me check this out! Da Fei speedily pulled out the Information Bar.
—Assault Zombie.
Type: Small-sized Undead Troops Leader Unit.
Attack: ?
Defense: 2
Health Points: ?
Damage: ?
Attack Speed: ?
Movement Speed: 4
Special Skill: Heavy Weaponry, Intermediate Defense Skill, ?
…
Da Fei was so stunned that his pupils contracted!
Troops leader! What the heck, no way?! Really a BOSS?! A heavy weapon wielder as well! Da Fei looked up and saw the shining ax in the BOSS's hand!
What were heavy weapons? For instance, Da Fei's Special Skill as a Pikeman was the long reach with his weapon. In other words, he could hit others while they could not reach him. As for heavy weapons like axes and hammers, their Special Skill effect would boost their damage inflicted against large creatures, city gates, and War Machines. When they faced off against ballistas, their damage would double!
In other words, these six BOSSes were made to suppress the ballista! Da Fei was instantly stunned!
If this BOSS has 200 HP like the zombie upstairs, maybe I can still take one of them. Two will already be impossible, let alone six! How can the System create a trial impossible to beat for a novice?! Are Godly Heroes supposed to defeat six BOSSes by themselves? Isn't that bullshit?
Unless these BOSSes don't have that much HP?! However, as troops leaders, there's no way their HP will be so low. Even if they only have 100 HP each, I still can't fight all six of them! Unless their damage isn't that high?! However, as troops leaders, they should possess the same damage attributes as Level 5 or 6 soldiers, at the very least. With their doubled damage, I'll still lose! Must I train until the Master-level so that my ballista has 600 HP before I can fight them?
But I have no way out now! Even if I can escape, my ballista will be stuck here! Once my ballista is ruined, I have no spare parts to fix it! If I have no ballista left, how am I supposed to survive later on?! Am I not screwed? Oh right, even if I level up to the Master level, it's pointless! My ballista won't have enough spare parts for the upgrade, so it'll still hold only 200/600 HP. There's no way to fill up the HP! It won't be able to survive, right?
Can I outsmart them? Da Fei was drenched in a cold sweat as he watched the slow-moving zombies approach him. He desperately tried to recall all kinds of God-tier clutch plays in the history of gaming! They all relied on utilizing the landscape, getting into position, kiting, or guerrilla warfare! Kiting and guerrilla warfare was impossible here. The landscape was just like that. As for positioning?
That's right. Positioning!
Wahahaha! I see! Da Fei suddenly laughed at the sky and fired two shots continuously at one of the BOSSes without hesitation. "-20!" "-22!"