When another beam of golden light descended from the sky, Da Fei leveled up to 12. Killing level 5 soldiers with just two shots and leveling up felt incredibly exhilarating!
Meanwhile, the Anemone had grown into a silver-black sphere over a meter tall, with the construction progress already past the halfway mark. Compared to the typical game construction period of ten to fifteen days for ordinary unit buildings, this was remarkably fast.
Renior had taken quite a few hits too, but even the most excellent level 5 soldiers only had about 15 Attack and Damage, and facing a high defense of 50 points, their damage didn't even amount to a third of that. Then, reduced by another 60% due to his Master-level Defense Skill, the damage was at most 2 points. For him, with a boss-like Stamina, this was nothing but a light drizzle.
He believed that the real threat to him wasn't these ordinary soldiers but the boss! There had to be a boss appearing in this trial quest, right?
A huge silver moon slowly rose from the sea, clearing the dense clouds that covered the sky. How big exactly was the moon? A hundred times larger than a regular moon! This definitively wasn't Earth's moon.
The tides of the Nether Sea erupted with a tremendous roar, and the sea was engulfed in mist.
Renior said gravely, "Death Moon, the source of life and power in the World of the Dead. The enemy's attacks will become even more frenzied soon."
Da Fei asked in surprise, "What about you, Captain?"
Renior replied gravely, "My life is slowly healing. However, the Curse Barrier will also strengthen, and I have no advantage. We must get through tonight."
Regenerating health? No need to panic then! After all, the threatening appearances during the day were just for giving players Experience. It seems like the real challenge comes at night. But from the looks of time, it should be daytime in the surface world now.
Just then, with a pop sound, a short red stalk burst out from the top of the silver-black sphere—was this a tentacle? Could it be that this unit base was a living creature? Or perhaps an Anemone King capable of reproduction?
Possible! Very possible! The Elf Clan's famous Life Tree was a fighting structure, and in fact, many of the Elf Clan's advanced buildings were alive and capable of combat!
If this Anemone building was similar to those of the Elf Clan, then even if a boss arrived, there would be a chance to fight back! Watching the construction progress bar skyrocket under the moonlight, Da Fei burst into laughter, finally understanding why the Anemone lurked in the sand, why it absorbed soul energy, because the surface world with its sunlight wasn't really suitable for its growth. Perhaps the World of the Dead was its true home?
Now, amidst the dense fog, countless Undead Nagas landed, and Da Fei was brimming with confidence, "Come at me! My Anemone is desperately hungry!"
—System Prompt: Reconnaissance Skill warning! A powerful enemy is approaching. Please be on guard.
Da Fei was suddenly alarmed! Boss!
As expected, emerging from behind the horde of monsters, an immense Undead Naga wielding two giant bone scythes appeared through the fog! No way, presenting the boss right at the start? This is a recipe for disaster!
Renior urgently said, "A powerful enemy has appeared, we must stop it! It has the power to destroy my ritual!"
Damn it! Even the NPC is unsettled!
Under normal circumstances, this trial would likely require two players to join forces, right? There ought to be a Dark Magic Book to assist, right? Now it was just Da Fei alone, with the Anemone still growing. How could he possibly take it down on his own? What to do?
Only the old tactic of stalling time—hold positions until the Anemone is fully grown!
Da Fei hurriedly said to Renior, "I have an unbeatable tactic, Captain. You must hold on! Stay steady! Keep calm!" After speaking, he quickly dashed to the side and used Stealth to avoid any careless harm.
Renior urged, "Don't screw this up!"
The Undead Nagas swarmed in, surrounding the Captain and slashing fiercely. For a moment, numbers like -2, -1, -2, -2 kept appearing above the Captain's head. When the big boss finally arrived, the Captain was already encircled by layers of small monsters. As the boss had no way to join in, it simply stood dumbly outside the crowd, watching.
This was about positioning, in line with the tactic Da Fei used in the cargo hold with the Crossbow Cannon against the boss. Ideally, the boss wouldn't attack the Anemone either. It seemed the difficulty of the trial was artificially limited; the monsters' target was the Captain, ignoring the player, similar to the rules of tower defense games.
With that in mind, Da Fei tried to approach and stab a small monster. As he attacked, a rainbow light flashed above Da Fei's head—Lucky Strike! The damage was doubled! Instant kill!
This was due to the Captain's Luck Skill! Lucky Strike meant dealing twice the maximum damage!
—Luck Skill: Every level of the skill increases the Luck Value of the hero and the hero's troops by 1. Each point of Luck adds a 2% chance of landing a Lucky Strike.
At Master Level, that's 5 points, a 10% chance for a Lucky Strike. With few soldiers, the effect is negligible, but with many soldiers, this 10% becomes quite fearsome! It's like within 100 soldiers, there are definitely 10 that will deal double damage. Conversely, when Luck is negative, there's a chance for a Misfortune, which deals half of the minimum damage. Lowering the enemy's Luck is a specialty of the Demon Race.
At that moment, it was like disturbing a hornet's nest! Those spectators, including the Boss, immediately started chasing Da Fei! Although their target was the Captain, they would attack any provocateurs when idle.
Da Fei was shocked! Run!
```
At that moment, Da Fei, dragging a big group of monsters, started a marathon around the island, and with his move speed boosted to 12 points, he was feeling quite awesome.
One lap, two laps, three laps.
The Captain's wails wafted from a distance: "Adventurer, protect me! I can't keep this up!"
Da Fei's puckered up and had to say, "Captain, hold on, time is victory!" How can we withstand the boss if the small fry don't? I believe in your strength.
Perhaps the island had reached its enemy capacity, as no new monsters were landing from the sea, and Da Fei's stamina was running low, he was reaching the point where he could barely run. The faster the movement, the greater the consumption of stamina. No other choice, he took out a coconut, smashed it against his head, stamina +100! Oh yeah! Keep going!
Four laps, five laps, six laps! Aren't the Anemones ready yet? Da Fei glanced back at the relentless pursuing monsters, feeling a bit tense – do they not get tired? Don't they only have 100 stamina points? Or under the moonlight, do they have infinite stamina?
The Captain cried out: "Adventurer!!!"
Da Fei once again pulled out a coconut, drank it in one gulp, and roared: "—What's this little pain amidst the storm—"
How many laps now? Da Fei couldn't remember, but he clearly felt the speed of the monsters chasing him slowing down! Hahaha! I thought you were marathon ironmen, forever unbeatable! So you guys do run out of stamina too!
And just then,
—System Prompt: Your troop-building structure "Anemone Nest" has been successfully constructed!
—Beginner's Tip: You now own your private troop recruitment building. With the necessary resources and population, you can train your own troops.
At this moment, Da Fei's Lord Interface panel suddenly activated and started shining brightly!
Da Fei, surprised and delighted, looked towards the island's center and just in time saw long tentacles lashing out, instantly killing the group of monsters besieging the Captain!
Oh yeah! After a long wait comes the clear sky and bright moon!
As those small monsters blocking the way died, gaps opened up, and the monsters chasing Da Fei immediately carried on their original mission, abandoning Da Fei to encircle the Captain.
Watching these sluggish Snake Monsters, Da Fei was overjoyed! They're out of stamina! With no stamina, their killing value would be minimal, even halved due to a weakened state! If that's the case, taking down this boss could be even easier.
No need for further discussion, while the boss's stamina is low, focus the attack on the boss and don't give him time to recover. Da Fei opened the Lord panel, and in the personal facility section, a tentacled meat lump icon for the Anemone appeared, he clicked to inspect.
—Demonized Poisonous Anemone Nest: Troop-recruiting building. Attack 80 (+60), Defense 70 (+60), Damage 10-12 (+2), Durability 1000, Attack Speed 3 (+2), Move Speed 0, Special Skills: Multiple Attacks (5 tentacles), Poison Paralysis Attack, Bounce Attack. Current recruitment capacity for Poisonous Anemones: 1/1.
—*Sneeze*! Da Fei sneezed in amazement!
80 Attack! 70 Defense! Can hero attributes stack on buildings too? This is defying the heavens! Elf Clan's ancient trees didn't have this setting! Although Elf Clan's ancient trees could fight, they are still classified as war machines, like Arrow Towers, but this Nest could stack the hero's Attack and Defense, which can only mean one thing: this Nest is both a building and a living being! If it's a living being, it can be led by a hero!
Well then, stop beating around the bush!
What does 80 Attack imply? 1 Attack adds 5% damage, so 80 Attack adds 400%! A damage of 10 could inflict 50! Plus the 60% from Master-level Attack Skill, that's 80! And that's just one tentacle's damage, not even counting special skills!
Come on, attack the boss!
At this moment, the boss, leading his army, was leisurely approaching the Captain. 5 tentacles of the Anemone Nest shot out—pap, pap, pap, pap, pap! -86! -84! -88! -86! -84!
Da Fei was shocked! Why only this little damage? Bounce Attack was supposed to deal two to three times the normal damage, which means the Anemone was actually hitting for just under 40 damage! And without skills, the Anemone's normal damage bonus should be 50!
What does this mean? It means the boss's Defense, and defensive skills, aren't much worse than Renior's Attack! With such stunning Defense, how could his Attack be far behind? No wonder Renior was unsettled when it appeared! If met under normal circumstances, how would one fight it? Must one constantly lower its stats with the Black Magic Book? But since its stamina has decreased, is this the equivalent of being hit by a full set of Black Magic?
Da Fei frowned! No, can't take this risk! The Black Magic Book can summon zombies, so of course, many zombies boosted by the hero's freakish attributes would be a strong force, but I don't have that much combat power.
Still must block the way! The Anemone Nest has 1000 hit points, let the Anemone handle it for a few rounds.
But now the boss is thrusting forward, he will definitely take the attack position. To block him, I must stand in his path! That won't do, it's even riskier. Although his target is the boss, might he casually cleave me with a strike? If I die, who knows what will happen?
Anemone! I still have one more minion Anemone, summon it out to block!
```