Once upon a time, there was a fishing village, and in the village lived an old man known as the greatest fishing master. But for over twenty years, he had not caught a big fish. The villagers began to doubt his reputation as the number one master, and finally, unable to stand their taunts, he set out to sea alone in his small boat, defying his advanced age. This might have been his last voyage.
On the vast sea, the old man waited many days, relying on his knowledge of fish behavior. Finally, a huge Golden Spearfish took the bait—a fish nearly as large as his boat, with enormous strength, capable of breaking free or even capsizing his vessel at any time. The old man leveraged his years of experience to combat the Golden Spearfish and prevent its escape. The Golden Spearfish dragged the old man's boat across the ocean for days and nights, a test of strength and will on both sides. In the end, the old man prevailed, exhausting the Golden Spearfish, then triumphantly tied it to the side of his boat and headed home. However, on the return journey, the bloody scent of the fish attracted hordes of sharks. To preserve his catch, the utterly drained old man picked up his harpoon and fought valiantly, but ultimately could not prevent the shark pack from leaving the giant Golden Spearfish reduced to a huge skeleton. The old man returned to the fishing village with this skeleton.
Seeing the old man gone for days, the villagers were astounded, having thought he had died at sea. Anyway, the old man successfully defended his title of the greatest master in his old age!
This is the world-famous classic, Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea," that even Da Fei knows well.
Now, facing the swarm of sharks, Da Fei recalls the passionate plot from the classic that once set his youthful blood ablaze. His long-cooled passion erupts, and with a snort and a raised middle finger, he declares, "I too shall become a classic. I'm going to write my autobiography, 'Da Fei and the Sea'!"
Well, just replace the 'old man' in "Old Man and the Sea" with Da Fei.
Sharks, being the apex predators of the sea, are no easy prey and are as tough to eliminate as tier six soldiers on land. Without hesitation, Da Fei pulls out the War Machine Study Skill Book, and it flashes with golden light!
—System Prompt: You spent one Skill Point, and you have learned Advanced War Machine Technology!
—System Prompt: You spent one Skill Point, and you have learned Expert-level War Machine Technology!
—System Prompt: You spent one Skill Point, and you have learned Master War Machine Science!
Oh yeah! I've graduated!
Now, the Crossbow Carriage attributes supported by Master War Machine Science are as follows:
—Attack: 30, Defense: 30, Life Value: 8/600 points, Basic Killing 6-7, Attack Speed: 5, Move Speed: 1, special skill: Knockback, Piercing.
And the total damage of the Crossbow Cannon = Basic Killing × the total value of the hero's strategic attribute points. Now Da Fei is level 16 with 15 total attribute points, so the total damage of the Crossbow Cannon is 90-105!
Holy crap! The attack and defense are like that of an Angel, but the damage is twice that of an Angel, and it's a double shot! I am the BOSS now! Wahahaha!
The swarm of sharks quickly closes in on the Golden Spearfish in the sea. Da Fei, already prepared, aims two shots at the shark's dorsal fins on the sea surface! "—148!" "—132!" This damage, compared to the two-digit damage dealt to the Golden Spearfish jumping above, is like night and day! This is the power of leveling up skills by three full levels!
—System Prompt: You have killed a shark and gained Experience +2550!
—System Prompt: You have obtained complete information on the shark.
Da Fei's eyelids twitch! This experience! Truly high enough to make one's hair stand on end, nearly matching the low-level Soldiers' small BOSS in style!
—Shark: Large size creature, Attack 35, Defense 18, Damage 25-55, Life Value: 280, Attack Speed: 7, Move Speed: 12, Experience: 2550. Special skills: Bloody Tracking, Bloody Frenzy, Disabling Bite, Dazing Strike, Wound Tear, Ocean Creatures.
The information about the shark, a famous apex predator of the sea, is of course no secret. The Crossbow Cannon has an attack and defense difference of 12 points against it, which increases damage by 60%, so the final damage the Crossbow Cannon deals is 144-168. As long as the shark's dorsal fin dares to surface, it's a one-shot kill.
Looking at the data, the shark's attack, defense, and damage indices are between those of tier six and tier seven Soldiers, but the experience is exceedingly high. Besides the numerous and ferocious special skills contributing to the difficulty factor, what's more important is that it is an "Ocean Creature."
—Ocean Creature: Ocean Creatures are adept at underwater combat and have abundant Life Value.
While land creatures suffer decreased stats across the board in water, this give-and-take means that it's almost impossible for land creatures to defeat sharks in the water. In fact, this was also the main reason why back then, Da Fei couldn't defeat any monsters on the island. Taking this difficulty into account, it's no wonder that the experience from killing sharks is beyond imagination. To put it differently, grinding Sea Monsters for Experience is much more fruitful than grinding land creatures, though more experience doesn't necessarily mean faster leveling.
To Da Fei, the sharks are now basically delivering Experience on a silver platter! Normally, sharks would swim far away from a large ship; trying to kill them is near impossible. But with the Golden Spearfish as a motionless bait, Da Fei doesn't even need to aim. He just needs to keep loading and firing!
—System Prompt: You have killed a shark and gained Experience +2550!
—System Prompt: You have killed a shark and gained Experience +2550!
—System Prompt: You have killed a shark and gained Experience +2550!
......
Da Fei burst into a hearty laugh, how much do sharks love Golden Spearfish? The plot of the novel didn't deceive me at all! What is joy? This is joy! You've absolutely got to enjoy it! I've drifted at sea for four or five days and couldn't accomplish anything; if they don't compensate me for these days of lost experience, it's simply intolerable!
A golden light descends from the sky!
——System Prompt: Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 17! You have gained 1 free attribute point, 1 Skill Point, Life Value +2, Command Power +1.
Hahaha! Leveled up! Necessary indeed! One for 2500, ten for 25000, there are still dozens more, I can level up again! Haha! Wahahaha!
After reloading his weapon, Da Fei excitedly stepped on the trigger, and just at that moment, a rainbow light suddenly flashed above his head, and then with a snap, a Black Light dispersed the rainbow!
——System Prompt: You have encountered the state of Misfortune, causing your next attack to deal the effect of halving the lowest possible damage!
Da Fei's laughter came to an abrupt halt, Misfortune!?
At this point, the Crossbow Arrows flew out—"—72!" "—72!" Damn! Didn't one-shot the creature!
Damn, my ship is under the state of "Curse of Misfortune," -3 Luck, but the ship itself comes with the trait of being blessed by the gods +2 Luck, which still ends up with -1 Luck, that is a 2% chance to suffer Misfortune! A 2% chance and it still happened to me, I'm just too unlucky!
And at this moment, the attacked shark gives up on competing for the Golden Spearfish and starts rushing toward Da Fei's ship, the Flying!
Da Fei's eyes nearly popped out of his head! No way! It's ramming the ship! Yes, I've been happily blasting away, how did I not consider that the enemy might retaliate? Was it because sitting high atop the big ship gave me a sense of superiority? Or did the Golden Spearfish's surrender lull me into a false sense of security?
No choice, after all, it is just a game, where in the game world riflemen can blow up tanks with shot after shot, so sharks ramming ships isn't strange. But my ship is already riddled with holes; how can I let it be rammed? Most importantly, this is no ordinary land battle; beneath the ship lies a blind spot for the Crossbow Cannon! If it gets too close, the consequences are unimaginable!
Da Fei hurriedly reloaded, and at this time, the shark was speeding through water, its pace as fast as humans sprinting on land!
——Aim! Da Fei eagerly adjusted the direction of the Crossbow Cannon, sweat beginning to pool in his palms. At such a speed, and with a layer of water affecting the targeting of the Crossbow Cannon, it was a real challenge.
I must hit it! I must hit it! If I miss, there won't be another chance; I can only watch it rush to the ship's bottom and dismantle it! Wait a second! What if it's another cursed Misfortune strike? When bad luck begins, misfortunes come multiple times, and once luck runs out, anything can happen! I've had these kinds of experiences too many times over the years!
Deciding on the spot, Da Fei quickly took out a Luck Skill Skill Book and clicked to learn it! Just to correct that -1 Misfortune to 0. I don't wish for good luck, nor any misfortune; neutrality will suffice!
——System Prompt: You have spent 1 Skill Point and learned Basic Leadership Skill!
——Basic Leadership Skill: The hero's Command Power is increased by 10%, and both the hero and hero's troops' Morale +1.
——Ah! Pfft! Da Fei spat out a mouthful of blood! I grabbed the wrong book, damn it! When hit by misfortune, bad things keep coming; I even made such a low-level error at the most critical moment! As a pro, my mental game isn't strong enough!
Now, with the shark nearby, Da Fei could already see its blood-red eyes on either side of its head underwater! There was no more time for small actions; he had to fire the cannon!
So close, there's no reason to miss! I've been unlucky for two consecutive times; there's no reason for a third—things don't happen thrice!
——Boom! Two shots fired forcefully! Da Fei nervously closed his eyes!
——System Prompt: You have killed a shark and gained +2550 Experience!
Hearing the system prompt, Da Fei was like hearing celestial music; he immediately relaxed, his back drenched in sweat.
Bro, I really do care about this ship, the next time I log off, I'm definitely buying an item from the mall! It's just the price of two stir-fried rice dinners, I won't take risks anymore!
(Votes solicited in various ways)