Under the night sky, Da Fei totally didn't need to aim, shooting round after round at those slow-moving, eyes-glittering large lizards. And those poor large lizards had no idea where the attacks were coming from even until the end.
And in the sea, it was also glittering—the eyes of the crocodiles. They finally showed a reaction to the large lizards' approaching and began to gather towards the shore slowly.
This tactic was effective, he was succeeding in luring the crocodiles! Da Fei became even more excited. After countless lizards were killed, a golden light descended from the sky.
—System Message: Congratulations! You have leveled to Level 20! Attribute Point +1, Skill Point +1, Health Points +2, Command Power +1, Tactical Position +1, Base Damage +1.
—System Message: As a Junior Voyager, you obtain growth, you are rewarded with 1 assignable Attribute Point.
Oh yeah! Leveled up! Junior Voyager only rewards 1 point every 5 levels, so Level 20 should have 4 points. And at Level 19, 3 was already awarded, so this 1 point makes up for it.
However, once he thought of the Voyager's godly scroll in the female pirate's hands, Da Fei felt like his heart was being cut by a knife! This can't do, isn't it just a female NPC? It's not like she can make my balls burst, right? I don't believe that I can't settle her! Not only am I going to complete this quest, but I am also going to complete it beautifully. What's one unit of pearl worth? I'm going to complete the quest exceeding the quota. I'm going to collect all the pearls on this beach.
A red light bloomed over the eastern horizon. It was going to be daybreak soon.
After a night of killing, the corpses of the large lizards had already piled into a big stack of meat. And Da Fei was already not far from leveling to Level 21.
I can proudly confirm that even though the whole world has possibly more than a million players starting with the ballista, there are definitely very few players that can use the ballista so superbly like me. I don't need units to protect the ballista. I also don't need to use the terrain to block monsters. I also don't need to aim and don't even need spare parts for maintenance. If this is not superb, what is?
The realm of pros is not about all kinds of fancy tactics, but facing the most suitable enemy in the most suitable timing. Just like I said, I'm a pro! A pro like me, how is it possible for me to lower myself to be a pirate? That will practically be a waste of talent. Intolerable! Being a merchant is the right way, brouhahaha!
Finally, the crocodiles moved after watching for a night. They climbed up the shore in groups and began to enjoy this easily obtained feast. Even though the crocodiles were known for their immunity to diseases, they were also quite wary of the large lizards' decay toxins. This was also the reason why they only watched for the night.
And this was the chance Da Fei was waiting for. After the crocodiles come ashore in groups, Da Fei immediately charges into the water to collect the shells.
—System Message: You picked up a pearl oyster, you obtained a Blood Pearl!
Blood Pearl! Looking at this marble-size red glass ball in his hands, Da Fei's eyebrow twitched! Is this a pearl? Aren't pearls all white? Could it be this is an extremely rare variant? Doesn't that mean it's very valuable?
Haha! The more valuable, the better. I had originally intended to gather all of the pearls here anyways!
Da Fei began to gather the pearls crazily while the crocodiles began to swallow the feast crazily, both sides taking what they needed. Time also passed very quickly. In a blink of an eye, the scorching sun was up high—it was afternoon now.
The shells in the sea were getting fewer and harder to find, and the corpse mountain on the shore was almost gone too. It was time to return. By now, Da Fei had already gathered 345 Blood Pearls, which were three units and 45 portions, way above the quota of the quest already. Humph, a mere gathering quest like this isn't a problem for me at all.
Da Fei went ashore in satisfaction and began to disassemble the ballista, preparing to go back. Turning around and looking in the direction of the small ship, he couldn't help but feel great. Humph! I want to see what your expressions will be like later and if you guys dare to look down on me again! I wonder what expressions that beauty will show when I give this stack of pearls to her? Give herself to me? Hahaha! I know her grade is very high, but my expectation isn't high. Just return the scroll to me and let us part ways peacefully. There isn't a reason to force me to stay, right?
Of course, to guard against the crocodiles from attacking, while Da Fei was disassembling the ballista, he frequently turned his gaze to the sun-tanning crocodiles to check on them.
Wait a minute! Suddenly, Da Fei discovered that something was not right! Didn't these crocodiles eat way too much? Their stomachs had already swelled into a large tent! How hilarious and funny was this?
Da Fei immediately took out his binoculars and took a look. He saw a certain large crocodile with a small section of a large lizard's tail out of its mouth, and this large crocodile was still raising its head non-stop, attempting to completely swallow this tail down too.
Da Fei's jaw dropped in shock. What the heck, he was only focused on gathering pearls just now and didn't take a close look at them. Could it be that these crocodiles swallowed those large lizards whole?
Crocodiles were unlike other ferocious beasts. Their front legs were too short, and they had no way of cutting up their prey to consume them. They were also unlike sharks that had a few rows of iron saw-like teeth, able to easily tear the meat of their prey. Have you seen how a crocodile eats its prey in the documentary, Animal World? Throwing their food up and then consuming it! A group of crocodiles bites into the prey they captured and then fights over it among themselves by biting into and tearing at it until they tear off a big chunk of meat. Then they raise their heads and swing them until they swallow it down their throats.
However, for this kind of situation now, facing these large lizards that were smaller than them and more than them in numbers, was there a need to fight over them and tear at it? Just swallow it whole like how snakes do! Under normal circumstances, if a snake was full from eating, it would be in a totally defenseless state, right?
Looking at those big tummies swollen like fully inflated balloons, a crazy, unstoppable idea instantly came into Da Fei's mind. How about shooting once and seeing what happens?
That's right! Most people had this kind of mentality when they saw a balloon that was blown up to a very large size. Wouldn't they subconsciously wish to see it pop? If you saw a waiter carrying a lot of plates wobbling dangerously, wouldn't you subconsciously wish to see the plates drop onto the floor? What was this kind of mentality called in psychology again?
Basically, Da Fei especially wished to fire at them now!
However, Da Fei's intellect and desire started to struggle intensely! A game was a game, after all. How could it be possible that the real world's template would apply here? If the crocodiles were totally not affected at all, wouldn't he be asking for a beating? Under normal circumstances, how much damage could he inflict on those crocodiles?
Master Ballista had 30 Attack, Base Damage 6-7. Da Fei was Level 20 now, he gained 19 stat points from leveling up. Along with Voyager's bonus of 4 stat points, it amounted to 23 points. (Note: Ballista is not affected by bonus damage from skills and equipment, so Captain's Sword's attributes have no effect on the ballista.)
Total Damage = Base Damage x Hero's Strategy Attribute Points = 138-161. But the crocodile BOSS had a shocking Defense of 50 points, a 20 Attack/Defense difference with the ballista. So, the damage was only 50%, which transformed into 69-80. Facing the crocodile's 900 HP, was it possible?
However, he had completed the quest anyways, and this ballista had already killed an unknown number of BOSSes too. He had already made the most of it. Even if he was asking for a beating, so be it. If he didn't try, how would he know what the result was?
Finally! Da Fei's opportunistic personality won over his intellect—fight! Instead of regretting what was done, it was better than regretting what wasn't done! It was just like buying a lottery. No matter how low the chance of winning was, as long as you gave it a try, you would have a chance of winning. If you didn't try at all, you would never have a chance of winning!
Having made up his mind, Da Fei started to reassemble the ballista excitedly. Every time when he checked the lottery's winning numbers, he would be excited like this too.
The ballista was assembled once again!
Da Fei took in a deep breath, loaded 2 arrows in, and then aimed at a big balloon in the distance! Would this shot witness a miracle or witness a stupidity?
—Boom!!! Two arrows shot out! Bang! Bang! A rain of blood spurted out! "-243"! "-251!"
He succeeded! Da Fei stood up excitedly! This was a great reversal of offense and defense. This damage definitely meant that the ballista's Attack was higher than the crocodile's Defense by at least 10 points! A crocodile swollen from overeating was indeed defenseless! And at the same time, a row of system messages appeared.
—System Message: You further completed Barren Island Large Man-eating Crocodile's information!
—System Message: You obtained information on Grandmaster Reconnaissance Skill sub-skill "Intelligence Analysis".
—Intelligence Analysis: After obtaining detailed intelligence about unknown creatures, the hero will be able to analyze and discover the fatal flaws of the creatures. During battles, the hero will be able to ignore the creature's Defense by 25%-100%. Learning Requirements: Grandmaster Reconnaissance Skill.
Da Fei's eyebrows twitched in surprise!
Isn't Barren Island Large Man-eating Crocodile's information shown on the official website? It can still be further completed? Grandmaster's sub-skill information? Da Fei loaded the ballista while opening the message window with the fastest speed, and then he discovered that there was something extra below the crocodile's special ability: ???
Discovered the crocodile's new unknown Special Skill! Needless to say, this Special Skill must be a negative Special Skill. In other words, I discovered the crocodile's weakness? What the heck, from their state now, the weakness was already very obvious. Was there still a need to discover it!?
The crucial thing is, what's the matter with this Grandmaster sub-skill Intelligence Analysis that suddenly appeared? Isn't this skill already in the skill book? As long as I reach the Grandmaster level I can learn it directly, is there still a need to gather skill information?
However, before he could think any further, the attacked large crocodile staggered over while roaring!
Looking at its zombie-like speed, Da Fei laughed loudly. "Since you ate my stuff, I shall collect it all back from you now!"