"Boss?" Xiao Ai's eyes glimmered with excitement.
"Yes. It's a lower level Elite Boss. Every week, this Boss would respawn within the Kobold Forest, with each respawn being two to five hours later than the last. Most likely, this team of Assassins is here to hunt this Boss." Ye Chen nodded and explained. As he looked at her, cold sweat formed on his forehead. This cute little girl was nothing like her appearance. This innocence she wore was a fraud. She would most likely pounce head first onto the Kobold Leader the moment she saw it.
"Ah! I see…" Xiao Ai's expression was sorrowful as she pouted. But, it could not be helped. Searching for the Kobold Leader in this massive forest was anything but simple.
"Let's leave aside the Boss and get out of here first. Seeing how petty those two Mages are, they must be recruiting members to come back for us now." With Chu Bailong's narrow-mindedness, he would definitely not let this death slide so easily.
When Chu Bailong attacked, the Assassins seized the opportunity to rip him of his equipment. Within moments, he was dead. Worse still, he did not even catch a glimpse of the usernames of the Assassins. Without a target for revenge, Ye Chen and Xiao Ai would undoubtedly become the scapegoat for his hatred.
Ye Chen and Xiao Ai swerved to the other end of the Kobold Forest in caution. At the same time, Chu Bailong revived. The instant he revived, a tower of boiling anger erupted from Chu Bailong as he bellowed through the adventurer's message board.
"Sister, I got murdered! You have to avenge me!"
"Hmph! Scum! As useless as ever! Didn't you say that you would dominate the world with your own independent strength? What happened to show us your true colors? Just one day, and you come crying to me again? Looks like this is the extent of your strength, womanizing worthless trash!"
In another Instance Dungeon, a lady received Chu Bailong's cry for emergency help. Crimson Rose was a bewitching beauty within the game. Ice-cold frost flushed through her face as she read the plea from her brother, then she mocked scornfully.
"I even tore down all my pride to come to you! You just need to tell me one thing. Are you helping or not!" Chu Bailong snapped.
"No matter how worthless a scumbag you are, you are still my brother. Of course, Sister will help you. Now, tell me how many people are there in the enemy camp. Don't you dare hide anything. Otherwise, don't think about me helping you ever again." Crimson Rose was stern and solemn in her warning.
"Sister, I knew it. You are the best!"
Despite Crimson Rose giving him an extra-harsh lashing, Chu Bailong did not feel unhappy or rebellious. Compared to Crimson Rose, he was indeed not even worth being called trash.
"Quit the nonsense, and talk!" Crimson Rose's patience was nearly at her limit.
"It is like this…" As detailed as he could, Chu Bailong described the incident without hiding a single thing.
"Hmph, you truly live up to the name of trash. You asked for it! I will not activate the Crimson Blood Guild to help you at all…"
"Sister, you … you agreed…" Chu Bailong screamed in anger.
"Shut up!" Crimson Rose yelled back, "Let me finish your spineless ass!"
All of Chu Bailong's complaints were shoved back down his throat with that single yell.
"If this incident spreads out, it would not be good for our Guild's reputation. So, not a single guild member will be helping you. But, I do know some people who are in this 'revenge' industry. According to your intel, the enemies are six Assassins, one Botanist, and one Priestess. I will hire two teams to assist you. You have three hours, whether or not you find your enemies and get your revenge, it's wholly up to you."
"Thank you, Sister!" Chu Bailong expressed his thanks while a shrewd, devilish smirk extended across his face.
"Cut that crap! Just don't cause trouble for me anymore! That man, Jack of All Trades, will add you as a friend and contact you. Keep yourself in the city and wait!"
"Alright." Excitedly, Chu Bailong stood by the revival spot and waited. But soon, the conversation he just had sprouted back into his mind. He realized how weak and pathetic he had acted. Uncontrollably, the rebelliousness within him had been revived.
"Hmph! You watch out. If I ever climb above you, I will marry you to an ugly old dude into a faraway land!"
Far away, the gorgeous Crimson Rose sighed under her breath. Immediately, she linked up with Jack of All Trades.
"Oh wow, is this the prettiest Rose? What do you need from me?"
On the other end of the world, a brawny and rugged man answered. The instant Crimson Rose appeared on his message board, the twine-thin waist, seductive red dress, and well-endowed chest surfaced in his mind again. Lecherously, his fingers fidgeted as he wiped the corners of his lips.
"Cut your excessive flattery. Of course, I need your help. I want two low-level teams to help my brother kill some people."
"Your brother?"
At the request, all sorts of possibilities broke out in Jack of All Trades' mind. This was the perfect, God-given opportunity to get his hands on this enchanting woman.
"Leave it to me. I will handle this personally!" Slamming his fist onto his chest, he reassured Crimson Rose. After getting the details, he flew to Titan Megacity to meet his client.
...
"All right, here should be far enough. They should not be able to find us here."
Within the Kobold Forest, Ye Chen had brought Xiao Ai to a secluded spot.
"Wow, what's that giant ferocious monster?"
Before Ye Chen could begin his hunt, Xiao Ai pointed her finger at a towering ghastly beast. The beast was colossal, roaring furiously as it stared diagonally into the sky.
"Fucking hell…" Turning his head, the curses of disbelief could not be kept in any longer as sweat collected on his head.
That beast was not just any beast. It was the only Boss across the entire Kobold Forest, the Kobold Leader! The Kobold Leader did not have a fixed spawn point, causing a need for the Assassin party to enter the forest, combing every corner for this giant creature. However, under normal circumstances, it would spawn in the deeper regions of the woods. Places like this location where Ye Chen and Xiao Ai were at were not generally chosen as the spawn location. Yet, the impossible became a reality. Their luck was off the charts.
Ye Chen looked down at his equipment. Then, his eyes rolled.
The Kobold Boss was Level 15. Leaving aside the level suppression, Boss skills, and DPS, just the Boss's Defense was already a massive headache. Be it him, or the Iron Armored Willowed would never do enough to shatter the Boss's defense. Moreover, Xiao Ai was a Priestess, which also meant that the two could only stand far away and admire its disgusting ugliness.
"WHOAA… the Boss… Kobold Leader…"
Before Ye Chen could finish speaking, he had already noticed that Xiao Ai's eyes were shimmering. She could not help but inch forward subconsciously as she looked on at the beast.
"We can't kill it. Let's not waste our time and our life."
Cold sweat burst forth the moment Ye Chen saw the blinded excitement in the little loli. He was seriously worried that this small girl would jump in recklessly to fight. Even if her attacks could not break the defense, she would be the target of the Boss's aggression under this circumstance without anyone to hold the aggression. With the trash-tier attributes of her equipment, she probably would not even last a single hit.
"Oh man…. I really wanna pat that furry head… What a shame…" Thankfully she was not entirely blinded. She lamented at her spot.
On the other hand, Ye Chen did not see it as much of a loss. The Kobold Leader was only a Level 15 Elite Boss. Even if the loot was the best, it was not that great.
"Do you have friends with a similar level? Get them to bring some people, and we can fight."
"Nope, let's just leave the Boss alone. Whatever, with a Boss beside us, killing the Kobolds would be more satisfying."
Once again, the peculiar girl set off another wave of worries within Ye Chen.
However, claiming that Ye Chen had absolutely no interest in the Boss would be fake news. As a gamer, no one would be indifferent to a Boss, especially when right beside it. With this location being very isolated, camping here while completing the trial here was the right decision. Should he finish the trial before anyone arrived, he could learn the Durian Bomb Tree. Then, fighting the Boss would no longer be an impossible task.
"Alright, let us begin hunting then. Just keep healing my plants, but watch your MP too. If there are little monsters and you have excess MP, you can use the Holy Bullet. However, don't draw aggression."
Ye Chen was unsure if this common sense in the game was something she possessed after the time spent with Xiao Ai. Judging from this little loli's reaction to a Boss, she was a newbie without a doubt. As a precaution, he warned her entirely again.
"Alright!" Chirpily, she nodded and waved her staff around.
Seeing that, Ye Chen blasted the Withering Light onto the nearby Kobold. As expected, the Kobold brandished its bone mallet and rushed over menacingly. Seeing the start of the battle, Xiao Ai did not hold back as well. A glowing yellow bullet blasted through the air and slammed face-first onto the Kobold. However, the damage done was little, pitiful even.
Just as the Kobold was going to close in, Ye Chen transplanted his Iron-Armored Willow. When the first entered the Kobold Forest, he had planted the trees by the edge of the forest.
When other adventurers saw the trees of a Botanist, no one would court trouble and attack them. To the system, attacking the plants were likened to initiating a battle with the Botanist. Should other adventurers come across the idiotic prank, they could seize the opportunity and get a 100% equipment drop. Several adventurers had learned the lesson the hard way when they poked some fun at the Botanist.
A Level 13 Kobold only had 400 HP. With two people, killing it was still considered fast. Within another 30 seconds, Ye Chen transplanted his second Iron-Armored Willow. Now, there were two Iron-Armored Willows present.
"WOW! Brother Dust, you can plant two trees?" Seeing the second transplant surprised the little loli Priestess.
"Yup spent some time getting 100 consecutive victories in the arena."
"Gosh, that long grueling hours must have been painful. I know another beginner Botanist. He also attempted this disgustingly tough mission. I heard he did not even win a single time after 10 matches at the arena." Xiao Ai's eyes glowed with admiration as she imagined the effort and resilience Ye Chen needed to get the 100 victories in the arena.
"Er… yeah. I spent… some time." Seeing the admiration and empathy, Ye Chen could not break the news of his little effort and the huge benefit he received.
With the extra Iron-Armored Willow, the progress leaped by several folds.
Botanists faced various kinds of hardships in battle. The plants on the ground were immobile until a skill was used. However, that also brought advantages. When the time of a plant spent rooted to one spot lengthened, the speed of the plant's automatic regeneration would speed up. Even in continuous combat, the regeneration was visible to the naked eye. The more advanced the plants were, the more obvious the regeneration.
However, for this lowest-level Iron-Armored Willow, the recovery effect was minimal even at the maximum. If not for Xiao Ai's constant assistance in healing, Ye Chen would need to let the Iron-Armored Willow rest for a while for every few monsters killed to restore HP.
"Whoa! The monster dropped loot!" Xiao Ai's sharp eyes caught the sparkle of monster loot when the Kobold was killed by the Iron-Armored Willow and excitedly exclaimed.