LWGP - Chapter 99
Chapter 99: Expulsion
To Zhao Shanxiao and Qiao Xuejing, that sword strike was undoubtedly terrifying. It had to be at least level 450 in terms of Strength, and with the bonus from a sword-type offensive class skill, it struck Wang Jiu squarely in the back. The damage it unleashed was far more than her current 570 Stamina could withstand. It certainly wouldn't be a one-shot kill, but she would definitely be injured.
At that moment, they consulted the System. The System's reply was that the skill was 《Ci Ling》, but the specific skill attributes could not be disclosed. It could only say it was a single-target sword skill that required 50 Spirit to learn.
However, Qiao Xuejing didn't pay much attention to this information, as she was more concerned about the sword that had struck Wang Jiu's back and emitted a golden halo.
But in an instant, she suddenly noticed that Wang Jiu, who had been struck, merely raised an eyebrow as the faint golden halo spread through the dark water. Then, she swiftly turned sideways, raised a hand, and drew 2% of her HP to deliver a Blood Wrath critical strike.
Qiao Xuejing suddenly realized—the golden halo wasn't from the Ci Ling skill, but from Wang Jiu herself.
The defense skill 《Golden Armor》, 5 Spirit Power per use.
Shards of golden light materialized like armor plating, covering her back and directly blocking the sword strike, preventing its sharp edge from piercing through.
Not only did it fail to pierce the armor…
The bloody light before them suppressed the golden glow.
Bang!
Blood burst from the attacker's chest. While not as spectacular as Wang Shu and Dao Dao being slapped to death by the giant fish BOSS, it was still a grievous wound.
The assassin knew he was severely injured. Although there was no such thing as an HP bar, once players reached level 10, the presence of Spirit Power allowed them to vaguely sense their own physical limits and life force. This was especially clear when it came to their endurance after suffering a major blow.
Out of terror, he kicked against the water. This was underwater, not land. To evade and escape with ease, one either needed over 1000 Agility or had to rely on skills.
A basic skill, Evasion, above level 4, or a class skill.
《Water Walking Art》, required 30 Spirit to learn, 5 Spirit Power per use.
With just one kick, water blossomed beneath his feet. In two flashes, he had already propelled himself twice through the water, but there was no third time.
This was partly due to the skill's limitation, which only allowed him to dart seven or eight meters away, and partly because… wisps of bloody aura from Blood Wrath still clung to him. He held a silver longsword in his right hand, while a brilliant light condensed in the palm of his left.
By the time the man sensed the light behind him, his back was already scorching hot.
Zhao Shanxiao and Qiao Xuejing only saw a beam of Flowing Light shoot from Wang Jiu's palm. It zipped through the water, its brilliance trailing like a ray of light, but the actual light projectile slammed into the opponent's back.
After Blood Wrath came Flowing Light.
With a dull thud, the man's back was burned and caved in by the searing light. Blood dried in his throat, and then his vision went black as he died.
He dropped a pile of items. Besides the silver weapon and boots, there was even a class skill book inside.
Just as Wang Jiu was about to step forward and take them, another person flashed out from the darkness behind the dead man. He had short hair, a refined face, and cold eyes, giving off the impression of a fox-like wolf at first glance.
After snatching the items, he vanished in a flash, quickly putting distance between himself and Wang Jiu.
Wang Jiu already knew the information on these two.
Zhang Qihan, level 14, Strength and Agility both just over 500, Stamina 430.
But this man was stronger. Zhou Guican, level 17, with attributes of 520, 670, and 500 respectively.
His Agility was even higher than hers, and he had an Evasion skill. He swept up the precious items dropped by Zhang Qihan and avoided Wang Jiu's attack range.
"Can't the insight skill see their Spirit Power?"
System: "Your insight skill is still at its lowest level. Spirit Power is a high-tier attribute and is currently unviewable."
Fine. Wang Jiu gave the man a deep look. Meanwhile, Qiao Xuejing and Zhao Shanxiao weren't just standing by. Seeing that Wang Jiu was unharmed, they swam to where Wang Shu and the others had been killed and collected their dropped items.
But just as they finished, they heard Wang Jiu's voice in the party channel.
"Keep your distance. This Boss is very strong."
The two of them quickly swam away, only to realize that Liao Luo had already retreated far into the distance.
That man was certainly sharp.
Wang Jiu also pulled back more than ten meters on her side and re-examined the BOSS with a slight frown.
Silver Feather Fish King (Nightmare Dungeon Bronze Boss, Level 19)
All three attributes were 800.
These stats were too high. She had no idea how to break its defense.
Was the first boss in a Nightmare Dungeon supposed to be this powerful?
To be honest, its difficulty was somewhat beyond Wang Jiu's expectations—not because of the environment or the BOSS's strength, but mainly because of the other players.
After Wang Jiu's group pulled back, the Fish King, perhaps due to its high intelligence, didn't attack rashly. Instead, it remained half-hidden in the darkness, blowing bubbles and staring at them coldly.
Its enormous fish eye looked to the left at Wang Jiu's group, and to the right at a group of five people.
The bodies of Wang Shu and the others were still floating in the water. The situation was dangerous, so they didn't dare to get up. Wang Jiu had also told them to continue playing dead because the Fish King was right there.
Otherwise, getting up would mean instant death and heavy losses.
However, Zhang Qihan had strong attributes and wasn't near the Fish King, so he revived quickly. He got behind Zhou Guican and re-equipped the weapon and boots that had been traded back to him, glaring coldly at Wang Jiu. If his captain hadn't retrieved his dropped items in time, his ambush would have been a case of the biter getting bit.
In their party channel, the six of them had a brief exchange.
Zhang Qihan: "That woman's name is Wang Jiu. Dammit, I'll definitely get my revenge!"
Wang Xu: "She has at least three class skills—attack, defense, and burst damage. She's proficient in both ranged and melee combat, and her stats are high. She's formidable. How come we've never heard of her in the Luoyang social circle? Though I think I've seen that name on the social leaderboard somewhere; it looks a bit familiar."
The situation was dangerous, so no one had time to check the social circle.
Lin Ang: "It's fine. She's the only strong one; the rest are scrubs. Not to mention Qihan and the captain both have stats over 500, and the four of us have stats over 300 and 400. Besides, she used three skills in a row. Everyone's Spirit Power is low in the early game. After that burst of consumption, she probably doesn't have much left. Killing them will be a piece of cake."
Hua Longqiu: "Indeed, her teammates are weak, no match for us. If we surround them, we can take them down in three rounds. What do you think, Captain? Should we clear their team first, or fight the BOSS first and let them contribute some damage before we kill them? The ownership is ours anyway, so it won't affect our participation."
Jian Qiuhe: "Nightmare Dungeons can actually connect. We spent two days fighting our way to the island nightmare, and their nightmare is also the island nightmare. This damn game is such a dog. What if there are other teams? If the nightmare BOSS is hard to beat and our team can't take it alone, we'll have to borrow their strength first. If we can take it, then… we'll see what the captain says."
As the only female member of the team, for Jian Qiuhe to have achieved average stats of 400, she had to be ruthless and decisive at her core. But she also respected the captain's authority.
Zhou Guican: "Fight the Boss first."
This meant they wouldn't attack the other team for now.
Although they didn't plan to make a move, unlike the diplomatic Mei Qinghe, Zhou Guican had no intention of trying to negotiate a partnership with Wang Jiu's team as if they were fools. As long as they didn't attack, he figured the other side wouldn't dare to either.
Just as Zhou Guican made this judgment, Wang Jiu's party channel was also buzzing with conversation.
Zhao Shanxiao: "They're strong. Are you going to fight them or not?"
Jiang Kaikai: "I'm speechless. What's with this damn nightmare? The system just told me that some nightmare dungeons can connect. This means if someone else enters a nightmare somewhere else, and it happens to be the same scene as ours, we get thrown together. These rules are so scummy! I thought there was a refresh timer for first clears, so entering a nightmare after the danger had passed wouldn't cause issues."
Liao Luo: "It's not the first day the Dog System has been inhuman."
Wang Shu: "Master, Master, when can I get up?"
Wang Jiu: "In a bit."
Get up in a bit?
Her use of "in a bit" was quite inspired.
Lao Wang's methods were unpredictable, but anyone who spent enough time with her would quickly sense her core principle—when her interests were at stake, she was ruthless and merciless.
When she said "in a bit," she was definitely going to do something during that "wait."
For example…
Zhao Shanxiao hesitated. He wasn't prepared to help fight, but he subconsciously readied his Spirit Power. After all, when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.
But he still underestimated how fast Wang Jiu would act.
She flung a Flowing Light, blasting it directly at the Fish King's head.
The Fish King took the hit, its scales burning with pain. It let out a roar, and its massive body shot forward. Wang Jiu, with her high Agility, swam nimbly and headed straight for… Zhou Guican's team!
"Fuck! She's coming over!"
"Diverting the disaster?"
"Attack her!"
"Attack my ass, dodge!"
Underwater was the Fish King's domain. The fact that it had been lying in wait without leaving meant it had killing intent for all the players.
Wang Jiu's proactive attack made it explode with rage. It shot out, and after closing the distance by seven or eight meters, it swung its tail.
Bang!
The water surged. No one could bother with Wang Jiu anymore; they had to dodge. But the turbulent current made their bodies sway. Only Zhou Guican and Zhang Qihan, the strongest, managed to stabilize themselves somewhat. But as soon as they did, they saw something ahead that made their faces change.
Wang Jiu threw out a pile of Puppet Cards.
And because it was an underwater environment, there weren't many usable puppet bosses.
Land and sky puppets were naturally restricted.
But… that's not right, there were several for underwater!
Wang Jiu released all the Fishman family puppets. Including the one Qiao Xuejing had, that was six. But there were more. Two more Fishman family Puppet Cards had dropped in the dangerous dungeon, and Wang Jiu threw out these two strongest ones as well.
They all had a three-day time limit, and their stats were all over 500 on average.
Wang Jiu leaped onto the head of one of the chieftains, riding it as it zipped through the water, arriving directly above Wang Xu.
Wang Xu was terrified. He couldn't dodge at all and could only throw out his own Puppet Card.
Wang Jiu wasn't the only one with resources in this world, just not as many. Wang Xu also had an underwater puppet boss on hand—a massive soft-shelled turtle chieftain.
Clang!
The turtle chieftain blocked the trident strike with its shell. Since its stats were only around 300, it was heavily damaged by the block, but it managed to save its master's life. However, as the turtle's head stretched up, its beady eyes saw a person leap down from the Fishman chieftain's head.
Bang! A Blood Wrath critical strike. Wang Xu, with his average stats of only 300, had his head explode instantly. A stream of items floated out. Wang Jiu swept her hand, spun around, and landed on the head of another Fishman chieftain that had swum up. She shot forward to the left, dodging an ice arrow from the distant Zhou Guican. But as she leaned, she exposed her back to the ambushing Zhang Qihan.
Golden Armor again, then a diagonal slash with her blade. Swish! Zhang Qihan retreated but was met by the chieftain's trident.
Clang! Zhang Qihan parried with his longsword. As the sound vibrated through, he suddenly heard the rush of water behind him…
A teammate shouted in the party channel to dodge quickly!
Zhang Qihan immediately used Water Walking Art to flee. Bang! A water explosion erupted where the Fish King struck. Wang Jiu, riding the Fishman chieftain, shot out swiftly, avoiding the blast. The turtle puppet, however, was unlucky. It was hit by the fish's tail, and the little puppet boss exploded into a halo of light, destroyed.
On the other side, Lin Ang let out a miserable scream.
For no other reason than he had been taken out by Zhao Shanxiao and Qiao Xuejing, each riding a Fishman chieftain.
Qiao Xuejing had her own Fishman chieftain Puppet Card. The one Zhao Shanxiao was on was controlled by Wang Jiu.
It had already swum right up to him; how could he not get on?
He was already riding this damn big-headed fish. It was dead set on ambushing someone; how could he not attack?
Zhao Shanxiao wasn't exactly thrilled, but his body was honest. While Qiao Xuejing tied up their opponent, he decisively launched a swift sneak attack with Double Arrow.
In the blink of an eye, the two players with average 300 stats were eliminated. The opposing team of six was down to four.
Shouts flashed through their party channel.
"How is this woman so fierce?"
"Fuck, they have so many puppets!"
"Does anyone have underwater puppets? Use them!"
"Quick, release the puppets!"
But the result after the shouting was—although each of them had two or three puppets, most were for land. Sky and underwater puppets were extremely rare.
But looking at the other side, everyone was riding a big-headed fish. Even Jiang Kaikai, who had been drawn away with the enemy team, revived on the spot, leaped onto a Fishman chieftain's back, and took out his bow for ranged attacks.
"With our current Agility, we can only hold our breath underwater for half an hour, and we haven't even fought the BOSS yet."
"Let's drive them off first!"
"We'll attack from range. Let Lao Wang and Lao Zhao handle melee."
"Attack!"
Wang Shu didn't get up. He just played dead, floating in the water. Well, his Agility was low, so he couldn't hold his breath for long. He wasn't much of a fighter anyway, so he decided to lie low and see how things played out—to see if his master could drive this group away.
The two teams started blasting each other directly. Wang Jiu charged right into the enemy group. With her high Agility and the Fishman chieftain, she was even faster than Zhou Guican. He couldn't pin her down, and his other teammates couldn't handle her ranged attacks. Wang Xu and Lin Ang, who had just revived, were killed again by a few of her Flowing Light attacks before they could even stand for a minute.
"Damn it, where does she get so much Spirit Power?!"
"She has a defense skill, we can't break through! Captain, how are you doing?"
"It's hard to fight underwater. She can dodge and tank damage. It's useless even if I use my ultimate. I need an underwater puppet."
"So we just let it go? Lure the Fish King over!"
"No, they all have underwater puppets. They're better at hiding than we are. If we lure the Fish King over, we'll be the ones in trouble."
Zhou Guican's face was grim. He gave a direct order: "They have the puppet advantage. Retreat. Abandon this BOSS. We'll deal with it on shore. I doubt they can take down this BOSS either."
He gave the Fish King a cold glance and sneered.
The group turned and fled. Wang Jiu watched them swim away. Without celebrating, she immediately ordered everyone to surround and attack the Fish King, but with one important note.
"Its Agility is 800, but it hasn't swum out to chase us. That's strange. I suspect there's something hidden in the dark area behind it, or it's waiting for something. Control your damage, increase your attack speed, and don't lure it too far from its current position. Otherwise, triggering its Agility will be a huge problem."
Wang Jiu's mind was sharp as a needle. If she hadn't mentioned it, the others, still fresh from the fight, wouldn't have thought of it.
Indeed, this Fish King was very strange.
Behind it seemed to be a patch of reefs, pitch-black with a strange current. The water was already dark, making it even harder to see what was back there.
Zhou Guican had noticed something odd about the Fish King, which was why he ultimately decided to retreat to shore.
The underwater environment was restrictive and consumed a lot of stamina. Even with puppets, the Fish King's 800 Stamina and its 800 Agility—which hadn't been triggered yet but inevitably would be—were more than their team could handle.
Half an hour. If Wang Jiu's group couldn't defeat the Fish King in half an hour, they would have to surface for air, waiting to be surrounded and killed by them!
It would be useless even if they had items to restore stamina.
Zhou Guican was lost in thought.
But that big fish… they couldn't take it down.
Even if they did, it didn't matter. The real showdown would be on land.
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