Chapter 174: 153, Small Fry Crab About to Die
"No escape, Venom Eruption!"
Lin Da stretched out his left hand forward.
A palm-sized purple array rapidly formed.
Like a squid squirting ink, a hiss sound followed, as venomous liquid spewed from the array, scattering onto the fleeing Murderous Crabs and killing a large number instantly.
[System Message: 8 level 15 Murderous Crabs have been defeated, accumulating 2400 Mystical Points!]
[System Message: Level 20 Black Armored Crab General has been defeated, accumulating 30000 Mystical Points!]
These two messages brought joy to Lin Da's face, as he realized that during the event, the Mystical Points from killing Murderous Crabs did not diminish.
Normally, having defeated over two hundred Murderous Crabs, the points would have halved.
Thus, his total count of points had reached an astonishing 129867!
According to Lin Da's memory, the experience required for player levels were:
To reach level 17, 40,000.
Level 18, 60,000.
Level 19, 80,000.
Level 20, 100,000.
Lin Da's current Mystical Points were enough to level up twice consecutively.
With a few more Black Armored Crab Generals, advancing three levels wouldn't be difficult.
As for level 20, which required more experience, it was one of the greatest thresholds for adventurers in the early stages.
Reaching level 20 would grant access to an Ultimate Skill and the capability to wear level 20 gear with much higher Attribute Points compared to level 19 gear.
If pursued normally, just progressing from level 16 to 19 would take at least three years even for a talented adventurer.
Yet, Lin Da could achieve it in a single day thanks to his diligent efforts.
This made him genuinely feel that the day when Luanwei would become a Rock-level Adventure Team was not far off.
While feeling sentimental, Lin Da chopped up the carcasses of the Magical Creatures, storing them in his Space Ring.
Glancing at the members of the Giant Rhino Adventure Team trying to sneak away in the distance, he frowned and launched a Venom Magic Sphere.
With a swoosh, the sphere landed just in front of Lai Xi, corroding a pit into the muddy ground.
Lai Xi's eyelids twitched, and he laughed it off, "Brother, what's this for, the ground over there is cleaner, let's move over there."
"That would be best," Lin Da replied expressionlessly, "One hundred thousand gold, please settle the bill."
...
In White Dove City, the Adventurer's Guild's fifth-floor operation hall.
Screens of light projected on the walls, each manned by personnel anxiously monitoring them: these were high-angle shots transmitted by sensor ladybugs.
Based on the real-time battle situation, messages were sent out to advise adventurers where support was needed and where to attack and so forth.
Mayor Adel paced back and forth in the hall, drenched in sweat, his face clouded with concern.
A glance at any of the screens revealed a gruesome scene of adventurers being viciously slaughtered by the giant claws of Murderous Crabs.
Each dead adventurer felt like a slap in Mayor Adel's face!
The battle status of the Rock-level Squads was closely monitored within the screens.
The success of their decapitation strategy greatly influenced the outcome of the battle.
A bespectacled civilian staff member rapidly recorded the casualties in a notebook, and Adel moved beside him to check:
Current number of Leader Level Magical Creatures defeated: 27, casualties among the Rock-level Squad members, 8!
"Eight people...equivalent to the loss of an entire squad!"
Adel felt as though his heart were being cut!
Each Rock-level Squad was a treasure of the city.
The loss of eight lives to kill just 27 Black Armored Crab Generals—adventurers deployed in squads to hunt a single Black Armored Crab General.
Still, eight had fallen.
From the list, those who died were all front-line professionals around level 21.
They had just advanced to Rock-level and hadn't had the chance to adapt to their new powers or upgrade their equipment, like fledgling birds trying to soar but devoured by despicable vultures before they could ascend.
Adel's heart was in agony!
"Mayor, Luanwei is engaging the second Black Armored Crab General!" an employee exclaimed excitedly, "This team seems even stronger than some Rock-level teams."
"What?" Hearing the words "Luanwei", Adel quickly approached.
When Luanwei was dispatched, Adel had invited Lin Da to stay and command, but was sternly refused by Lin Da.
—"A true adventurer must fight on the battlefield!"
Leaving behind these awe-inspiring words, Lin Da rode his warhorse, leading his teammates toward the city outskirts.
This intense eagerness to confront the Magical Creatures deeply moved Adel.
Adel had never seen an adventurer who hated Magical Creatures so intensely, as if Lin Da was born to be at odds with them!
This noble spirit earned Adel's respect.
Awarding the Badge of Honor to Lin Da was undoubtedly the right decision.
Adel's tense face relaxed into a slight smile after watching Luanwei's pleasing battle scene on the screen.
"Magic and Martial Dual Cultivation...once successful, level 20 could acquire two 'Ultimate Skills', far surpassing ordinary Rock-level team members in strength," he mused.
Decades ago, Magic and Martial Dual Cultivation was very popular.
But the difficulty was high, the leveling slow, and the risk of conflicts between the two professions leading to damaged Magic Circuits, with few succeeding, causing this trend to gradually fade.
Nowadays, mentioning Magic and Martial Dual Cultivation brought a sense of nostalgia.
"Mayor!"
Experience new tales on empire
"This Rock-level Squad seems to be in danger!"
An employee cried out urgently.
...
Monster Tide, middle zone.
A thirty-meter radius circular gap appeared on the black 'carpet' made up of Murderous Crabs.
Inside the gap, a six-member squad was attacking a Black Armored Crab General.
Their faces were relaxed, as though this powerful level 20 Magical Creature was hardly worth mentioning to them.
"Shield Bash!"
The small-framed girl, cloaked in steel armor and wearing a full-face helmet with bull horns, only her pink ponytails visible at the back of her head.
She smashed her thick tower shield onto the Black Armored Giant Crab's pincers with her left hand.
Skill: Shield Bash.
The heavier one's weight, the greater the damage inflicted!
The tower shield collided with the giant crab making a loud thud that hurt people's eardrums!
Although the girl was small, the force of her shield strike was immense, sinking the huge Black Armored Crab General half a meter into the mud.
As a Heavy Armored Warrior with an axe and tower shield, the attacks made with the shield inflicted 50% additional damage on shell-type Magical Creatures.
Therefore, even though the girl's primary role was as a cumbersome frontline, she was still able to deal notable damage in the war against the Murderous Crabs.
"Die already, you pathetic crabs, haha!"
The taunting voice came from beneath the full-face bovine helmet, shrill with a thick hint of childlike mischief, reminding one of a mischievous child who had turned a house upside down.
The petite girl lifted her face shield, revealing her face dripping with beads of sweat from the heat.
She grinned triumphantly, stomping on the Black Armored Crab General's pincers with her combat boots, "Get up you weakling, or I'll bully you!"
"Klrona, Magical Creatures don't understand what you're saying, you know? Just kill it and let's move on to the next one," Aiko said.
Aiko, holding a delicate white magic wand adorned with angel wings, with a shiny white gem emitting a holy light.
Meanwhile, Aiko was multitasking, chanting the spell "Light Bomb."
A watermelon-sized sphere of light followed a beautiful parabola and exploded on top of the Murderous Crab's head.
Boom—
The explosion sounded, utterly ruining the Black Armored Crab General's carapace, exposing the white flesh beneath.
"It's my turn now!"
The red-haired girl leaped, having stored up energy for a while.
"Flame Slash!"
She brought down the greatsword.
Although it was a Fire Series attack, which the Murderous Crab resisted, the greatsword's blunt attribute increased damage by 50%, thus nullifying the fire weakness.
Furthermore, this girl's Strength greatly surpassed that of other Swordsmen at her level.
The blaze turned into a sharp sword light, and a ferocious strike cleaved the giant crab into two!
"Hiss hiss hiss!"
"Hiss hiss..."
The creature's agonized shrieks gradually ceased.
Lia wiped the sweat off her forehead, posed with one hand on her hip, confidently holding up her greatsword, "Snow Goose, invincible!"
"That's great, now the captain can pay off her debt." Klyne, panting, put away her bow and arrow, a smile appearing on her face.
Unlike the older members of Snow Goose, who were not in a rush to have Lia repay her debt, Klyne and Oru, being somewhat distant from Lia,
and burdened with loans themselves, had grown quite discontent with Lia's failure to repay.
The World Tree's 12th floor might have been conquered, but most of the money went to The Mandalas.
This Monster Tide, Klyne was eagerly awaiting Lia's repayment.
"Phyllis, Oru, what are you standing around for? Go collect the Magical Creature's materials," Lia commanded, pointing at the dirty corpse of the Black Armored Crab General, herself unwilling to move.
Aiko and Klrona, too, had no intention of doing such filthy work.
In the Snow Goose Adventure Team, this was always a job for the boys.
Oru was used to it and promptly responded, starting to cut the Magical Creature's materials with a short knife.
Phyllis, of noble heritage, reluctantly approached, covering his nose and clumsily assisting Oru.
"You're so slow at this, not like Lin Da at all," Lia commented offhandedly as she killed more regular Murderous Crabs.
The members of Snow Goose Adventure Team fell into an awkward silence.
Only the red-haired girl didn't seem to recognize that her words sounded just like those of a defeated person,
seemingly spoken impulsively without any thought.
It made Aiko even more reluctant to submit her resignation.
Yes, although Aiko fought alongside Lia and the others, her heart had already flown to the Phoenix Tail Flower, pondering how to get Lin Da to invite her to join.
Even though Aiko considered Lia a reluctant friend, she wouldn't compromise her own preferences to remain in Snow Goose.
Her real target was Lin Da, who had insulted her dignity.
Until Lin Da was brought to his knees before her charm, she could not swallow this affront.
"Lia, the Great Mystery Continent is opening soon, isn't it? What are your thoughts?" Aiko asked absentmindedly as she fired the Light Arrow Technique, piercing through a Murderous Crab's head.
"What thoughts?" Lia asked in confusion.
"Are you really planning to go against Lin Da's team?" Aiko sneakily glanced at Lia, slightly nervous.
If such an event occurred, her lackluster contribution might be noticed by Lia.
"If my team encounters him, surely he won't have an easy time," Lia snorted, "With just those few members in his team, dreaming of surpassing Snow Goose? Ridiculous."