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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nThump!

nA single slash from an alloy sword cut off the weighty chains that hung on the iron gate. The chains then dropped heavily to the ground, blocking the surging Suicide Bombeetles from outside the building.

nBang! Bang! Bang!

nAn intense noise of collision came from the other end of the gate. The noise went on for a while and slowly faded away.

n“Finally! A little peace!” Chairman Jiao sighed while leaning against the wall in the basement.

n“I don’t think so!” Feng Luo suddenly said, looking at a specific location.

nThe players’ hearing was still not yet fully recovered. They had only just escaped from the terrible bombing noises of the Suicide Bombeetles. However, Feng Luo—through his keenly enhanced hearing capability—could clearly sense that the gloomy basement was not actually silent. No—technically speaking, it was an underground parking garage for a residential building rather than a basement.

nWith the dim light coming from their equipment and the glowing energy crystal on their magic staffs, they could see clearly that there was metal debris from an unknown car model beside them. Furthermore, there were components scattered around the floor.

nClank!

nFeng Luo took out a specially made flare from his backpack and threw it ten meters away. The flare gradually lightened up their surroundings.

n“Ah!” Orange, who was beside Mr. Meng, suddenly cried out, pointing her finger in a specific direction.

n“R—r—rat!’

n“Come on! It’s just a rat!” Mr. Meng said flatly, defending her from the front with his armor supported by his fat body and door-sized alloy greatsword.

n“! It isn’t any normal rat!” Orange said in a trembling voice behind Mr. Meng, her lovely face going pale.

nOrange was right. The thing she referred to was 30 meters away, and it was no ordinary rat. It was a giant rodent with a body over two meters long. Some of the dark gray hair on its body had fallen off, and its razor-sharp teeth were as red as blood. It was staring at them with crimson eyes, preparing to attack. The Eye of the Thunder scope gave them information about this rat in the blink of an eye. It could hardly match the pet chip’s standard, as it was not a beetle.

nMutant Rat (Level 35 Commander). Species Serial Number: LSB-39874. Estimated HP: 28,000. XP-S3 Chip Compatibility: 0.45%!

nSqueak!

nThe Mutant Rat squeaked as it grew irritated by the flare. It bent its body lower and prepared to attack at any second.

nSqueak! Squeak… Squeak…

nMore and more squeaks sounded as the Mutant Rat completed its summoning skill. Countless red eyes gradually appeared deep inside the garage where the flare’s light was unable to reach. Several were the size of an adult rabbit, and they were many over Level 30 throughout the garage. Around 50 to 60 pairs of crimson eyes could be seen glaring out of the darkness.

n“Great! It seems we don’t have time to take a rest after all!” said Sister Rui.

nShe leaned her body while slightly shaking her blond hair to take an aim. She then yelled while firing her Golden Desert Eagle at the Mutant Rat Commander with her right hand.

nBang!

n−2345

nYellow weak-point damage! The 50-caliber bullet knocked out one of its teeth as the Mutant Rat Commander opened its mouth.

n“Attack!”

nEveryone knew what to do even if no command had been given. Players belonging to vulnerable classes like Feng Luo, Little Witch, and Orange retreated backward, while Little Snow, who was a doctor, retreated further back to the rear position until she reached the wall. Meanwhile, Chairman Qian and Thorny Rose, the two Heavy Armor Warriors, raised their shields and stood on the front lines. They immediately used their shields to bash back two rats that were rushing over to them, intending to prevent them from reaching the players in the rear position.

nSqueak! Squeak!

nThe gunfire from the sniper rifles, handguns, and assault rifles were all mixed together. Wind Blades, Fireballs, and Earth Spikes were all used in succession. The Mutant Rats that were trying to cross the front line were knocked back.

nCompared to the Level-20 monsters the players had faced previously, these Level-30-plus Mutant Rats could obviously take more hits. It was difficult to kill them with one shot unless one were to hit their weak point.

nWith such a tremendous amount of rats charging at them all at once, the first line of defense formed by the two Heavy Armor Warriors and Mr. Meng became vulnerable and full of holes.

nSqueak!

nA Level-33 Normal-grade Rat broke through the defensive line below Mr. Meng’s legs. It then jumped from the ground and threw itself at Little Snow, who was busying healing the Heavy Armor Warriors. It opened its mouth wide, revealing its sharp teeth while its crimson eyes revealed bloodlust.

nBang!

nThere came a gunshot by a sniper rifle. Feng Luo fired a shot at the rat immediately while it was on airborne to knock it back. The rat bled while falling to the ground.

nHowever, the Level-33 Normal-grade Rat was not dead yet hitting the ground. Its eyes turned a darker shade of red as it squeaked at a high pitch. It then changed its target to Feng Luo, throwing itself at him.

nThe system determined that the defensive stats of the Mutant Rats’ skin was above average. Normal armor-piercing bullets from Feng Luo’s M110 could not guarantee a kill with one shot.

nBang!

nSister Rui’s Desert Eagle once again blasted a report. It was no weaker than the sniper rifle. The 50-caliber bullets followed up Feng Luo’s previous attack, breaking the Rat apart in midair.

n“Hey, Feng! I just saved you!” Sister Rui said, ignoring the bloody situation. She unloaded the Desert Eagle’s empty magazine with a single sweep of her right hand. Then she reloaded her gun with a new magazine from the pocket of her combat suit.

n“Thanks, Sister Rui!” said Feng Luo.

nHe smiled and took the opportunity to load a magazine of double armor-piercing bullets from his backpack. After activating Rapid Shooting, he started to quickly shoot the Mutant Rats that were continuously charging at them.

nEven with the light from the flare and all the other lighting tools dropped by the others, the underground parking garage was still dim due to its expansive size. Furthermore, there were pillars and abandoned cars that obstructed the view. Plus, the Mutant Rats moved rapidly. They could even bounce off the walls and ceilings. Their movements were even more agile than those of a cat. In addition, their reaction time was astounding. The rats could dodge Fireballs and Wind Blades from just 10 meters away!

nAll these factors caused many of their attacks to miss. At one point, the players were even overwhelmed by the rats. Moreover, the most annoying part was the two-meter Level-35 Commander Rat. It squeaked as the other rats attacked. Due to the mutation process, it had grown claws on all four feet that were more like blades. After the attacks of all the smaller rats, it squeaked and rushed toward the players’ defensive lineup.

nBang… Bang… Bang…

nMu Zi sprayed bullets from his assault rifle, landing most of his shots on the Mutant Rat, though the results were poor because of its 28,000 total HP. Moreover, it kept bouncing in different directions as it ran. It would be impossible to kill it before it reached them. If it rushed to the rear line, it would definitely destroy the players of the vulnerable classes with one hit.

nFortunately, the previously useless Chairman Jiao finally did something. Just as the two-meter-long Commander-grade Mutant Rat was rushing at them from less than five meters away, a yellow wall emerged out of nowhere and blocked its way.

nBoom!

nThe Mutant Rat Commander couldn’t change its course because it was running at full speed. Therefore, it crashed against the “Earth Wall,” a Level-30 skill cast by Earth Manipulators.

nMany cracks instantly appeared on the wall, which was made of sheer energy, after the Mutant Rat commander crashed heavily against it. Nevertheless, the wall had successfully blocked its way. Thereafter, Chairman Jiao followed up by casting an “Earth Ring” in one slick move, forming a temporary cage.

nThe surrounding terrain had changed a lot in the wake of the two spells. It had managed to reduce the surface area where the players could be attacked.

nLittle Witch cast another spell after channeling. Fire came out of thin air and started to spread everywhere, covering the empty space in front of everyone and eventually forming the skill “Sea of Flame” to seal the way.

nThe two spells cast by the Manipulators, coupled with the blockade by the Heavy Armor Warriors, managed to narrow down the opportunity for the rats to attack. The rats could only hop from one part of the wall and the ceiling now.

nThe players could see things more clearly after the initially dire situation had stabilized. And with that, the tables were turned.

nAlthough there were quite a lot of Mutant Rats, they were all Normal-grade monsters that were below Level 35. Their attacks were anything but weak, but they had very low defense ratings and low HP.

nThe dim environment was not favorable for a Sniper. However, Feng Luo was surprisingly getting better and better at shooting. Facing all these fast-running monsters that kept jumping and changing direction, he still managed to land headshots every single time with his freshly loaded double armor-piercing bullets in the M110.

nEven the Level-35 Mutant Rat Commander was unable to bear the situation presented by these well-prepared and well-equipped players.

nA short 40 seconds was enough to wipe out the small ones, leaving the Commander alone.

nThe only thing that troubled everyone was that this enemy could yield water energy. During combat, it had cast a spell that extinguished the Sea of Flame with a stream of water. Not only that, but the water had poured into the crowd, dealing 10 seconds of continuous damage to them. However, that was not enough to change its fate of being killed.

nBang!

n−3345

nThe Mutant Rat Commander knew something was not right. It instinctively started to flee. Feng Luo fired his last bullet into its rear leg as it was about to escape, and the rat was killed along one side of the wall in the parking garage.

nAfter the death of the Mutant Rat Commander, there appeared to be a round crystal lying next to its body. It was half the size of a fist and glowed with a light blue color.

n“Crystal Core!”

n“This monster surprisingly dropped a Crystal Core!”

nThe players were happy. This spherical item glowing with water energy was not a normal crystal. It was actually a Crystal Core!

nCompared to other crystals of the same level, a high-quality Crystal Core would be worth up to the times more. That was because a Crystal Core could be used to craft or to enhance the magic staffs of Manipulators, increasing some attributes of the staffs considerably. A single strong elemental Crystal Core could possibly double the power of an Energy Converter (staff). Moreover, it was not limited to Manipulators. In fact, other professions such as the Mechanic and the Warrior could enhance some of their equipment with a Crystal Core.

nCrystal Cores could only be dropped by monsters that were above the Commander grade, and the chances of a drop were less than 50 percent. In addition, if the monster were to kill itself, no Crystal Core could be obtained. For this reason, they were the most valuable loot that could be dropped by a Boss.

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