Chapter 9 The Venomous Anemone King
Da Fei proceeded cautiously toward the area where the red frame was flashing wildly on the mini-map. There was no need to look around; the large sea beast skeleton half-buried in the sand on the beach ahead had already betrayed its location! After all, it was the only distinct feature on the entire beach!
Da Fei advanced cautiously, getting closer and closer. Not only did he see the giant whale-like skeleton, but he also noticed a few barrels half-buried in the sand nearby. Did these fall from a ship?
If this giant whale's death was related to this Boss, just how powerful was the Boss? Probably unbeatable, but as long as I can gather information about the Boss, that's enough. The more unknown and powerful a creature is, even if the information gathered is incomplete, simply letting the world know of its existence results in a huge reputation boost!
So, even if it's certain death, its value is significant! This Reconnaissance Skill wasn't learned in vain, hahaha! But where was the Boss? Hiding in the whale's skull? Or in the sand?
With a mix of tension and excitement, Da Fei circled behind the whale's skull, advancing while using his spear to prod the sand ahead. The red frame on Da Fei's mini-map blinked more frequently and intensely! The Boss was right ahead!
Closer! The massive skull-like a small house was empty. So, it was in the sand?
Da Fei took a deep breath and stepped forward, tense and heavy-hearted.
—System Prompt: Warning! Reconnaissance has detected a hidden enemy about to appear!
What the hell! Da Fei was shocked, instinctively turning and running without thinking! Behind him, there was a loud thud, and a gust of foul-smelling wind roared past his head! Spattering sand splashed everywhere! A big "Missed" floated above his head!
Da Fei finally snapped out of it! Why was I running? Wasn't I here to die and gather info? So he immediately turned back, and was stunned!
Tentacles! Over a dozen thick and long Anemone tentacles emerged from the sand! So it was an Anemone Boss! Thanks to the Reconnaissance Skill's early warning, he had narrowly escaped! The Intermediate Reconnaissance Skill's early warning feature and the character's running state provided a chance to evade attacks.
Watching the dozen giant tentacles dancing in the sand, Da Fei shook his head helplessly in astonishment.
A Boss was indeed a Boss! These tentacles were twice as long as my spear, no way to fight that! It's a shame I was born a gunner, how great it would be if I were born an archer! Seems like I'll have to obediently step forward to die and snag some intel.
Wait! An archer won't work either! How could the system have archer players on this godforsaken island? When the arrows run out, who will sell more? Go pick them up in the ship's hold? That ship's hold wasn't even breached by the God-level Hero after leveling up a few times! How far can a newbie archer's arrows take them?
That means this Boss is still meant for close-combat players!
Thinking this way, Da Fei's gaze moved to the giant whale skull beside the tentacles that seemed useful!
As a skilled player, it's vital to understand that Bosses are meant to be defeated by players. A Boss that seems impossible to take head-on must have another approach! Reasonably utilizing terrain is the key strategy for overcoming obstacles in any game!
Da Fei carefully observed the skull, which increasingly looked like a bunker, with the eye sockets acting as shooting holes! So, if I hide in this skull and stab through the eye sockets... that's it! This is the trick! If even this fails, there's no chance in an open area! However, I can strike through the eye sockets, but its tentacles should also reach in from outside! Then after landing a hit, I must dodge sideways. If its tentacles can bend, then I'm done for!
In any case, since I'm here to die, I've got no pressure! The longer I last against it, the more detailed information I'll gather!
But there's a big problem. It's nearly impossible to get into the skull now; its tentacles are so long they'll surely hit me! Charge in directly? Hell no! I'm just a fragile gunner who wouldn't dare touch a regular small Anemone, let alone the Boss. How did the whale die?
Then I'll just wait! This Boss must have a reason to burrow into the ground; since there's no water here, it probably doesn't adapt well to open air?
Da Fei ran further away and killed twenty more small Anemones for some experience, then ran back to see. Hey, hey, it really burrowed again! This is the moment I've been waiting for!
Quietly, Da Fei crept around to the back of the skull, finding the best angle. This angle had whale ribs standing to block sweeping attacks from the tentacles, which were nearly impossible to dodge. Stabbing tentacles were easier to dodge!
One step, two steps, reaching the enemy's attack range! Da Fei crouched, deeply inhaling like a spring ready to launch!
—System Prompt: Warning! Reconnaissance has detected a hidden enemy about to appear!
Charge!!! In an instant, Da Fei shot out at a gunner's speed of 10 meters per second!
Bang!!! Dirt and sand burst into the air as a shadow shot from the ground! For a split second, Da Fei's heart was in his throat!
In this world, there's no such thing as a surefire tactic; luck is always the most unpredictable factor in strategy! The stronger side tries to minimize the luck factor, while the weaker side can only rely on luck!
With early warning, early movement, and terrain utilization, Da Fei had done everything objectively possible, leaving the rest to fate! If luck wasn't on my side? Haha, then just die and try again; there's no pressure in gaming!
—Whoosh! A sandy blast whisked past! Missed!!!
Oh yeah!!! Breach successful!
—Thud! Da Fei dived into the giant whale's skull, excitedly and tensely waiting for the second wave of attacks! If the tentacle could bend, then I was doomed to a points deduction!
After a while of waiting, the second wave did not come. Seemed like this could work? Excited, Da Fei slowly stood up and cautiously peeked out of the skull's eye socket—whoosh! A shadow flashed before his eyes!
Prepared, Da Fei quickly retracted.
—Bang!!! Missed! A thick, thigh-like, disgusting green tentacle covered in sucker pimples shot in from outside the skull's eye socket, slamming into the skull's interior wall! The entire whale bone jolted with the impact!
Such force left Da Fei wide-eyed and speechless! This attack would surely obliterate a newbie and probably a Knight too; it's definitely not a monster that can be tanked!
Thud! After hitting the wall, the tentacle flopped to the ground like a dead snake and began its slow creep toward Da Fei's hiding place.
Wow, shit! It really can bend! It's do or die!
"Take this!" Da Fei jabbed his spear at the creeping tentacle "-6"!!!
—System Prompt: You have obtained an incomplete information card about the Demonized Poisonous Anemone King!
Got the info card! I can die without regrets!
But now there was no time to look at the info card or care why he was dealing twice as much damage as his maximum damage. With the disgusting tentacle creeping closer, Da Fei attacked hysterically like a woman swatting a roach, jabbing repeatedly while shouting incoherently, "Azzaza-za-za-za—"
—"-6!" "-6" "-6" "-6!"
Every jab made the tentacle twitch violently, like a worm cut in half, entirely lacking its initial fierce power! And its limp struggles couldn't reach Da Fei wielding a long spear; the long weapon's special skill was still effective!
Finally, after leaving green liquid all over, the tattered tentacle clattered back out of the eye socket.
Got a shot! Got a shot! Wahaha! Regaining his composure, Da Fei hurriedly checked the information card.
—Demonized Poisonous Anemone King:
Creature Type: Large Plant
Attack: ?
Defense: ?
Damage: ?
Health: ?
Attack Speed: 1, very, very slow.
Move Speed: 0
Special Skill: Ejection Attack, ?
Item Drop: ?
Experience: ?
...
Its special skill was Ejection Attack!!! The elite Second-level Soldier from the Hell Race, known as the Screaming Horned Demon, or Jumping Demon among beta testers!
—Screaming Horned Demon: Attack 3, Defense 2, Health 13, Damage 1-4, Attack Speed 8, Move Speed 5, Special Skill: Ejection Attack, Enrage.
Screaming Horned Demons resided on the islands of the Hell Lava Sea. Although they moved slowly on their own, they could navigate the scorching Lava Islands with jumps comparable to those of Flying Soldiers, thus possessing an ejection attack ability that even the mightiest demons couldn't underestimate.
—Ejection Attack: With astonishing leaping power, Screaming Horned Demons could catapult themselves as projectiles into the farthest corners of the battlefield, even into castle walls. The farther the ejection distance, the higher the landing damage. However, their high-speed mobility led to a decrease in attack accuracy, and post-landing, they would be in a fully weakened armor-piercing state, suffering doubled damage. Repeated use of Ejection Attack amplifies the weakening effect and increases the damage taken exponentially.
As Second-level Soldiers, Screaming Horned Demons were one of the most feared low-level creatures by players. Of course, the Hell Race units as wild creatures were a headache. Their Ejection Attack could deal damage two to three times their own strength. It was hard to encounter them without incurring losses, and many high-level soldiers couldn't escape their grasp, rightfully making them highly valuable cannon fodder suicide troops!
Da Fei suddenly understood! No wonder my 1-3 damage managed 6 points of damage!
In other words, this Anemone King, being a Plant Monster, had low attack speed, relying on the lightning-fast special skill of Ejection Tentacles for attacks. And its attack speed was not just low, but abysmally so, with only 1! This meant the player makes 10 moves for its 1! So Da Fei jabbed at it for a good while, seemingly about to render it useless before it could retaliate!
Of course, the attack speed of 1 referred to one tentacle being 1, but it had over a dozen tentacles, so the low-speed issue didn't exist. But this was different since now Da Fei hid in the skull, and only one tentacle could reach inside!
So that's how it is! Ejection Attack itself lacked high accuracy, and I was moving evasively the whole time, so I'll try knocking them down one by one!
Da Fei took a deep breath, once more craning his head to the skull's eye socket. This was the most crucial and dangerous part of the tactic!
Succeeding once might not be difficult, but succeeding consecutively for over a dozen times was the real challenge! But for Da Fei, a seasoned construction worker with nerves of steel from high-rise renovations, achieving safety in production once was not difficult, and achieving continuous safety over a dozen times was equally not difficult!