Chapter 46
A flash of light swept by, and Ye Bai felt herself enveloped by darkness. Yet this shroud was not suffocating; instead, it brought a sense of safety and protection, allowing her to become more agile in the shadows.
【You have learned 'Shadow Step'】
Passive Effect: In dark or shadowy environments, movement speed is increased by 50%.
Active Effect: Swiftly traverse between two shadows, with a maximum range of 50 meters. During the traversal, you are immune to damage, with no cost and a cooldown of 10 minutes.
It made sense that such a powerful ability came with a hefty price and a long cooldown. The immunity to damage during the active effect was undoubtedly a lifesaver in critical moments, while the passive speed boost would make Ye Bai, already faster than most players, even more elusive.
Afterward, Ye Bai spent 100 and 50 honor points to purchase the 【Assassin's Dart】 and 【Frenzy Potion】.
The Assassin's Dart did not occupy a weapon slot and could only be used while wearing the Assassin's Robe. It dealt 10 damage to the target and applied a 【Hunt Mark】 upon hitting. As long as the target remained within a 300-meter radius, she could sense its general location.
The Frenzy Potion, when used, would grant a 50% lifesteal effect on all damage dealt to hunted targets for 5 minutes.
Ye Bai didn’t believe that the Makur Group, having suffered a loss at her hands, would let things slide. She had no idea how many of them were in Tutu City. A group that had established itself on an entire planet surely had formidable armed forces. She needed to maximize her power in the game.
Otherwise, when her ship reached Makur Star, if their armed forces remained largely unaffected, any chaos she tried to create would be futile.
……
“Didn’t I tell you to wait for my return? 376 employees, including 45 level-four members—what were you thinking?”
In the holographic meeting, Hood’s face was ashen as he demanded answers after learning that Peng Si’s team had been wiped out by a mysterious boss.
Everyone present hung their heads in shame. Peng Si looked defeated, not just from the mental toll but also because this operation had dealt a significant blow to the group’s power in the myriad realms. He was lucky if he managed to avoid blame in front of the big boss.
“And knowing that the outdoor boss would take the loot, why didn’t you prepare?”
—Who could have guessed that over two hundred people would be wiped out by a single encounter with a boss? It was as if the boss had been waiting for them!
Hood’s accusations were purely a means of venting frustration. When they discovered that the assassin was a hidden outdoor boss, everyone’s first instinct was to kill it quickly to avoid losing track. Renting a warehouse in the outer city was both expensive and unreliable. Aside from a few dedicated “warehouse accounts,” the Makur Group’s supplies were all carried by the higher-ups.
As for equipment, who wouldn’t bring their best gear to hunt a boss?
Peng Si opened his mouth to retort but ultimately swallowed his words.
The loss of personnel levels could be managed; they could level up in the game, and in reality, they could recover. The real loss was in resources—his and the elite members’ gear, along with recently gathered resources, had all been completely lost. That was a tangible loss.
“From now on, everything will go according to my plan. No objections?” Hood looked at Peng Si.
Peng Si could only begrudgingly acquiesce.
In the following two game days, the presence of players in Makur City noticeably dwindled. Even when they logged in, they mostly stayed within the city.
Even so, any player who ventured into the wild would immediately be hunted down by assassins.
The Makur Group used the experience of two members to test daily whether the outdoor boss was still nearby.
They also learned an important piece of information: the boss had transformed from a gray robe to a black robe and had leveled up!
It wasn’t until Hood returned with a team of 45 elite members from the nearby Baihua Town that the Makur Group, like a lurking beast, revealed its fangs.
Hood, who was involved in the group’s most lucrative underground biological smuggling business, had caution ingrained in him. Under his leadership, the team was well-prepared. Although they were confident they could take down the boss, they only brought weapons and basic supplies, leaving everything else behind.
Of course, after the previous disastrous wipe, aside from the elite members who returned with Hood, everyone else, including Peng Si, had reverted to a state akin to when they first entered the game.
The Makur Group members found the boss again in the wild, surrounding it with sheer numbers.
This time, it was Hood, not Peng Si, who took the lead.
Using a large number of ordinary members to distract the boss in close combat, the elite members who returned with Hood revealed their weapons.
【Standard Crossbow】
Level: Excellent
Attack: 10-12
Penetration: 5
Attack Speed: 2.0
Range: 50 (effective) - 200 (maximum)
Trajectory Deviation: 4
Quiver: 3/3
Special Effect: Rapid Fire
Description: One of the standard pieces of equipment for town guards, capable of quickly firing all bolts in the quiver at once.
This was Hood’s reward from his mission in Baihua Town, made possible by the substantial resources the group had accumulated early on.
Seeing the equipment, Peng Si’s expression changed. They had previously tried using ranged weapons against the boss, but they only had bows and arrows, which lacked speed and accuracy. The boss moved too quickly to hit, and even when they did, the damage was too low to penetrate its defenses.
The talents automatically acquired by Makur Group employees were all common melee talents, lacking Ye Bai’s specialized “Charged Shot” skill.
Now, the appearance of the standard crossbow was a game changer. It compensated for accuracy, attack speed, and damage, making a world of difference!
“Fire!”
With Hood’s command, the crossbows fired in unison, all aimed at the boss, unleashing a volley that emptied the magazine in a rapid three-shot burst. Meanwhile, the trained frontline Makur employees, with exceptional combat awareness, rushed forward without hesitation, using their health to draw the boss’s attention.
These core members had been nurtured by the Makur Group from a young age, brainwashed into unwavering loyalty. They wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves in battle, whether in the game or in reality.
As long as they could hit the boss with the crossbow bolts, even with its high defense, the penetration attribute combined with sheer numbers could deal thousands of damage, enough to overwhelm it.
The boss’s response was to summon a familiar staff-like object.
That skill again!
Prepared, Hood led his elite members to retreat swiftly after releasing the bolts. No matter how large the skill’s area was, they were already standing nearly a hundred meters away, so continuing to retreat was the best course of action!
But this time, as the familiar flash of light appeared, the frontline melee members braced for death, only to find that the familiar white light did not come.
A strange barrier of light appeared around the black-robed assassin, and all the bolts that had been fired collided with that barrier.
“Clang, clang, clang…”
‘-205’, ‘-215’, ‘-204’
The crisp sounds rang out from the barrier, and the black-robed assassin remained unharmed, while all the elite members who had fired the bolts, including Hood, vanished in a flash of white light.
Only Peng Si, who had retreated with Hood, remained unharmed because he hadn’t attacked.
The melee members, prepared for death, also suffered no damage.
The reason was simple: Ye Bai had switched to a different scroll—
【Advanced Ranged Countermeasure】
Scroll Quality: Rare
Effect: Reflects all incoming ranged attacks during the casting period, increasing spell damage by an additional 100%.
Duration: 8 seconds
Spell Range: Locked
This spell was specifically designed for mages to counter ranged skills like arrows, and there were similar spells used in mage duels, such as 【Spell Counter】.
However, the melee members didn’t have long to relax. The next moment, Ye Bai pulled out the familiar 【Wail of the Banshee】, clearing the field once more.
‘Why doesn’t this boss have a skill cooldown!’
Table of Contents
