Chapter 57 — The end of the game’s season.
[Player Xinmi was eliminated. Given they were in dungeon mode, their life was not taken, and they were transported back to the base camp.]
The player was instantly swallowed, and this message appeared before everyone’s eyes.
In the pitch-black environment, the disappearance of their companion made everyone shiver with fear and tension.
Mu Li took a few steps back, crouched swiftly, and quickly retrieved a long-preserved SSS-level weapon from his backpack, aiming at the cave entrance.
The other players also instinctively took out their strongest weapons, aiming them at the entrance in unison, showing their training.
Everything that was about to happen was unknown, and the oppressive atmosphere made everyone’s palms sweat.
Yang Liu knew that Bai Ruogu’s physical condition was not good, so he deliberately stretched out his strong arm to shield Bai Ruogu, preventing him from being harmed.
In contrast, Bai Ruogu remained exceptionally calm.
Under his dense eyelashes, he scrutinized the cave entrance with sharp eyes.
He analyzed the direction of the dim light, its intensity, the distance, and how the air’s composition affected people…
Various data flashed in his pupils. As he looked up, the health bar above a player’s head in front of him was decreasing at a very slow rate… based on different values, the rate of decrease was also consistent.
A vast amount of data raced through his mind, but just then, the monster inside the cave seemed impatient, and in an instant, the inside and outside of the cave lit up brightly.
Shadows appeared behind many players, becoming more distinct as the light grew brighter.
Mu Li’s heart skipped a beat. He fired at one of the shadows, and the powerful bullet, enhanced with a holy buff, caused the shadow to dissipate instantly.
“Watch out for the shadows! They’ll swallow you whole!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, cold sweat streaming down as he fired bullets at the other shadows with lightning speed.
Some shadows were eliminated, but under the intense light, more shadows spawned.
The players, panicking, quickly attacked the shadows with their weapons.
However, due to the shadows’ unique nature, only weapons imbued with holy or divine buffs could harm them, while ordinary physical attacks were ineffective.
As everyone began to regain their composure and the number of shadows decreased, just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, the monster inside the cave seemed to sense something. Intense lights shone from several different directions, casting numerous shadows behind one person under the powerful illumination.
“Damn it! Who the hell is this bastard playing with?!” Lou Hua cursed angrily, but his attacks didn’t stop. His veins bulging as he wielded his weapon even faster.
“Old Bai, watch out! There’s a shadow behind you too!” Yang Liu shouted, using the weapon Bai Ruogu had given him to attack the shadows while nervously watching Bai Ruogu.
But the shadows’ attacks were too fierce, and Yang Liu soon found himself overwhelmed.
Bai Ruogu remained calm, analyzing the situation as he watched the battle. Upon hearing Yang Liu’s warning, he quietly looked down at the three or four shadows slowly rising from the ground beneath his feet.
Unlike others, he remained unflustered and calmly retrieved the appropriate weapon to deal with them.
Just as he was prepared to face the clawing shadow monsters, one of them, like a cautious child, tentatively extended a claw and lightly tapped Bai Ruogu’s calf.
After tapping, it withdrew slightly, looking up worriedly as if afraid of hurting him.
Bai Ruogu: …
Enough.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead helplessly. The scene was all too familiar, and it was obvious who was responsible for this mess.
Given the situation, he dropped his guard and seriously observed the situation in the cave.
The shadows, seeing Bai Ruogu wasn’t angry, quietly slipped over and began to massage his back with their tiny fists. Some shadows helped knead his waist, others his legs, all worried about tiring him out.
As if that wasn’t enough, a pitch-black hand beside Bai Ruogu pointed towards the cave entrance, indicating the old monster’s direction.
The way they sabotaged their master was unmatched.
The Green Camp members and Yang Liu continued fighting the shadows. The shadows, unlike those around Bai Ruogu, opened wide, meter-long jaws, exposing sharp fangs as they bit down.
Their hands could extend infinitely, easily tearing apart players and their equipment. They kicked players three to four meters away and tossed them around by their collars. Except for seasoned players like Mu Li and Lou Hua, the others were beaten to pieces.
And Bai Ruogu’s side…
The attentive shadow babies continued massaging his shoulders and legs, and they looked so well-behaved.
Just then, a few players inadvertently glanced towards Bai Ruogu. The shadows immediately prepared themselves, quickly retreated from Bai Ruogu’s side, and began to pretend to open their mouths wide in a one-man show as if they were gnawing on something next to Bai Ruogu.
Their disguises were terrifying enough, they couldn’t afford to let their god lose face.
Once the players’ gaze shifted away, the shadows hurried back, shrinking their bodies and gently massaging Bai Ruogu again.
As time went by, the enemy seemed to have entered a buffer period. The light gradually dimmed, and the light sources gradually decreased.
Seeing an opportunity, the players intensified their assault, quickly wiping out the shadows.
A large number of pitch-black shadows dissipated under the holy light. The players, still shaken, scanned the area for any remaining enemies.
At that moment, they noticed a few shadows beside Bai Ruogu, drawing everyone’s attention.
Bai Ruogu immediately sensed their gaze. His heart tightened, and he drew a gun from his space, gripping it in his hand.
He turned around, and the shadows, as if it had a tacit understanding with him, reverted to a menacing form, waving its limbs at him.
He stared at these shadows, his eyes darkening, but reminded himself that these shadows could not die, as data could always be restored.
His gaze sharpened as he was about to pull the trigger.
Before he could press it, the shadows, as if gravely injured, jumped backward, away from him. As they fell to the ground and rolled around, they clutched their throats, displaying intense pain.
Bai Ruogu: ?
The shadows flailed their claws a few more times before kicked their legs, tilted their heads, and stuck out something like a tongue, seemingly dead.
Bai Ruogu:…
He twitched the corner of his mouth.
Everyone:…
Something felt off, but no one could pinpoint what it was.
The shadows eventually dissipated. If they hadn’t behaved so strangely before, no one would have been momentarily confused.
Once everyone snapped out of it, someone coughed. Mu Li instructed some less combat-capable but damage-resistant players to lead, while the rest followed, raised their weapons and advancing step by step into the cave.
The deeper they went, the more “black water” accumulated on the ground. Unidentified liquid dripped from the jagged cliffs, and the quiet cave echoed with the sound of water splashing.
The visibility grew dimmer, until no light could be seen. Some tried to activate night mode, but their vision remained unchanged, as if they had truly lost their sight.
At that moment, there was a splashing sound, and they heard Si Shi’s scream and others’ groans.
“Ah! Brother Mu, my leg… my leg seems to be gone!”
“Hiss, it feels like a chunk of my leg is missing too.” That person tried hard to suppress the pain, but his breathing inevitably became rapid.
Cold sweat dripped from Lou Hua’s forehead as he breathed heavily, “Be careful, it’s corrosive!”
“Shh! Be quiet!” Mu Li hushed them, and despite their pain, everyone immediately fell silent.
Bai Ruogu still couldn’t see, but he could sense the location of the pool with his other senses.
He tried to detour around it, but his body couldn’t keep up. Even though he knew there was a pool beneath his feet, he couldn’t avoid stepping into it.
His heart chilled, yet he calmly braced himself for the intense pain.
Just as his foot was about to touch the water, the pool seemed to grow legs and quietly moved aside.
His foot touched solid ground, and he heard the sound of water moving away from him, clearly trying to avoid him.
Bai Ruogu:…
Was this what they call “letting water out1”?
Bai Ruogu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was so obvious that they were letting him win, how could he play like this?
He simply accepted Su Mou’s arrangement, dropped his guard, and wandered freely, while also gauging the monster’s location and weaknesses.
A large amount of data quickly evolved, and the monster’s model and various parts’ data mapped out in his brain, with the calculations becoming increasingly terrifying…
Suddenly, everything around them lit up! The players, who had adapted to the darkness, were almost blinded by the intense light.
A deafening roar echoed, and the players covered their ears and activated their shields.
The sound waves were so powerful that the shields were shattered, and the players were thrown several meters away, crashing heavily against the walls.
Highly corrosive black water splashed onto their backs, instantly corroding their equipment and directly contacting their skin.
“Ahhh…” Several players screamed in agony, their faces contorted in pain.
Mu Li was also slammed against the wall. Though his tolerance was better than the others, his body emitted black smoke from the corrosion. He endured the pain and retrieved an SSS+ level light grenade from his backpack, throwing it forcefully at the monster.
The massive explosion obscured everyone’s vision, and they held their breath, their hands clenched tightly.
Such a weapon should inflict significant damage, even to the most formidable bosses.
When the smoke cleared, reality showed them the harsh truth.
The monster’s shell remained intact, without a single scratch, as if the weapon they had just thrown didn’t exist.
“Why didn’t even the light grenade work? This is the best weapon against dark attribute bosses!” someone cried out in desperation.
Mu Li, drenched in sweat from the pain, forced himself to stay calm and analyze the situation.
“Its defense is incredibly strong, probably the strongest we’ve ever encountered!”
“So, is there no way to attack it?”
“No!” Mu Li squinted his eyes, “The more extreme a boss’s strength in one aspect, the more fatal its weakness usually is.”
“What do you mean?”
“It definitely had a weakness, the kind that would break with one hit.”
“But where is the weakness?!” someone couldn’t help but shout loudly.
Amidst everyone’s agitation, a calm and clear voice was heard.
“I know where it is.”
Everyone looked at Bai Ruogu, who was holding a gun aimed at a specific part of the monster.
It was the right knee, which unusually lacked the shell covering the left knee. Moreover, the right knee looked very strange, with an indescribable shape.
Under everyone’s gaze, Bai Ruogu aimed at the right knee and instantly pulled the trigger——
The bullet shot toward that spot at an incredible speed, everyone watching closely, including Bai Ruogu.
However, just as the bullet was halfway there, the screen flickered, and the right knee was covered with a mosaic.
Everyone: ???
A mosaic?
Bai Ruogu, as if he knew something all along, coughed and looked away.
- 放水” (fàng shuǐ) literally means “to release water” or “to let water out”. However, it can also have a more figurative meaning, such as “to make things easier for someone” or “to give someone an advantage”. ↩︎