Chapter Twenty: Fierce Battle

A transaction, experienced so differently by both parties, had thus been completed. By rights, the value of the Skill Plugin Enhancement Chip far surpassed the inset named Power Fragment; after all, the former could be converted directly into combat strength, and such an improvement could bring about a qualitative change. Yet, Cup of Wine Growing Rich couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d been swindled by Ember—and quite badly at that. Fortunately, she had no use for the Power Fragment; otherwise, she might have been tempted to glare Ember to death.

Ember ignored Cup of Wine Growing Rich’s cold stare. He couldn’t very well give her things just because she was beautiful, could he?

It was a fleeting encounter, a brush in passing. The likelihood of meeting again was slim; he didn’t care whether he’d offended her or not.

Before initiating battle, Ember raised a question that preoccupied him.

“Does anyone know the location of the last player?”

“He… is dead.” Little Bean hesitantly raised his hand and then recounted the event in brief.

It turned out that Little Bean, who had taken the left path alone, was also assigned the task of clearing a bug nest mid-route. Unable to handle it alone, he teamed up with Moonlight on Water, whom he bumped into by chance. Neither possessed abnormal weapons nor area-of-effect skills, so their fight was especially arduous. After much difficulty, they cleared the nest, only for the opposing player to nearly ambush them, sneaking up quietly.

Luckily, Little Bean’s level-two Pea Shooter was already in place, and with the advantage in numbers, they managed to turn the tide and pursued the opposing player, finally eliminating him near the gardener’s cottage. Because of this, the two unwittingly accepted the Mutant Seed quest, causing Moonlight on Water to forgo submitting the bug nest task and instead race straight to the Hound Warden.

At this time, Cup of Wine Growing Rich was carrying out the Hound Warden’s quest, heading to the valley opposite the gardener’s cottage to slay an evil plant resembling a dire wolf. Upon completing the task and returning to submit it, she found her quest giver bloodied and dead. Furious, she launched a strong assault against Little Bean and Moonlight on Water.

At first, the sides were evenly matched, and Moonlight on Water and Little Bean fought while retreating. But once the twenty-eight-minute mark arrived, Cup of Wine Growing Rich’s level-three skill plugin came online, and what happened next was just as everyone had seen.

After her tale, Little Bean timidly asked, “Did I mess up again?”

Not Sword Immortal mused, “It seems…”

“Not too bad?” Ember stroked his chin, picking up Not Sword Immortal’s thought. “At least we can be sure of one thing now: only the four of us remain in the Dark Canopy Forest. Therefore, the gardener won’t act prematurely due to unexpected circumstances, and we’ll have more than enough time to take down the Mutant Seed.”

“Excellent! Now all the miscellaneous issues are gone, let’s go!” Not Sword Immortal raised his longsword, once again volunteering to handle the taunting. The four-member team quickly established their roles: Ember and Cup of Wine Growing Rich would provide the damage, while he, doubting Little Bean’s individual skills, assigned him to assist from the sidelines.

The Mutant Seed, seeing figures appear, suddenly entered a state of alert.

“Danai-danai!”

Two vine whips extended from beneath its dark green bud, hovering before it. Its large eyes turned fierce, rows of sharp teeth flashed coldly, its forelegs pressed low, hind legs braced, making the swollen bud glow from within, poised to attack at any moment.

“Didn’t this thing used to talk?” Little Bean wondered. “Did it forget after mutating?”

“Is now really the time to worry about that?” Cup of Wine Growing Rich instantly fired an arrow from her crossbow, her attack range exceeding the Pea Shooter’s, and her accuracy was astonishing. A streak of black light shot through the air; the Mutant Seed, struck in the forehead, cried out in pain.

“Danai-danai!”

Ember was surprised, for he saw that Cup of Wine Growing Rich’s shot had directly shaved forty points off the Mutant Seed’s health!

What kind of damage was this?

No wonder the Mutant Seed looked so tormented!

“The base damage is a weak crossbow, the skill plugin boosts the attack level one tier (to weak), the plant companion enhancer is another upgrade (normal), and now with the just-acquired Skill Plugin Enhancement Chip (strong), that adds up to three qualitative leaps, pushing the attack level beyond ‘normal’ altogether.”

The conclusion made Ember gasp. No wonder Moonlight on Water and Little Bean lost two-on-one—it wasn’t that they couldn’t play, but that this woman was terrifying. Even without the Skill Plugin Enhancement Chip, Cup of Wine Growing Rich’s skill effects would likely have brought her base damage to ‘normal’; a single arrow would still cut nearly half a health bar.

But after his astonishment, Ember felt mostly relieved. Cup of Wine Growing Rich’s formidable performance would significantly reduce the battle’s difficulty, even offsetting the Mutant Seed’s enhancements. He only wondered about her skill’s cooldown time.

With that in mind, Ember stepped forward unobtrusively, bringing the Mutant Seed into the level-three Pea Shooter’s firing range. The Gatling-like barrel spun up, and four pea missiles shot out in rapid succession.

Pop-pop-pop-pop!

Unable to defend, the Mutant Seed suffered another heavy blow.

Though the damage couldn’t match Cup of Wine Growing Rich’s, it still reduced the Mutant Seed’s health by sixteen points.

With only one hundred and twenty total health, the Mutant Seed couldn’t have anticipated being brought down to half health right out of the gate. Its fragile mind panicked, and seeing the longsword—against which its defenses were useless—it leapt backward in fear. Midair, it was hit by a missile from the level-two Pea Shooter; though it caused no damage, the Seed stumbled awkwardly to the ground, suddenly realizing there were only two enemies it truly needed to watch.

Despite the defense grade remaining weak, the Mutant Seed’s defense value had reached the upper limit of ‘weak.’ Thus, an unenhanced Pea Shooter couldn’t inflict any damage; Not Sword Immortal and Little Bean couldn’t break through its defenses at all.

But this didn’t mean they could contribute nothing to the battle. As the Mutant Seed’s bud shuddered, the moment of counterattack arrived.

Several leaf blades whirled through the air, slashing toward Ember and Cup of Wine Growing Rich.

Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

It was the Mutant Seed’s Flying Leaf Blade!

At the crucial moment, Not Sword Immortal pulled Little Bean to the front, attempting to block with their weapons. The good news: the incoming leaves could be blocked. The bad news: there were too many, and the damage was too high. Each leaf dealt five points of damage; after one burst, Not Sword Immortal had only half his health left, and Little Bean was barely clinging to life.

“Help!” Little Bean bolted, but Not Sword Immortal had no time for him, as the Mutant Seed immediately lashed out with its vine whip.

This time, sharp-eyed and quick-handed, Not Sword Immortal relied on his strong nerves and reflexes, trying to parry the whip’s force. Alas, his own strength was too low; the longsword shattered at a touch, and he was struck by the vine whip and immobilized.

[Notification: Your strength level is two, insufficient to break free from the vine’s grip. You are immobilized for five seconds.]

Not Sword Immortal struggled, only to be bound even tighter, utterly unable to move. Along with him, Cup of Wine Growing Rich—who had been standing behind Little Bean—was also caught.

As the whip came, she had already tried to leap back to dodge, but it still caught her waist. Fortunately, her skill plugin’s cooldown had just ended, allowing her to fire another powerful arrow before the vine could wrap her arm.

Thunk!

A forty-point burst of damage exploded instantly, forcing the Mutant Seed, now desperate, to unleash its ultimate move—Dark Canopy Flames.

The ink-black bud suddenly burst open, and black flames like flowers surged upward. The Mutant Seed’s gaze turned vicious, targeting the immobilized Not Sword Immortal and Cup of Wine Growing Rich. Ignoring the level-three Pea Shooter’s attacks, it called out “Danai-danai!” and the Dark Canopy Flames erupted, engulfing the two players in the vines as well as the charging Ember. Only Little Bean, who had fled far away, escaped the fire’s damage.

It was over…

Little Bean was stunned; he hadn’t expected the Mutant Seed to unleash such explosive power, instantly wiping out his side’s three main combatants.

“Am I the only one left? What’s the point in fighting now…”

Staring at the magnificent Dark Canopy Flames, feeling the heat rush toward him, terror surged in Little Bean’s heart, along with deep regret. If only he hadn’t completed the Mutant Seed’s quest, his three powerful teammates wouldn’t have been defeated, and he could have safely coasted along.

But now, all hope was lost. Little Bean dared not linger, turning to flee in defeat. He failed to notice, however, that a figure had burst from the flames, striking the Mutant Seed’s head with a club…