"Prepare for battle."
Wang Meng's face turned extremely serious as he unfolded the inferior large shield in his hand.
They had just taken a short break on their way here, and their health and mana were almost fully restored.
Originally, the pretty girl with the staff, Lin Liyu, was still upset about not adding Qin Feng as a friend earlier.
"It must be because I'm covered in mud, and the big shot was disgusted, boo hoo..."
The girl was about to cry.
But before she could be sad for long, the scene before her left her stunned, and she immediately gripped her staff, ready to fight.
More than a dozen Crawlers!
In just a few seconds, they had wiped out an entire six-player team!
Initially, Wang Meng was still preparing for battle with a grave expression.
But then...
Those Crawlers glanced back at their team, seemingly sensing they were different from ordinary teams, and hesitated before turning to leave.
Of course, before leaving, they absorbed all the non-tradable lifespan dropped by those six players.
Although it takes time for the monsters to digest the lifespan, absorbing and storing it is quick.
Once done, the Crawlers turned and fled into the depths of the forest...
"They ran?"
Wang Meng and the others were taken aback.
These monsters...
They don't play by the usual rules!
Moreover, the speed of those Crawlers was quite fast!
Although not as fast as the Swift Runners, they were still beyond Wang Meng and his team's ability to catch up.
"If they want to run, we really can't catch them."
"These monsters, do they actually know to bully the weak and fear the strong?"
Wang Meng, Lin Liyu, and the others found it hard to believe.
Once again, they felt a deeper sense of awe for the 'Abandoned Gods Game.'
The monsters in this game...
They don't just stand there waiting for players to kill them like in typical online games!
Instead, they form teams to hunt players!
To plunder the players' lifespan!
As for what the monsters do with the stolen lifespan, Wang Meng and his team didn't know yet, but just this fact was enough to send chills down their spines.
"Let's go."
Wang Meng led the team forward.
Soon, they saw another six-player team, with three already dead and the remaining three fleeing for their lives.
Unfortunately, they were too slow, with five Crawlers chasing them relentlessly, about to take them down...
"Arcane Orb!"
"Triple Shot!"
The two ranged members of Wang Meng's team attacked the five Crawlers from a distance.
Each hit a Crawler, blasting away about a tenth of its health.
"Surround them, don't let them escape!"
Wang Meng charged forward with his shield, leaping and smashing down, stunning the five Crawlers in place...
Around Shell Town, such events were happening everywhere.
The monsters, which people originally thought should be killed for experience, were now teaming up, gathering, and turning the tables to hunt players!
At the town square's resurrection point.
White lights flashed continuously, almost never stopping.
Every resurrected player had a grim look on their face.
"We need to reach level 3 to return to reality. I thought it would be easy, but..."
"Even the monsters know how to team up. How are we supposed to reach level 3 like this?"
"I have a question. If we never reach level 3, are we stuck here forever?"
"Wouldn't that make us vegetative in the real world?"
"No, we need to gather more people. A six-person team isn't enough; let's go with two or three teams together!"
"But that's not possible. Too many people will attract a BOSS. Just now, a forty-person group attracted a 'Curser,' and one skill wiped out over thirty of them..."
Countless people were terrified.
And just then, they suddenly saw...
On the level leaderboard of Shell Town, the top-ranked 'Shadow' had reached level 3!
"Damn, is this Shadow really that awesome?"
"We struggle to kill even a small monster, and he levels up so easily?"
"Shadow seems to be soloing! After all, he's the only one on the leaderboard with such a high level."
"Definitely soloing, that's insane!"
People were in disbelief.
By now, many had left the town.
They deeply realized how ferocious the monsters outside were.
In this situation, for 'Shadow' to solo and level up all the way, how powerful must he be?
At this moment.
Sister Pear, codenamed 'Pressure,' and her teammates resurrected again from the square.
The girl in a black short-sleeve shirt had a face as dark as coal.
Because...
This was her third death!
Her non-tradable lifespan, originally eighty years, was now down to ten, a significant loss...
Although she didn't know if this lifespan was real or not.
It still weighed heavily on her mind...
The soft, long-haired girl who resurrected with her now had trembling hands!
"Sister Pear... what do we do now?"
The soft girl looked worriedly at her experience bar.
Their team had killed four Crawlers so far, and each person had gained less than ten experience points, still far from the 100 points needed to reach level 2, let alone level 3!
Even killing those four Crawlers had been a struggle.
Because...
When they were low on health, they would run!
It was only thanks to Sister Pear's skills, being a hidden class, that she managed to take down the fleeing Crawlers with her longbow.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to kill even those four Crawlers.
"In any case, we can't die again."
The black short-sleeved girl 'Pressure' looked grim, then suddenly noticed the leaderboard, where 'Shadow' had reached level 3...
This situation made her eyes light up.
"Everyone, spread the word."
Pressure said in a deep voice, "I'll offer 10 million RMB for Shadow to help me reach level 3. In any case, let's get back to reality first... If he levels up so fast, it should be easy for him to help me level up, right?"
Thus, this message quickly spread throughout Shell Town.
A young lady was willing to spend 10 million RMB to hire the top-ranked 'Shadow' to help her level up!
...
Meanwhile, Qin Feng was on his way back.
After taking down a Swift Runner, he had continued to hunt in the dense forest, killing over a dozen Crawlers, and finally used 'Greedy Hand' to gain 1 Evolution Point.
He immediately evolved Greedy Hand!
——
[You have consumed 5 Evolution Points, remaining 0 points.]
[Greedy Hand (Platinum → Emerald): Assassin class skill. Can be used on monster corpses, with a 110% → 160% chance to gain an additional loot reward. The additional loot has a 20% chance to be one tier higher.]
——
Greedy Hand, evolved to Emerald level, gained a special effect.
A 20% chance for the additional loot to be one tier higher!
"Unstoppable!"
Qin Feng's eyes lit up.
This effect was incredibly satisfying.
"If I keep evolving... wouldn't it be a 100% chance to increase the tier?"
"Kill a Bronze BOSS, and get Silver equipment."
"Kill a Silver BOSS, and get Gold equipment?"
Perfect timing!
Qin Feng had already memorized the location of a BOSS.
That BOSS, named 'Curser,' was a withered treant-like monster, seemingly having killed dozens of players, hiding somewhere in the dense forest, digesting lifespan...
Soon, that Curser would evolve into a Silver-level BOSS!