Chapter Three: The Fierce Battle at the Volcano

Page 1/3

Temperature: 53
Thermal Energy: +72
Liquid Level: 92%
Gas Sensitivity: 69%
Vacuum: 10%
Hostile Biological Units: 1

After all the dawdling along the way, Lady Ma couldn’t hold back any longer. “What do all these numbers mean, anyway?”

Wu Hua replied, “The cave isn’t big, but the first two stats mean that once we enter, each of our HP will drop by 4 per second. With a liquid level at 92%, if I’m not mistaken, it’s a magma cave inside. Gas sensitivity and vacuum are both rising, which means we’ll be short on oxygen once we’re in—our weapon and skill accuracy will both decrease.”

Lady Ma exhaled. “Boom, brother, if it weren’t for your help this time, we’d be half-dead already just reaching this cave entrance. Thank you.” This time, there was no pretense—her gratitude was genuine.

Hotshot Girl kept silent for a while, then suddenly said, “Madman, you should go back. Take the Land Tiger vehicle parked below, drive it to Dreamstar Harbor, and we’ll pick it up when we return. Here’s the key.”

Wu Hua was taken aback. “What do you mean by this?”

Hotshot Girl said, “This Malagobi is a tough nut to crack, and it’s dangerous inside. You’ve completed your task, and for that, I thank you. I’ll pay you the agreed fee once we’re back in town.”

Wu Hua retorted, “What are you talking about? You think I took your deposit for nothing? A pro’s gotta love his job, right? I make my living on skills. Let’s go!” Without another word, he crawled into the cave first.

The three exchanged glances, but had no choice but to follow, entering in single file.

In truth, both Wu Hua and Hotshot Girl had their own agendas. Hotshot Girl worried that Wu Hua’s level was too low; if fighting broke out, not only would he be useless, he’d drag them down. But she didn’t really know what Wu Hua was capable of. Wu Hua, however, had a more cunning plan: once the fight started, people were bound to die, and if any loot dropped, it’d be the perfect chance to fish in troubled waters. These were all level 20-something experts—any piece of gear he could snatch would mean instant riches.

The cave’s interior matched the sensor readings precisely. The four of them were stunned by the sight as soon as they entered.

It was a hemispherical cave, not large, with the entrance and the far end separated by two cliffs some forty meters apart, connected by a narrow stone bridge barely wide enough for one person at a time.

Below the bridge was a massive pool of churning, fiery magma, roaring like a horde of demons.

On the opposite cliff was a small, lifeless ledge, where Sleazy Guy stood, his purple gear glimmering. He seemed to know he had nowhere left to run, so he waited, standing there coolly for their arrival.

When he saw Hotshot Girl and her team appear, he looked a bit surprised. “You got here faster than I expected.”

Hotshot Girl glanced at her digital watch, her expression grave. “Only thirteen minutes left. If we can’t take him down now, the mission will fail.”

Malagobi laughed loudly. “Come on then, you feisty ladies—come get me! If you can’t, you’ll be the ones who get got!”

Page 2/3

At his words, Lady Ma was instantly boiling with rage. She gripped her energy sword, ready to activate her charge skill.

“Wait!” Wu Hua stopped her, raising his Mauser pistol.

Bang—

A clear, sharp crack echoed out. The pistol’s report was like a firecracker going off in a steel tube—deeply intimidating.

The muzzle flashed, spewing fire-red sparks as the bullet screamed toward its target.

There was no dodging a bullet like that, and Malagobi didn’t even try. The ledge he stood on was barely five square meters—dodging was impossible.

Wu Hua’s intention was clear: probe the enemy’s defenses. A controller’s HP typically increased by 50 per level, so even if he maxed out on constitution, at level 26 he’d have no more than 3,000 HP. And what kind of controller would put all their points into constitution, anyway?

With a thud, the bullet struck Malagobi’s left shoulder. To everyone’s shock, the damage number floated above his head in red: –21.

Hotshot Girl stared. “How is that possible?”

She was a gunslinger herself, and had worked her way up using the Mauser. Its muzzle energy was 576 joules, so theoretically, its attack power should be 576. Though factors like humidity, wind, enemy defense, armor, and spells could reduce the bullet’s power, it shouldn’t drop all the way down to 21.

Malagobi burst out laughing. “You ladies think you can kill me with a Mauser? Your naiveté is the only thing keeping my lonely game interesting—thanks.”

Lady Ma nearly burst a blood vessel.

Wu Hua mused, “The temperature and heat here are too high—gun performance is badly compromised. More importantly, his set of purple gear is probably built for fire resistance and defense, so the bullet’s power is vastly reduced.”

Hotshot Girl nodded. “Let me try.” She unstrapped her MP5, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

The MP5 spat a fierce burst of fire in rapid succession. In four seconds, thirty rounds had been fired. The damage numbers above Malagobi’s head read: –25, –29, –24, –26…

Machine guns aren’t as accurate as pistols, and the MP5’s accuracy had dropped to 73.4%—nine bullets missed. With a muzzle energy of 630 joules, though, its effect was barely better than Wu Hua’s.

Hotshot Girl was clearly caught off guard. Chasing him across mountains and rivers, she never expected this situation in the cave.

Wu Hua watched Malagobi closely. The enemy didn’t attack—at a range of over forty meters, his spells would be weakened, and he wasn’t dumb; holding off was smarter than attacking. Delaying was the best strategy.

“Just ten minutes left—twenty-four hours are almost up,” Oath said anxiously, tossing out an “Energy Heal” to restore the party.

“Let me handle this.” Lady Ma raised her sword before her, tensed, and with a roar, activated her charge skill. She shot onto the stone bridge like an arrow, trailing afterimages, her speed astonishing.

Wu Hua and the others saw the red damage numbers pop up above Lady Ma’s head as soon as she set foot on the bridge: –50, –51, –48, –49…

“The bridge is scalding from the magma below—there’s powerful fire damage!” Wu Hua shouted.

But Lady Ma didn’t care; as a strength-based gene warrior, she never feared taking hits.

Page 3/3

In the world of Star Wars, there were several types of bio-warriors, and gene warriors were the most domineering. Their cells had been genetically altered, giving them far greater strength, higher jumps, faster runs, longer leaps, and overall agility compared to ordinary humans. They feared no normal damage. Lady Ma specialized in strength and armor.

Strength specialization boosted melee damage and HP regeneration, while armor specialization increased her equipment’s defensive power.

Her charge was unstoppable, brimming with force; the energy sword in her grip shone even brighter. Covering the forty meters took only about three seconds. With a roar, Lady Ma leapt—at least five meters high—both hands gripping the sword as she plunged down in a lightning-fast strike, her whole body sharp as a blade.

This was the gene warrior’s “Thunder Leap Strike,” a devastating skill known as the “close-combat killer.” Not just controllers—even high-defense chip warriors and doctors couldn’t take more than a few hits from it.

Clang—a piercing metallic crash rang out as Malagobi’s body was engulfed in a dazzling fire ring, sealing him in completely. Lady Ma’s sword struck the fire ring but didn’t injure him at all; instead, she was sent flying.

Wu Hua was stunned. This was the “Orbital Shield,” a controller skill only accessible at level 25, and could be created with any of the five elements: ice, fire, lightning, wind, or earth.

But it wasn’t over. As Lady Ma was flung away, Malagobi waved his hands, and the magma below erupted. Four massive streams surged up in an arc, slamming into Lady Ma’s waist.

“Careful!” Oath cried out.

As magma struck her, Lady Ma tumbled toward the vast pool below. Anyone falling in would be done for.

In the blink of an eye, with a muffled clang, the purple energy sword lodged into the stone bridge’s railing. Lady Ma hung in midair, gripping the hilt with one hand.

Malagobi hadn’t expected that. He flicked his fingers, sending a fireball toward her sword hand. The fireball was weak in damage but, if it hit, the consequences would be dire.

But Lady Ma flexed her arm, flipped up onto the bridge, and landed safely—a perfect display of a gene warrior’s strength and agility.

The fireball missed, but her energy sword was now stuck in the bridge and couldn’t be retrieved.

Badly wounded, Lady Ma retreated to their side of the cliff. Her armor was charred and smoking, and she spat blood in rage. “I had 3,000 HP, and that bastard took off 2,500 in one hit!”

Oath hastily healed her with “Energy Heal,” which, as a doctor’s spell, was only twice as fast as a regular blood potion—restoring 100 HP per second. Lady Ma would have to stand still for half a minute to fully recover.

Malagobi laughed uproariously. “Come on, come on! Five minutes left—my buddies will be here soon. You’ll all die here today, you—!”

Wu Hua’s face was grim, his mind racing. With Malagobi’s recent moves, Wu Hua had deduced almost all of his abilities.

Malagobi was definitely a fire-element controller. That explained why he’d chosen this cave as his last stand. Controllers were highly offensive, adept at manipulating elements for spell combinations. Here, with magma everywhere, fire elements were abnormally concentrated. He needed almost no mana—no potions, either—just direct magma jets. He couldn’t attack their side, but crossing the bridge was near impossible.

A level 26 controller able to trigger magma jets was surely on the “Elemental Mastery” or “Spell Specialization” path. Elemental Mastery increased control over surrounding elements, Spell Specialization boosted spell damage. Either way, he hadn’t trained “Focus Specialization”—which meant his spell cooldowns were long.

The level 25 “Orbital Shield” was powerful, but its cooldown was thirty minutes; he could only use it once.

“Break his shield, and he’s finished,” Wu Hua analyzed.

Hotshot Girl had seen this as well. She waved her hand. “All together! Lady Ma, break the shield—we’ll cover you.”