Chapter Seventy-Six: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

Page (1/3)

Blood Surge: One Shot in the Online Game, currently ranked 17th on the new books leaderboard, just a couple of spots away from breaking into the top rankings. This position is agonizing, and I desperately need your support in the form of favorites and clicks.

――――――

The heart-stopping scene of the mass brawl raged on. Wu Hua suddenly had a feeling—the main system’s design of this warrior boss was, in some subtle way, a hint to the players.

Every profession in Star Wars had its strengths and weaknesses. Chip Warrior, for example, was naturally a powerful shield, exceptionally resilient and capable of taking hits. Its offensive power was formidable, but its movements were slow. The boss’s every action seemed to foreshadow the future path of cultivation for chip warriors.

High-intensity alloy armor, lethal long-range sword beams and sword energy, and specialized in tremendous power—these were enough to make him stand above all others.

Wu Hua realized he had never encountered a master chip warrior before. Tu Tiao barely counted, but he wasn’t an enemy. If he ever did face such an enemy, how could he possibly win? The chip warrior had no visible weaknesses anywhere on his body...

As Wu Hua pondered these questions, a sudden cacophony of metallic shattering filled the air. Passerby A exclaimed, “It’s down! The boss is down!”

Wu Hua was startled to see the boss truly lying flat. Its brown armor was cracking and splintering, falling to the ground as nothing but a pile of scrap metal.

Blue Company still had over two hundred members left. The female soldiers cheered, “Victory!”

Wu Hua activated the “Precise Calculation” skill again, then sneered, “Too soon to celebrate. The real battle is only just beginning.”

The feedback from “Precise Calculation” read: “HP: 150,000/150,000.”

This boss’s HP was extraordinarily high. The reckless female soldiers were about to suffer for it.

Sure enough, the cheers abruptly ceased. The boss, lying on the ground, first moved its hands, then twitched its feet nervously as if stretching. Finally, it slowly stood up.

Moonshadow Autumn Gauze’s expression finally shifted. Anyone could see it now—the ferocious attacks just now had only stripped away the boss’s armor. Now, this was the boss’s true form—a pair of camouflage military pants, black combat boots, bare upper body, wielding an energy sword. He looked every bit the image of a formidable soldier.

“Attack! Attack!” Moonshadow Autumn Gauze shouted. The tomb chamber instantly returned to its previous frenzy.

Spells and bullets rained down on the boss. This time, the real damage began.

Page (2/3)

The AK series weapons wielded by gunners inflicted around “-1000” damage. Controllers’ big spells like Firewall, Ice Bomb, and Lightning Sphere all struck for over 2000 damage. Warriors returned to their standard damage of around 400.

Wu Hua watched closely. The boss’s whole body suddenly turned blue, even his face took on an eerie blue hue.

“Could this be…” Wu Hua quickly used Precise Calculation again. Sure enough, the boss’s HP changed to “296,212/300,000.”

“Survival Gene Potion.” Wu Hua was stunned. Now he understood—the boss was a fusion of gene and chip warrior, dual-cultivation. In Star Wars, probably only bosses had such abilities.

After taking nearly five or six thousand points of damage, the boss finally began to show his strength. The primary traits of a gene warrior were high agility and advanced combat techniques.

Wu Hua and Passerby A watched as the boss, upon rising, charged forward. A series of sword beams formed a blue “cross,” and within the cross, several white lights rose to the heavens—it was undoubtedly the signature skill, “Heaven and Earth Cross Sword.” The boss then triggered the Charge skill, pulling a string of phantoms toward the altar. Amidst the phantoms, sword flashes gleamed—“Gale Seven Slash” dyed half the wall red with blood. Then, the boss kicked off the wall with both feet, leaping high, wielding the energy sword in a “Split the Mountain” move, smashing downward.

With a thunderous crash, the sword cleaved a warrior—blade and shield—clean in two. The blade struck the ground, sending three gunners flying and cracking the floor with a long fissure. Dust billowed everywhere.

“Wolf Blast Slash,” Passerby A called out. Many warriors used these three-combo moves, but none with such power. Not only had he never seen anything like it—he’d never even imagined it possible.

In just over twenty seconds, Blue Company lost more than twenty people.

But it didn’t end there. The boss stood, spun sideways in a jumping arc, and hurled the energy sword, which rotated through the air in a semi-circular trajectory.

A series of sharp bone-snapping sounds rang out.

Wu Hua and Passerby A couldn’t even name this move. Many gunners and abilities users were sliced cleanly in half at the waist.

The boss’s four-combo attack was like a phantom—every strike dealt at least 2,000 damage. Once the combo ended, the boss no longer stood passively taking hits but charged left and right, tearing through Blue Company’s formation. Wherever the boss darted, blood and flesh flew.

Still, the boss suffered heavy blows. For every dozen or so casualties, his HP was whittled down by seven or eight thousand.

Wu Hua calculated roughly—at this rate, by the time the boss was left with about 100,000 HP, Blue Company would have been wiped out.

“Brother, should we run?” Passerby A asked.

Page (3/3)

No sooner had he spoken than three muffled thuds sounded. Three unlucky doctors were struck by the boss’s blade and sword flashes, their bodies slammed onto the coffin, then exploded in a magnificent burst, their berets and uniforms popping out as loot.

“I’ve got an idea,” Wu Hua’s eyes gleamed. He quietly reached out to feel around. The battle was raging in the tomb, and no one noticed the two sneaky figures hidden in the coffin.

Wu Hua “looted” the uniforms worn by the female soldiers, and upon inspection, found that every piece of clothing had decent attributes—only a shame about the gender restrictions.

“Let’s put them on,” Wu Hua said.

Passerby A asked, “Can men wear them?”

Wu Hua laughed. “Of course. You just don’t get attribute bonuses—but you look the part. Listen to my instructions, and when the time comes, we’ll make our move and escape.”

Passerby A nodded uncertainly, donned the “Russian Green Card” uniform, put on the beret, even tied the necktie. As for the high boots, both wanted to try them, but the sizes were too small and wouldn’t fit, so they gave up.

By now, Blue Company was suffering heavy casualties. The original three hundred-strong boss-hunting squad had dropped below a hundred.

Moonshadow Autumn Gauze was no fool; she clearly saw the boss growing stronger as the fight progressed, showing no signs of fatigue.

“Warriors, cover! Abilities users and controllers, prepare team ultimate skills!” Moonshadow Autumn Gauze commanded.

Wu Hua’s eyes widened—he was eager to witness Blue Company’s grand finishing move.

The remaining dozens began retreating toward the passage entrance, forming a “pin” formation. All warriors simultaneously charged forward, clearly intending to use their bodies to delay the boss’s advance, buying time for the others to prepare their ultimates.

The two rows of controllers raised their energy staves, abilities users lifted their hands, and energy spheres gathered on their gloves.