Chapter Eighteen: A Sudden Flash of Inspiration—An Unconventional Use for the Golden Finger

Boom!

A thunderous explosion echoed through the wide alley, making the ground tremble slightly.

With one furious stomp, he knocked the pirate leader unconscious. The many pirates around, all in their teens-level, were shaken to the brink of death. Then, Zhang Qing, who had been charging his spell, hurled a fireball that exploded in a violent blaze, instantly reducing all the pirates except their leader to charred remains.

Zhang Chunlei immediately marked the boss, Wang Weilong charged forward and stunned the just-awakened pirate leader, and Cheng Mingyue unleashed a powerful sword strike, dealing nearly two hundred points of damage.

Arrows shot like meteors. After three full seconds of aiming, a single shot struck the pirate leader, blasting out even more terrifying damage than Cheng Mingyue’s blow.

In just this first round of attacks, nearly a thousand hit points were carved off the boss.

Upon regaining consciousness, the pirate leader cried out for help, only to be met with even fiercer assaults.

A dozen pirates rushed to reinforce him, and Chu Cheng decisively instructed them, “You two hold the boss—just for ten seconds.”

The two nodded solemnly. “Ten seconds is no problem.”

Chu Cheng nodded and, without hesitation, turned to block the group of pirates.

As they surrounded him and brought their blades down, Chu Cheng caught a glimpse of the pirate leader in the distance and had a sudden flash of inspiration.

As the dozen blades landed at once, he didn’t let his innate skill trigger automatically this time. Instead, he tried, for the first time, to direct his ability’s rebound at a specific target.

He didn’t bounce the damage back to the ordinary pirates around him, but focused it all on a single target—the pirate leader.

Each attack rebounded once. Thirteen attacks, thirteen rebounds—all redirected at the pirate leader.

In that instant, he saw it clearly: while the pirate leader was launching a fierce attack on Wang Weilong, thirteen bloody gashes suddenly appeared on his body as Chu Cheng was struck, a series of -30 damages floating up at once.

“So the mark bonus doesn’t apply?” he mused.

But when he saw that instant total of 390 pure, defense-ignoring damage, which made the pirate leader stagger, Chu Cheng immediately dismissed that minor issue and felt a surge of joy.

That sudden flash of insight had allowed him to discover a more precise use for his golden finger. Passive rebounds were too crude—fine for mowing down mobs, but not effective against bosses.

With this new method, however, he now had the ability to solo bosses.

There were some limitations, of course: the boss had to be surrounded by plenty of mobs, and it only worked on melee bosses. Still, it was a formidable strategy.

One round delivered a whopping 390 pure damage; two rounds, 780, and the pirate leader was nearly finished.

After a third round, the badly wounded leader didn’t even have a chance to escape before dying on the spot.

With the boss dead, the remaining mobs had lost their value. The fourth round of attacks finished them off, each death rebounding back.

Gathering up the spoils from the treasure chest, the five of them surged forward, joining up with the other defenders to crush the enemy with ease.

At the mouth of the alley, the five sat down to rest.

Although still on the battlefield, their expressions were relaxed.

For Wang Weilong and the others, this had been the easiest major class battle they’d ever faced; the troublesome common pirates hadn’t given them any trouble at all—it was almost too enjoyable.

“It really is all about having a proper tank,” someone commented.

After several fights, everyone gave Chu Cheng extremely high marks, some even considering whether to team up with him again in the future.

But Chu Cheng himself was thinking about his newfound use for his golden finger, wondering if he could strike out on his own next time.

He’d already tested that he could use this method to take out a boss from behind a mob line, soloing it without having to share the rewards with a team.

Unless the boss had no mobs around it, in which case he’d have no choice but to team up.

“Next class, I’ll go solo,” he resolved.

As for this class—well, nothing could be done; he was already in a team.

After a few minutes’ rest, they got up and went off to find a new target.

But to their surprise, thanks to their excellent performance, after freeing two teams who then joined other battles, the tide turned across multiple fronts. With the second class also finishing off a zone, they found themselves with no opponents left to fight.

“So the only battlefield left is on the main street?” someone asked.

Zhang Chunlei nodded, exasperated. “That’s right.”

“What about the north side?”

“The first class is up north. They have more people and are stronger—the hundred or so pirates there are no match for them.”

Chu Cheng was puzzled. “It doesn’t seem that difficult. Why doesn’t the school let us clear the main story together?”

“Not difficult?” Wang Weilong laughed. “That’s only because this is just the first phase. The Pirate King and several bosses in their thirties, plus a group of elite pirates above level twenty, haven’t even shown up yet. Once most of these pirates are dead, the Pirate King will enter the field, and that’s when you’ll see what real danger looks like.”

He looked at Chu Cheng and smiled. “Those elite pirates above level twenty are just a bit weaker than the two bosses we just took down, but there are dozens of them—no way you can tank that much, even with your ability to absorb 30 damage per hit.”

“When the time comes, everyone will have to retreat to the castle and let the teachers’ team take over.”

“Oh...” Chu Cheng fell silent.

If that was really the case, he knew he couldn’t handle it alone.

A level-twenty pirate boss could deal close to two hundred damage per hit; slightly weaker elites would still hit for at least 150. Even with his ability and defenses, he’d still take nearly a hundred per blow.

No way he could withstand a concentrated assault like that.

“If that’s so, then we shouldn’t waste any time. Let’s head to the main street and grab the last bit of loot.”

“Let’s go.”

Three minutes later, the five of them made their way through the alleys to the main road, climbed onto a rooftop, and looked down at the brutal fighting below.

There were so many defenders and pirates that even the wide main street couldn’t contain them all.

Chu Cheng and Zhang Chunlei stood at the roof’s edge, scanning the battlefield. Zhang Chunlei asked, “How do we go in—flank, or straight in?”

Chu Cheng’s gaze was fixed on the rear of the main street, where a huge, heavily scarred, bald brute was surrounded by a horde of pirates. His insight skill revealed the name:

Mike (Elite): Black Sails Pirate’s Grand Boss, Level 32, 5500 HP.

He was the commander of the pirate vanguard, a boss over level thirty with a massive health pool.

“Him,” Chu Cheng said, pointing at the boss. “If we cut off the head, do you think it’s possible?”

Zhang Chunlei hesitated, then shook his head. “Impossible.”

“Even with the tactic I used just now?”

“The tactic is sound, but none of us can withstand both the boss and the sub-bosses around him.”

“We could tank the level-twenty bosses before, but no way we can handle a level-thirty elite boss.”

“What if you guys don’t intervene and I jump in alone? Stay among the mobs, let them block the boss for me.”

But Zhang Chunlei shook his head again. “Still won’t work. With that boss’s size and strength, you think the mobs could hold him back?”

“Uh...” Chu Cheng scratched his head and finally sighed.

“Alright.”

It really was hopeless. Unless one exploited terrain glitches that even the boss couldn’t overcome, it was impossible to block him with mobs.

“Hmm?”