Chapter Twenty-Nine: Entering the Instance Again

A new major class session arrived soon, and once again it was the Black Sails Pirates instance.

Chu Cheng quickly purchased some supplies—two rolls of silk bandages—then entered the instance.

The silk bandages restored 500 health points over 15 seconds after use; each roll could be used twelve times, costing twenty silver per roll. Including the money he’d spent daily renting the training room to practice weapon skills, he’d burned through nearly eight gold this month. The sum he’d wrangled from his family now had only two gold and thirty-four silver left; next month he wouldn’t be able to train so extravagantly.

Fortunately, the wild spending had been worth it. Compared to before, his abilities had improved dramatically, and he now faced danger with confidence.

“This time, I need to plan carefully and make a big profit.”

He entered the instance—still the seaside town.

Everyone gathered in the training grounds, where the homeroom teacher addressed them as usual:

“This session is free-form, but know your limits. You only have one life; don’t let greed lead to irreversible consequences.”

“If you want to team up to tackle a boss, report to me in advance. If you need to leave the instance temporarily, or if you get into conflict with students from other classes, come to me or the teaching assistant. Dismissed.”

As soon as this was said, Chu Cheng received a message from the homeroom teacher:

“Come to my office.”

While the other students left the castle training grounds in small groups, Chu Cheng headed inside the castle. On the first floor, he spotted Zhang Chunlei waiting and waving.

“Chu Cheng, want to team up again?” he asked.

Chu Cheng nodded. “Let’s talk after I come back.”

“Sure.”

As they exchanged a few words, Wang Weilong and the others arrived as well. Wang cast a complicated glance at Chu Cheng, then simply greeted him. The group made their way to the second floor.

As soon as they entered, Duan Yuqin addressed Wang Weilong:

“This time, Class One isn’t in the instance—only Classes Two, Three, Five, and Seven. The overall strength isn’t what it was last time, so you are absolutely not allowed to risk as much as before. No sneak attacks on Black Sails Island.”

Wang Weilong nodded emphatically.

Chu Cheng immediately asked, “What about Blade Town? Can we go?”

Duan Yuqin nodded. “You can participate in the Blade Town storyline, but it’s best to play a supporting role—don’t over-involve yourselves, and above all, don’t draw out the Black Sails Pirate King.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Off you go.”

After leaving the office, the group assembled on the first floor. Wang Weilong’s expression had returned to normal, and he grinned.

“Chu Cheng, want to team up and hit a few bosses?”

“Absolutely,” Chu Cheng replied.

He glanced at Cheng Mingyue and Zhang Qing. Zhang Qing shrugged. “I’m a mage—I definitely need a team.”

Cheng Mingyue nodded as well.

“All right, just us then—a standard party.”

“Who’s our first target?” Chu Cheng asked.

Zhang Chunlei replied immediately, “Let’s clear out the southern murloc tribe first, then head to Black Sand Island at sea. There’s a Black Sails pirate stronghold there, with a pirate boss over level thirty. After those two, we can wait for the Blade Town storyline.”

“Just those two?” Chu Cheng pressed.

Zhang Chunlei looked at him and smiled. “There are quite a few bosses in this instance, but with four classes here, we can’t get them all. I picked the ones with the richest rewards and the highest difficulty—nobody else will compete with us.”

Zhang Qing laughed. “It’s all thanks to you. With your gift, we can ignore the mobs and go straight for the bosses. Before, it would take a twenty-person team to even try.”

Chatting as they went, the group headed out.

The town was bustling; with four classes and about two hundred people, most were still in town, forming groups, preparing to hunt bosses.

After one run of the Black Sails Pirates instance, the starting monsters were abundant, and the wilderness was still quite dangerous.

There were, for instance, many crocodiles and murlocs by the shore—wild monsters, some of them even small bosses.

But these would be wiped out within a week by the locust-like arrivals; in ten days, not a single one would remain.

The five of them set out for the docks, then followed the coast south. Along the way, they saw many groups heading out.

Chu Cheng led the way, occasionally glimpsing murlocs roaming the shore.

He ignored the scattered ones, heading straight for the southernmost edge of the instance. After passing a massive hundred-meter boulder standing by the sea, they saw the sprawling, chaotic reefs stretching into the distance. Amid the reefs submerged in seawater lay a huge murloc settlement.

Branches and vines formed crude huts supported by the rocks, each connected to the next, extending far into the distance.

The five stood at the shore, gazing out at a murloc village of five or six hundred.

It was Chu Cheng’s first time here; on the way, Wang Weilong had briefed him on the basics.

Most ordinary murlocs were level seven or eight.

About a third were murloc warriors at levels eleven or twelve.

Minor murloc leaders were at least level fifteen, but below twenty.

Major murloc bosses were above level twenty-five, though few in number.

There were two murloc priests above level twenty-five.

The chief boss of the murloc camp was the level thirty murloc chieftain, who always dropped a deep blue treasure chest, with a slim chance for a rare red-grade item—something that had been seen before.

This camp was no less formidable than the Black Sails pirates in the Blade Town storyline; without at least twenty people, it was impossible to handle.

Chu Cheng shaded his eyes and looked around. “There are a lot of murlocs. The water is their territory—can we handle it?”

Wang Weilong replied gravely, “There’s risk, but what doesn’t have risk?”

He glanced at the others, who all looked determined. He shrugged. “Let’s be clear: if things go bad, I’ll look out for myself first.”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s go!”

There was no need for elaborate tactics. Everyone readied themselves, and Chu Cheng charged in, blade in hand. He was immediately spotted by murlocs at the shore, who shrieked and rushed at him, swinging bone knives and stone clubs, occasionally hurling wooden or bone javelins.

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

A series of muffled impacts—just as expected, he stood unmoved while murlocs dropped all around him.

They swept through, unstoppable, pushing straight to the center of the murloc camp. Once he’d drawn a massive swarm of murlocs, Chu Cheng began to fight and retreat, moving toward a particular direction.

He didn’t need to worry about defense; he had enough focus to control his gift’s counterattack targets.

Surrounded by murlocs, he simply set the counterattack toward the direction he wanted to escape. One wave would instantly kill ten murlocs in his path, carving out space, then he’d force his way forward with strength far surpassing the average murloc, soon reaching a cluster of three or four-meter-high boulders at the camp’s edge.

He wasn’t doing this to relieve pressure, but rather to set up a later escape for the boss fight.

His innate damage absorption had limits, as did his health; he couldn’t possibly withstand a swarm of bosses in the twenties and thirties alone.

That was why he’d teamed up with Wang Weilong and the others—without their help, he couldn’t solo a camp with multiple mage bosses.

Absorbing damage, he let his spatial wave blades slice through the murloc warriors ahead, shredding the rear ranks of murloc leaders trying to force their way in.

He didn’t even need to look; whenever he saw a murloc towering over the others, he set his counter to them—he couldn’t possibly mistake the target.