Chapter 41: The Forty-First Cup

Chapter 41: The Forty-First Cup

He Wuning and Yi Luo's plan received unexpected support.

The command center directly assigned six combat squads to participate in this experimental operation. By the way, because the captain of the third squad was honorably injured yesterday and is still being treated at Bai Yan’s medical center to remove debuffs, Jiou's seventh squad, which he leads, stepped up as a substitute.

This self-proclaimed lucky one had an expressionless face, seemingly still doubting whether he was fortunate or unfortunate.

They chose the level 20 Botanical Garden as their instance. This instance is notoriously troublesome; most of the monsters inside are plant-like. The first boss is a giant man-eating flower that sprays paralysis powder, the second boss is a carnivorous pitcher plant that spits corrosive acid, and the final boss, the Old Vine Monster, has a thick health bar and randomly summons five monsters within the 10-20 level range every 15 seconds.

In other words, if luck is bad, it might summon a few ordinary monsters, but if luck is good... it could directly summon outdoor bosses or bosses from other instances.

Although the summoned creatures' attacks are somewhat weakened, their numbers and randomness make them hard to defend against.

To prevent the monsters from getting too lucky, Jiou's seventh squad was dispatched to trigger the instance first.

Jiou led his teammates, looking back deeply, "I'm going in."

"Come quickly."

The six squads behind him raised their milk teas in a toast.

The seventh squad returned the gesture, downed their milk teas, and turned to walk into the instance with a tragic air.

Yi Luo looked at He Wuning with amusement, "How interesting. We're going to gang up on the boss, yet he acts like he's delivering food to it."

"Maybe it's out of respect for the boss."

The phone on the milk tea truck rang shrilly, and He Wuning answered it, "Hello."

Jiou's voice came through, "The instance is set to difficult mode. Compared to the other squads, we are already the weakest group, so why is it still difficult mode?"

He quickly complained, then got to the point, "One original milk tea, hurry up."

After all, they were still stronger than most regular players, so being set to difficult mode was normal.

After hanging up with He Wuning, Xing Yue, leading the first squad, was already raring to go, "Everyone ready!"

The captain of the second squad, who looked quite fierce, called out, "Hey, Xing Yue, don't kill too fast, leave some for us!"

Xing Yue laughed, "That depends on how fast you move!"

Jiou and his squad were still slowly making their way to the first boss.

Their squad had a support member who could reduce all debuffs by 50%, but before coming, they had already drunk tapioca milk tea that could immunize against paralysis, leaving the support member almost jobless, looking resentful at their captain, "Captain, if we move too slow, we'll be mocked by the other squads."

"It's okay," Tang Yu smiled gently, "No one would dare mock our captain. They don't want to be unlucky."

Jiou: "..."

"Haha!"

The brutes from the first squad rushed out of the milk tea truck and swiftly attacked the first boss.

Tang Yu calmly withdrew her gaze, "Ah, except for him, because he's already unlucky enough without the captain's curse."

As she spoke, the leaping orc trying to attack from above stepped on his own foot and fell straight into the giant man-eating flower, blocking its paralysis powder.

If he hadn't drunk the tapioca milk tea for immunity, he would have been paralyzed by now.

Even so, his heroic yet comical act of blocking the flower's powder was quite amusing.

A teammate chuckled, "Do you think the captain's luck is stronger or Xing Yue's bad luck is stronger?"

"Because of Xing Yue's bad luck, he fell into the flower, and because of Jiou's luck, the boss's paralysis powder didn't work." Yi Luo leisurely got off the truck, "Good, neither of your personas have collapsed."

Jiou: "..."

He Wuning got off the truck and handed him an original milk tea as per the order. Looking at the enthusiastic first squad members, he instructed, "Hold them back a bit. Today, we're trying to bring all six squads in. If they finish, what will I test later?"

Jiou glanced at them and quietly shrank back, "How can I hold them back?"

"Or let them not pull Xing Yue out?" Tang Yu smiled at the chaotic boss-fighting scene. The first squad members were struggling to pull their captain out, while Xing Yue was kicking and scratching, his tail fluffed up.

Jiou: "...Don't joke, he'll suffocate."

He Wuning and Yi Luo did not join the battle. Q-jam reminded them, "Two minutes!"

According to their agreement, after two minutes, the outside squad would call for takeout, sending the milk tea truck to pick up more people.

The phone rang on time, and the caller ordered just one original milk tea to save time.

Jiou sighed and resignedly said, "Let's go, we should join in."

Tang Yu asked with a smile, "Going to help?"

"No," Jiou rubbed his temples, "To hold them back."

After several rounds, the six squads lined up neatly in front of the final boss, bustling and lively, creating a scene that made He Wuning feel like he had left the game and entered a botanical garden during a holiday season.

Except the visitors were not friendly, carrying weapons and wearing dangerous smiles.

He Wuning heard the crackling of electricity several times; World Voice seemed to want to say something, but strictly speaking, He Wuning only used his ability, and the game had no rules against entering and exiting instances or bringing outsiders in via delivery vehicles.

Even if it planned to update and fix this bug later, the Old Vine Monster would still meet its end.

Xing Yue shook off the flower powder on his body and bared his teeth in a fierce grin, "Ha, you finally meet your fate, boss?"

"Charge!"

The archers and mages were the first to spring into action, unleashing a torrent of fireballs, ice spears, arrows, and bullets that rained down upon the boss. Wu Ning observed its health gauge plummeting swiftly, losing nearly 20% in the span of a heartbeat.

He had originally wanted to help with a few strikes, but seeing the dense crowd, he realized he couldn't really join in. So, he leaned against the milk tea cart, watching this display of violent aesthetics.

Team Five also brought a lot of test weapons from the technical department, including about two cannons, a dozen guns, and a basket full of bombs. Even Yi Luo couldn't help but say, "Isn't this a bit excessive?"

The monster's health dropped rapidly to 50%, and suddenly, He Wuning locked eyes with it. His heart skipped a beat as a familiar sense of foreboding washed over him. He reined in his smile, "Here it comes."

The monster increased its attack frequency dramatically. The Old Vine Monster seemed to have suddenly become smarter, with vines bursting out of the ground and quickly destroying two cannons—its vines lunged directly at He Wuning.

"He Wuning!"

Before He Wuning could even draw his sword, all the combatants on the field sensed the danger and turned around to shout in unison. He was momentarily stunned, watching as others rushed forward one after another, sacrificing themselves to intercept the incoming vines layer by layer.

Yi Luo, who had just raised a shield in front of him, said, "...Alright, you've had enough fun. Can you leave me some room to show off?"

He Wuning looked up. He was almost certain the Old Vine Monster had come alive; it was clearly targeting him. But...

Faced with the overwhelming human wave tactic that nearly turned the battle into a siege, even a monster wielding the power of an administrator's authority fragment was hard-pressed to make a significant impact.

He Wuning looked up at the sky as the Old Vine Monster retreated, its health steadily dropping to near zero. Yet, for some reason, he still felt uneasy.

The sound of static crackled again, and then World Voice spoke, "Received difficulty adjustment request. Confirming administrator authority... Verification successful. Difficulty level adjusted to Nightmare."

"Welcome to the Nightmare Botanical Garden. Enjoy your game."

He Wuning subconsciously gripped the Tang saber in his hand, "Nightmare level?"

Yi Luo's face darkened, "According to the intelligence Xue Xun received, the highest difficulty level found so far is only Hard... Who knew there was a Nightmare level!"

But the Old Vine Monster's health had already reached zero. Even though the difficulty was suddenly increased, it seemed like a desperate last stand.

His unease grew stronger, and he couldn't help but frown and take a step forward, "Everyone, be careful!"

In the next instant, the Old Vine Monster's health bar emptied, but it did not immediately die. It let out a long howl and spoke in a dry, raspy voice, "No one leaves the nightmare unscathed. You must leave one person behind."

No one stopped attacking, but no matter what kind of attack hit the Old Vine Monster, which now had an empty health bar, it had no effect.

Its gaze swept over everyone and met He Wuning's. It laughed hoarsely and sinisterly, "Player He Wuning with administrator authority, I came for you. Now, I give you the choice. Choose who will be my final sacrifice."

"This is the last skill I can use in Nightmare difficulty. I will burn my last life to take one enemy player with me."

"Well, tell me the name you choose."

He Wuning stared at it expressionlessly, "Name?"

"Yes, the name of the sacrifice." The Old Vine Monster laughed, "Come on, choose quickly, or I'll pick someone at random—how about this little girl with the taunt skill? She's weaker than the others, but I prefer tender flesh."

"Or maybe this lucky guy? Luck has always been troublesome, better kill him here..."

He Wuning took a step forward, "I choose He Wuning."

"What!" Yi Luo's face changed instantly.

He Wuning glanced back at him. Yi Luo froze, suddenly realizing something—he seemed to have a plan.

He Wuning repeated, "I choose He, Wu, Ning."

Xing Yue cursed, "No! Choose me!"

"Truly admirable sacrifice," the Old Vine Monster sneered, "Come to hell, He Wuning—"

He Wuning stood there, nothing happened.

The Old Vine Monster's body began to dissolve into data streams, and it stared in disbelief, "Why, impossible! Why!"

He Wuning suddenly laughed, like a child who had pulled off a prank. He tilted his head slightly and smiled, "Idiot, who uses their real name in a game."

**Author's Note:** All Combat Department members: My knee got hit by an arrow.

Clever readers should have guessed He Ge's real name by now, cough.

Thank you to those who voted for me or watered the nutrient fluid between 22:44:14 on August 26, 2021, and 23:56:45 on August 26, 2021.

Thank you to those who watered the nutrient fluid: 20 bottles from Marriage Certificate Wholesaler; 3 bottles from Moonlit Night Sky; 1 bottle from Tianertf.

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!