Explosive Charge (Thanks to Alliance Leader "You're the Only One Called Tianyi Ah!")

"Roar--"

With a roar from the Giant Sandworm, it suddenly burrowed into the sand. The ground continuously bulged, its speed frighteningly fast. In the next second, the sand beneath my feet exploded.

"Swish!"

Instantly, I used Step Slash to move five yards to the left, and immediately saw its gaping maw swallow a pile of yellow sand!

At the same time, I fired a burst of bullets directly into the sandworm's mouth. The bullets "pfft pfft pfft" hit its teeth and soft flesh, splashing numbers representing damage.

The Giant Sandworm seemed furious after missing, it charged forward, preparing to swallow again!

Without a second thought, I couldn't hold back now. Otherwise, I might be swallowed whole by the Giant Sandworm and turned into a pile of its dung, which would be too miserable!

"Swish!"

As I rapidly dodged by moving sideways, I took out an Explosive Grenade from my Dimensional Storage Space that I had saved for a long time, pulled the pin, and threw it into the Giant Sandworm's mouth!

Rolling out of the way through the yellow sand, I saw its belly explode the moment I looked back, scattering countless fragments of flesh. At the same time, a damage number flew up from its head!

"1288!"

As expected, the damage from the Explosive Grenade detonating inside its body was terrifying!

Unfortunately, this attack consumed too much. This was my last grenade. I had sold the previous few to Zhang Ruolin for money. To get more in the future, I would probably have to spend a lot of Star Coins to buy them on the black market.

[Congratulations, you have killed the 〖Giant Sandworm〗 (Green BOSS), and received a reward: 〖Ability Crystal〗 ×1! You have also obtained the quest item: STC Fragment ×1!]

Two consecutive "clack~ clack~" sounds, and two items fell into my Dimensional Storage Space.

One was a part that looked unremarkable, which was the STC Fragment needed to complete the instance. The other was an Ability Crystal, which was like a treasure chest that could yield crystal rewards upon opening!

So, I took out the fist-sized crystal from my storage space and opened it directly.

[Congratulations, you have opened the 〖Ability Crystal〗 and obtained the item: 〖Explosive Charge〗 (B-grade Skill Tome)!]

'Holy crap...'

When I saw the notification, my heart suddenly raced. I never expected this Giant Sandworm to be so generous, dropping a skill book for my current class that I needed the most!

I opened my palm, and a skill tome glowed in my hand.

[Explosive Charge] (B-grade Skill Tome): Tier 1 Skill Tome. Locks onto a target within 40 yards and performs an Explosive Charge, dealing up to 150% damage to all enemy units along the path and stunning them for 1 second. Consumes 3 Essence, requires Level: 10, requires Class: Super Weapon Master.

For warrior-class players in the early stages of Star Abyss, Explosive Charge was undoubtedly a god-tier skill. Not only could it close the distance quickly, but it could also stun for 1 second. Such a skill could very well be the deciding factor in a battle.

"Bang--"

Just as I was immersed in the joy of acquiring a new skill, a loud noise suddenly came from afar. The moment I heard the sound, my head felt like it had been hit hard, and a large damage number floated up!

"422!"

[Combat Alert: The 〖Deserter Sergeant〗 (Green BOSS) used a sniper rifle to deal 422 damage to you!]

Here it comes, the other key figure to completing the instance!

I took the opportunity to roll and hide in the yellow sand, switching my main hand weapon to Wind Whisperer. I quickly aimed and, as expected, saw a white man holding a sniper rifle in the wreckage of a rusty helicopter, searching for me.

"Bang!"

Aim and fire. My movements were faster than his. A bullet immediately traced a trajectory and, with a "pfft" sound, hit his throat. I could clearly see blood splouting from the scope!

As he yelled "Wazer fak," I fired continuously. Each large-caliber bullet either hit his head or his backside, giving me an absolute advantage in marksmanship.

"Damn it, you meddling piece of trash!"

The Sergeant was completely enraged. He drove a sand motorcycle out from behind the helicopter wreckage, kicking up dust everywhere as he charged towards my sand dune.

No panic, no panic. Keep tapping!

With each shot from Wind Whisperer, I didn't waste a single bullet. Although the Sergeant lowered his body, hiding in the yellow sand, every shot of mine still hit his back, dealing high damage!

"You bastard, I'll make you pay!"

The sand motorcycle's speed increased, and the Sergeant's expression became more ferocious.

I frowned and aimed my next shot directly at the motorcycle's fuel tank!

"Bang!"

With the gunshot, the motorcycle instantly caught fire and exploded!

"Ahhhhhh~~~"

The Sergeant roared, desperately rolling in the yellow sand to put out the flames. When he got up again, he had only about 1000 health left, but he still drew a military knife from his leg and charged at me like a madman.

"Pang!"

A wisp of Essence exploded within my body, and my figure instantly turned into an afterimage, charging 40 yards to stun him in place. At the same time, my main hand weapon had been switched to Bee Sting, and I turned to unleash a combo of normal attack + Dragon Blade + normal attack on the near-death Sergeant!

"254!"

"512!"

"268!"

In an instant, the Sergeant's throat was slit, and a large amount of blood spurted out. He looked at me in disbelief, slowly knelt on the ground, and gave a large amount of experience points!

At the same time, ding-dong sounds continuously echoed in my ears.

[Congratulations, you have completed the rare instance〖Red Sand Plunder〗(Elite★★), and received rewards: Character EXP +100,000, and additional rewards:〖Sleepless Chestplate〗(Quality: Green),〖Ground Spike Slash〗(A-rank Skill Scroll)!]

"Holy crap..."

Staring at the rewards, I was dumbfounded. Could it be... I'm the legendary Child of Destiny? These rewards are just too generous. Are other players getting the same?

Upon closer thought, it doesn't seem like it. The greater possibility is that most players currently can't access "Instance Crystals," so very few instances have been cleared, leading to higher reward bonuses. It's like being the first person to taste a crab; the gustatory pleasure is supreme.

In any case, this feels great...

I quickly opened my Dimensional Storage Space and took out the Sleepless Chestplate. The equipment in Star Abyss is quite different from that in World of Warcraft or DNF. The armor seems to be made of some kind of alloy, very light and thin. In reality, it's not much heavier than combat gear, but the defense it provides is far beyond what those trash gray combat suits can compare to!

[Sleepless Chestplate] (Quality: Green)

Tier: Tier 1

Defense: 22

Strength: +9

Requires Strength: 35

The attributes are simple, just 22 Defense and 9 Strength.

However, I'm already super satisfied. Having something is better than nothing. After all, when I switch to combat form, I only have a flimsy vest with no defense. Let alone a green chestplate, even a gray one would be better than being naked!

With a gentle sweep of my palm, the second skill scroll from this instance appeared in my hand:

[Ground Spike Slash] (A-rank Skill Scroll): Tier 1 skill scroll. Unleashes a fierce attack on a 5x5 area of targets, converting Essence into ground spikes to deal up to 250% damage to targets within the area and immobilizing them for 2 seconds. Requires Level: 10, Requires Class: Super Weapon Master.

Ground Spike Slash is an area-of-effect damage skill that can slightly compensate for the lack of AOE. Moreover, the 250% damage dealt instantly is actually quite considerable!

However, I don't have enough skill points to learn it right now, so I've decided to level up.

The experience points from the instance were incredibly high, so I leveled up all at once to Level 16. Following the usual routine, all free attribute points were allocated to Strength. I must maintain my advantage in attack power.

Additionally, I used one skill point to learn Ground Spike Slash, and then inputted the skill experience gained from dismantling computers at the internet cafe over the past few days into Explosive Charge and Ground Spike Slash, leveling both up to Level 10!

As a result, Strength and Agility each received an additional 6-point increase!

Looking at the Essence Furnace again, after consuming a massive amount of experience, it also leveled up to Level 12. All sorts of attributes increased. When I opened my personal panel, even I found it somewhat unbelievable!

[Shadow Chaser] (Starry Sky Super Weapon · Sword Specialization · Tier 1)

Level: 16

Attack: 80-182

Defense: 76

Health: 5700

Critical Hit: 0

Charm: 0

Essence: 100/100

Overall Combat Power: 325

Attribute Points Allocation: Strength 150/Agility 75/Spirit 34.8/Stamina 36

Achievements: 3

At this point, my attack power has reached 182. With most players currently having only 20-40 defense, this attack power can significantly break through their defenses. Combined with the skill damage bonus, dealing one to two thousand damage instantly is quite easy. And thanks to the advantage of the Essence Furnace, my stamina has surged, and my health has reached 5700 points. Coupled with 76 Defense, I can be considered tough and resilient.

In short, I won't die so easily anymore. My sense of security is temporarily maxed out!

"Hoo..."

Time to get out.

I quickly confirmed and left the instance.

"Swish!"

My body was enveloped by a beam of light, followed by a gust of wind at my back that pushed me forward into the instance portal. But the moment I stepped out of the portal, I felt a slight chill.

It was already dark outside!

And I wasn't in the Old City District. Instead, after exiting the instance, the light behind me vanished, and I found myself standing in front of an old outdoor toilet, which smelled quite pungent.

"Holy crap..."

Opening the map, I discovered I was in the western suburbs of Stream City, about ten kilometers from Qianjin Street.

This instance's random teleportation function completely disregards the player's taxi expenses, doesn't it?

So, I didn't plan on taking a taxi back. Instead, I took bus route 8, then transferred to route 15, and arrived at Feiyang Internet Cafe before 10 PM. Glancing at the mala tang stall in the cold wind outside, I thought, "Forget it, save some money," and walked into the internet cafe to make a bowl of instant noodles while waiting for my shift to end.

"Where's Lu Xiaobei?"

"What, miss her?" Sakura chuckled. "If you miss her, go up and find her. She just went upstairs to sleep. She was also asking why you weren't back yet and said if you dare to be absent without leave, you'll have to pay double salary to treat us all to hotpot."

"..."

I was speechless and started making my instant noodles.