Armored Ground Worm, Blue BOSS!

As night fell, the Morning Glow Plains were carpeted with starlight.

"Sigh, the scenery is quite nice..."

Zhang Ruolin sighed, "If we could set up a tent here, hang a few small night lights, and put up a barbecue stall with a few bottles of beer, what a pleasant night this would be~~~"

Xiao Bai also looked wistful.

"I'm from Suzhou. In the spring, many people do this by the Taihu Lake in Suzhou. If you have the chance in the future, you can visit Suzhou, and I'll treat you to a barbecue by the lake."

"Mm!"

The two nodded together.

But soon, a lot of worry appeared on both their faces.

"Can we really go home?"

Xiao Bai whispered, "I miss Mom and Dad..."

Zhang Ruolin's eyes also turned red.

"We will, we definitely will."

I looked up at the starry sky, "My mother is still waiting for me to go back. When I find a job in the future, I'll take good care of her..."

The three felt inexplicably sad.

"Beep!"

Just then, the map suddenly flashed, and a small golden dot appeared on the mini-map, blinking continuously.

[Notice: Lost supplies discovered!]

[These supplies were looted by Aberrations, but ultimately seized by another powerful lifeform!]

[Defeat the target to obtain the supplies!]

I looked up at the two girls, and they looked up at me. Clearly, everyone had received the notification.

"Having coordinates makes things easier!"

I switched to the Wind Whisperer and said, "Let's approach slowly and observe the situation first!"

"Mm!"

The three of us walked across the wilderness. Soon, we were within 2000 meters of the target. I immediately crawled on the ground, aiming the scope of the Wind Whisperer at the target indicated by the mission. I saw boxes of supplies piled up in a low-lying valley. But beside the supplies, a colossal creature was lying prone.

It looked like a heavy tank, covered in thick armor. Its head had mutated, and like the Devourer, its mouth could split into three terrifying oral cavities.

"It's a BOSS!"

I frowned, "It's too far away right now to see the situation clearly. Let's go take a look. If we can take down this BOSS, we'll try. If it's too strong, we'll abandon the mission. Anyway, we came out to level up, and the goal of increasing the Essence Furnace has been achieved. We don't have to do the mission, but we absolutely cannot die."

"Agreed."

Xiao Bai smiled, "Ding Han, I actually find you quite rational."

"That's called wisdom."

"Understood."

Ruolin said, "Let's go then. Let's be careful not to attract any other Aberrations and cause trouble. The BOSS is already quite difficult to fight. Adding mobs will skyrocket the risk of a team wipe."

"Mm, let's go."

So, the three of us slowly approached along the wilderness and finally appeared at the edge of the small valley.

At this point, we were less than 50 meters from the BOSS. After I focused my gaze on it for a full five seconds, lines of text and data finally appeared!

[Armored Ground Worm] (Blue BOSS)

Level: 20

Attack: 225-250

Defense: 150

Blood Essence: 20000

Skills: [Thick Armor Lv7] [Venom Spit Lv7] [Health Regeneration Lv7]

Details: Armored Ground Worms are mutants from the wilderness. These Armored Ground Worms not only possess strong vitality but also terrifying armor. This armor can even withstand bullet fire. Unless you have powerful armor-piercing rounds, try not to provoke these powerful mutated creatures!

"Whoa, what are these stats?"

Zhang Ruolin furrowed her brows, "150 Defense, is this a BOSS meant for players at this stage?"

"No."

I shook my head, "If I'm not mistaken, most players at this stage won't be able to handle this BOSS. If we defeat this BOSS, we'll likely get the first kill for a Blue BOSS. Do you believe it or not?"

"We believe it, but how can we defeat it?"

Xiao Bai was a bit dejected, "Its defense is higher than our attack, and it has a massive 20,000 Blood Essence, plus it can regenerate. There's no way to kill it, right?"

"Not necessarily."

I frowned. "It can't be all good with no downsides. Should we try? I feel like we have a chance to kill it. This giant bug's body is too heavy, its movement speed must be slow. As long as we're patient, we might be able to whittle it down with kiting tactics. However, I still respect your decision. If you don't want to try for safety, we'll just return to Stream City."

Xiao Bai hesitated.

"Forget it, I trust Ding Han."

Zhang Ruolin said, "Try?"

"Okay!"

Xiao Bai nodded heavily. "Fortune favors the bold. Since you two have decided to try, I won't back down either. Besides, monsters with high defense like this are weak against my Psionic Storm, which is one of my strengths."

"Alright, let's begin!"

I raised the Roarer, aimed at the Armored Ground Worm's head, and fired a burst of bullets. "Bang, bang, bang!" Just as I expected, the opponent's defense was too high, and the bullet damage was significantly reduced!

"11!"

"12!"

"9!"

The green Roarer only dealt this much damage. A plain weapon would be even less effective!

"Hiss hiss~~~"

The BOSS let out a hoarse roar, suddenly raised its head, its three-lobed mouthparts quickly opened, and with a "splat," it spat out a mouthful of green venom.

"Careful!"

Xiao Bai and Ruolin exclaimed in alarm.

I, however, remained perfectly calm. I dashed forward with a Step Slash to the front left, directly dodging its attack. At the same time, I fired a burst of bullets into the area where its mouthparts had opened!

"63!"

"66!"

"61!"

"See?"

I was a bit excited. "As long as we dodge its venom spit and shoot while it's opening its mouth, we can deal normal damage. It only has 20,000 HP. Three hundred accurate shots will be enough to send it to its demise!"

"Easier said than done!"

Ruolin and Xiao Bai also started to take shots, but their Basic Shooting skill level was clearly not high, so their hit rate was nowhere near mine.

"Hiss hiss~~~"

The Armored Ground Worm roared but never left the valley, only continuously spitting venom in our direction.

"Do you see that?"

Xiao Bai seemed to have discovered something. "The BOSS's body is connected to the ground by a plant root, kind of like the cordyceps fungus. Could its physical body have been eroded by fungi, making it unable to move?"

"Even better!"

I said gravely, "Be careful not to get hit by the venom. We can still wear it down and kill it!"

For a moment, the faces of the two girls lit up with ecstatic smiles.

If this was the first blue BOSS to be defeated, the rewards would definitely not be low, and there might even be achievement rewards!

However, things did not go as smoothly as we imagined.

When its HP dropped below half, the Armored Ground Worm began to heal itself. Each time it recovered, a dense row of damage numbers would appear above its head –

"+100!"

"+100!"

"+100!"

"This is really pushing it!"

Zhang Ruolin was speechless.

I frowned. "Be patient, we can still take it down."

"Mhm!"

So, we continued to aim for its mouthparts, slowly draining its HP.

But soon after, a faint bloody hue covered the Armored Ground Worm's carapace, and the sound of system bells chimed in our ears.

[Please note, the 〖Armored Ground Worm〗 (Blue BOSS) is on the verge of evolution. If it cannot be killed within 120 seconds, it will evolve into: 〖Armored Ground Worm〗 (Purple BOSS)!]

All three of us were stunned.

"Damn..."

Xiao Bai muttered, "Deal with it in two minutes, and the BOSS heals itself. How are we supposed to fight this? It's impossible to kill it..."

"Not necessarily!"

I gritted my teeth. "Do you two have any grenades? Actually, they don't have to be grenades, hand grenades would work too..."

"What are you planning to do?"

Zhang Ruolin said cautiously, "The BOSS's armor is so thick, grenades definitely won't kill it. Don't even think about it, you'll just be wasting our grenades."

"Yeah..."

Xiao Bai added, "Grenades are expensive. We use them as life-saving items."

"I'll ask you one thing: do you two want the treasure chest containing the blue BOSS's Ability Crystal?"

"Of course, we do."

"Then stop wasting time. Hand over all your grenades. Let's pool all three of our grenades together. I have a way to take down the BOSS within 120 seconds!"

"Alright!"

The two stopped talking and immediately started taking things out.

Zhang Ruolin took out three grenades. As expected of the rich sister who moonlighted as an atmosphere booster at the bar. Xiao Bai, on the other hand, took out two. Her financial standing was slightly inferior.

So, I took the grenades and said, "In that case, we have a total of five grenades. As long as I..."

"Wait!"

Two pairs of beautiful eyes stared at me. "So you don't have any?"

"Yeah, I never said I had any..."

"Ding Han!!!!"

"Ahem, defeating the BOSS is the most important thing. Don't worry about such minor details..."

Both of them were furious.

The next moment, my body sank, and after dodging a venomous spray with Step Slash, I raised my hand and threw a grenade with its pin pulled!

Actually, before this, every time the BOSS opened its mouth and its three-part oral cavity split open, revealing a dark throat, I had been itching to throw something. My Level 10 Throwing Skill was begging for action!

Now that Ruolin and Xiao Bai had contributed five explosive grenades, the Armored Ground Worm's doom had arrived!

"Swish!"

The grenade traced a perfect arc through the air, a three-pointer, landing accurately in its mouth!

"Boom—"

A muffled sound came from within the Armored Ground Worm's belly!

"2443!"

Instantly, Ruolin's eyes widened.

"What kind of damage is that?!" Xiao Bai was also shocked.

Before she could finish speaking, I had already thrown the second, third, and then the fourth and fifth grenades. Thus, four grenades tore through the Armored Ground Worm's thick defense, dealing continuous, terrifying damage!

"2421!"

"2599!"

"2632!"

"2777!"

Perhaps it was because they were breaking through its defenses so effectively, each one dealt more damage than the last!

The moment the last grenade exploded, the Armored Ground Worm let out a mournful cry. Its weak underbelly armor was blown open, and a large pool of blood and shattered organs flowed out!

In my ears, a series of ding-dong sounds rang out, incredibly invigorating!

[Congratulations, you have killed the "Armored Ground Worm" (Blue BOSS), achieving the first kill of the Star Abyss Blue BOSS, and have been rewarded with: Achievement +3!]

[Combat Hint: You have killed the "Armored Ground Worm" (Blue BOSS), gaining 200,000 character experience points, and 100,000 experience points from Essence Furnace extraction!]

[Congratulations, you have killed the "Armored Ground Worm" (Blue BOSS), obtaining item: "BOSS Ability Crystal" ×1!]

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