The "Leg Lord" Generation (Seeking Follow-up Reads, Meow)

Let's rewind the clock to one year before the launch of "Glory Expedition OL."

As "Despair Expedition OL" entered its ninth version, unlocking the level cap to 190, players were still busy exploring the new maps.

Meanwhile, "Golden Wind," the top guild in the national server, had to start considering what new version equipment and items to provide for their professional club participating in the Expedition Cup to ensure their quarterly profits.

The simplest method, of course, was to find a World Boss that wouldn't respawn before any other player and then organize an elite team to take it down.

All of the guild's over 2,000 employees, who drew salaries, were mobilized at the beginning of the new version.

They discovered clues to Divine Feathers in the Starry Well of "Strapolis," the City of Stars, ventured into the ruined city within the hurricane, and with the analysis of professional lore analysts, pinpointed the location of the Divine Feather's owner.

When "Golden Wind's" expeditionary force, composed of over 100 elite players, braved immense risks and passed through the "False Time-Space Rift" beneath the Endless Sea to reach the World Boss's location, They happened to witness the moment the "Heavenly Outcast · Garuda on the Brink of Collapse" was solo-killed by the lone wolf player, "Lost a Leg."

—World Bosses.

Several of these appeared in each major version; they were limited-edition bosses that wouldn't respawn after being killed.

In terms of game mechanics, World Bosses were designed to be defeated by the combined efforts of all players on the server. Thus, upon their death, they would drop enough equipment, materials, and items to satisfy tens of thousands of players.

For "Golden Wind's" commander, daring to challenge a late-game World Boss with just over 100 elite players was enough to demonstrate his excellent command capabilities.

However, for "Lost a Leg," this was already his seventh World Boss kill.

The title "Leg Lord" wasn't something one could casually earn.

After its first phase health bar was depleted, the [Source of Evil Fire·Cursed Vermilion Bird (Incarnation)] would have its health locked for 60 seconds.

This considerable amount of time was naturally meant for players to recover their states and apply buffs.

But "Lost a Leg," who had gambled and hit the [Instant Death] proc by using two items worth thousands of yuan, found himself unsure how to spend this time.

"Leg Lord! Please accept my party invite!"

Below, players who hadn't yet run far away spotted the suddenly appearing ally information and naturally recognized it as "Leg Lord," one of the first players to join.

As players who had experienced the second playthrough, they naturally knew that Li Li could draw a golden item called "Ember," which allowed players to retrieve an hour's worth of their main character's data, but only "Amulet Owl" had been lucky enough to obtain it.

This "Ember," worth 3,000 Faith, was Li Li's true trump card.

Most people were still wondering when Leg Lord had acquired "Ember," while a few sharp individuals had already sent their party requests.

In the second playthrough, party experience was divided equally, with an additional 15% experience reward for each member.

This meant that if Leg Lord were willing to invite others to his party, this Boss, with an experience reward of 150 million, could yield an additional 93.32 million experience points.

From Li Li's perspective, this reduced his earnings from player experience from 50% to 20%, but he had done this intentionally to encourage players to cooperate with each other.

"200,000, Leg Lord, pull me into the party, and I'll transfer 200,000 RMB directly to you." Seeing that "Lost a Leg" remained unmoved, a wealthy player launched a monetary offensive.

Although the Vermilion Bird was a clone-type World Boss, the kill reward for a single clone wasn't much compared to other World Bosses.

However, at the start of the game's service, even with a full party, it was enough to allow everyone in the team to level up to over level 80.

"300,000! Leg Lord, pull me into the party!"

"1 million, Leg Lord, look at me, look at me, look at me!"

"I'll offer 100 million!"

After the first wealthy player made their bid, the other players started shouting as well, though most were just egging them on.

"Lost a Leg" hesitated for a moment before saying to the players below:

"500,000 per person, no bargaining, only accepting returning customers. Time is short, first come, first served."

"Me! Me! Me!"

"Leg Lord, hurry, I'm a returning customer!"

A party with "Lost a Leg" as the captain was quickly formed.

With time being tight, there was no time for transfers before inviting, so he only invited two wealthy players he knew in the game.

These two were the type who didn't lack money and cared about their reputation, making it highly probable they wouldn't renege on the payment later.

Beyond the mountains.

"Father-in-law," having recovered from the damage of the first song, could finally move freely.

Even with his Hero Rank strength, he was still severely injured by the "Soul Annihilation," and it would likely take him several years to recover.

While he was incapacitated, the two players he had brought with him had already run off on their own.

What's more, he knew his aura had been locked by the Evil God, and he wouldn't be able to escape the pursuit of that divine bird.

When he was controlled by the divine song, he saw "Lost a Leg" make a move, but what he couldn't understand was why this mysterious newcomer, after successfully landing a sneak attack, didn't flee with the Chosen Ones, instead acting as if he had the Evil God cornered.

Anyone who could operate outside the city and didn't have an obviously corrupted aura clearly wouldn't be of Demigod rank or higher.

Since someone was carrying the burden, the man known as "Father-in-law" by the players naturally fled towards the alliance without looking back. He still had to go back and identify the traitor who had sacrificed himself.

The long minute finally ended.

The Vermilion Bird, originally clad in brilliant crimson, had now donned golden flames tinged with purple.

The inferno erupting from it instantly ignited the sky and earth, annihilating everything within its range.

This was its first encounter with the players, but it wasn't the players' first time dealing with it.

With their wealth of experience, the players had already guided the NPCs out of the Vermilion Bird's resurrection blast radius. A few even mimicked Tom Cat, hands on hips, faces jutting out, standing at the very edge of the golden flames' reach.

In that instant, the Vermilion Bird's fury reached its peak.

Its cry was like thunder, shaking the very ground. The storm whipped up by its wings stirred up waves of heat, and its AOE skills, capable of incinerating everything, were unleashed as if they were free.

Just as it was venting its rage, another arrow-like Spirit Calming Needle shot towards it.

The sky-obscuring Vermilion Bird immediately transformed into countless fire crows, scattering in all directions. However, one inconspicuous fire crow was still locked onto by the Spirit Calming Needle, which pierced its body.

The next moment, a colossal trident descended from the sky, smashing onto the Vermilion Bird's head—just like the white python phantom earlier, this was a kick from Lost a Leg.

The blue trident pierced the Vermilion Bird's wing, but this time, it was the Vermilion Bird's purple-gold flames that coiled around Lost a Leg.

The sacred flames of evil fire, imbued with curse power, instantly afflicted him with a full three pages of debuffs!

Utilizing the high-tier racial traits of the Shadowfolk, Lost a Leg's body melted, and he reappeared in the smaller shadow below through the gaps in the darkness.

He immediately downed a Regret Pill, instantly clearing the three pages of negative status effects.

For some reason, the Vermilion Bird's signature skill, "Soul Annihilation," was ineffective against him.

Lost a Leg naturally wouldn't waste this advantage. He pulled out another Spirit Calming Needle, preparing to use the tenth major version's overpowered item to steadily take down this little bird that was three versions behind.

After all, his main account's trial period was only an hour, and he could finally splurge on the cash-shop items he'd been too stingy to use.