Killing the Tiger King

The man and the tiger fought hand-to-hand, me swinging my axe at you, you swiping with your claws at me.

Xiu Ma stood by, observing, not intervening, but it wouldn't be long before it had something to do.

When the Tiger King's health bar dropped to half, four level 38 Stranglethorn Vale Female Tigers rushed in around the stone mountain. Sun Busong was already prepared! With a Roar of Courage, Xiu Ma revealed its true form and engaged the four female tigers.

With Xiu Ma's strength, dealing with these four female tigers was absolutely no problem, and the Tiger King also felt its consorts could handle this black lion without issue.

Three minutes later, only one of the four female tigers remained, and the Tiger King's health bar was already nearing 20%. Sun Busong, familiar with the characteristics of these mini-bosses, continued to attack while cautiously observing his surroundings.

As expected, just as the Tiger King's health bar dropped to 20%, eight level 39 Deep Throat Leopards burst from Stealth and lunged at Sun Busong.

Eight black panthers; no matter how Sun Busong dodged, he couldn't avoid them all. This was a true ambush from all sides. In just five seconds, Sun Busong's health plummeted to the 50% mark.

"Xiu Ma!"

Sun Busong shouted. Xiu Ma, still locked in a fierce battle with the last female tiger not far away, immediately turned and rushed to its master's aid.

The Tiger King's attacks were much fiercer now than at the start, and its hidden characteristic, the triple strike, had also been triggered. It attacked three times per second, with a chance to immobilize for one second.

Sun Busong hastily took out his explosives from his backpack.

Black Iron Bomb:

Requires Engineering.

Use: Deals 225 to 675 Flame damage to all enemies within a 5-yard radius, stunning them for 4 seconds. Any damage will interrupt this effect. Significantly reduced effectiveness against targets above level 73. (Five-minute cooldown)

With a BOOM, the Black Iron Bomb exploded, instantly affecting six black panthers. Although the damage wasn't high, the effect was potent, directly stunning them for 4 seconds!

Sun Busong tanked the Tiger King's attacks, using these four seconds to quickly eliminate four of the panthers. The rest was left to Xiu Ma.

As expected, Xiu Ma didn't disappoint, quickly eliminating the remaining black panthers and the female tiger. Now, man and pet joined forces to attack the Tiger King.

Under the fierce assault of Execute, the Tiger King died in resentment. Sun Busong did not cut off its head as required; instead, he directly slung the Tiger King's massive body over his shoulder.

As Sun Busong carried the Tiger King's corpse down the road, his opponents in the Hunting Competition, as well as the organizers, all stood on either side of the road, clearing the way for him.

"The Tiger King is worthy of respect. Although it was our target and we had to kill it, now that it's dead, you cannot trample on its corpse. Its strength is why it deserves respect. If it wasn't me this time, but another contestant, who knows who would have died!"

Sun Busong did not hand over the Tiger King's corpse to the competition committee. The requirement was to kill the Tiger King, and seeing its corpse proved Sun Busong had won.

Afterward, surrounded by Hermit and some high-ranking officials of the Hunting Tournament, Sun Busong received the first-place rewards as he had wished.

Not long after the celebration feast began, he took advantage of everyone's inattention and quietly left the Nessingwary Expedition Team camp.

He returned to the stone mountain where he had discovered and killed the Tiger King. Finding a suitable spot, he used his axe to dig a grave and then placed the Tiger King's corpse inside.

"Heavy Fist and Luffy should arrive tomorrow. Shall we go take down that Gold Mine you found last time later?" Although Xiu Ma couldn't understand its master's commands yet, it didn't stop Sun Busong from talking to it.

He believed that one day Xiu Ma would understand him, just like human children who learned from their parents' constant teaching. Therefore, Sun Busong's method was to keep talking to it.

"However, let's first see how many Rare Elites are in Stranglethorn Vale, haha."

"Roar!"

This map indicated the levels, types, and locations of all Rare Elites in Stranglethorn Vale.

Starting with the lowest level.

Level 37 Murloc. Gorgol, Rare Elite, located in a small lake within the Karazhan Ruins.

Level 38 Ogre. Rolock, Rare Elite, patrolling between three large trees in Mizha Ruins.

Level 42 Red Gorilla. Kormok, Rare Elite, located in Mist Valley, north of Treasure Bay.

Level 42 Goblin Miner. Verifnix, Rare Elite, located between three small mounds on Cape of Stranglethorn.

Level 44 Fish. Ripa, Rare Elite, located in the Diving Area of Barrens Coast.

Level 45 Naga. Sakrasis, Rare Elite, located on the Suspension Bridge of Nak'mani Sacred Spring.

Level 45 Yellow Lizard. Golden Scale Lizard, Rare Elite, located in the deepest part of Crystal Mine Cave.

These were the locations of all Rare Elites. Below the last one, the Yellow Lizard, there was a line of small text: (Crystal Mine produces Silver, Gold, Mithril, and Gold Essence ore!)

"Hahaha, this is the most explosive news!"

Sun Busong had only been in Stranglethorn Vale for a few days and had already discovered three Gold Mines. With this military funding, why worry about conquering the world!

"Let's go, Xiu Ma. We'll take down the two closest Rare Elites first. We'll come back for the mines tonight!"

They first went near Ripa, the level 44 Elite fish.

This was a shallow beach with level 40 Hermit Crabs on the shore. These monsters wouldn't actively attack people, but their defense was quite formidable. Usually, no one bothered to kill them because, apart from dropping leftover food, they didn't even drop a Copper Coin.

Sun Busong directly sent Xiu Ma to lure the fish from the water. It would be a bit awkward for him to do it himself.

Xiu Ma had been soaking in the water for so long it was almost losing its fur, but the large fish leisurely swam over.

Its health wasn't high, only 12,000. To prevent it from escaping into the water, Sun Busong used several Steel Plates to block its retreat while the fish was entangled with Xiu Ma. By the time the fish realized what was happening, it was trapped.

After the man and the cat killed the fish, they obtained two blue Equipment items with decent stats. However, the level was too high for Sun Busong to equip yet. Sun Busong cooked the fish meat into roasted fish, which tasted quite good. At least Xiu Ma was very happy after eating it.

Sun Busong also discovered something: his luck was exceptionally good, whether it was crafting Equipment, cooking food, or when monsters dropped loot. Since he crafted his first piece of Equipment until now, he hadn't failed once, and the chance of obtaining top-tier Equipment when killing monsters was very high.

He considered this another one of his traits: luck!

Next, they went to find another Rare Elite fish, but this one was a Murloc. Compared to a fish, only its head was similar; its body was humanoid, with hands, feet, and it even wore clothes.

But Sun Busong showed no mercy towards such things, directly hacking at them. After the Murlocs died, he and Xiu Ma both leveled up to 28!

Murloc Gorgol dropped three pieces of Equipment, one excellent and two fine!

When night fell, the two of them charged into the Gash Ruins and went on a killing spree. After slaughtering all the Trolls on the ground, they went into the Gold Mine.

In one night, over a thousand Blood Trolls were wiped out. Sun Busong's health bar reached 65,000, and his Slaughter Value broke 10,000!

When daytime arrived, Sun Busong was at Sergeant Yuwa's door very early.

"It's you, Sun Busong. Why are you here so early? Did the Captain give you a mission, and you've completed it?"

Seeing Sun Busong again, the Sergeant no longer found it strange. This Dwarf, who didn't look like much, had miraculously survived several extremely dangerous missions and completed them.

Even the Captain thought highly of him.

"Sergeant, I'm here to report some intelligence. I need you to take me to see the Captain. This is urgent!"

If it were a minor achievement, the Sergeant might have kept it for himself. But for something this urgent, he didn't want to mess it up.

"Alright, you watch the warehouse for me for a bit while I wake the Captain. Don't touch anything in here!"

Was he someone he could just meet casually? The Captain must be sleeping with the Countess right now. The Sergeant needed to pay his respects first before taking him to see the Captain.

"Don't worry, Sergeant. I know my limits. I won't take a single needle or thread from here!"

After Sergeant Yuwa left, Sun Busong began his scavenging work.

It had to be said, the Rebel Army's warehouse was indeed well-stocked. Sun Busong found many materials he needed inside.

He had indeed told the Sergeant he wouldn't take a single needle or thread, and he kept his word. He didn't touch any needles or threads.

What's more, he had also put many things into the warehouse before leaving!

"Let's go! The Captain is up. But I'm warning you, the Captain is very angry that I disturbed his sleep. If you don't have anything particularly important to say, I'm in big trouble. If it really is something important, you must say you discovered it with me, understand?"

"Understood, understood! Sergeant, don't worry, I'll definitely give you a satisfactory answer!"

"Speak, what important matter do you have to tell me?"

The Captain, now awake, was eating breakfast. On the table was a plate of fresh Dragon Meat Salad and a bottle of Dwarven Fruit Wine.

"Captain, a few days ago you gave me a mission to eliminate Korson and his second-in-command. I followed your orders, but after entering the storage room, I found there were too many Korson members. I couldn't possibly get close to Korson."

"Hmm? Are you saying the order I gave you was wrong?" The Captain stopped what he was doing and looked up, asking in a questioning tone.

"No, no! Serving you, Captain, is my greatest honor. Your orders are never wrong. So, I didn't barge in directly, but thought of another way!"

"What way!"

"What way?"

Captain Duo Lun and Sergeant Yuwa asked simultaneously.

Sun Busong excitedly took a potion from his backpack and placed it on the Captain's dining table.

"Captain, this is a formula I found by chance in a Korson Herbalist's diary. It's called a Sleeping Potion. Its effect is that it can make the drinker fall asleep like a dead pig without them realizing it, and they won't wake up until the time is up!"

The Captain picked up the potion on the table and examined it carefully.

"Are you sure its effect is to induce sleep?"

"We can test it right now!" Sun Busong was confident in his potion's effects. Actually, his potion had other effects, but those couldn't be tested now.

"Sergeant, drink this potion and let us witness its effects!" The Captain wasn't going to test the potion's effects himself. Their eyes turned to Yuwa.

Sergeant Yuwa wore a bitter expression. Under duress, he drank the potion.

For the next two hours, Sergeant Yuwa lay under the Captain's dining table with a peaceful expression. If the Captain hadn't checked his breathing from time to time, he would have looked practically dead.

Two hours later, the Sergeant sat up, yawning and stretching.

"How was it?" The Captain strode in front of him.

"How was what?" The Sergeant, clearly not fully awake after his nap, didn't understand the Captain's meaning.

"I'm asking about the potion's effect! Idiot!"

The Captain's outburst made the Sergeant jump up from the floor: "It was great. It really makes you sleep like a dead pig. I didn't feel myself fall asleep at all."

Seeing the potion's effect, a smile appeared on the Captain's face: "Your potion will be of great use in our counter-attack against Korson. Now I order you to speed up the production of this Sleeping Potion. I want Korson and his subordinates to have their heads cut off while they're asleep!"

Super Sleeping Potion: Requires Level 45. Use: Puts the drinker into a dreamless sleep for 120 minutes. During this time, the drinker can recover all HP and Mana.

Sleeping Potion is a very powerful recovery potion. It can allow the drinker to recover all stamina, injuries, HP, and Mana while sleeping! The materials for this potion are very rare, with the main ingredient requiring a chance to drop from killing a Level 60 elite Dragon-type creature.

Sun Busong only made two bottles in total, and he had only one left in his backpack.

Why didn't the Sergeant discover the other effects of the Sleeping Potion? The reason was simple: Sergeant Yuwa's stamina, HP, and Mana were all full, and he wasn't injured, so naturally, there were no other effects to be observed.

Although the materials for the Super Sleeping Potion were rare and difficult to craft, he had other versions of the Sleeping Potion!

Sleeping Potion: Requires Level 35

Consumes: Puts the drinker into a dreamless sleep for 10 minutes. During this time, the drinker can recover 2200 Health and 2200 Mana.

This version of the Sleeping Potion is easy to make, but Sun Busong still wore a troubled expression.

"Captain! The effect of this potion is indeed good, but its crafting materials are also very rare. I can't possibly gather so many materials myself!"

The Captain thought it made sense. A potion with such a powerful effect would be strange if the materials were easy to obtain.

"Sergeant, immediately contact the Goblins in Treasure Bay and have them prepare a large quantity of Sleeping Potion materials. I will cover all the costs!"

The Captain was going to bleed heavily. Although the Sergeant managed the warehouse and logistics, all the Gold Coins of the Rebel Army were in the Captain's hands.

"Sun Busong, write down all the materials for this Sleeping Potion, so I can have them prepare the materials for you!" The Captain smiled, trying to extract the Sleeping Potion's formula!

"I'm sorry, Captain, I can't give it to you this time. This formula has great significance to me. I will only tell you some of the ingredients in the formula, and I will also add materials to the list that have nothing to do with the Sleeping Potion."

Sun Busong's expression was firm this time, his face already showing that he would live or die with the formula!

Seeing that his plan had been seen through, the Captain wished he could kill Sun Busong, but he absolutely could not resort to force in this situation.

"Damn it, this kid is using an open strategy against me! But it doesn't matter. After we take care of Korson, I'll capture him and force him to hand over the formula. I'll have plenty of time and methods then, hmph!"

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