Since Wang Qianduo had demonstrated his strength, the group's pace picked up considerably.
They no longer hesitated to face the spider monsters deep in the forest or the Black Shark Interstellar Pirate Group pirates lying in ambush. They chose the most overwhelming strategy every time, gathering their enemies together and killing them instantly.
With Wang Qianduo's attack and defense stats, they had an extremely high margin for error.
This dungeon might have been genuinely difficult for ordinary level-five players, but it was still just a beginner dungeon. No one in the group thought it was difficult.
There were three bosses in the normal-difficulty Dark Forest: the Wolf King, the mechanical spider modified by the Black Shark Interstellar Pirate Group, and the final boss, the Large Logging Robot.
That's right, Wang Qianduo's mission target, Hyena Minkson, wasn't among the bosses. He was probably a hidden boss.
They had just dealt with the Wolf King, and the mechanical spider was even easier. Its proud attack speed was nothing compared to the group's, and they killed it with ease.
When it died, it left behind a skill disc, a common-grade piece of armor, and two refined materials.
The skill on the disc was the most important one for a strength-type mech: Taunt, otherwise known as the legendary aggro-drawing skill.
Taunt (Refined) (Active): Use magical power to force the target to attack you and reduce its defense by 5.
Attack Range: 20
Cast Time: Instant
MP Cost: 10
Cooldown: 15s
There was nothing to debate. The group assigned it directly to Sword of Miracles, since he was the only strength-type mech in the team.
Once he had the skill, Wang Qianduo never managed to draw a monster's aggro again.
The dungeon's final boss was called the Large Logging Robot. It was also a leader-class artificial mech.
The robot certainly lived up to the "large" in its name. It stood nearly three times as tall as the group's mechs.
It had high attack and defense, and its enormous chainsaw could fell swathes of trees with a single swing. But all large machines shared one weakness:
They weren't agile enough.
Sword of Miracles toyed with it effortlessly, never letting it land a single hit before draining its entire health bar.
When the Logging Robot fell, it left behind the blueprint for its weapon, the Logging Chainsaw. Unfortunately, no one liked it.
With no other choice, the group rolled for it, and the winner would decide who got the equipment. Wang Qianduo was lucky enough to win it.
"Dungeon cleared. Teaming up at the most suitable level really does increase the drop rate.
"We're getting ready for hard mode. Brother Thousand King, are you in a guild? Why not join ours?
"Our guild offers top-notch benefits, and we've got plenty of lovely ladies, too!"
After dividing up the loot, the group headed outside the dungeon. As they prepared to enter hard mode, Song in the Clouds took the opportunity to ask.
"Why would he join your guild? Our Great Qin is no weaker than your Sword and Rose."
At Song in the Clouds' words, Wang Qianduo hadn't even replied before Sister Cat cut in.
"How is your Great Qin any stronger than us?"
"Last year, our guild came third in the guild competition, and yours came fourth. Doesn't that prove it?"
"That was because our guild leader was ill and couldn't attend. Otherwise, would you have stood a chance? Besides, we've got the number-one beauty. Can you say the same?" Song in the Clouds retorted.
"Does your guild leader know you're trying to set her up with someone?"
"...Well..."
Sister Cat's words hit Song in the Clouds where it hurt. Just as he was about to say something else, Wang Qianduo spoke up.
"Don't argue, you two. I'm already in a guild," Wang Qianduo said, glancing at the mercenary group listed on his profile: Shanhai Seventh Mercenary Group.
Before coming to the dungeon, Lin Qimeng had already invited him into the mercenary group.
Mercenary groups were the equivalent of guilds at this stage, though they were different in some ways. They had a limit of only about a thousand members.
The major guilds couldn't do anything about it. None of them met the requirements to establish a large guild yet.
In the world of mechs, players needed an aerial fortress of fortress-class or higher to serve as their guild base.
That requirement had stopped everyone in their tracks. Even though they knew how to build one and had the blueprints, no one had ever seen one crucial component: the Fortress Energy Core.
So, at this stage, no matter how powerful your guild was, all players could join was a mercenary group. No one could establish a guild yet.
"You're already in a guild!!!" All four of them exclaimed in surprise.
It wasn't good news for them. A future rival might have just been born.
Song in the Clouds: "Brother, take my advice and don't join some little guild that's just messing around. It'll hold back your future development, and small guilds are full of trouble!"
"I know, but I don't have a choice. The guild was set up by my company, so I can't refuse," Wang Qianduo said.
"Your company set it up? May I ask which company you work for?"
"Shanhai Group."
"Shanhai! The rule-breakers who throw money around? Your company's reputation in the industry is..." Song in the Clouds was about to keep persuading him, but Sword of Miracles pulled him back.
The fact that Wang Qianduo had joined Shanhai at a time like this and was acting alone meant he wasn't a low-level employee there.
If he were, he wouldn't have been able to join Shanhai's mercenary group so soon after entering the game.
At the same time, he couldn't have been a professional player hired by Shanhai, because then he wouldn't have been acting alone.
He could only be a member of Shanhai's management. They couldn't easily poach someone like that.
The cost would be too high, and the money they could offer might not tempt him.
After all, Shanhai Group was far, far more powerful than the club backing them.
Before this game had appeared out of nowhere, they wouldn't even have had a chance to speak with Shanhai Group.
"I don't know much about the company, but I'm not looking to resign yet, so I can only apologize," Wang Qianduo said.
"That's fine. Come on, let's add each other as friends. We can keep in touch."
After adding each other as friends, they finally entered the hard-mode Dark Forest.
The hard-mode Dark Forest was indeed on a different level from normal mode. Even the dungeon's regular monsters included some elite monsters, and the bosses were five times stronger.
Still, it wasn't quite enough to challenge them. Especially after the group had acquired a few skills, it became even easier.
The Dark Forest dungeon's main rewards were various basic skills. The Propulsion Device Wang Qianduo wanted wasn't actually that important for most players.
They would get a common-grade propulsion unit through the main quest, and it would serve them for a long time.
After they killed the dungeon's final boss, the Logging Robot, the system notified Wang Qianduo that he could summon the hidden boss, Hyena Minkson.
But after discussing it, the group decided not to summon him right away. They planned to challenge nightmare mode to earn better rewards.
"Let's leave, then run hard mode twice more and farm some skills. Otherwise, our stats probably won't be enough for nightmare mode.
"The monsters in the nightmare dungeon are a lot smarter than the ones in normal and hard mode. It's practically a different dungeon altogether."
Sister Cat said this after they left the dungeon, and the others knew she was right.
The game had been out for a year, yet the teams that could clear a nightmare dungeon at their level could be counted on one hand.
Most players couldn't beat nightmare mode, even if they entered the dungeon at the maximum level of twelve.
Besides, everyone had five dungeon runs per day. They could easily use two of them to improve their strength.
The group got straight to it. With the rewards from their first clear, the hard-mode dungeon was even easier for them than before.
After three hard-mode runs, everyone's skills had improved considerably.
Wang Qianduo also acquired three skills: Rising Strike, Block, and Charged Strike, giving him many more ways to attack and defend.
Rising Strike/Knockback (Common) (Active):
LV1
Swing your weapon to briefly knock back an enemy and deal damage equal to 120% of your attack power.
Attack Range: Depends on the weapon's attack range
Cast Time: Instant
MP Cost: 10
Cooldown: 5s
Proficiency: 0/100
Block (Common) (Active): Parry an enemy's physical attack. The damage reduced depends on how well the action is performed.
Cast Time: Instant
MP Cost: 0
Cooldown: 20s
Charged Strike (Refined) (Active):
LV1
Charge the weapon in your hand to deal damage equal to (130%–230%) of your attack power to an enemy.
Attack Range: Depends on the weapon's attack range
Cast Time: 0–5s
MP Cost: 30
Cooldown: 20s
Proficiency: 0/200
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