Solved

Song in the Clouds' arrow was the signal for Old Wang and the others to attack.

As the giant mecha turned around to attack Song in the Clouds, a bolt of lightning struck it squarely in the chest, then shot toward the woods behind it, ricocheting through the trees.

Critical Hit -1500, Stunned 0.1s

"There are more minions lying in wait in the woods behind it. This boss is pretty sneaky!"

Everyone watched the lightning wreak havoc in the woods, their hearts sinking.

Fortunately, Wang Qianduo's damage was impressive. That one strike had taken off more than a tenth of the boss's health.

If they were lucky, he could take the boss down in just a few hits. But they needed time.

Everyone except Wang Qianduo was a top-tier expert, but sometimes, in the face of an overwhelming gap in attributes, skill alone wasn't enough.

Thanks to the boss's formidable resilience, Wang Qianduo's skill, which should have stunned it for 0.5 seconds, only stunned it for 0.1.

So the Logging Mecha came to almost immediately, and its massive chainsaw arm swung straight at Wang Qianduo.

Energy flowed along the chainsaw. It was clearly using a skill.

But just as its attack was about to land on Wang Qianduo, it suddenly canceled the skill, turned around, and faced Sword of Miracles.

Sister Cat couldn't help saying, "Impressive!"

Sword of Miracles hadn't done anything special just then. He'd simply used Taunt on the Logging Mecha.

But not everyone could have timed it so perfectly. The Logging Mecha had clearly been about to use its Earth-Splitting Slash.

If Sword of Miracles had used Taunt any earlier, the attack wouldn't have been interrupted; it would have struck him directly.

With the Logging Mecha's attack power and speed, that hit would have killed him outright.

But if he'd been any later, he wouldn't have interrupted the skill, and Wang Qianduo would have been in danger.

Although Wang Qianduo was much faster than the others because of his attributes, they were sure he couldn't dodge the attack.

Wang Qianduo: "..."

Sword of Miracles's move had been truly impressive! Only a handful of active players could manage that kind of timing.

But now wasn't the time to admire him. The Logging Mecha's attacks hadn't stopped. After turning to face Sword of Miracles, it raised its massive chainsaw again.

This time, it was going for a sweep. But just as it lifted its weapon, an arrow struck it once more.

This time, the arrow hit its armpit. The giant mecha's attack was disrupted again, but not interrupted.

Then an Energy Bullet pierced its defenses and interrupted the attack.

Just as it raised a foot to attack again, a bolt of plasma struck its head.

-652

Wang Qianduo wasn't lucky this time and failed to land a critical hit, but the damage was still substantial.

"You damn pieces of trash! I'll chop you into little bits!"

After having its skills interrupted again and again, the Logging Mecha finally flew into a rage. A menacing voice rang out from inside it, echoing through the forest.

"It can actually talk!"

"This thing really is something!"

"Is that what matters? You're the ones who are something! Watch out for its attacks!"

The four of them really were experts. They could still spare time to chat in a situation like this, which made Wang Qianduo's heart race.

But they were confident for good reason. Working together, they'd prevented the giant Logging Mecha from using even a single skill. It could only keep raging helplessly.

The minions it had hidden in the woods had already all died after being caught in the chain lightning Wang Qianduo unleashed.

But when its health dropped to around a third, the situation changed. The chainsaw on the Logging Mecha's arm launched forward and struck Bright Moon over the Blue Sea, who failed to dodge in time.

-1200

After the damage number appeared, Bright Moon over the Blue Sea's Mecha dissolved into a stream of data and vanished from the Instance Dungeon. Bright Moon over the Blue Sea disappeared too, and switched to spectator mode.

"Whoa! The weakest one's down!" Seeing Bright Moon over the Blue Sea fall, Song in the Clouds immediately taunted her, showing no mercy at all.

"Quit talking and don't let it pick its weapon back up!" Sword of Miracles said.

But the Logging Mecha didn't seem interested in retrieving its weapon. After killing Bright Moon over the Blue Sea, it suddenly stood motionless.

A little while later, the Logging Mecha's chest opened, and a brownish-yellow figure shot into the sky, looking down at Wang Qianduo and the others.

Hyena Type I Mecha Minkson

LV5

Elite Abyss

HP 3300

MP 1000

Attack 200

Defense 25

Skills: Ambush, Energy Bullet, Grenade Launcher, Man-Portable Anti-Tank Cannon, Rampage

They hadn't expected the giant Logging Mecha to be piloted by Hyena Minkson. It was a bit like a mecha inside a mecha, but they couldn't help admiring how skilled he was.

Piloting a mecha wasn't like reading a book or playing a game.

For Hyena to pilot one mecha while operating another was like driving a car while steering a truck.

That kind of piloting skill was impressive, especially since he was controlling an Artificial Mecha, which was especially difficult to handle.

But now didn't seem like the time to admire him. Blue flames shot from the back of Hyena Type I Mecha, keeping it hovering steadily in the sky.

"This just got tough. The boss can fly!"

"Old Wang, can you still reach it?"

"No, it's flying way too high!"

"Spread out!"

As they discussed what to do, the mecha in the sky raised both hands and fired dozens of grenades at them.

Everyone used their own methods to dodge, but Sister Cat and Song in the Clouds had no cover and were taken out.

Wang Qianduo held on thanks to his outstanding attributes, while the shield in Sword of Miracles's hand saved his life.

"I'll draw it down. Get ready to attack!" After seeing how things stood, Sword of Miracles ran toward Minkson.

He dodged several of Minkson's attacks with a series of quick movements, then took cover beneath the massive Logging Mecha.

As Minkson tried to attack him, his figure in the sky was forced to descend. Before long, he was within Wang Qianduo's range.

Knowing he couldn't let the opportunity slip by, Wang Qianduo's eyes flashed gold, and arcs of electricity appeared in his hand once more.

Just as Minkson fired a shot that took out Sword of Miracles, silver Thunderbolt struck him in midair.

Weak Point Break, Critical Hit -3736

Hyena Minkson's 3300 HP was no match for it. Wang Qianduo's single strike emptied his health bar.

With the final boss dead, the entire Instance Dungeon was cleared. The fallen players revived, their mechas reforming from streams of data.

"System Notice: Congratulations! You killed Hyena Minkson and gained 1500 experience points."

"Nice one, Old Wang!!!"

"Old Wang, you're seriously amazing!"

"With damage like that, you're the real boss!"

After reviving, the four of them praised him one after another.

"Enough talk. Let's loot the body. I can't wait to see what this Abyss Instance Dungeon's hidden boss dropped!"

Wang Qianduo cut off their compliments. He knew exactly where he stood.

He'd beaten the boss entirely thanks to his powerful attributes and skills. He couldn't compare to the others when it came to technique.

Hyena Minkson had dropped eight items in total. But Minkson's head, a Classified Letter, and a box of Ore were all quest items for Wang Qianduo.

Of the five items left, two were materials. The other three were what everyone cared about.

The three items were the [U4 Liquid Nitrogen Thruster Blueprint], [Special Alloy Steel Armor Blueprint], and [Logging Chainsaw].

All three were Rare equipment, though the boss's chainsaw was a finished weapon, while the other two were blueprints.

"What do you think?"

Sister Cat asked outright about the equipment.

All three items were top-tier for the current stage, especially the Propulsion Device, which was leagues ahead of the basic one from the quest.

"Let's auction them," Wang Qianduo said at once. He didn't want to take advantage of the others.

"Sure." The others looked at him but didn't object.

"Let's start with the Thruster. Everyone wants it. Opening bid: 100 gold!" Sister Cat said.

"100 gold," Song in the Clouds bid the minimum.

"150 gold," Sister Cat bid, immediately forcing Song in the Clouds and the other person from his group to drop out.

"160 gold," Wang Qianduo bid.

But after he made his bid, people on both sides gave him a long look. They were surprised he could afford that much.

The others could afford it because their Guild had provided them with funds. But Wang Qianduo being able to pay that much was a different matter entirely.

After Wang Qianduo bid, both sides tacitly refrained from bidding again, and the item went to him.

Next came the armor blueprint. This time, Wang Qianduo opened the bidding himself. "150 gold!"

"Tsk!" The others gasped when they heard him.

Just how much had this hidden quest earned him?!

All right, they'd misunderstood him again.