Scorpion Tide

Old Wang chatted with Zero as he killed monsters, and soon took down twenty Sand Scorpions.

The system then notified him that he had completed the quest and could turn it in. But Wang Qianduo glanced at his experience bar, sighed, and kept grinding monsters there.

Each Sand Scorpion gave him about five experience points and respawned every half minute. As long as the monsters were close enough, no one could steal his kills.

In other words, if he stayed there for two hours, he was guaranteed to level up.

If he went to run quests, he would have to remember that the beginner side quests were scattered across the planets in this low-level Star Domain.

Since he still couldn't fly, traveling back and forth would take a long time. And the wait to use a Teleportation Array alone would be enough to keep him stuck in line for quite a while.

Other players could take on side quests alongside their Main Quests and earn decent rewards. But for Wang Qianduo, doing quests really wasn't as efficient as camping out here to grind monsters.

And so Wang Qianduo camped there for nearly an hour, finally reaching Level 3.

At the same time, he had to say again that the drop rate in this game was absolutely awful. Over the past two hours or so, he had killed around two hundred scorpions.

Aside from some money, all he'd gotten were two Normal Scorpion Tail materials.

"I've got to ask, doesn't every scorpion have a tail?" Wang Qianduo complained, looking at the two scorpion tails in his inventory.

"Materials from Star Beasts aren't guaranteed to drop from every one. Magic Energy materials are only possessed by special individuals among certain Star Beasts!"

Zero's reply to Wang Qianduo's question could hardly have come at a worse time, leaving him even more speechless.

"Thanks for clearing that up for me!"

"You're welcome. It's my duty!"

Wang Qianduo: "..."

This AI still needed some work. It couldn't even pick up on sarcasm!

He glanced again at the ten thousand experience points needed to level up and felt dizzy.

So it really was a tenfold increase in experience? That was ridiculous!

"Can't be helped. I'll have to go turn in the quest first, then look up some guides on how to level up quickly!" Wang Qianduo said helplessly. Luckily, it was Friday. Otherwise, he'd have to log off and get some rest by now.

Rumble!

"What's going on?"

"What happened? Was that an earthquake?"

"Whoa, the ground's splitting open over there!"

"So many scorpions! No need to fight over kills now!"

"Fight over kills, my ass! Run unless you want to die!"

Just as Old Wang was about to return to camp, trouble found him once again. The ground at the mine kept shaking, and the mountain suddenly split open.

Countless Sand Scorpions poured out of the fissure like a rising tide. The novice players there had never seen anything like it and fled in terror.

Those who were too slow to run, or didn't run at all, were quickly swallowed up by the Sand Scorpions.

Wang Qianduo didn't run either. He raised the Minghong Blade in his hand, ready to fight, completely ignoring the way the others were looking at him like he was an idiot.

Actually, Wang Qianduo wanted to run too, and he was still near the outskirts.

But he knew he had no chance of getting away with his skills. He might as well kill a few more monsters and earn some experience before dying.

The players fled quickly, and soon only a few unlucky souls were left to face the Scorpion Tide.

Everyone else was wiped out in an instant. Wang Qianduo was the only one still standing.

Wang Qianduo swung his precious blade wildly. He was only Level 2, and his attack speed was nothing special.

But every swing took down a Sand Scorpion. He also had the potions that came with his top-up bonuses in his inventory. Soon, Sand Scorpion corpses littered the ground around him.

[Portable Comprehensive Mecha Repair Energy Bar] (Perfect):

Bound

+30% HP

+30% MP

Cooldown: 1S

Note: The latest portable Mecha repair device, nicknamed the "Immortality Drug."

The V1-to-V10 gift packs had given Wang Qianduo several hundred of these. Using them at Level 2 was a huge waste, but seeing his experience bar rise before his eyes made it easier to stomach.

Besides, the Sand Scorpions barely did any damage to him, so he didn't need to use them very often.

"If only I had an area-of-effect skill!" Old Wang grumbled, his hand starting to go numb from all the hacking. Then he suddenly remembered the two skill chests he hadn't opened yet.

If not now, when?

He kept chopping with one hand and pulled out the chests with the other, then started choosing.

Only then did he realize that one of the chests contained an active skill and the other a passive one.

He opened the passive skill chest first. After taking one look, he immediately chose a skill, because he'd spotted something incredible.

Armor Piercing (Passive) (Legendary): Ignores 40% of the target's defense.

With this skill, there'd be no Mecha or monster of the same level that Wang Qianduo couldn't hurt.

Once he equipped it, even Wang Qianduo's normal attacks carried a pale-blue glow.

Next came the active skill chest. This one was much harder to choose from, but to handle the situation he was in, he picked the skill that could hit the most enemies at once.

Chain Lightning (Universal) (Perfect):

LV1

Conjures chain lightning that can strike enemies and bounce between them up to seven times. It deals energy damage equal to (350% of Attack Power + 3× highest attribute) to the first enemy hit, with damage decreasing by 10% per bounce, and stuns for 0.5S.

Range: 200

Charge Time: 3S

MP Cost: 30

Cooldown: 10S

Damage Type: Magic Energy damage; defense applies

Proficiency: 0/1000

In Mecha Era, skills could be upgraded and, under special conditions, even advanced.

But even at Level 1, the Perfect Chain Lightning skill was far superior to Double Strike.

After loading the skill into his Mecha, arcs of electricity flickered across the Minghong Blade in Wang Qianduo's hand. He swung it forward with all his strength, and a bolt of Thunderbolt leapt out, bouncing through the Sand Scorpion swarm.

The damage hardly mattered, since Wang Qianduo could kill them with one swing even without using a skill.

With the skill's help and an unlimited supply of consumables for health and mana, Wang Qianduo's killing efficiency soared.

He soon reached Level 4, and the Phoenix Blood Heart reached Level 4 as well. Its all-attributes bonus increased from +1 to +4.

At the same time, the experience needed for his next level went up to twenty thousand, while the Phoenix Blood Heart now needed eight hundred experience to level up.

Looks like it'll be another experience-hungry beast from now on. At least the experience needed to level up his character wasn't increasing tenfold anymore. Otherwise, his poor heart and liver wouldn't be able to take it.

"Haha, a Star Beast Tide! This is my lucky day! I can't believe I found one even in a low-level zone!"

Just as Old Wang was locked in a battle of wits with the Sand Scorpions, his experience nearly a third of the way to Level 4, someone spoke in the regional channel.

Then a Mecha came speeding over. It was clad in dark green armor, with a round head bearing a single glowing Red Light mechanical eye and a long cannon mounted on its shoulder. Its overall design resembled an ancient warrior.

The thrusters on its back and feet spewed ghostly green flames, making it look like a green meteor.

Wang Qianduo recognized this Mecha. It was quite famous on the forums.

The green-hat Mecha was a regular in memes. "I've Turned Green, and I've Gotten Stronger" had gone viral.

Its name was Apostle of God. It had undergone two Evolutions and was probably Level 30. It was a Mecha built for Intelligence.

Although it was best known for its unusual color, no one could deny that its performance was excellent. It was an extremely powerful Mecha.

And in the game right now, it was already one of the highest-level Mechas around.

The pilot of Apostle of God probably didn't even glance at Wang Qianduo. He brought out two Mecha Energy Cannons and unleashed a barrage at the ground.

Every shell that hit the ground set off an explosion. If Wang Qianduo hadn't dodged in time, he might have been caught in the blast too.

Just as he was about to say, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never bully a poor young man,"

a yellow Energy Ray shot out of the mountain fissure and struck Apostle of God in midair.

But a shield made of green energy squares appeared around Apostle of God and blocked the attack.

It was in bad shape, though. The Energy Shield had visibly dimmed and probably couldn't withstand another hit.

Once the ray vanished, Wang Qianduo looked in the direction it had come from and saw a giant scorpion, as tall as a building, slowly crawling out of the mountain.

"Why is there a Level 10 Lord Boss here?! Why would one appear in a Level 1 Beast Tide?!"

The pilot's disbelieving voice came from inside Apostle of God Mecha.