It wasn't surprising that the Apostle of God's pilot was shocked. Lord-tier creatures corresponded to Perfect-grade items.
They were already the highest-level beings most players had ever encountered.
Although it was only level 10, it really didn't seem like an ordinary level-30 Apostle of God could handle it alone.
"Damn, I thought I'd picked up an easy bargain. I didn't expect this thing to be such a tough opponent!" the Apostle of God's pilot complained.
But there was no way he could escape now. He could only charge the Sand Scorpion Lord and fight for his life. He still had a trump card, so there was a chance!
If he ran, the Sand Scorpion Lord would fire another energy shot at him. He couldn't take that kind of damage with his back.
With that thought, the Apostle of God landed. Although it could fly, neither its Magic Energy consumption nor its maneuverability in the air allowed it to fly during this kind of battle.
The ground was the main battlefield at this stage of the game.
The energy machine gun opened fire, spraying Energy Bullets at the Sand Scorpion Lord. The successive explosions completely enraged the giant Sand Scorpion Lord.
The giant scorpion let out an angry, insect-like hiss, and all the Sand Scorpions on the battlefield abruptly stopped moving.
The next moment, they charged as one toward the Apostle of God, leaving Wang Qianduo off to the side.
Although most of the level-1 Sand Scorpions couldn't penetrate the Apostle of God's defenses, a few could still occasionally deal 1 damage.
There were simply too many Sand Scorpions. Even a steady stream of 1-damage hits was enough to give the Apostle of God a hard time.
Worse, they had him so entangled that he couldn't move at all. The Sand Scorpion Lord's massive pincers were about to strike.
He regretted landing. He hadn't expected the Sand Scorpion Lord to have a trick like this.
There was no choice. He had to use a skill.
A green Energy Field burst out from the Apostle of God, instantly killing all the Sand Scorpions nearby.
Then energy began gathering in the cannon on its shoulder. The attack seemed to need some time to charge, so he dodged the Sand Scorpion Lord's attacks while building up power.
Watching the other pilot's moves and fighting style, Wang Qianduo felt as though he were learning a great deal.
"So you can do it like that," he kept repeating to himself.
As he marveled at this, the pilot finished charging. A green Energy Ray shot out.
The giant scorpion barely managed to avoid a direct hit to a vital spot, but the ray still struck its back armor and tail.
The beam severed its tail, then hit the mountain, punched through it, and flew into the sky.
The attack was "terrifyingly powerful." The giant scorpion was visibly weakened after taking damage to such a vital part.
But the Apostle of God didn't press its advantage, which Wang Qianduo thought was a shame.
What Wang Qianduo didn't know was that the pilot had run out of energy.
That attack had been an all-or-nothing gamble, but he'd missed...
That was awkward...
The energy-depleted Apostle of God was soon caught by the giant scorpion. The pilot fought back as hard as he could and managed to land a few hits, even reducing the giant scorpion to critical health.
But it still tore him apart. The scene was brutal...
Still, brutal as it was, seeing the boss at critical health made Wang Qianduo's heart race. This was his chance.
Otherwise, if someone else showed up, he wouldn't be able to beat them to it.
Screee!
Without hesitation, a clear, ringing cry came from inside Unit Zero. Wang Qianduo activated Phoenix Mode in the Phoenix Blood Heart engine.
Two streams of flame burst from Unit Zero's back, scorching the surrounding ground until it turned black.
"This skill only boosts my stats by 5%, and it makes this much of a spectacle?"
Wang Qianduo, who had planned to sneak up and launch a surprise attack, was startled by the commotion Phoenix Mode made. Were those stats really worth all that fanfare?
But he couldn't worry about that now. The Sand Scorpion Lord had already been drawn over by the noise.
Electric arcs flashed in Unit Zero's hands. He was betting that this single Chain Lightning attack would kill the Sand Scorpion Lord.
When the charge was complete, Plasma surged out, and the Lightning Chain struck the Sand Scorpion Lord directly.
Critical Hit: -205
Wang Qianduo was incredibly lucky. A single critical hit struck home and drained the last sliver of the Sand Scorpion Lord's health.
Experience +10,000
Its huge body then crashed to the ground, and a small pile of golden crystals and four items dropped.
"System Notice: You obtained 15 Gold Crystals and 7 Silver Crystals."
"System Notice: You obtained the item [Sand Scorpion's Tail Blueprint]."
"System Notice: You obtained the skill [Deadly Sting]."
"System Notice: You obtained the material [Scorpion King's Tail]."
"System Notice: You obtained the special item [Scorpion King's Heart]."
Wang Qianduo quickly scooped up the items without even getting a good look at them, then fled the scene.
He had already spotted several dark specks racing toward him through the distant sky. There was no need to guess who they were—
If he didn't run, he'd really have a chance to say, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."
Luckily, as soon as the Scorpion King fell, its offspring scattered like birds and beasts. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to get away.
Not long after Wang Qianduo left, several Advanced Mecha landed at the scene.
"Damn it, we're a step too late!" said the pilot of a black Mecha.
"Can't be helped. We were unlucky, and we came as fast as we could. Let's head back!"
"Are we just giving up? I don't think that guy has gotten far," said the pilot of a Recon Mecha in the group, looking in Wang Qianduo's direction.
"He's just some low-level Mecha passing by. Do you think he could've beaten the Scorpion King?" said the pilot of a red Mecha.
"You mean there was someone else? This is going to be tricky."
"It's fine. We can offer to buy it. That quest item is useless to anyone else," said the white Mecha's leader. At his words, the arguing in the group died down.
Then the group took off again, quickly passing over Wang Qianduo.
Wang Qianduo: "..."
"Just you wait! Once I hit level five and learn to fly, I'll be buzzing around over your heads every day!"
Old Wang, who couldn't fly, watched the group of Mecha pass overhead and shouted resentfully.
Zero: "Sir, I still recommend that you train at the Training Ground before learning to fly!"
Wang Qianduo: "...Got it!"
Thanks to Zero's well-timed jab, Wang Qianduo, who had just scored some great loot, quickly calmed down. He soon returned to the Stronghold and began sorting through his gains.
The Sand Scorpion horde had brought Wang Qianduo quite a haul. First, the 10,000 experience points had nearly pushed him to level five.
Among the items, the [Sand Scorpion's Tail Blueprint] was a level-1 Rare-grade Agility-Type Weapon blueprint.
[Sand Scorpion's Tail Blueprint] (Rare)
Required Materials:
Red Copper Ingot (5/5)
Rare Magic Energy Star Core (1/1)
Elemental Crystal (1/1)
Scorpion King's Tail (1/1)
Wang Qianduo already had everything he needed to craft the equipment, but he chose not to.
The finished item's stats were displayed beside the blueprint. It was basically a dagger for Mecha, and the Corrosive Venom it contained could continuously reduce a Mecha's Durability—that was, it inflicted poison.
But the weapon didn't appeal much to Wang Qianduo. Its stats were worse than the Minghong Blade's—by quite a lot, in fact.
Its greatest value lay in selling it. But apart from the [Scorpion King's Tail], all its materials were Bound Materials given out as purchase bonuses.
If he used Bound Materials to craft equipment, the finished product would also be bound.
That meant he couldn't sell it.
Old Wang was in desperate need of cash right now. How could he waste real money on a toy?
As for the other materials, the [Scorpion King's Tail] was naturally a Rare-grade biological material.
[Deadly Sting] was a Fine Grade Agility-Type skill, but it couldn't be learned until level 10. Compared with Chain Lightning, it was still, well, "a tiny bit" worse.
The system identified the special item [Scorpion King's Heart] as a special material.
It could be used to craft Special Equipment or as a quest item, but there was no telling what quest it might be needed for.
After checking his loot, Wang Qianduo headed to the Trading Zone to ask around about prices so he could sell the weapon blueprint. He also wanted to see if there were any Propulsion Devices that suited him.
After all, he'd be reaching level five soon. He was ready to fly.
After putting away Unit Zero, Wang Qianduo entered the Trading Zone.
He was stunned as soon as he saw the bustling scene. It was already past eleven at night, yet the entire Trading Zone was packed with people and alive with activity.
"Come take a look! Freshly collected Rare materials!"
"Silver Scale Breastplate! Five gold apiece! Blue Quality! First come, first served!"
"Brothers, sisters, spare a little money!"
"The Mercenary Corps under the top Guild [Sword and Rose] is recruiting! Experienced players level ten and above can join!"
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