A Desperate Underwater Fight (Third Update)
But after kicking and splashing in the water, Matsuura Shin Kuro didn't float to the surface! The Fatty hanging on him seemed to be heavier than he had imagined.
When Matsuura Shin Kuro looked down, he discovered that Fatty's legs were actually tied with anchor chains beforehand!
The anchors of ancient ships were extremely heavy, some even exceeding 10,000 jin (approximately 5,000 kg). When ships encountered strong winds and waves at sea, the anchors served as the Sea God for the entire vessel.
With such a heavy anchor, how easy would it be for Matsuura Shin Kuro to float to the surface? He kicked a few times, but felt himself sinking.
Enraged, Matsuura Shin Kuro found himself entangled by the Fatty. His borrowed spare katana proved ineffective, so he discarded it and instead drew a short sword from his robes. With a hint of malice, he plunged it into the Fatty's chest!
This stab itself doesn't do much damage, but it adds a negative status effect to the Stitched Monster Fatty:
[Defense Weakening: This creature's armor and magic resistance are reduced by 10%.]
Matsuura Shin Kuro drew his sword and stabbed again, adding another negative status effect to the Stitched Monster Fatty:
[Physical Vulnerability: This creature takes 10% more physical damage.]
If there were only two negative status effects, it wouldn't be so bad. But what's scary is that as Matsuura Shin Kuro continues to attack, these two negative status effects will continue to appear and can even stack!
Two floors, three floors, four floors...
On a small boat not far away, Bai Xiaowen monitored this scene through the eyes of the Stitched Monster Fatty and was somewhat surprised. "The Matsuura Shin Kuro is using now is 100% the Mysterious Short Sword that wounded Yu Dayou! That's also the target of our mission."
"Xiao Wen, don't worry about the short sword yet. The enemy has spotted us and is already charging towards us," Li Shuyi said, gripping her sword.
After Bai Xiaowen and his group boarded the small boat, they detonated the explosives inside the hull, leaving Matsuura Shin Kuro and his men covered in soot. However, after the aftershocks of the explosion subsided, the five Wokou Pirates warships spotted Bai Xiaowen and his group and quickly sprinted towards them.
"We'll handle these enemies," Bai Xiaowen said. "Shu Yi, the task of killing Matsuura Shin Kuro is now yours."
Li Shuyi nodded, and with two swords in hand, she plunged into the sea.
A transparent, thin film-like helmet stretched open over Li Shuyi's head. With a slight movement of Li Shuyi feet, the helmet broke through the water, dramatically increasing Li Shuyi swimming speed!
This is the special item that Bai Xiaowen obtained after killing the Mutated Blackfish Boss Tier, Spinefin, in the Spinebreak Mountain Grand Rift Treasure Grounds — Giant Fish Bladder!
[Giant Fish Bladder: Allows you to breathe underwater and increases swimming speed by 30% for 6 hours. You must breathe for ten minutes after each use before using it again.]
Li Shuyi skillfully changed direction in the water, diving to approach Matsuura Shin Kuro. Judging from her adept movements, she had practiced this more than once.
In the seawater, which is about two or three zhang deep.
Matsuura Shin Kuro was wielding his short sword, fiercely stabbing at the Stitched Monster Fatty. However, the short sword itself didn't have high attack power; it was just that the added negative status effects were quite powerful. The Fatty's current Life Value were as high as 390, so he could still hold out for a while.
Soon, Li Shuyi approached Matsuura Shin Kuro and thrust out with both swords.
Matsuura Shin Kuro, bleeding from the pain, noticed Li Shuyi approaching. He tried to fight back, but with only a foot-long short sword in his hand, he couldn't reach Li Shuyi at all while being held captive by Fatty!
In shock and anger, Matsuura Shin Kuro could only endure Li Shuyi's attacks while simultaneously Triple Stab his short sword repeatedly, each strike hitting the weak point in the Stitched Monster Fatty's defenses—he had figured it out: he had to kill this monster first before he could turn around and deal with the attacks from the woman with the twin swords.
Trade wounds for wounds, trade lives for lives! Matsuura Shin Kuro has Life Value of 700 points, so no matter what, he won't die faster than this monster.
Delaying this will have very unfavorable consequences for Matsuura Shin Kuro, as he can only hold his breath underwater for twenty minutes!
Once the breath-holding ends, even Advanced Boss as strong as Matsuura Shin Kuro would only have the fate of drowning.
Sizzle!
After sacrificing nearly two hundred Life Value, Matsuura Shin Kuro finally managed to kill Fatty.
However, Fatty's chains still bound Matsuura Shin Kuro's legs. Matsuura Shin Kuro tried to float to the surface, but helplessly discovered that he was indirectly tied to the anchor.
Clang! Matsuura Shin Kuro's sword struck the Fatty's chain, leaving a shallow nick. His heart bled; this short sword was a famous sacred object in Japan, its wonder lying in the fact that its attacks would weaken the enemy, and its power was even more terrifying when combined with the secret techniques of the Eastern Ying.
However, every gain has its loss. The dagger's hardness and sharpness are not its strengths, and its additional attack power is not high. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so difficult to kill a Fatty.
However, Li Shuyi did not stand idly by while Matsuura Shin Kuro was slashing at the iron chains. She attacked with both swords, and a round of slashes took away dozens more points of Matsuura Shin Kuro's Life Value.
"Looks like we need to kill this woman first!"
Matsuura Shin Kuro glanced at the iron chain, gritted his teeth, and swung his short sword, quickly slashing towards Li Shuyi. Without Fatty's restraint, he was finally able to close in on Li Shuyi in melee range.
However, Li Shuyi nimbly dodged backward, avoiding the short sword.
The benefit of a 30% increase in swimming speed becomes apparent. Of course, another reason is the underwater environment, where the water pressure is higher, so Matsuura Shin Kuro's attacks are not as powerful as they are on land, where he can unleash a terrifying attack speed of 70 agility.
Li Shuyi's attack speed will also be affected when she is in the water, but the degree of reduction in her attack speed is not comparable to that of Matsuura Shin Kuro.
For example, if Li Shuyi's attack speed is 2 swords per second (not counting effective hits, only the number of swords), and it is reduced by half by water pressure, it becomes 1 sword per second, and the loss is 1 attack per second.
As an agility-type boss, Matsuura Shin Kuro has 70 agility points, and his attack speed is more than twice that of Li Shuyi. If Li Shuyi's attack speed is 2 swords per second, then Matsuura Shin Kuro's is 4 to 5 swords per second. In this way, Matsuura Shin Kuro loses 2 to 2.5 attack opportunities per second!
In addition, the slower attack speed of Matsuura Shin Kuro gave Li Shuyi more opportunities to dodge, after all, she had a buff item that increased her swimming speed by 30%. However, Matsuura Shin Kuro was not so easy to dodge Li Shuyi's attacks, as he was not used to dodging and maneuvering in the water.
Finally, there's the psychological factor: Matsuura Shin Kuro's breath-holding time is limited to only twenty minutes, while Li Shuyi has a [Giant Fish Bladder], allowing her to breathe underwater for up to six hours! In the long run, Li Shuyi has a significant psychological advantage!
Of course, even with so many advantages, a typical level 5 rare Elite Awakened still wouldn't dare to take on a level 7 Boss Tier one-on-one, as a single Vital Strike from the Boss Tier could be fatal.
Bai Xiaowen felt comfortable letting Li Shuyi come for a one-on-one duel not only because he had created so many favorable conditions for her, but also because Li Shuyi's own survivability was quite strong. Li Shuyi's own Life Value had reached a high of 230, and she also had the [Feathering Necklace], a life-saving equipment that reduced critical Vital Strike damage by 50%, and the newly learned [Shadowless Slash], a semi-invincible skill that made her untargetable...
The diversification of life-saving methods has given Li Shuyi a higher margin for error and more confidence.
Even if things were to turn out dangerously, so what? Having already completed the main mission, Li Shuyi can return to Earth at any time, and that is her greatest source of confidence.