Kobold

First, he would use Elf Protection to max out his defense. The repulsion aura attached to the skill could push back all enemies in close proximity, and at Lv1, the protection provided a high 40% damage reduction, as well as a powerful shield capable of blocking any attack with a "D" rank coefficient or lower.

Next, he would follow up with Dragon Blood Combustion to enhance his own attributes, which also came with a powerful "HP lock" effect. He wouldn't die immediately upon receiving a fatal blow, and at Lv1, he had a full 5 seconds of HP lock to ensure his absolute safety.

Additionally, as long as the firearms in the hands of the Scarred Man and his gang weren't C-rank or higher Tainted Calamity weapons, the subsequent Calamity Magnetic Pulse could directly disarm them all, causing their machinery to malfunction while simultaneously feeding energy back to him to replenish his mana.

Finally, he wouldn't even need to move; with a mere flick of his finger, the supernatural spell Annihilation could be cast without a chant. Even at Lv1, its extremely high base damage would leave any Tainted below the "Danger" rank either dead or severely wounded.

In the game, Liao Ji could execute this combo perfectly with his eyes closed, but if this were reality, he couldn't be sure if nervousness or other factors might lead to oversights or accidents.

But it didn't matter.

As long as he still had a breath left.

The Holy Healing from the priestess Stia would be enough to instantly heal him to full and bring him back to life at this stage.

Therefore, Liao Ji wasn't actually in a hurry.

The reason he had remained inactive all this time was that he wanted to gather some intelligence from the group's conversation and figure out the current situation.

However.

Liao Ji might not be in a hurry.

But it seemed some people were already getting desperate.

He didn't know if it was just his imagination.

But he felt that the female scavenger holding him hostage was shifting her body back and forth with increasing frequency as time passed.

And the source of this "unease" didn't seem to come from the Scarred Man and his gun-wielding gang, nor did it come from him, the person they called an "Inheritance."

Because he was the closest, Liao Ji could observe from the corner of his eye that the female scavenger kept glancing upward.

There was a large hole up there; this group had likely been above the secret chamber before triggering a mechanism and falling through.

Judging by the female scavenger's increasingly tense and anxious breathing.

It was as if.

If they didn't leave now, something extremely bad was about to happen.

Liao Ji's intuition had always been accurate.

Squish, squish.

Abrupt footsteps approached from afar, rapidly closing in on the people in the secret chamber, and the source of the sound was directly above their heads.

When the sound finally stopped and Liao Ji looked toward the hole in the ceiling.

He discovered that there were pairs of eyes peering down from the opening, looking at the group in the chamber below.

In the dim light.

He could see large noses and mouths that occupied nearly half of their faces, thick, matted fur covering their chins, and small, narrow eyes that reflected a greedy glint.

They had human bodies, dog heads, and the silhouettes of shovels could be seen in their rough, dirty hands.

"Kobolds!"

This time, even the usually formidable Scarred Man was terrified, not to mention his lackeys, all of whom had turned deathly pale.

"Impossible! The Kobolds in this area should have been cleared out multiple times already. How could there be Kobolds here!"

The Scarred Man asked in disbelief, and when his panicked gaze accidentally swept over the spot where the female scavenger had been standing, his eyes widened as he saw a statue that had been shattered on the ground at some point.

In that instant, Jason finally understood. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he glared at the female scavenger with the look of a sworn enemy.

"It was you!"

[Low-level Summoning Clay Statue (Kobold)]

[Type: Tainted Calamity Item]

[Quality: E+]

[Effect: After a short delay, summons a squad of "Kobold Miners" to join the battlefield]

[Tainted Deviation: Has a certain probability of replacing the summoned target with "Greedy" Kobold Miners]

Compared to the Scarred Man, who only guessed that the broken statue was the culprit, Liao Ji recognized it immediately with a single glance.

He felt both surprised and shook his head.

He was surprised that the female scavenger behind him could perfectly utilize a Tainted Calamity item.

He shook his head because he didn't know whether to call her lucky or unlucky. Clearly, the clay statue shattered by the female scavenger had triggered the [Tainted Deviation], summoning a group of "Greedy" Kobold Miners.

Compared to standard summons, they were stronger, but they were also beyond the player's control and would attack indiscriminately.

Given the strength of these grave robbers, and in this terrain...

Liao Ji watched as the Kobolds at the hole above, after their initial observation, seemed to have realized the weakness of these humans. One by one, they brandished their mining picks, their greedy gazes sweeping over the group as they prepared to jump down into the chamber.

As for the Scarred Man and his gang, they no longer had the heart to look at him, the "Inheritance," or the female scavenger. They all aimed their guns at the Kobolds above, attempting to resist the monsters.

But Liao Ji knew that Kobolds were Level 5 monsters, and with the "Greedy" prefix, while ordinary people with firearms might stand a chance in an open area, their total annihilation in this underground cavern was already a foregone conclusion.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!

Dense gunfire erupted, accompanied by the roars of the scarred man and his group, which turned into screams of agony in less than a few seconds.

"Reload, reload now!"

"Get away from me, you disgusting monsters, get away!"

"Above, watch out above!!"

"Help, save me!"

"Don't kill me, please don't!!"

Flesh and blood flew everywhere under the iron pickaxes of the Kobolds; the cramped space rendered the range advantage of their firearms completely useless, leaving them nowhere to hide.

The suppressive fire from the scarred man's group had only been effective for a brief moment at the start, but as more Kobolds continued to "drop from the sky" into the secret chamber, their defense collapsed entirely.

At this moment, the chamber had become the site of a one-sided slaughter.

By the stone coffin, Irin had fallen into despair.

Her face was ashen.

Within Irin's field of vision, she could already see that some Kobolds had noticed her in the depths of the chamber; these monsters, their eyes bloodshot from the killing, were closing in on her with their blood-stained pickaxes.

Think of something!

What else... what else is there that can...

Suddenly.

A flame of hope reignited in Irin's desperate eyes.

Because she had almost forgotten.

The "Legacy."

Beside her, there might just be the "Legacy" of that legendary Great Emperor!

Clatter.

Irin chose to drop her dagger.

Then, she looked at Liao Ji with eyes that were almost pleading.

And Liao Ji.

Liao Ji, who had not said a word until now, finally spoke.

"Do you think I would help someone who just had a dagger pressed against my throat?"

At these words, Irin's eyes lost their focus, her body went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground.

But at this moment.

"Unless you are willing to sign a contract with me."

The young man's voice rang in her ears again.

At this point, Irin didn't even hear clearly what Liao Ji had said; she looked at the grinning Kobolds waving their pickaxes and knew only to nod frantically, willing to accept any condition the other party proposed.

"Very well."

"But there is a small procedure before that."

As Liao Ji spoke, he bent down and took from the stone coffin a crystal that, in Irin's eyes, radiated an ominous and eerie aura.

And before the female scavenger could react.

He reached out and shoved the [Corrupted Crystal (Small)] directly into her body!