Three Gray Items Are No Match for a Shell

The key to breaking the deadlock was the Tail Sweep's 16-second cooldown.

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Therefore.

First step: open with Rotten Root Entanglement.

The lizard was in Mimicry, lying motionless, and had not noticed him at all.

The conditions for attacking were excellent.

He could get within five meters before making his move.

Rotten Root Entanglement had more than enough casting range.

During the three seconds of control, he would circle to its side and slash.

That would let him avoid both its front and tail.

Once the three seconds ended, the lizard would break free.

After breaking free, it would most likely use Tail Sweep.

Send him flying?

Perfect.

Second step: the instant he was knocked back, Ambush would propel him forward!

He would use the knockback displacement to crash back in the opposite direction. The boar-shaped phantom would slam into it head-on and stun it again.

Two layers of control, seamlessly linked.

Together, the damage windows lasted more than five seconds.

Five seconds was enough for six slashes and two Fanged Charges.

After that, he would fight it at close range and deal heavy damage during Tail Sweep's 16-second cooldown.

Stone Shard Launch?

How much health could 80% physical attack take from him?

Hm?

Speaking of defense...

Gan Ming opened the skill management interface.

Currently active: 7/7.

His current mana was not enough to cast so many skills. He needed to save enough mana for [Rotten Root Entanglement].

So...

He dragged [Hard Shell +5], which he had just Soul Snatched from the Rust-armored Scorpion, into the seventh active slot, replacing [Swift Dash].

[Active: Hard Shell +5 (Passive)]

[Hard Shell +5: (Passive Skill) When hit by a physical attack, reduces damage by a fixed 20 points.]

Twenty points!

Gan Ming stared at that number, his eyes shining.

The original Hard Shell had provided 8 points of fixed damage reduction.

After the enhancement from level 5 Soul Snatch, it had risen straight to 20.

What did 20 points mean?

All three of his main equipment pieces combined only gave him 19 points.

The fixed damage reduction from one passive skill was 1 point higher than the total defense of all his equipment.

Gan Ming patted the leather armor on his chest, whose hole had yet to be patched.

"You three combined aren't as good as one scorpion shell."

The equipment was deeply hurt, but equipment could not talk.

Still, who cared? If equipment was lacking, skills could make up for it. That was how poor people survived.

Full of anticipation, he looked at the defense stat on his attribute panel.

Hm?

Why was it only 77?

Where had the missing 24 points gone?

The smile vanished from Gan Ming's face.

He had thought Hard Shell's 20 points would be affected by Bark Armor's 120%, doubling into 44.

If that were the case, his total defense should have been 101.

But the panel clearly showed 77.

What was the problem?

Gan Ming calculated it again.

Bark Armor +5 increased base defense by 120%.

His base defense plus equipment defense was 24 points. Multiplied by 2.2, that came to 52.8.

Adding the small fluctuations from level growth and stamina, the panel number should have been around 57.

57 plus Hard Shell's 20 made 77.

"I see."

Gan Ming understood.

Skills could not stack dolls inside dolls.

Bark Armor's 120% bonus applied to "base defense and equipment defense."

Hard Shell was a skill.

Numerical bonuses provided by skills would not be amplified by another skill's percentage bonus.

In other words, no standing on your own shoulders.

You gave your percentage, I gave my fixed value. We each did our own calculations.

"So you two split the bill?"

Gan Ming curled his lip.

It was a bit of a loss, but not too much.

Looking at it another way, he had 77 defense as a foundation, plus 20 fixed damage reduction. The two layers stacked together.

Even an level 11 Rustclaw Hound would deal zero damage when it bit him.

A level 13 Rust-armored Scorpion could only scrape off single-digit damage with its pincers.

This level 15 Grayrock Giant Lizard...

Tail Sweep dealt 140% physical attack. Its numbers really were high.

But after deducting his defense and Hard Shell...

It would definitely hurt a little, but the damage could not be too severe.

Besides, [Potential Stimulation +5] was there as a safety net.

Gan Ming closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

[Beast Scent +5] scanned automatically.

Within seventy meters, there was no human scent.

There was only the scent of the lizard disguised as a pile of rocks twenty meters ahead, along with several fainter fishy odors in the distance.

Move!

Gan Ming lowered his body and silently crept forward along a broken concrete pillar.

Every step landed with extreme care, avoiding the sharp edges of broken bricks and rusty sheet metal.

The lizard did not move.

In its Mimicry state, the color of its scales blended perfectly with the surrounding broken bricks and rubble.

When the distance closed to five meters.

Gan Ming suddenly raised his left hand.

Rotten Root Entanglement!

Crack!

The gravel road split apart.

Five or six roots as thick as arms burst from underground and swiftly wrapped around the lizard's six legs.

The Grayrock Giant Lizard awoke from Mimicry.

It let out a low hiss. Its gray-white scales instantly stood on end, its entire body tensed, and it struggled violently.

The roots creaked under the strain.

But it could not break free within three seconds.

Gan Ming also rushed out the instant the roots burst from the ground.

He ran to the lizard's right flank.

He drew his sword.

Slash!

The first sword strike landed on the scales along its waist.

The edge of the tempered steel sword cut into a gap between the scales and sank into muscle.

A crisp vibration traveled through his wrist.

-57!

It was even tougher than the scorpion.

But he had no time to marvel.

The second strike followed immediately, deepening the same gap.

-60!

The third strike triggered Fanged Charge!

A surge of brute force flooded his sword arm, and this strike carried more than twice the power of the first two.

The blade plunged entirely into the soft tissue beneath the scales.

Pfft!

-126!

Gray-white body fluid sprayed from the wound, splattering half of Gan Ming's arm.

The giant lizard let out an ear-splitting hiss, and its struggles intensified sharply.

The roots made creaking sounds on the verge of snapping.

The three seconds ended.

Crack!

The roots broke apart.

The Grayrock Giant Lizard regained its mobility.

Its reaction was even faster than Gan Ming had predicted.

After breaking free from the roots, it did not turn to bite. Instead, its entire tail swept sideways.

Tail Sweep!

The tail, over two meters long and wrapped in a fierce wind, slammed straight into Gan Ming's chest.

Bang!

-22.

Gan Ming glanced at the damage number.

Well, Tail Sweep at 140% physical attack was indeed pretty fierce.

Though it did not hurt much.

The knockback effect was very real.

Gan Ming's feet left the ground, and his entire body flew backward.

Three meters.

Five meters.

Just as his back was about to smash into a broken wall.

Ambush!

Whoosh!

Gan Ming twisted his body around while flying backward.

A boar-shaped phantom condensed in front of his chest.

Bang!

A gray shockwave blasted out against the direction of his knockback.

His entire body went from flying backward to charging forward.

Even the momentum from being knocked back was swallowed by Ambush's propulsive force.

Oink oink!

The boar-shaped phantom crashed head-on into the Grayrock Giant Lizard's head.

The lizard's head was smashed downward into the ground, and all four of its front legs went weak at once.

[Target struck by "Ambush +5," stunned for 2.5 seconds.]

Two and a half seconds.

Gan Ming staggered a step upon landing, but his sword was already raised.

First strike! It slashed into the gap from before.

-60!

Second strike! He changed angles and cut into a gap between the scales on the side of its neck.

-60!

The third strike, Fanged Charge!

-132!