Wu Renxin stared at the teleportation array at the entrance to the Endless Ant Nest as if he had turned to stone. His face was filled with disbelief and fury, and his voice seemed to squeeze through his clenched teeth:
"You... why are you only telling me now?!"
Lin Yi spread his hands and replied with an innocent expression:
"You never asked!"
"At first, I thought you wanted to go exploring. Turns out you were just looking for the boss!"
The atmosphere grew tense for a moment, and Wu Renxin's breathing gradually became heavier.
His chest heaved, and a dangerous light flashed in his eyes.
Lin Yi could clearly feel the killing intent radiating from him. He knew Wu Renxin was on the verge of attacking him.
Yet at this critical moment, Lin Yi changed tack and began playing on his feelings:
"Brother Renxin, you've taken such good care of me along the way."
"I already consider you a true friend, someone I can confide in completely."
At those words, the killing intent in Wu Renxin's eyes eased slightly.
But he still stared coldly at Lin Yi, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
Lin Yi smiled faintly and continued:
"To tell you the truth, besides making me invincible for a few minutes, my talent is also extremely useful for detection!"
"That's why I found this hidden door so easily. And..."
"I can easily see through the boss's weaknesses!"
Wu Renxin narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly smiled:
"Brother Lin Yi, I'm not that quick to anger!"
"We're both humans. Our enemies should be these disgusting monsters!"
"Let's enter this portal first and see whether the boss is inside!"
Hearing that, Lin Yi nodded with a smile:
"Exactly! Exactly!"
Both Lin Yi and Wu Renxin smiled heartily and stepped into the teleportation array one after the other.
A sudden wave of dizziness enveloped them, as though space and time had warped at that moment.
After a flash of light, they found themselves standing in an enormous plaza.
The sight of the plaza was breathtaking. It stretched so far that it seemed boundless, its ground paved with cold, hard stones, each bearing the marks of time.
The surrounding walls towered into the clouds, covered in moss and vines like decorations bestowed by nature, though they also added a sinister air.
Torches on the walls gave off a faint light, barely illuminating one corner of the plaza while making the shadows even deeper.
The air was filled with the smell of decay and dampness, and even the light seemed unable to penetrate those dense shadows.
An enormous ant sat upright on the far side of the plaza.
Its massive body towered like a school building, covered in a hard carapace that gave off a dark sheen.
Its eyes were like two bottomless black holes, revealing a chilling gleam that sent shivers down one's spine.
Freshly born little ants kept crawling out from behind the enormous ant.
Countless ants ranging from the size of rice grains to the size of a palm crawled densely across the plaza's floor, each possessing sharp mandibles and nimble movements.
The rustling of these ants merged into a low rumble, like an army on the march, creating an indescribable sense of oppression.
An indescribable sense of oppression hung over the entire plaza, and danger seemed to permeate the air.
Besides the rice-grain-sized [Ordinary Worker Ants], there were also palm-sized [Ordinary Soldier Ants] in the plaza.
[Ordinary Soldier Ant] Category: Insect Rank: H Level: 5 HP: 5000 Combat power: 3000 Skills: Formic Acid Spit: Sprays corrosive formic acid, dealing a total of 100-3000 damage over five seconds to enemies, with a chance to reduce their armor. Multi-Party Coordination: Enemies hit by [Formic Acid Spit] take 100 true damage instead of 10 when killing [Ordinary Worker Ants]. Description: [Ordinary Soldier Ants] are combat units that guard the ant queen in the Endless Ant Nest. Although their individual combat power is unremarkable, they compensate for their shortcomings by fighting in groups.
To be fair, these [Ordinary Soldier Ants] weren't strong, but with enough of them working alongside the densely packed [Ordinary Worker Ants], they could absolutely give players hell!
Even if players could easily find the boss, those with less than a million HP would basically be unable to hold their ground!
Lin Yi glanced over again, looking at the boss on the far side of the plaza!
[Endless Ant Queen] Category: Insect boss Rank: X Level: 10 HP: 50000000 Combat power: 500000 Skills: [Ant Sea Tactics]: Gives birth to large numbers of worker ants and soldier ants to fight, at a rate of 1000 per second. [Corrosive Liquid Spray]: Sprays an extremely corrosive liquid, dealing 50,000 damage per second to all enemies within range for 5 seconds. [Life Link]: Forms a life link with all ants within a certain range. The death of any ant restores its HP. [Broodmother's Rage]: Enters a berserk state when its HP falls to 10%, massively increasing its birth rate by 1000%.
"Brother Lin Yi, you can inspect the boss's stats too, right?"
"What weaknesses do you think this boss has?"
Standing behind Lin Yi, Wu Renxin asked in a low voice.
Without turning around, Lin Yi gazed at the [Endless Ant Queen] across the plaza and said with a faint smile:
"The boss's [Ant Sea Tactics] is powerful, but as long as we find and destroy the source, we can interrupt its summoning."
"Getting bogged down in a prolonged fight would only put us at a disadvantage."
"So ignore the other little ants and just go straight for the boss!"
"Although its [Corrosive Liquid Spray] covers a wide area, boss skills like this always have a brief charge-up period. We can use that window to dodge."
"[Life Link] is its lifesaving skill. We need to kill fewer little ants to weaken its recovery ability."
"As for [Broodmother's Rage], we need to use powerful skills as quickly as possible before its HP falls to 10%. Ideally, we should kill it instantly to keep it from entering its berserk state."
"However..."
Seeing Lin Yi keep him in suspense, Wu Renxin asked somewhat impatiently:
"However, what?"
Lin Yi paused, then continued with a smile:
"However, I reckon reaching the boss will cost at least a million HP."
"But you should meet that requirement, Brother Renxin!"
"So this slightly bigger ant..."
"Doesn't have long to live!"
Hearing that, Wu Renxin narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Lin Yi's back, and nodded with a smile:
"That's right!"
"All thanks to your information, Brother Lin Yi!"
Suddenly!
A dagger appeared in Wu Renxin's right hand without warning.
The dagger was covered in barbs and sharp edges, seemingly fashioned from an [Ironclad Battle Bear]'s tooth!
A dangerous look flashed through his eyes as he viciously thrust it toward Lin Yi's back, his voice sounding somewhat deranged:
"Brother Lin Yi!"
"I hereby declare!"
"You're my best friend for life!"
[Check-in spot for those who stuck it out through Chapter 30]