Chapter 105: The Evolving Boss

"Young man, we are the advertising partners for Adi-King, invited by Mr. Murong to evaluate the combat performance of their new product. Would you mind letting us through?" Qianqian stepped forward and said to the guard standing at the gate.

The guard took one look at Qianqian and froze. Then, he looked at Wu Hua and the others; they were all dressed in simple cloth vests and wore wide, friendly smiles. He didn't know that Wu Hua’s team had already unequipped their gear, disguising themselves as commoners in non-combat professions.

"Here is my business card." With a flourish that looked like a magic trick, Qianqian produced a blue card printed with: "Adi-King Footwear Co., Ltd., Tian Sisi, R&D Manager, No. 320, Mu Hua Street, Star City of Dreams."

The guard couldn't tell if it was authentic or not. Then he noticed the digital camera in Qianqian's hand and her bright, beaming expression—she looked nothing like a scammer.

Wu Hua stepped forward with a grin and offered a pack of cigarettes: "Brother, we received notice from Boss Murong. He said he’s taking on the big boss, the Queen Bee, and invited us to observe and take some photos to create an advertisement for the Longcheng family."

Wu Hua was taking a calculated risk. Having been to the Mulin Grasslands before, he deduced that Murong Longcheng must be leading a massive force to tackle the boss; otherwise, there would be no reason to block off the entire area. Information about the Queen Bee was rarely known to outsiders.

Sure enough, as soon as the guard heard the words "Queen Bee," his doubts vanished.

"You can go in, but it’s very dangerous inside. I’ll send a few men to escort you to the fifth floor," the guard offered, genuinely trying to be helpful.

"No need, no need," Wu Hua replied. "We have a gunner protecting us. Thanks a lot, brother."

As he spoke, Yu Jialing stepped forward, dressed in a Snow Leopard Commando uniform with a Type 95 assault rifle strapped to her back.

Most of the Longcheng family members were novices with no access to high-end gear. Seeing Yu Jialing’s tall figure, her healthy, glowing complexion, and her mature, classic beauty, the guard’s vigilance relaxed even further. "Go on in then, and stay safe."

Wu Hua and the others were overjoyed. They hadn't expected it to be so easy.

However, just as they had walked a few steps away, the guard shouted, "Wait!"

Wu Hua’s heart skipped a beat. *That shouldn't have given us away.*

The guard walked over, holding the pack of "Black Cat" brand cigarettes Wu Hua had given him. "You can go in, but you can’t leave this behind. We have principles. You understand? Principles."

Wu Hua almost burst out laughing. "Yes, yes, yes. You’re a good man, brother. The Longcheng family is truly impressive."

Tu Shao chimed in, "Exactly, exactly. Such high principles! No wonder our boss wants to partner with Boss Murong. It makes perfect sense. You truly are the number one family in the Star City of Dreams."

They weren't stupid; they immediately started buttering him up with wild flattery. Flattery always works, especially when delivered by beauties like Yu Jialing and Qianqian, who were tossing around compliments like "so cool," "so stylish," and "so impressive." The guard was visibly smug, even deliberately puffing out his chest to look "heroic and mighty." Wu Hua had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out loud.

Once inside the ancient tomb, the first thing Wu Hua asked was how Qianqian had come by that business card.

"The boots I’m wearing are Adi-Kings, after all," Qianqian replied nonchalantly.

Wu Hua and the rest were left speechless.

The first few levels of the tomb were completely devoid of minor monsters, likely cleared out by the Longcheng family. When the long-lost Mulin Grasslands finally came into view, Wu Hua couldn't help but be shocked. He had to admire Murong Longcheng for even conceiving such a primitive "human sea" tactic.

The entire Mulin Grassland was swarming with people. Players covered the surrounding hillsides like ants, densely packed. By his estimation, there were at least ten thousand of them.

"My god," Yu Jialing said, stunned. "So many people. I’ve never seen so many people in my life."

Looking down, Wu Hua saw the Queen Bee still in the same spot, but unlike before, its size had increased by at least tenfold—it was now larger than the central marble plaza. This was likely what the female ghost had meant when she said the Queen Bee had completed its final genetic evolution.

The Longcheng family's human sea tactic taught Wu Hua a lesson. All ten thousand people were composed of gunners and medics, with not a single controller class among them; the ratio was roughly three to one.

They had formed a ring around the grassland, using the very conventional "four-corner" attack method. This meant that when one side attacked, the other retreated, and when one retreated, the other advanced, using a "carousel tactic" to drain the boss through attrition.

At first, everyone was puzzled. With over ten thousand people, what were they afraid of?

But after watching for a while, Wu Hua understood. Perhaps due to its completed evolution, the Queen Bee’s attack power was far greater than before. With each吐 (spit), it released seventy or eighty wasps, each much larger than the ones they had seen previously. The toxic damage was as high as 80 points per second. Furthermore, the swarms of black bees that fired poison stingers hadn't changed in toxicity, but their numbers were staggering. Every time the Queen Bee spat, over a hundred of them flew out in a dense, locust-like cloud. Even for a well-equipped team like theirs, let alone these novices, it would be impossible to withstand.

That was why the Longcheng family had formed a massive circle from all directions, dividing their ten thousand troops into four groups to surround the Queen Bee. Those being targeted would retreat while medics frantically healed them, and those not under fire would rush in to unleash a barrage of bullets. The tactic was crude, but there was truly no better way.

Wu Hua watched through his binoculars for a while longer and finally realized why there were no controllers: within a hundred-meter radius of the Queen Bee, all the grass had turned a deep, bruised purple, likely contaminated by a lethal poison that made it impossible to approach. Only gunners could fire from a distance.

The Longcheng family was indeed modernizing; most of their gunners had upgraded from older weapons to assault rifles like the AK and M16, which had a range of about 200 meters. However, not a single person present was dealing more than -2 damage; it was almost entirely "-1."

"I suspect this boss is no less formidable than a legendary 'Special-Grade' boss," Wu Hua said, lowering his binoculars.

"Special-Grade?" everyone exclaimed.

Wu Hua nodded. "When we were here last time, it was just a 'Large' grade. Now that its evolution is complete, it’s impossible for anyone to touch it."

"So what do we do now?" Tu Shao asked, unwilling to give up. "We can't go back empty-handed after coming all this way. We haven't even made back our five-credit travel fare."

Wu Hua smiled. "Let's wait and see."

Wu Hua was already familiar with the terrain. He led the group in a wide circle until they reached the southeastern mountaintop and crouched down.

"Hey, look over there," Qianqian said, pointing to the mountaintop directly to the south.

Following her gesture, Wu Hua and the others nearly fainted.

There, miraculously, sat a makeshift noodle stall on the summit. It had an electronic sign glowing with three large characters: "Soul-Snatching Noodles!"

Wu Hua and his team looked at each other, unable to utter a single word for a long time.