Chapter Sixty-One: A New Skill

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The fierce battle raging on the sea was like a pot of beans being burnt, leaping and crackling in chaos. The level-40 intermediate boss, the great white shark, was not particularly difficult to deal with. Its primary attacks were “ram” and “water crash,” both forms of impact that caused damage. Each time it charged, someone would die; when it crashed into the water, boats would capsize. Yet the players, without doubt, were clever. When it charged, they unleashed a hail of bullets; when it crashed down, they piloted their speedboats in all directions, relying on sheer numbers to wear the boss down.

Most players’ attacks were weak, but with so many firing, they could still chip away several thousand hit points from the boss. After firing from a distance for a while, Wu Hua stopped shooting. Generally, bosses were graded by level: a level-1 boss had at least 1,000 HP; a level-40 boss, at least 40,000. Intermediate bosses would have double that—at least 80,000. From Wu Hua’s experience, minor bosses had one skill, intermediate ones two, and major bosses at least three. He’d seen both minor and major bosses before, but so far, despite the great white shark’s ability to instantly kill players, its attack output was disproportionate to players’ own attacks. So—where were its skills?

Wu Hua felt things were going too smoothly. If they kept fighting like this, even if another forty players died, the great white shark would be finished. If such an intermediate boss could be defeated so easily, could it really be called a boss?

Sure enough, after seven or eight more charges, the great white shark soared into the air again and began to change color, slowly turning a deep blue. Yu Jialing was shocked to discover that her 95-type rifle’s bullets now dealt only a third of their previous damage—barely 200 points. Wu Hua’s AUG managed around 400, while other players’ MP5s did only about 10 damage, which was essentially negligible.

“It must be a skill,” Yu Jialing concluded. That deep blue aura was absorbing most of the bullets’ power.

Wu Hua nodded grimly. At that moment, the great white shark soared even higher, pausing conspicuously thirty meters above the sea before opening its enormous jaws to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Suddenly, a mist of icy blue sprayed from its mouth, drifting down like a blue cloud.

And then, something eerie happened. Where the blue mist touched the sea, a thin layer of ice began to form. After five or six charges, the surface was covered with a thick sheet of ice. The speedboats were completely frozen in place. Players with low water resistance died instantly upon contact with the mist. Those with higher resistance could survive at most two encounters.

“Now this is a real boss,” Wu Hua sighed.

By now, no one was thinking of killing the boss for loot. The hundred or so remaining players abandoned their boats and swam for the shore. It made little difference—shore was over forty kilometers away. If the shark didn’t kill them, exhaustion or drowning would.

Yu Jialing reluctantly put down her gun, her whole body relaxing as she let out a long sigh.

She hadn’t expected this mission to be so difficult. Only the great white shark would drop an S-rank crystal stone. Numbers alone were useless here. She suddenly understood why Blue Company had drawn up plans to build an aircraft carrier.

Only a ship of such tonnage could withstand this kind of boss; only then could players hope for protection.

“No, there must be a weakness,” Wu Hua said, staring straight ahead. “Let’s take the boat and go for it.”

Yu Jialing was horrified. “Are you out of your mind?”

Wu Hua replied coldly, “It’s only got about 20,000 HP left. We might as well gamble. Who knows, something good might drop.”

Yu Jialing was convinced Wu Hua had lost his mind. “Hey, this is no time for jokes. Let’s just go back, okay?”

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Wu Hua turned to her, eyes blazing. “Are you scared?” The steely glint in his gaze left Yu Jialing momentarily speechless.

“I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t drag you into this.” With that, he suddenly kicked her—gun and all—into the sea, then sped off in the speedboat.

Yu Jialing never expected Wu Hua to kick her off. Floundering in the water, she screamed, “How could you do this to me?” Before she could finish, Wu Hua had already rammed the boat onto the ice. The moment of impact, he leaped forward, rolling several times across the ice before sprawling out in a star shape, AUG pointing skyward. At that very moment, the great white shark launched itself into the air once more. Every second had been calculated precisely.

Yu Jialing thought Wu Hua had gone completely mad. At that instant, even her own breath seemed to stop.

As the great white shark opened its jaws in midair to unleash another wave of blue mist, Wu Hua’s AUG spat a storm of bullets upward. This was his only chance—he had less than ten seconds. When the great white shark landed, even if he wasn’t frozen, he’d be crushed to a pulp.

“-401!” Red damage.

“-417!” Red damage.

“-5288!” Green damage.

“-424!” Red damage.

“-5650!” Green damage.

“-421!” Red damage.

…

A string of shocking damage numbers burst from the great white shark’s head. Yu Jialing watched in disbelief as Wu Hua fired straight into the boss’s open mouth, knocking out rows of teeth that fell like rain.

The blue mist had already been released. The great white shark, weighing at least ten tons, began to succumb to gravity, plummeting toward the icy surface like a massive bomb.

It would be a lie to say Wu Hua wasn’t scared—he knew that in a few seconds he’d be smashed to bits. Every pore in his body tightened, his blood pounded, and even his hands shook with fear as he fired. In this moment, he felt as if the gun and his soul were one.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!” Overwhelmed by terror, Wu Hua unleashed a roar that echoed his desperation, the muzzle flashes illuminating his fear-stricken face.

In his sights, the great white shark’s gaping maw grew ever larger. Three seconds at most—then he’d be nothing but a smear of blood and ice.

But Wu Hua’s AUG held out until the end:

“-410!” Red damage.

“-413!” Red damage.

“-402!” Red damage.

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“-404!” Red damage.

…

Suddenly, a staggering number appeared: “-13,430!”

There was a deafening boom.

And then, over the sea, it began to rain.

What kind of rain?

A rain of loot!

At the very last moment, the great white shark died, erupting in a spectacular explosion. Crystals, potions, and equipment scattered through the sky, as brilliant and dazzling as fireworks, falling like a shower of blossoms across the ice and sea, transforming the surface into a multicolored ocean of treasure.

Wu Hua lay bathed in this “shower of flowers,” overcome with a sense of happiness—though the price was that his HP had fallen below 100, and he was so drained he collapsed to the ground.

The system voice chimed:

“Esteemed player Mad Bomber, congratulations on mastering a new skill. This skill allows you to accurately calculate a target’s HP. The condition is that you must have attack contact or be able to compute with teammates. Please name this self-created skill.”

“Let’s call it Precision Calculation,” Wu Hua replied weakly, lying on the ice soaked in cold sweat.

“Esteemed player Mad Bomber, congratulations on mastering the single-target auxiliary skill Precision Calculation. The current level is F grade. The next level is E grade. Use it 50 times to upgrade. The maximum level is S grade.”

Yu Jialing, treading water, was stunned by the spectacle of loot raining down. After a few seconds’ daze, she swam straight for Wu Hua. He was still sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath—the blue mist had cost him more than 3,800 HP, nearly freezing him to death. The only reason he’d survived was his combat suit’s 56% water resistance; anyone else would have died a dozen times over.

Yu Jialing’s sharp eyes immediately spotted a large, radiant crystal lying beside Wu Hua, several times bigger than an ordinary one. This, without question, was what she’d been searching for.

Picking it up, she was overwhelmed by a surge of shock and excitement. She pulled Wu Hua up and couldn’t restrain herself from planting a kiss on his cheek. “You were amazing.”

Wu Hua, his face flushed and head spinning, could only think, “Exhilarating!” After tasting the beauty’s affection, he let out a loud whoop, then collapsed again, continuing to play dead.

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