Chapter 121: A Very New Method to Conquer a Boss

Wu Chang, wearing a golden mask, and Xiang Jianxing walked out of the Special Wish Hall. As they moved through the corridors of the Miracle Committee Headquarters, every staff member they encountered paused their work to greet them.

In the eyes of the staff, the two were already true Miracle Committee members.

Entering the elevator they had arrived in and confirming their status as Miracle Committee members, a hidden floor materialized on the elevator's panel.

Underground Level Five.

After selecting the floor, the elevator did not proceed directly to Underground Level Five; instead, it made a brief stop at Underground Level Four, then, much like traveling from Wanghai City to Dream Square, it passed through a teleportation point before finally arriving at Underground Level Five.

The elevator doors opened to face a five-meter-tall gate. Dominated by white and gold, the gate was carved with intricate patterns, appearing exceptionally holy and solemn.

Merely gazing at this door caused one to subconsciously think of words like "magnificent" and "miracle."

The entire Underground Level Five contained only this single room.

From the resentment lingering on the old man, Wu Chang had already seen the scene behind the door; after all, the old man could not always hog everything alone and occasionally needed to bring back food to share with his colleagues.

And naturally, food tasted best when fresh.

As the two approached the gate, faint whispers began to emanate from behind it, as if welcoming them home.

No dungeon nearing loss of control was without players' resentment, and the "Wishes Come True" dungeon was no exception.

The gate was stained with the resentment of many players; anyone who could reach this stage possessed extraordinary skills.

Although they had not defeated the boss, and without being killed by dungeon rules, their head-on battles had revealed many of the boss's tactics.

Among them, a bright crimson strand of resentment belonged to the one who had survived longest behind the door, thereby gathering the most information.

The owner of that resentment was a Paladin—a class with high defense, strong offense, self-healing capabilities, and the ability to buff themselves; essentially a one-person team, making it one of the strongest classes for solo dungeons.

Extremely confident in his own strength, upon facing what was clearly a boss room, he applied a full set of buffs and entered without a moment's hesitation.

Yet while opening the door was easy, once it closed, the room became a self-contained space, making escape difficult.

As light flared, the Paladin saw the boss within the room.

It was no great miracle, but a mutated mass of flesh formed by the fusion and entanglement of over a dozen Miracle Committee members.

They called themselves the Tree of Miracles.

The Tree of Miracles was a mechanic-based monster; a creation formed by merging multiple Miracle Committee members, granting it over a dozen different attack methods.

Besides having a massive health pool, it naturally possessed a many-against-one advantage; when making a wish, the resonance of blessings from over a dozen minor miracles would release powerful offensive wishes.

Most nauseatingly, the Tree of Miracles could not only use its own wishes but also materialize players' wishes to serve as its weapons.

Once the battle entered its second phase, it would occasionally materialize the Paladin's wish: an A-rank Holy Angel set. Each time it materialized this equipment, the Tree of Miracles could utilize the set effects to recover a large amount of health.

The Paladin fought the Tree of Miracles for an entire day; only after completely smashing three Miracle Committee members was he gradually worn down to death by the Tree.

The Paladin's greatest regret, reflected in his resentment, was that before entering the dungeon, he had hesitated to take out a small loan to purchase an item that could continuously restore health and energy during combat; had he possessed that item, it would have been the Tree of Miracles that got worn down to death.

Thus, his blood-colored last words were related to this.

【I want to wear it down bit by bit until it dies, while the Tree of Miracles is unable to resist!】

It must be said that players who died in the Abyss Game possessed extremely strong desires for revenge.

Wu Chang had originally thought that many people's final concerns before death would be to send money to someone in the real world, or simply to say, "Take care of my seventh great-uncle!"

However, reality showed that most players, before dying, had only the boss before them in their minds, with no leisure to review their lives like a flipping lantern.

Taking the Paladin's resentment as the core and combining it with the resentment of several other players, it became clear that defeating the Tree of Miracles was not difficult if one found the right method.

First, your wish must be either strong enough or weak enough: either so strong that the Tree of Miracles cannot materialize it, or so weak that even if materialized, it cannot change the outcome of the battle; otherwise, you would end up torturing yourself just like the Paladin.

Second, although the Tree of Miracles had complex mechanics and diverse attack methods, its damage output was not high. As long as one possessed a certain degree of defense value, or a powerful tank, along with sufficient recovery items, one could wear the Tree of Miracles down to death.

For example, the wealthy's Medicine King build, the Summoner build, and even the Paladin's own build could all defeat the Tree of Miracles.

However, these methods all involved confronting the Tree of Miracles head-on, requiring extremely high combat power, which was not what Wu Chang needed.

His current identity was that of a newcomer to the Administration Bureau, having just completed the Silent Town dungeon, with a level of only around ten; on what basis could he face the boss of a B-rank out-of-control dungeon head-on?

He couldn't face it head-on at all!

However, through constant observation, he discovered a crucial point.

The Tree of Miracles was a fixed boss; like real trees, they grew in the place where the original Great Miracle should have existed.

At the same time, the Miracle Committee members, having transformed into a tree, possessed very poor perception; although the room door would lock immediately once a player stepped inside, combat did not begin instantly.

Each time, the player had to initiate an attack first before the Tree of Miracles would counterattack based on that attack.

One Rogue had used a stealth skill to disengage from combat, recovering stamina while the Tree of Miracles stood dazed after losing its target.

The combination of being unable to move and having low perception gave rise to a bold idea in Wu Chang's mind.

He had thought of a very new method to conquer the boss.

While Wu Chang was examining the resentment, Xiang Jianxing had already completed communication with Shi Ning.

Shi Ning's message was for the two to wait while he coordinated with them to determine their current location; then he would draw a Five Ghosts Moving Mountains Talisman to deliver sufficient supplies to them before they entered the boss room to fight.

Confirming spatial coordinates was very simple: one only needed to activate a Crane Seeking Talisman, manipulate it to rotate around oneself, and after one minute, Shi Ning could lock onto their coordinates.

After listening, Wu Chang pondered for a moment and said, "I actually have an idea; I don't know if it's feasible."

Xiang Jianxing showed not a trace of impatience. "Go ahead and tell us."

Although Wu Chang lacked combat power, his intuition was accurate; he had discovered many clues along the way, which meant that neither Xiang Jianxing nor Shi Ning would ignore his ideas.

Pointing at the gate before them, Wu Chang slowly said, "Based on my experience playing games in the real world, boss rooms like this usually seal shut upon entry, and only stop when either the players or the boss dies."

Xiang Jianxing nodded. "In fact, in the Abyss Game, that is generally the setting. Precisely because of this, Professor Shi and I are being extra cautious."

Wu Chang continued, "This inescapable terrain indicates that the interior is a sealed space, and the boss within usually cannot easily leave the room for some reason."

"I think perhaps we can crack the door open a sliver and probe the boss inside without actually entering the room."

Xiang Jianxing frowned; he felt Wu Chang's deduction was highly problematic, yet at first hearing, he could find no fault with it, and instead felt it made perfect sense.

Xiang Jianxing had been led astray by Wu Chang, but Shi Ning had not.

"If you can attack the boss across the doorway, the boss can likewise attack you across it. Although Xiang Jianxing can attack from a distance with flying swords, what if the boss, upon being attacked, automatically closes the room door, trapping the flying sword inside? Once the boss destroys the flying sword, your battle will become even more troublesome."

At this, Wu Chang said, "Perhaps I can give it a try." "You?" Xiang Jianxing and Shi Ning said in unison.

Xiang Jianxing asked in confusion, "I've seen your file; I don't recall you having any long-range attack methods. Moreover, even if you did, do you have the confidence to trade long-range skills with the boss?"

It must be remembered that they were in an out-of-control Rank B dungeon, whose true difficulty approached Rank A.

Let alone Wu Chang; even Xiang Jianxing, without using several of his high-power close-range sword arts, had no certainty of defeating the boss inside the room.

Wu Chang smiled honestly and said, "I never intended to trade blows with the boss. Based on my experience, my Social Phobia skill, combined with Professor Shi's Concealment Talisman, is sufficient to prevent most bosses from detecting my presence. As long as I avoid using targeted skills, the boss may not discover me."

"As for my damage-dealing skills..."

Saying this, Wu Chang revealed his Sea Serpent Transformation; Social Phobia plus Sea Serpent Transformation were the skills he had planned to expose from the start.

"Innate Skill: Snake Venom"

"Skill Description: While in the State of the Ocean Kin, your energy attributes increase by 50%. You can convert energy into soul toxin. Targets struck by snake venom lose bodily control, acquire the Poisoned status, and suffer continuous toxic damage."

"Soul Toxin: A special toxin targeting sentient life; the poison reaches directly into the soul. Energy beings and fleshless life forms cannot be immune."

!

"Innate Skill: Miasma"

"Skill Description: Instantly exhale a large volume of mist-like venom, filling the surrounding air or water to deal area-of-effect damage and apply soul toxin to targets."

"Innate Skill: Amphibious"

"Skill Description: The sea serpent possesses powerful adaptability, allowing it to survive on land. This strong adaptability grants the user partial transformation abilities, enabling them to employ certain sea serpent capabilities at any time, in any environment."

Maintaining his honest, simple smile, Wu Chang said, "Previously, in the Silent Town dungeon, I stumbled into becoming a town councilor and attended a secret gathering. During that gathering, after consuming a special Golden Flying Fish, I acquired this transformation ability."

Looking at Wu Chang's three transformation skills, Xiang Jianxing and Shi Ning fell silent.

Transformation was not a particularly rare ability; one only needed to walk through the public district of the Crimson Courtyard to see that out of ten players, at least three could transform, mostly into various beastmen or vampires.

Ordinary transformation skills typically boosted a single attribute by at most 20%, providing one passive and one active skill, with effects that were usually not very strong.

Yet Wu Chang's transformation skills, compared to those ordinary ones, were somewhat excessively powerful.

Especially the soul toxin and amphibious usage made this transformation both potent and versatile.

If one ignored the upper limit and considered only the scope of the Wasteland Realm, the strength of the Sea Serpent Transformation was no inferior to some weaker hidden classes.

Shi Ning examined the skill description for the Sea Serpent Transformation while simultaneously pondering the skill synergy Wu Chang had described; it indeed seemed feasible.

"You may try it."

While agreeing to Wu Chang's approach, Shi Ning instructed Xiang Jianxing, "While he attempts this, Xiang Jianxing, you stand by to support him; you must ensure his safety."

Having received approval from both, Wu Chang pushed the door before him open just a crack, activated Social Phobia and the Concealment Talisman, and cautiously crouched outside the doorway.

Inside the door, all was dim; the specific situation within was unclear. One could only vaguely discern, at the very far end of the room, something standing that shimmered with light and exuded an aura of greatness.

That thing was issuing a summons to the two of them, calling them to enter the room and return to its embrace.

The seductive power of the summons was extremely strong; relying on his Sword Heart skill, Xiang Jianxing resisted with all his might to avoid being bewitched. He hastily looked toward Wu Chang, only to find Wu Chang's expression calm, completely unaffected.

Wu Chang whispered, "It hasn't detected my presence."

Immediately afterward, Wu Chang activated his Sea Serpent Transformation and slowly injected odorless, colorless snake venom into the room.

To make himself appear more strained, before beginning, he even attempted to borrow a few bottles of energy-restoring potions from Xiang Jianxing.

Xiang Jianxing was extremely generous, directly handing him five bottles of Energy Activation Potion, and instructed, "Don't skimp; as long as it's for clearing the Erosion Dungeon, the Bureau will reimburse everything."

"Item Name: Energy Activation Potion"

"Item Type: consumable"

"Item Rank: D."

"Item Description: After use, slowly restores 80% of energy value over 100 seconds; this value will not exceed 40."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow; a Rank D consumable with no penalty for continuous use in a short period—no wonder it was high-grade merchandise; the Administration truly was wealthy and powerful.

He drank one bottle on the spot, accelerating the injection of the toxin.

Under his control, the toxin quickly spread to the base of the Tree of Miracles.

The effect of the soul toxin meant that the Tree of Miracles, formed by the fusion of numerous Miracle Committee members, would have to ingest the poison obediently, regardless of whether it was judged as human or tree, living or dead.

Under the fierce neurotoxin, the Tree of Miracles soon reacted.

One minute within the neurotoxic mist, the leaves on the Tree of Miracles turned yellow, and the faces of over a dozen Miracle Committee members began to look haggard.

They whispered among themselves, believing they had not rested well.

Three minutes within the neurotoxic mist, signs of decay began to appear on the Tree of Miracles, and several Miracle Committee members started to age.

Believing too much time had passed and feeling their own aging, they wished to restore their youth; although their faces improved somewhat, that sense of weakness did not disappear.

By the fifth minute of poisoning, the Tree of Miracles could barely control its body, beginning to convulse irregularly; some branches coalesced from flesh and blood hung limp and powerless around the trunk.

Several Miracle Committee members sensed they were under attack but did not know from where the assault came.

By the seventh minute of poisoning, fear of their gradual weakening made them irritable; they launched indiscriminate attacks against their surroundings, attempting to use area-of-effect skills to force any hidden rats in the room to reveal themselves.

However, the range of these skill attacks did not extend beyond the room they occupied; Wu Chang and Xiang Jianxing outside the door remained unaffected.

By the tenth minute of poisoning, the Tree of Miracles entered its second phase; in this stage, it could materialize players' wishes for its own use, but under the current circumstances, this held no significance.

By the fifteenth minute of poisoning, the light of the Tree of Miracles dissipated; the over dozen Miracle Committee members, filled with intense reluctance, transformed into huge rotting masses of flesh, crumbling and collapsing.

A notification popped up before Wu Chang's eyes.

"Killed Tree of Miracles; gained 3000 experience points."

"The difference between player level and Tree of Miracles level is too great; experience points gained are doubled."

(End of Chapter)