Chapter 192: Combo Skill: Fusion Form (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

"Main... maintenance... complete... error... retry."

After the lights on the maintenance robot's shell flickered chaotically, they suddenly went out, its body slumped to the ground, and a pale blue liquid dripped from its treads onto the floor.

The challenger notification also sounded in the minds of the squad players.

After a burst of cheers, Tu Bai and his teammates sat down heavily on the ground.

After a full day of effort, their Painful Painful Minghun levels reached level 5.

The process was tortuous, yet also full of fun.

In the process of clearing the game, pain is inevitable, but every successful hunt also brings a full sense of achievement.

As levels rose, the new chapter of the newbie village map unfolded; areas they could only view from afar before, they had now begun to explore.

"Dizzy, spiritual energy was over-consumed, rest a bit more." A teammate shook his head and swayed at this moment, occasionally slapping his forehead with his hand, his expression appearing somewhat pained.

"Me too, muscles all over are sore and swollen, let's rest a bit more, first strive to open the second star pulse, then consider potion expenses after getting a new Painful Painful Minghun." The captain followed with a suggestion, his chest heaving constantly as he spoke, breathing in great gasps.

"Mm, at that time the captain's damage-taking potion costs will be shared by the squad." Tu Bai nodded to show understanding, then his gaze turned to the fallen maintenance robot.

【Maintenance Robot (Dead)】:

Hunt Level: 8

Target Introduction: A maintenance and repair robot crafted by the Machine Guard clan, responsible for patrolling industrial zones or weapon factories built by the Machine Guard clan, inspecting all equipment along the way; if equipment problems are found, repairs are performed after reporting. It is equipped with a high-energy welding gun, plasma cutter, and other maintenance equipment inside its body. Its shell is made of alloy, capable of resisting various forms of attack; if initially damaged, it can perform self-repair.

The maintenance robot's hunt level reached 8, moving via small treads, equipped with multiple mechanical arms on its body, with welders, screwdrivers, and other tools mounted on the arms; it possessed both powerful defense and decent offensive means.

Two hours ago, they first clashed with the maintenance robot, and the captain's first life was lost just like that.

However, dying occasionally has its benefits.

Through ordinary rest, it is difficult to restore the body to a perfect state.

Resurrection after death is a resurrection at peak state; comparing the two states, the gap is huge.

The captain supported himself on his knees to rise at this moment, sacrificed the maintenance robot's remains, then sent the sacrifice screenshot to the squad chat channel, and the Shou Shou Jili gains obtained were evenly distributed to every member in the squad.

During the rest, Tu Bai's gaze scanned other player squads on the wilderness.

During this time, a brilliant streak of light would occasionally slash across the sky, trailing neon colors until it disappeared at the end of the line of sight.

"Truly envious of this group of veteran players; by comparison, we are like refugees."

Tu Bai turned to look at his Hearing Hei Yu teammate, whose face was full of envy, and shook his head with a smile:

"Don't look at how weak we are now; there is still a chance to catch up to this group of veteran players. Besides, how many game qualifications have been issued? When the next batch of newbies joins, we will also be veteran players."

"When I have money, I must buy a flying sword vehicle." The teammate continued, his expression full of envy.

"I also want a growth-type pet, provided I have Shou Shou Jili. I just offered a 300 ratio to buy 500 points of Shou Shou Jili, but a Tian Yu clan veteran player private messaged me, calling me an idiot, saying I was so poor I was running a scam. The Shou Shou Jili price is too outrageous; looks like I can only earn it myself."

Hearing Tu Bai's gloomy complaint, everyone laughed heartily.

Just then, another streak of light slashed over their heads again, which made Tu Bai curious:

"What are this group of veteran players doing, flying over our heads from time to time?"

"Of course, they are exploring other spaces in the earth caves. They don't look favorably on the mechanical ruins beneath our feet; robots are poor monsters with no gains in their eyes. Only us bunch of newbies are fighting hotly for them. Their targets are blank domain nodes; it is said the containment rewards are generous, and they can also expand the area of the newbie village space."

In idle chat, the squad turned the topic from veteran players to their tentative future faction choices.

The captain took hits all day, beaten black and blue several times, with multiple fractures on his body, yet firmly chose to follow the stone statue damage-taking route, wanting to try building his own guild in the future.

Tu Bai's idea was tentatively to continue playing the melee spirit-weapon flow, with the preliminary star pulse combination arrangement set as: Force Axe, Returning Wind Whip, and Prime Qi.

As for the future, there are many playable styles to choose from.

One could consider combining the Forbidden Blade and Black Armor Snake effect flows, or one could consider pursuing the extreme speed and shattering Painful Painful Minghun of the pure Baoliliu Sect.

The choices of the other three teammates were also tentatively set to continue along their original routes.

Two magic-type damage dealers: one following the magic tower flow, the other following the mental shock flow.

Players with the initial scattered arrow Painful Painful Minghun will follow the extreme speed effect flow in the future.

The squad's preliminary combination was set; as for healer, support, and other flows, they would not be considered for now.

Especially the healer; ordinary players simply cannot afford this flow.

Only powerful teams have the funds to cultivate it.

Just one Wish Painful Painful Minghun requires 100,000 Shou Shou Jili to purchase.

Just thinking about this expense feels outrageous.

This is only the initial investment; future investments in small world layouts are also not low, unless a path for ordinary players to quickly obtain wish power is researched.

Switching flows in the game is easy, but it is limited to switching between ordinary flows.

Flows built around high-tier Painful Painful Minghun cores, such as Wish and Lord, are such that the Shou Shou Jili ordinary players earn, thrown in, won't even splash a ripple.

But Tu Bai was full of confidence for the future.

The biggest feature of the Monster World game is the unknown; opportunities exist everywhere.

Perhaps one can find a chance to defy the heavens and change one's fate.

The kindergarten principal of the toddler group is a typical representative; he entered the game only in the previous qualification release, yet relied on the Divine Seat Painful Painful Minghun to ascend to the ranks of top players.

The forum still retains records of the principal's layout of the faith plan.

Secondly, there are members of the veteran grind-hardcore team; before entering Monster World, they were all game gold-farmers. The several games they played before were mere foils, completely unable to compete with top whale players, mainly serving the whale players.

But in this game, by entering the Retrograde Army through the God of Wealth line, obtaining the War Divine Seal blessing, they successfully ascended to the ranks of top players.

There are quite a few similar cases on the forum.

Although they lost the first-mover opportunity, viewing their current selves from a future perspective, they also belong to the early veteran players.

There are too many opportunities waiting for them to discover.

The stunning vehicles used by veteran players, and their formidable power performance, were like a mirror, allowing him to see his future self, and filling him with expectation.

During the rest and idle chat, the captain continued to post recruitment requests in the regional chat channel.

Not long after, a notification appeared requesting players to join the party.

【Challenger Notification: Player "Shou Shou Jili" requests to join the squad. Agree: Yes/No.】

The captain chose to agree, and a new member's name appeared in the party chat channel.

"Hello everyone, my initial Painful Painful Minghun is Rock Shield, and I follow the melee tanking build."

Discovering he was a rare tanking build player, Tu Bai and others immediately expressed their welcome.

This is a rare build in the game; a standard squad starts with three, but most teams are lucky to have just one.

The game has no time limit for challenging monsters; as long as you can stand your ground, even with low damage output, you can hunt high-level monsters.

But if you cannot stand your ground, high damage output is useless.

For example, the Disaster Backlash build of the Di Nian Bullies, compared to the Death Calamity build under extreme damage output modes, shows a massive gap in strength in the eyes of players.

Having such a sought-after tanking build player join the squad is a huge benefit for the team's development.

"Do you need us to come pick you up?"

"No need, there are players all along the way, fighting over monsters; there is no possibility of me being intercepted and killed by monsters."

"We will wait for you here."

As Tu Bai spoke, he summoned the map and checked the newbie's location.

After focusing his gaze, the display showed the distance: 4.87km.

After waiting for a long time, the group, having recovered their stamina, saw a figure sprinting towards them, holding a yellowish-brown shield.

As the view zoomed in, this player had a delicate face, with features perfectly proportioned; a pair of slender ears naturally blended into his hair, their slightly upturned curves carrying a touch of liveliness; his skin was Bai Xi, radiating a healthy glow.

His gaze was clear, and between his eyebrows lay an innate elegance, making him look like an elf from a fairy tale.

"Holy crap, creatures from Kui Shi Shang Jie have come to the B-version Monster World too!"

"The Dragon People have appeared!"

"Kill that Eclipse... sorry, I'm used to other games; seeing an Eclipse race member makes me want to attack."

Seeing that the newbie was actually a member of the Eclipse race, the entire squad was stunned.

Usually in the game, Eclipse race members are top-tier players, and they do not even inhabit the same city as players of other races.

They can only be met on the game's battlefield, and meeting means killing.

Generally, they are the ones being suppressed by the Eclipse race.

Whether in game understanding or other aspects, the Eclipse race, who created the virtual game, are far superior to ordinary players.

Some players even speculate that every Eclipse race member is a carefully designed warrior during their growth process.

Even the virtual game is training prepared by the Eclipse race for war.

"Hello everyone, I am Shou Shou Jili; you can also call me A Lan."

Stopping in front of Tu Bai and the others, after scanning the group with his gaze, the Eclipse race player raised a natural smile at the corner of his mouth, with no hint of constraint; his voice was clear, carrying a touch of casualness and sincerity.

"Truly a creature from Kui Shi Shang Jie, and he actually wants to form a party with us."

"Actually, I am also a newbie player; although the A-version Monster World exists within the Eclipse race, I did not obtain the qualification, so this is my first time entering the Monster World," A Lan explained with a smile.

"By the way, why did you choose the name: Shou Shou Jili?" Tu Bai couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"This is a task assigned to me by my superior, asking me to make preparations in advance within the Monster World; later, a large number of Eclipse race players will arrive in the Monster World... Actually, I do not like this name, but I follow my superior's orders."

A Lan honestly spoke out Ji De Xiang Fa, and this sincerity quickly broke down the strangeness between him and the squad members.

"It seems what your Number One Consul said is true; for the game Monster World, you creatures from Kui Shi Shang Jie cannot adjust the data either."

"Yes, this is the decision of the Star Net; the Consul has no right to interfere." A Lan nodded with a smile, then continued:

"If you want to sell Shou Shou Jili to me, I can buy it at a price higher than the market rate."

"Truly a creature from Kui Shi Shang Jie; spending money feels as easy as breathing."

Hearing these words, A Lan felt slightly awkward:

"Don't tease me; the core setting of the game Monster World dictates that we are friends on the same side."

"True, let's go hunt."

After some idle chat, A Lan integrated into the squad and advanced together towards the direction of the Mechanical Ruins.

All along the way, there were new player figures everywhere; fighting monsters required snatching them.

In deeper locations, the strength of the mechanical monsters was too high.

After searching for a while, they finally encountered a maintenance robot still operating in the ruins; during this battle, Tu Bai and others discovered that this "creature from Kui Shi Shang Jie" had perfect positioning, figuring out the maintenance robot's attack rhythm in a very short time.

When the battle ended, everyone collapsed on the ground panting, feeling exhausted.

A Lan, also covered in sweat, swallowed hard and looked at the group:

"Friends, I have an idea."

"What idea?" Tu Bai lay sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving violently, looking up at the sky and asking.

"The number of players in the Mechanical Ruins scene is still growing rapidly; snatching monsters is the biggest problem, so we might as well explore deeper."

"No way, the monsters in the area ahead are all level 8-13; with our squad's strength, we would easily die instantly, and a one-hour cooldown is too much of a waste of time." Tu Bai immediately shook his head.

"I have a method to significantly strengthen our combat power in the early stages, but it requires an initial investment."

"Creature from Kui Shi Shang Jie, just say what you have in mind directly." The teammate lying beside Tu Bai bent up and looked at A Lan.

The rest of the squad's players also turned to look at A Lan, waiting for him to state his idea.

A Lan nodded:

"The reason we find it difficult to challenge high-intensity monsters is that our Painful Painful Minghun levels are low; everyone still prefers to fight in their original form, which significantly lowers our combat power, so why not choose to fight in Painful Painful Minghun form? We can even integrate combat power to raise the overall strength by a tier."

"I understand fighting in Painful Painful Minghun form, but what does combat power integration mean?" The captain raised an eyebrow, curious.

"The game Monster World offers completely free gameplay; the reasons for our current weakness are many. Besides Painful Painful Minghun levels, there is also imperfection in Star Pulse combinations, but imperfections in Star Pulse combinations can be resolved through matching."

"I have thought of a good single-target enhancement plan, mainly revolving around the Spirit Artifact build..."

After hearing Ah Lan's account, the squad members understood his plan.

Integrating individual combat power means all players fight in Painful Painful Minghun form and coordinate their abilities.

The captain fights in Gargoyle form, holding a Might-Heavy Axe in his right hand and Ah Lan's Painful Painful Minghun form's rock shield in his left.

The remaining three players: one embeds the Binding Painful Painful Minghun, adhering to the captain's chest in Axolotl form.

The other two teammates: one embeds the Light Shield Painful Painful Minghun, while the other embeds the Eagle-Head Demon's perception.

This combination can use the Eagle-Head Demon's perception to locate targets and provide real-time environmental warnings, while the rock shield absorbs damage and the Might-Heavy Axe delivers output.

When facing powerful attacks, the captain can even activate Stone Form to use his own body to absorb damage.

Plus the control and extra defense provided by the Light Shield and Binding, they fully possess the strength to hunt stronger targets across levels.

This idea is extremely bold.

It can be called a combination technique.

It possesses three major traits: defense (Gargoyle, rock shield, light shield), output (Might-Heavy Axe), and control (Binding).

It is equivalent to a novice player opening five Star Pulse slots, with a Body Tempering level that does not increase attributes at level 5, all fighting in Painful Painful Minghun form.

This idea made Tu Bai unable to hold back his applause:

"I agree. Everyone pool money to deconstruct the Painful Painful Minghun and re-embed them. Let's first raise the Painful Painful Minghun levels through hunting, and consider switching to other Qitaliu Sects in the future."

The other members of the squad also nodded in agreement one after another.

With the plan in mind, the group hesitated not, immediately pooling money to change the Painful Painful Minghun for the remaining three teammates.

At this moment, the captain switched his Painful Painful Minghun form.

His body rapidly grew taller, reaching over two meters.

His appearance changed significantly; rough skin covered with thick black stony hide, his frame became burly and solid, with muscle lines faintly visible beneath the stone skin, full of power.

A pair of scarlet eyes were embedded in his ferocious face, like two burning flames, appearing especially striking, with sharp fangs protruding from the corners of his mouth.

His originally slender limbs also became thick and powerful after switching to Painful Painful Minghun form, with sharp claws extending from his fingertips, each one like polished obsidian, shimmering with a cold gleam.

"The war axe is coming." After Tu Bai spoke, his body twisted and transformed into a golden war axe, flying toward the captain.

The captain raised his right hand and gripped the Might-Heavy Axe that Tu Bai had transformed into.

Ah Lan also twisted his body shape at this moment, transforming into a thick, earth-yellow shield, combining with the captain's left hand.

At this time, the captain's appearance changed.

His right hand held the Might-Heavy Axe burning with flames, while his left hand's surface flowed with the earth-yellow mist of the rock shield.

One member of the squad at this moment transformed into a palm-sized Axolotl, adhering to the captain's chest in Binding Painful Painful Minghun form.

The remaining two teammates: one transformed into an Eagle-Head Demon, standing on top of the captain's head.

The other transformed into a floating, cloud-like fluffy substance, drifting alongside the captain, ready at any moment to release the Light Shield for defensive support.

The combined form was officially complete.

"Captain, how does it feel?" Tu Bai asked through the voice channel.

"I feel incredibly strong, awooo~" The captain let out a grotesque roar toward the sky, then had his guide avatar pull back the view distance to take a photo.

In the photo, the captain tightly gripped the earth-yellow shield in his left hand, while his right hand held high a war axe burning with golden flames; the flames leaped on the axe body like sun fragments embedded within, the scorching firelight reflecting on his black stony skin, outlining his body silhouette even more ferociously and terrifyingly.

"So cool!"

The golden flame war axe suddenly swung forward, leaving a golden trail in the air.

The only problem with this combination is whether the Eagle-Head Demon standing on the head can hold its ground during combat.

"Little Chicken, can you hold on?"

"I don't know. Captain, try running, then perform some high-intensity movements."

Hearing this, the captain nodded, began jumping, sprinting back and forth quickly, and attempted swinging the axe while moving.

After testing, ordinary combat would not cause a fall.

For higher-intensity combat, consider having the Eagle-Head Demon teammate get down early, hiding behind to provide combat detail hints through perception.

The preliminary test ended, and the squad members immediately gained confidence.

The captain also shouted at this moment:

"Little Chicken, activate perception to scan the vicinity. I want to fight ten."

"Scanning the surrounding environment, host please wait." The fiery red little chicken standing on the captain's bare head nodded solemnly; as soon as the words fell, the perception view rapidly extended in all directions.

Before delving deeper toward the ruins to challenge stronger mechanical monsters.

They decided to first find a nearby monster to practice on, to see exactly how the combat power was under the combined form.

(End of this chapter)