Chapter 238: Calamity Sets Sail, Time to Flex (Requesting Monthly Passes)

【Challenger Alert (All Channels): Domain Node "Divine Transmutation" detected. Node Conquest Mission activated. Rewards for this mission will be distributed based on contribution ranking.】

At the exact moment the all-channel alert sounded, the Gold Coin Guild posted an intelligence-sharing thread on the forum.

【Rule Domain Intelligence Post (Sponsored by Gold Coin Guild)】:

Poster: Drinking Milk at Midnight.

Content:

Recently, our Gold Coin Guild established an intelligence platform dedicated to collecting information on Meng Yuan Chu monsters, domain nodes, and rule nodes across various sea regions, trading this intelligence with other races using items purchased from the Shangcheng.

This aims to help our player legions grow rapidly, gain access to more selectable Painful Painful Minghun, and secure better spatial node environments.

Henceforth, I will update and share any relevant intelligence via forum posts; brothers can follow me to get first-hand information on Meng Yuan Chu and nodes.

Next is the intelligence we purchased and verified.

Intelligence Type: Rule Node (Divine Transmutation).

Specific Coordinates: Northwest direction of the Cang Star Sea, specific coordinates (Map Marker. jpg).

Hint: The map of the Cang Star Sea requires zooming into this area to see the prompt marker, as the specific location is inside a semi-independent space and cannot be seen by opening the map directly.

Rule Node Situation: A large number of monsters guard the area near the node; they survive by sucking the energy produced by the rule node. To seize it, one must engage in fierce combat with these monsters. Here is the detailed analysis of the guarding monsters (Ghost Scorpion. jpg).

The Ghost Scorpion is a marine creature generally at level 70+, possessing high combat power.

Below is the analysis screenshot of the Rule Divine Transmutation (Rule Divine Transmutation. jpg).

The above is the intelligence content shared by the Gold Coin Guild; welcome to follow us, and we will continue to update the intelligence in real time.

Comment Section:

The Sun Rises as Usual: I just clicked in and didn't take it seriously, but after reading the post, I blurted out "Holy crap." They are sharing a rule node, and the key point is that the characteristic effect of this rule node is too strong! Freely converting Qi and Spirit. Is it possible that as a mage, I can switch my mana bar to a health bar when enemies approach, becoming so tanky they can't hit me? This is too awesome; the magic class is getting a massive version buff.

She Doesn't Play Diablo:!!! ∑(Дノ)ノ What is the Gold Coin Guild? Why spend money to share Meng Yuan Chu intelligence for free? Still, thank you for your efforts. This Rule Divine Transmutation is too attractive; I just don't know the specific effect. I look forward to top guilds rushing to seize it.

Working Warrior: I didn't understand what the analysis information means. Does completing the containment mean melee players can embed magic-type Painful Painful Minghun in the future, or magic players can embed melee physical-type Painful Painful Minghun? Or is it just a conversion of energy values? I'm completely confused, but both modes feel awesome. As the person above said, magic players turning their mana bar into a health bar when approached by melee instantly transforms them into an unkillable tank. A massive buff for magic players; with high-intensity damage and an ultra-thick health bar, who would still play melee?

Backstroke Dog: Already set sail. I'll hear the containment alert for this rule node in the next second. Brothers, all of you get out to sea; the bigger the waves, the more valuable the fish.

Intoxicated Icarus: Hiss~ After reading the introduction to Divine Transmutation, this cheat looks awesome. What are the top guilds doing? Hurry and organize manpower to go out to sea and fish. What Ghost Scorpions? I declare this species extinct in the Cang Star Sea. What trash dares to block our players' growth? Is this rule node something mere fodder can occupy?

Extra Spicy Sea Surface: I declare that Spirit Chef players have added a special dish "Ghost Scorpion Meat" to their menu recently. I've already started gathering brothers to go out to sea. As a loyal magic player, I'm drooling over this Divine Transmutation rule characteristic. An epic version buff has arrived.

The post published by the Gold Coin Guild on the forum sparked heated discussion.

Just hearing the domain node alert, many players didn't take it seriously.

After all, node alerts appear frequently.

But the Gold Coin Guild's post detailed the analysis information of this territory and the specifics of the surrounding guarding monsters.

The introduction to Divine Transmutation made players even more excited.

Whether melee players or magic players, they have all been troubled by one problem.

That is, many Painful Painful Minghun have powerful characteristic effects very suitable for their use, but the growth attributes brought by leveling up the Painful Painful Minghun do not match their attribute needs.

Every Painful Painful Minghun has two main growth attributes: Physical Constitution and Mental Strength.

For every point added to the Physical Constitution attribute, it brings numerical increases to the player's Strength, Stamina, Endurance, Explosive Power, Qi Strength, and so on.

Therefore, Painful Painful Minghun that mainly add Physical Constitution are only suitable for melee-type players.

And for every point added to the Mental Strength attribute, it brings numerical increases to the player's Spirit Pool Capacity, Spell Strength, Spirit Recovery Speed, and so on.

Therefore, Painful Painful Minghun that mainly add Mental Strength are more suitable for magic players.

Different Painful Painful Minghun have different growth biases.

For example, the Eagle-Headed Demon, one of the ancient Three Phantom Gods, has an attribute growth ratio of Mental Strength (95%) and Physical Constitution (5%).

Assuming the Eagle-Headed Demon gains 100 attribute points upon leveling up, 95 points are added to Mental Strength and 5 points to Physical Constitution.

The attribute growth bias of Painful Painful Minghun creates different Wanfaliu Sects in the game.

Besides Painful Painful Minghun like the Eagle-Headed Demon with severe specialization, there are also Painful Painful Minghun with more balanced growth, such as the Breath-Eating Painful Painful Minghun.

Growth attribute ratio: Mental Strength (52%), Physical Constitution (48%).

Such Painful Painful Minghun are also called Universal Painful Painful Minghun.

But the attribute growth bias of the vast majority of Painful Painful Minghun is very severe, making it hard to cater to both magic and melee players, yet their characteristic effects are universal.

For example, the Extreme Speed Painful Painful Minghun.

This is a Painful Painful Minghun with Physical Constitution as its main growth attribute, but its characteristic effect is very suitable for magic players to deal burst damage.

Many magic players, for the burst damage brought by Extreme Speed, are willing to embed it even if it reduces their required attributes.

Or the Scattered Arrow Painful Painful Minghun, which is similarly a Painful Painful Minghun that magic players desperately crave.

But the main attribute growth bias is 97% Physical Constitution, causing many magic players to sigh and ask why magic divine skills have Physical Constitution as their main attribute.

It is not only magic players who have this trouble; melee players are the same.

The combat intensity for offensive melee is extremely high, with life and death decided in an instant. If blessed with the perception ability of the Eagle-Headed Demon, one can gain a significant advantage in battle and avoid being ambushed by sudden attacks.

Or the Flowing Shadow Clone, an ultra-powerful clone Painful Painful Minghun very suitable for melee players, yet it also has Mental Strength as its main growth attribute.

Others like Blood Ignition and Spirit Eye can also fit the melee system.

But the main attribute bias has already defined the Painful Painful Minghun; the buffs brought by leveling up the Painful Painful Minghun are very small, and after embedding, only the characteristic effects are usable.

This is a topic discussed heatedly on the forum many times, with the view that the growth bias of Painful Painful Minghun reduces much of the fun in combination and matching.

But the appearance of this Divine Transmutation rule has given forum players hope for a major version update in Star Pulse combinations.

If the Rule Territory Divine Transmutation can truly grant players the function to change the main growth attribute of Painful Painful Minghun.

The Star Pulse combinations for magic and melee players will no longer be limited by the main attributes of Painful Painful Minghun, officially entering a version of completely free matching.

Although the characteristics of melee Painful Painful Minghun and magic Painful Painful Minghun will inevitably remain.

After all, the strength of some Painful Painful Minghun's characteristics depends not only on the Painful Painful Minghun level but also on Mental Strength and Qi Strength to calculate the specific effect.

But as long as the main attribute of growth doesn't deviate, the trait effect can still be boosted by raising level, bringing an alternative increase in combat power.

For forum players, the breakdown of the Rule Divine Shift was genuinely stunning.

Even if the effect doesn't freely change the main attribute of Painful Painful Minghun, being able to freely switch between spiritual power and qi-blood intensity is still a super cheat that can change how the game is played.

To claim the Divine Shift territory as quickly as possible, forum players spontaneously organized and headed for the Colored Mist Coast space.

Ready to set out and welcome the new "version enhancement module."

Not long after the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce's post went up, large numbers of players gathered in the Colored Mist Coast area.

The top guild teams from the Imperial Tomb Mountains, the Bliss Resistance Army of the Frost Snow Plains, the Blind Box Army of Di Ku Shi Jie... even the newbie army from the newest scene, the Forest Realm, arrived one after another.

The loudest voices along the coast belonged to these newbie players.

Newbie players who had only just entered Monster World not long ago generally hadn't bought vehicles yet, and were all calling out to veteran players to give them a ride when they headed out to sea.

This was also the first time many newbie players from the Forest Realm area had come to the Colored Mist Coast, and they were endlessly curious about everything here.

Even though they'd seen it in videos during the cloud-player era, arriving in person was a completely different feeling.

Compared to the deep, mysterious atmosphere of the Forest Realm area, the Colored Mist Coast scene presented newbie players with a brighter environmental palette.

Especially upon reaching the shore, the warm sea breeze brushing their faces and their line of sight suddenly opening wide gave them an entirely new sensory experience.

As more and more players gathered, the shore grew ever more lively.

Veteran players summoned their respective vehicles one after another, and for a moment a spectacular sight unfolded along the coastline.

All manner of wildly creative, abstract vehicles made frequent appearances, and many of their designs were a sight to behold.

A sci-fi-style multi-person spaceship slowly lifting off, a mechanical-octopus-shaped multi-person diving vehicle departing from the shallows and sinking into the sea, a crystal-clear crystal war chariot gliding across the surface as if on flat ground, leaving a dazzling trail behind it... including the most popular sword-flying.

In an instant, the sight of ten thousand swords shooting out in unison drew continuous gasps of amazement from the newbies on the shore.

Gazing up at the various vehicles, the newbie players' eyes were full of envy, and their exclamations filled the voice channels:

"Wow, these vehicles are way too cool, I wonder when I'll ever be able to own something this awesome."

"Veteran players, take me along! I'll sing for you on the newbie road, would that work?"

"What's so great about veteran players? If you've got the guts, take me along for free, let me go check out the rule node — best of all, take me into the Hall of Glory."

"Holy crap, this somersault-cloud-style vehicle template is way too cool, please share the template, I want to copy the homework, I'll buy it once I've earned enough money."

Gasps rose and fell one after another, satisfying the veterans' sense of superiority.

Some warm-hearted veteran players would also grant the newbies' requests — if a multi-person vehicle had a free seat, they'd bring a newbie along to the territory node.

Monster-stream players also made their appearances one after another during this period.

These players generally had no vehicles and crossed the sea with their own bodies.

Dozens-of-meters-long Black Armor Serpent forms, Roaring Bear forms standing over ten meters tall, the strongest sea-area monster form "Control Fish," and so on.

The scene resembled a monster army from a sci-fi film — incomparably spectacular.

Faced with the newbies' proposals for a ride, monster-stream players generally paid no heed.

After all, in the monster-stream player circle, the most despised are monster-stream players who serve as mounts.

In their worldview, monsters are not tools, not vehicles, and certainly not someone else's mount.

Monsters are the symbol of power.

Having chosen this growth path, one should rampage freely through endless waves, crush mountains across the vast land, tear through the clouds in the boundless sky, smash through every obstacle ahead with a fearless body, and display the absolute majesty of the King of Ten Thousand Beasts.

Players who become someone else's mount can only be called pets — they don't deserve to be called monster-stream players.

So even though the back of a single Black Armor Serpent could hold dozens of players, no monster-stream player was willing to bow their head and compromise.

Of course, the premise of upholding dignity is that there isn't enough profit on offer.

If a newbie is willing to spend tens of thousands of Shou Shou Jili for a ride, the vast majority of monster-stream players are still willing to risk themselves and carry them for a stretch.

After all, monster-stream players need to grow too — nobody picks a fight with Shou Shou Jili.

For example, some of the God King's tactics at Imperial Tomb Village pair with monster-stream players, having them serve as mounts to charge, and the share of profits distributed is no less than that of tank-stream players.

Paying is essentially a form of respect — with respect in place, everything can be discussed.

One hour after the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce posted, the number of players at the Colored Mist Coast rose rather than fell, and many players who had taken shortcuts back to the village also set sail at this time.

The sight of a mass departure to sea was a magnificent spectacle, like breaking through the dimensional wall.

Sci-fi style, fantasy style, xianxia style, wuxia style, two-dimensional style... players of any type could be seen at the Colored Mist Coast.

Teams of players with all manner of different vehicles set out to sea one after another.

The players' shouts, the ships' wave-crashing sounds, and the monster-stream players' roars intertwined, striking up a rousing battle hymn of departure.

Looking down from high above, the entire sea area was occupied by dense clusters of player vehicles.

Among them were many lone-wolf players who normally didn't act with player teams — they too arrived one after another.

Faced with the lure of the Divine Shift rules, no player could help but feel their heart stir.

Half a day later.

The first batch of faster players reached the coordinate point marked on the map and saw the spectacular undersea vortex.

This batch of players didn't hesitate in the slightest, passing through the vortex to descend into the Ghost Scorpion space.

But they didn't act rashly, and began waiting in place for support forces to arrive.

As more and more players entered the Ghost Scorpion space, players launched fearless charges at the undersea ancient structure in free-for-all war mode.

An intense melee immediately unfolded.

Massive numbers of Ghost Scorpion Bugs surged madly out of the mud and sand, their densely packed figures almost filling the entire body of water, rapidly forming an impregnable defensive line.

Their carapaces shimmered with a ghostly blue sheen in the light, their massive pincers spread open with a grinding sound, and the glowing tentacles on their bodies swayed along as they launched attacks against the incoming players.

Every single Ghost Scorpion Bug had a hunting level of 70+, and the key point was their extremely high defense.

Players already not adept at underwater combat were routed in their very first clash with the Ghost Scorpion Bugs.

Fortunately, the players' reserve forces were continuously pouring into the Ghost Scorpion space, constantly filling the advancing front line with fresh troops.

Players specializing in the front-line tank role actively raised their shields high, attempting to block the pincer attacks of the Ghost Scorpions.

The moment the shield collided with the pincer, a dull thud rang out, and the water currents were shaken apart in all directions.

The DPS players in the rear ranks also launched their offensive; arrows and energy projectiles traced paths through the water, striking the Ghost Scorpions' carapaces and splashing up waves of energy.

However, the number of Ghost Scorpions was truly too great.

Their attacks surged forward like a tide, wave after wave.

Several Ghost Scorpions in the front relied on brute strength to easily tear through the front-line defense formed by the tank players.

Rushing into the rear of the player formation, their massive pincers became reaping weapons, instantly shredding entire groups of players.

At this stage, those capable of fighting against hunting levels of 70+ were the absolute elite of the player faction.

But that was limited to one-on-one combat.

Facing such a dense swarm of level 70+ monsters, ordinary players would die instantly upon contact.

Besides their formidable physical strength, the Ghost Scorpions could also manipulate seawater, generating rapid whirlpools on the seabed that dragged entire groups of players in to be shredded.

"Protect the rear! Brothers with Star Shift, push the Ghost Scorpions out; the rear line has been breached!"

A player shouted loudly in the regional voice channel, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the chaos of battle.

In Free War mode, the battlefield was quickly segmented into distinct zones, initiating small-group combat.

The murky water currents were stirred into even greater chaos by the fighting.

Player skills and Ghost Scorpion attacks intertwined within the water.

Ink Flame exploded in the seawater, evaporating vast clouds of bubbles; Frost Arrows struck the Ghost Scorpions' carapaces, freezing patches of ice crystals; Void Grasp slammed down heavily in the water, sending ripples of water turbulence surging upward.

The low hisses of the Ghost Scorpions, the shouts of the players, the roaring of skill explosions... combined with the seabed mud spreading through the water, the scene was nothing short of a pandemonium of demons.

Amidst the chaos, several players activated extreme speed in an attempt to break out.

Their intentions were clear at a glance.

As players, there were two ways to contain a Domain Node.

The first method: players could only encounter it within the Evil Moon Domain, where the Node Crystal was entangled by a Corrosion Core, requiring the Corrosion Core to be shattered before the Domain Node could be contained.

The second method was simple and brutal: players only needed to touch the Node Crystal to complete the containment.

The players attempting to break out were precisely those who wanted to contain the Domain Node through this shortcut method.

To pluck the fruits of victory through direct contact.

But the blue net woven by the Ghost Scorpions filled the entire sea area; those attempting to break out were quickly surrounded by the swarm of Ghost Scorpions.

To continue breaking out, they would have to kill the blocking Ghost Scorpions, but under the attribute suppression, ordinary offensive means struggled to kill them, forcing the break-out players to turn into black mist and return to the village on the spot.

The fierce battle gradually reached a fever pitch.

Over 700,000 players responded to the call, with more and more players flooding into the Ghost Scorpion space.

Among them were many battle groups formed by top guilds.

Included were numerous top-tier players whose Painful Painful Minghun levels had already reached 60+.

After they joined the fight, the situation improved somewhat, and the efficiency of killing Ghost Scorpions increased significantly.

Yet even so, the special environment of underwater combat made them feel constrained everywhere, utterly uncomfortable.

In previous land battles, even when fighting Hei Chao Xie Sui, they could rely on skilled footwork to dodge and evade.

But underwater, once the method of exerting force changed, it felt as if they were dragging a thousand-pound burden; their bodies were constantly pulled by the water currents, their steps became unsteady, and they could find no point of leverage at all.

The trajectory of weapons moving through the water was like slow motion.

Only the Painful Painful Minghun characteristics remained unaffected; even the Ink Flame fireballs could still be released to burn underwater, with their power completely undiminished.

The differences brought by the change in combat environment made even top-tier players feel their combat power had been severely weakened.

Especially for melee fighters.

Under normal circumstances, one could exert force from the feet, jump up, and land quickly to adjust.

But jumping underwater, if the feet wanted to touch the ground again, one had to float slowly for a long time, waiting for the body to sink.

Just then, players who had gradually mastered the techniques in the battle began to explain in the regional voice channel how to fight underwater:

"Brothers with a Gāng Qì Painful Painful Minghun, use Gāng Qì to propel your movements; action will become more efficient, you can still dodge freely, and attack efficiency will increase."

"Players without Gāng Qì, flexibly use Blood Soul Tether; use blood qi ropes to pull your footwork. If you want to go left, pull the Ghost Scorpion on the left; if you want to go right, pull the Ghost Scorpion on the right. Treat the Ghost Scorpions in your line of sight as displacement pillars; it works very well, brothers."

"For magic-type players, displacement is simple: release Void Grasp to support your movement. You can all control Void Grasp while doing something else, right?"

Before long, the guide-seeking players found the method to fight effectively underwater.

A large number of players liked the post in the regional channel and pinned these combat techniques to the top of the regional channel to help more players learn how to fight.

But still, many players found it difficult to master the method of underwater combat.

Especially the Tianyu Clan players.

Accustomed to using wings, they fought in an upright posture; when flapping their wings, their bodies did not move forward, but instead moved backward like rowing a boat.

Changing the combat method required a great deal of time to get used to and master.

Suddenly switching combat methods truly made them feel awkward.

At this moment, Qi Sheng, who was behind the scenes, was also paying attention to the unfolding of this battle.

Scanning the seabed with his consciousness, the only ones in the entire field completely unaffected in his eyes were the Gills Fish Clan and the Abyss Fish Clan players.

They moved through the underwater battlefield like water spirits, darting lightly.

But the overall strength of this group of players was not strong.

Although they were all veteran players, when the Gills Fish Clan and the Abyss Fish Clan first entered the game, they focused primarily on commerce, spending all the Shou Shou Jili they earned on improving their real lives.

When the time truly came to need it, they found it difficult to display considerable combat power.

Compared to the increase in combat power within the game, perhaps the changes in their real lives were even more significant.

Players from these two clans had generally been in the game for over half a year; during this period, the fishing port city where they lived had undergone two rounds of planning and reconstruction.

First, a large-scale introduction of medical equipment from the Eclipse Tribe, along with the establishment of medical stations at the fishing port, improved the medical conditions of Fishing Port City.

All eight hundred thousand tribe members can receive effective treatment, and the fees are very cheap—they can even be settled directly with Shou Shou Jili.

Next came the renovation of the city's energy system and the introduction of a smart city system, making the urban environments of the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe more intelligent.

All these expenses were covered by Shou Shou Jili earned by players of the two tribes in Monster World through hunting, setting up stalls, and other means.

The concept that Monster World can bring about wealth redistribution truly exists in the eyes of these two tribes.

Unlike players of other tribes, who center on personal profit.

The Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe combined have only eight hundred thousand people, and a clan-like social structure makes players of these two tribes willing to contribute part of their earnings to the city management to be spent on the construction of Fishing Port City.

Recently, players of the two tribes have come up with the idea of phasing out old game pod equipment for a better gaming experience, which is yet another Shou Shou Jili expense.

Currently, the management of Fishing Port City is in contact with the Eclipse Tribe, hoping to purchase a batch of new game pod equipment at a suitable price.

But the mindset of Gillfish Tribe and Abyss Fish Tribe players is also undergoing change.

At first, they were used to exchanging Shou Shou Jili earned in-game for real-world currency to improve their living conditions.

As real-life gradually became more affluent, new pursuits emerged, and improving strength in-game is becoming the new direction of effort.

This is a gradual process.

It is also a trend Qi Sheng had anticipated would appear.

When these two tribes were first recruited, the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe were going through economic difficulties, and life was very strained.

They even had thoughts of reducing the population to cut foreign exchange expenses.

The main reason was that their core source of income—exporting shallow-sea farmed marine creatures to other tribes—saw demand plummet.

This was related to ocean pollution, causing various tribes' demand for marine products to keep declining.

Next were Conquest and Sin Land, two previously hit "grinding" games that saw a massive wave of players quitting after the launch of Dark Lands, causing their in-game economies to face collapse.

Gillfish Tribe and Abyss Fish Tribe players who relied on grinding for income saw an unprecedented plunge in earnings.

The channels for making money through grinding were nearly cut off.

Yet Dark Lands was sold with a quota, and the key point is that the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe weren't even on the list of tribes eligible for early access.

Real-world difficulties made these two tribes' players view the game differently from other tribes.

They would first set satisfying real-life needs as their core goal, and only then personal growth in the game.

Early on, quite a few players from the two tribes also recognized Monster World's potential, believing that only by making their in-game characters stronger could they earn more money in the future.

But these players also had to compromise with reality.

Faced with the city-building proposals raised by the tribe's management, they were willing to contribute part of their earnings to build their homeland's environment.

This led to most of the Gillfish Tribe's income being spent in the real world, with the Shou Shou Jili earned becoming a boost for the growth of whales and spenders like the Human Tribe and the Sky Feather Tribe.

Compared to the game, reality is clearly more important.

But this trend is shifting as real-life conditions improve.

Fishing Port City's management has already recognized Monster World's future potential, believing Monster World should not be a short-term money-making tool, but a virtual game with long-term development potential.

Only by raising their tribe players' in-game strength can the two tribes obtain more resources and opportunities in the future.

Out of long-term planning considerations, Fishing Port City's management began reducing the share of Shou Shou Jili earnings used for city construction, in order to accelerate their tribesmen's growth in the game.

A series of measures targeting in-game development also began to be implemented.

Based on guidance feedback, the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe have already organized professional Monster World research teams.

Members are composed of experienced veteran players from the tribe and strategists familiar with game mechanics, conducting in-depth research on the distribution of various resources in Monster World, as well as adapting combat techniques for the sea domains suited to the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe.

These research results were compiled into detailed tutorials and distributed free to tribe players, helping them avoid detours in the game and obtain Shou Shou Jili and improve strength more efficiently.

At the same time, Fishing Port City's management used the Shou Shou Jili they had accumulated to establish a resource support platform in-game.

Every tribesman who obtained game access would receive startup funds provided by veteran players upon entering the game—500 points of Shou Shou Jili per tribesman.

The condition was that once the supported tribesmen grew, they too would have to contribute part of their earnings back to the resource support platform, paving the way for new players from the tribe who would later obtain Monster World access.

The support program's fund pool would also grow gradually along with the two tribes' players' development in the game.

When this program first started, the newbie support fund was only 300 points of Shou Shou Jili, but with the subsequent growth of players, it has already risen to 500 points of Shou Shou Jili.

It can be foreseen that in the future, this newbie support fund will continue to grow.

One day in the future, perhaps newbies from the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe will receive ten thousand points of Shou Shou Jili the moment they enter the game, enough to raise their starting character to Body Tempering Level 1.

Other tribes simply cannot copy this model—only Fishing Port City's players enjoy such treatment.

In Qi Sheng's view, this support model is also very meaningful, significantly strengthening the cohesion of the two tribes' players.

Every player of the Gillfish Tribe and the Abyss Fish Tribe has a strong sense of tribal belonging, viewing all tribesmen as part of the whole.

Recently, Fishing Port City's resource support platform is even preparing to launch a program to help newbies level up.

Having veteran players lead newbies to quickly level up and grow, opening up a growth channel where the first to get rich help those who get rich later.

Letting newbies quickly advance from being supported to becoming supporters of newcomers.

So Qi Sheng sees no problem at all with Gillfish Tribe and Abyss Fish Tribe players using Shou Shou Jili for real life.

This was the development trend he had anticipated all along.

The growth of the two tribes' players also has to be gradual—this is a process of "once fed and warm, one thinks of growth," and only when reality is satisfied can it feed back into Monster World.

If reality makes even filling one's belly difficult, how could they work hard in the game to earn Shou Shou Jili for him?

What he wants has always been the future, not the present.

The view shifts to the Ghost Scorpion Space, where the great battle between players and Ghost Scorpion Bugs continues.

The deep, dark seabed has already turned into a chaotic shura field.

The battle formations formed by players crash against the Ghost Scorpion Bug army like tides.

And every counterattack by the Ghost Scorpion Bugs can cause mass casualties among the player army.

The regional voice channel is utterly chaotic, with cursing, roaring, and all kinds of sounds interwoven together.

But amid the chaos, some players still put on a stunning performance.

In one corner of the battlefield, the Toddler Squad's Drunk Milk activated the Infinite Painful Painful Minghun trait and rolled a 3200% amplification.

The 32-fold combat power boost transformed him into an undersea mage god.

Drunk Milk only had to part his lips and gently exhale — the seabed temperature plummeted, and a stream of icy mist burst from his mouth.

The ice mist spread rapidly, freezing the surrounding waters into a world of ice crystals.

Swarms of Ghost Scorpion Bugs were enveloped by the ice mist; their movements instantly turned sluggish, a thick layer of frost coating their shells.

A few Ghost Scorpion Bugs tried to struggle, but under the stacked ice-mist effects they were ultimately frozen into ice sculptures.

Drunk Milk's ice-mist breath did not stop — its range expanded further, freezing more Ghost Scorpion Bugs, and the area he stood in became an ice-bound battlefield.

Standing before the world of ice crystals, Drunk Milk looked like a god who commanded the cold.

Immediately after, Drunk Milk raised his hand and conjured a staff weapon; atop the staff a ball of ink-black flame condensed.

The flame did not die in the water — instead it burned even more fiercely.

The staff swept out sharply, and the ink-flame fireball slammed into the Ghost Scorpion Bug swarm like a meteor.

It burst apart in an instant; the ink-colored flame spread through the water, devouring every Ghost Scorpion Bug in its frozen-sculpture state and burning them to ash.

The flames kept rolling forward; wherever they passed, the Ghost Scorpion Bugs' hisses cut off abruptly, leaving only black ash drifting in the water.

When Drunk Milk raised his staff once more, centered on himself, three enormous elemental magic towers suddenly rose around him.

The towers' surfaces were covered in three kinds of elemental runes, and at their tops hovered three orbs of elemental energy where three colors merged.

They represented the three Painful Painful Minghun traits: ink flame, ice-mist breath, and rushing thunder.

Once the elemental towers formed, they quickly locked onto the incoming Ghost Scorpion Bug swarms nearby, and beams of elemental torrent combining all three elemental damages blasted out.

One after another, streams of elemental light swept across the Ghost Scorpion Bug gathering zones, triggering elemental explosions.

"Hahaha, this feels amazing! First time rolling a 32-fold — I can't even imagine how strong the maxed-out amplification will be once Infinite Painful Painful Minghun hits level 100."

Drunk Milk laughed wildly, his teammates standing behind him cheering their lungs out.

This time for the Toddler Squad, only Drunk Milk had rolled the big amplification; the rest simply played cheerleader ornaments, tagging along to share the hunting rewards.

"Drunk Milk, stop laughing — look at you showing off. Hurry up and kill them already."

"Look at that ugly smug face of Drunk Milk — already screenshotted. So mad. Why couldn't this round's buff be mine."

"Peak moment of Drunk Milk's dog life — feels great just watching. I want to go too, but then I remember dying means no rewards, so I chickened out again."

……

Amid his teammates' encouragement and mockery, Drunk Milk suddenly focused:

"Brothers, watch closely — I'm about to show off!"

The words barely fell before Drunk Milk thrust his hand forward sharply.

At once, the waters of the entire sea area were churned by an invisible force; hundreds of enormous elemental void hands materialized out of thin air, their surfaces burning with ice-frost breath, ink flame, and rushing thunder elements, radiating surging waves of energy.

"Here it comes!"

In the span of a thought, the hundreds of void hands slammed into the Ghost Scorpion Bug swarm with world-destroying momentum.

In an instant, the entire sea area was like a giant bomb had been dropped into it; the seawater churned violently like boiling water, emitting a deafening roar.

The terrifying might swept through everything around it with an irresistible force.

The frost element instantly froze vast numbers of Ghost Scorpion Bugs; their originally hard shells became brittle under the extreme cold, shattering like glass.

The ink flame ran rampant through the Ghost Scorpion Bug swarm; under its burning, their bodies rapidly carbonized into clumps of black ash.

The powerful electric current released by the rushing thunder element instantly paralyzed the Ghost Scorpion Bugs' nerves; their bodies convulsed under the stimulation, then sank weakly to the seabed.

Drunk Milk, by his own strength alone, took on the dense Ghost Scorpion Bugs in one corner of the battlefield head-on.

The once densely packed Ghost Scorpion Bugs ahead were now reduced to a mere handful of broken remnants.

White light flashed across the Toddler Squad members' bodies — the whole team leveled up from that one strike.

By now the seawater was churned into a filthy murk by fresh blood, broken remains, and all kinds of elemental energy; yet Drunk Milk stood amid this wreckage, elemental light still blazing around him.

"Show-off act over, out of mana. Let me chug a potion to keep going — I'll get back to showing off in a bit."

Just then, Drunk Milk's expression suddenly wilted; the elemental light around him faded, and hunching over, he pulled a potion from his spatial pack and gulped it down in big swallows, looking exactly like a little old man whose body had been hollowed out.

The squad's Hammer couldn't help asking curiously at this moment:

"Drunk Milk, I just heard someone on the regional channel yelling about who's randomly firing skills and smashing things, calling that person a beast — wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

"Check the squad info panel — Drunk Milk just smashed five of our fellow villagers to death with that one hit. Kill yourself in penance. I hate beasts who bully newbies the most — damn it."

"That hit was admittedly cool, but thinking about how several fellow villagers from the same village who were tanking in the front row got smashed to death by you — my heart aches. What a beast."

Listening to his teammates' teasing, Drunk Milk spat:

"If you keep this up I'm leaving the squad — I'll go solo and kill everything myself, and I won't give you a single point of Shou Shou Jili or evolution points."

"No no, being too strong and causing accidental damage is understandable…."

Amid the teasing, dense Ghost Scorpion Bugs attacked again; Drunk Milk, who had just chugged five potions in a row, straightened his back, and elemental glimmers once more radiated from his body.

"Staff, come!"

The vanished golden staff reformed in Drunk Milk's hand, and a wild, arrogant smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

In an unquestionable, commanding tone, he began reciting chuunibyou lines:

"Summon the wrath of Lei Ting, forge my blade!"

In an instant, thunder clouds churned within the sea; countless blinding bolts of lightning descended from above, coiling around his staff and body.

"By the oath of the abyss, draw forth the soul of ink flame, ignite my fighting spirit!"

Immediately after, pitch-black flames rose from beneath his feet.

"By the pact of the frozen, summon the spirit of frost and snow, focus my mind!"

A bone-piercing chill surged from his staff, and the power of frost spread rapidly.

"Thunder, ink flame, frost—triple power blesses my body. At this moment, I am the Law, I am Destruction!"

At that moment, the brothers of the Kindergarten Squad all raised their middle fingers at the utterly chuunibyou Drunk Milk.

As squad captain, Iron Hammer even directly muted Drunk Milk's speech and cursed:

"I really can't stand you. The brothers of the next-door Drunk Food guild are all watching—you've completely disgraced the Kindergarten Squad's face."

The great battle continued; the Ghost Scorpion Bugs' numbers could not be killed off.

Even though players kept arriving to reinforce the front line, the player legion was still at an absolute disadvantage.

The Kindergarten Squad, holding a corner alone, could barely keep going on Drunk Milk's strength alone.

When Drunk Milk's spiritual power once again ran dry, he had no time to replenish before being surrounded by the Ghost Scorpion army.

Just as the Kindergarten Squad players thought they were about to be sent back to the village, a familiar voice rang out:

"Brothers, your daddy has brought reinforcements!"

The Kindergarten Squad members turned their heads one after another to look.

They saw a man in resplendent attire descend slowly.

The material of his clothes seemed woven from starlight; every inch of fabric shimmered with a dreamlike sheen, the runes upon it flickering as if alive with his breath, flowing and shifting with his movements, as if he had draped the entire starry sky across his shoulders.

The one who arrived was none other than the Kindergarten Squad's boss, "Principal."

His hem swayed gently with the currents of water, like a flowing aurora, lending him an incomparably sacred air.

At this moment, a mischievous grin hung on his face, and behind him stood several hundred Darkborn warriors.

They stood in neat ranks, their entire bodies shrouded in pitch-black armor inscribed with Darkborn battle-veins, exuding a cold, ghostly aura; lined up together they resembled a black steel Great Wall.

Each Darkborn warrior gripped tightly in his hands a blade radiating black light, ready to throw himself into battle at any moment.

Principal stepped forward at this moment.

Instantly, the Darkborn warriors behind him stepped forward in unison, causing the seawater to tremble; a powerful surge of qi and blood spread outward like a raging tide, and wherever it passed, the incoming Ghost Scorpion Bugs were blasted flying one after another.

Principal's arrival instantly made him the focus of the battlefield, and players from several nearby warbands also turned to look.

(End of this chapter)