Genius Chapter 118: Ahem

Chapter 118: Ahem

Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

“Everyone, take potions to recover and get back in position. ScarletFruit, start healing,” Su Mo commanded as he jumped down from the high ground. With a quick dash, he returned to his original position and summoned the bear again. “Slow down the DPS, Apple, hold the aggro steady. Little Bear, cover ScarletFruit while they revive.”

ChatMasterWu was beyond saving; after being knocked away, he was killed by the dense sea monsters in the forest. However, ZenSlasher died within their vicinity, entirely within ScarletFruit’s healing range. Braving the boss’s whips, ScarletFruit, under the protection of Little Bear’s giant shield, ran to ZenSlasher’s location, revived her, and healed her to full. The three of them then returned to their positions.

“ZenSlasher, take ChatMasterWu’s place and keep the pressure on the boss. ScarletFruit, save the group heal for the full-screen red circle at 38%,” Su Mo instructed quickly. “Everyone, stay sharp and focused.”

With one person down, they lost a significant DPS, and the pace of reducing the boss’s health slowed. However, the boss’s attacks didn’t relent.

Based on the common rules of day-night cycles and quest mechanics, this boss likely wouldn’t go into rage. As long as they had sufficient healing, they could whittle down the boss over time. However, the increasing frequency of the boss’s mechanics caused significant health drops. Besides the fixed 2% and 5% skills, the other mechanics were coming faster and faster. Often, just as they finished handling one skill, they had to deal with another, leaving no one in the group at full health.

ScarletFruit said, “Brother, at this rate, I might not be able to keep up with the healing. My skill cooldowns are almost out of sync with the boss’s skills.”

“Using shields could buy us some time.”

“That won’t work. We need the shields to avoid other skills.”

What could they do? There was no room for another positional adjustment. If things continued like this, they could only sustain one person through attrition, surviving several day-night cycles to wear the boss down. With enough small lucky fish to ensure survival, attrition wasn’t a bad strategy.

Su Mo frowned slightly. There was still plenty of time left in the night, and the boss’s health was down to just 37%. With their team’s output and coordination, they could definitely finish it. Although the quest details didn’t explicitly mention it, it was well known that the player’s overall rating would affect the quest.

They could hold out for now, but he feared that their high dungeon ratings, due to their S-class status, might lead to more terrifying skill frequencies and health drains when the boss’s health dropped below 20%. The cleric’s emergency healing was not as reliable as a healer’s, and this could lead to major problems later on.

Another lash from the boss landed, and ScarletFruit’s luck ran out for a moment. The healing didn’t go through, scaring everyone into quickly taking potions. Fortunately, the next heal restored normalcy.

ScarletFruit said, “Everyone, don’t worry.”

ClearWind added, “ScarletFruit, if you’re not stable, the whole team is done for.”

Small Bear Biscuit said, “If something really goes wrong later, ScarletFruit, put a shield on ZenSlasher and let her run. If one of us can survive, we can wish to revive the others and tackle the boss again in the next night phase.”

ZenSlasher replied, “No, you have to survive too. At least two of us should make it. One can call for a sea release to revive others, and the other can hold the boss’s aggro to prevent it from resetting.”

Apple chimed in, “Can’t you guys be a bit more confident? We’ve barely started, and you’re already planning a fallback.”

ScarletFruit retorted, “Our lack of confidence is thanks to your healing, isn’t it?”

The situation grew increasingly tense, and most of them became nervous.

“Hold fixed positions. The two high spots closest to ScarletFruit will be for ZenSlasher and Apple. ClearWind and I will move farther away,” Su Mo reassessed the positions. “When the boss’s health hits 35%, be ready to run. ScarletFruit, focus on ZenSlasher’s and Apple’s health, as they might have to handle additional skills.”

ClearWind hesitated, “The boss wouldn’t be that ruthless, right?”

“Who was it that said the boss was too weak before?” Su Mo replied coolly, “If it’s not tough enough, how would you know its strength?”

ClearWind quickly added, “It was ChatMasterWu who said that!”

Su Mo said flatly, “And that’s why he’s gone.”

The others were speechless.

The predictable 2% and 5% ultimate skills were easier to anticipate. As soon as it hit 5% and time for the launch, several people immediately scattered to find suitable positions to evade. As expected, just before the launch, the boss summoned small monsters and cast red circles—one aimed at ZenSlasher and another at Apple. Fortunately, both were close to ScarletFruit and managed to withstand the onslaught.

After the launch ended, Su Mo continued, “ZenSlasher, pull away, resume positions, watch out for 30%.”

The skill mechanisms became increasingly fierce, and there were fewer voices on the voice channel. Everyone’s attention was fully focused on the boss. Without detailed commands, they knew how to handle the skill positioning to survive the next challenging phase.

ScarletFruit’s healing was mostly fortunate, but unstable. There were several instances of risky regular heals and low heals… The high healing was unstable, and towards the end, it became quite precarious.

At this moment, right after the red circle passed, a rare low heal from the tossed healing flower in the crowd failed to recover their health, leaving everyone’s health just barely above 50%, while the boss raised its hand, preparing to lash out at the crowd.

Su Mo’s heart tightened. “Spread out now!”

The others swiftly adjusted their positions, but Apple was caught, and the boss’s whip attack took him down directly.

ScarletFruit’s resurrection cooldown was ready again the moment Apple fell, and he quickly revived him, using his only single-target major heal on him.

Three people died consecutively this night. With each death, the boss’s defense and attack power increased, posing a new challenge. The rest of the team’s output slowed down, each worrying about the trouble their deaths might cause for their teammates.

The team’s disadvantages were once again exposed: DPS dared not unleash their full output, the high healing was unstable, and the boss’s defense and attack became stronger… Su Mo hesitated slightly. Could they really afford to just chip away at the boss during the day and night cycles?

At this moment, Su Mo’s gaze fell once again on the flashing light in the pet panel. To aid in the attack, he had been using the Veil Wraith. The only pet left in the panel was the Soul Rabbit. Just as he was about to summon it, a notification flashed before him.

— [Your spirit pet egg is about to hatch. Please, handle with care.]

Su Mo took a moment to open it and saw that the previously empty third pet slot now held a half-cracked eggshell.

“…!”

Inside the team, others were already feeling uneasy. Noticing that the commander hadn’t spoken for a while, an indescribable sense of unease settled over them. This was especially true for ScarletFruit, who was fully focused on healing and relied entirely on Su Mo’s commands for positioning. Not hearing from Su Mo for a few seconds made him start to panic. “Bro, why aren’t you saying anything?”

Su Mo replied, “Wait a moment.”

ScarletFruit exclaimed, “!”

Su Mo released the Soul Rabbit and saw it cradling a partially cracked pet egg. Seeing this, he knew they couldn’t wait any longer. It was likely to hatch during the battle.

He shielded the Soul Rabbit behind him and continued to command, “Watch out for the whip attacks. We’re still a bit away from 30%. Be mindful of the regular mechanics. You can dodge them at this stage. Don’t make mistakes.”

The others were momentarily stunned. What did he mean, should they dodge on their own?

Then the commander’s voice returned, “Give me a few minutes. The rabbit is about to give birth.”

ClearWind remarked, “That sounds familiar.”

ScarletFruit added, “I think I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

Wait a minute! Immediately, the rest of the team looked towards where Commander Momo was standing, and there was a Soul Rabbit at his feet, holding an egg with a long crack. ScarletFruit and ClearWind were very familiar with that egg—it was their leader’s egg that had taken a long time to hatch.

ScarletFruit said, “Bro, I don’t think Soul Rabbit had good prenatal education.”

Su Mo: “?”

ScarletFruit: “Look at these two eggs it’s hatching, always born in such untimely situations.”

Su Mo was speechless.

Apple froze: “You call this prenatal education!?”

ScarletFruit: “Well, it’s almost the same, both are egg-laying.”

Small Bear Biscuit was speechless.

ClearWind added: “No way, didn’t brother Wanderer’s last two eggs hatch by the bunny, how good did they grow, and didn’t hatch in battle.”

Apple: “This hatching can also help others hatch!?”

What exactly is their relationship?

It seems to be a practice for Momo’s pet eggs to hatch during battles, and every time it’s in an emergency and leaves a deep impression on the uncles and aunts in the same group.

Fortunately, while the big shot was hatching eggs, the necessary commands continued without pause. At critical moments, they also reminded everyone to dodge skills. However, losing the big shot as a strong backup made the already anxious team members even more jittery, and it was a cautious kind of jitteriness. Completing a quest doesn’t necessarily guarantee a spirit pet egg. If something rare goes wrong during the incubation, it’s not something one or two quests can make up for. The big shot worked so hard to command, and if the egg hatched and something happened… 

A group of people started to fear, a fear greater than the fear and worry of the boss. It was just a few minutes, right? Even if the medicine had worn off, they had to hang on. Su Mo held the egg in one hand while using a staff to direct his summoned creatures to assist teammates in the attack. As a precaution, he withdrew two summoned creatures, which might have reduced the output but ensured better control.

Most of his attention remained on the boss’s changing posture. He had originally estimated they wouldn’t reach 30% in a few minutes, but unexpectedly, his teammates seemed to have been spurred on at this moment, one after another attacking fiercely. ScarletFruit’s healing skills were used one after another for two mechanisms, and while they were left with low health, no casualties occurred.

As soon as they hit 30%, Su Mo’s voice sounded, and Apple and the others swiftly climbed to higher ground after receiving ScarletFruit’s healing. They assembled faster than before by a second or two, and once there, they didn’t relax. Su Mo noticed that several of them already had red potions in hand, looking particularly alert, seemingly prepared to take potions to prolong their lives at any moment.

Su Mo: “…?” He asked, “Were you all slacking off earlier?”

Before the others could explain, they heard the command continue, “Oh, keep up the current output. I’m monitoring burst damage and output. Whoever falls will replace ZenSlasher.”

The others were speechless.

Apple, bearing the boss’s aggression, asked, “Me too?”

Su Mo retorted, “You have the highest magic attack in the entire group. Do you want to rank last?”

Apple fell silent. Sometimes, pushing too hard was also a mistake.

Having witnessed scenes like ChatMasterWu being blasted away, they didn’t want to see someone make a mistake and end up lying alone in the mountains surrounded by a group of sea monsters. The team’s DPS output didn’t drop, and their positioning remained cautious. And in these intense ten minutes of effort from everyone, the egg in Su Mo’s command finally hatched.

The eggshell completely separated, and tiny fragments fell into Su Mo’s hands. Then, a small hand emerged from the pet egg, humanoid in appearance, with soft and tender fingers. Su Mo paused for a moment, witnessing a small elf clothed in flowers and grass emerge from the eggshell. It was about the size of a human palm, with translucent light amber pupils staring at Su Mo. Finally, flapping its thin wings, it flew onto Su Mo’s shoulder.

[[Quest Pet Egg] has hatched. You have obtained the special and rare pet [Spirit of Flowers and Grass]. Do you wish to claim ownership?]

Su Mo confirmed his ownership, and the details of the Spirit of Flowers and Grass appeared before him. This pet, with its pointed ears and white hair resembling an elf, turned out to be a healing-type pet. Within the Celestial Horizon System, various types of pets existed, typically aligned with the player’s profession. For example, DPS players were more likely to obtain offensive pets, warriors defensive ones, and healers healing pets.

The positioning of Celestial Horizon’s spirit pets leaned towards enhancing the player’s strengths, facilitating the development of active or passive skills related to their profession later on. Su Mo’s first two pets, the Soul Rabbit and Veil Wraith, were specialized high-attack spirit pets each with their own tendencies — Soul Rabbit excelled in attack and speed, while Veil Wraith balanced physical and magical capabilities, making it more suitable for dungeons. Therefore, Su Mo initially expected his third pet to also lean towards attack-oriented traits, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a healing-type pet.

The Spirit of Flowers and Grass was a pure healing-type spirit pet. On its introduction page in the Spirit Pet Manual, it was described as a mountain spirit from Valor Peak, equipped with three healing-oriented skills: Floral Healing, Floral Blessing, and Rebirth of All Things.

1. Floral Healing: Centers the Spirit of Flowers and Grass to summon a 10-second floral sea. Players within the floral sea receive continuous healing every second, amounting to a percentage of their base health. It can restore up to 50% of health. The pet’s owner receives an additional 10% bonus healing. Skill cooldown: 3 minutes.
2. Floral Blessing: The Spirit of Flowers and Grass automatically protects its owner or low-health teammates by casting a 6-second Floral Blessing shield. It heals teammates’ health over time. Skill cooldown: 2 minutes.

The first two skills are standard healing skills, not much different from other healing-type pets. However, healing effectiveness can vary, and until fully upgraded, its performance may not match other pets. At its highest level, the healing amount increases accordingly, but the cooldown times remain unchanged.

Its healing cooldown also falls short compared to healers and clerics. For Su Mo, it means having access to group healing every 3 minutes and single-target healing every 2 minutes, useful in emergencies but somewhat inferior as a quest pet.

He continued reading down the page, and suddenly paused when he saw the sections on the three skills and the special skill.

By now, it was already 8 AM in the morning, and the fallen teammates had been lying in the woods for half an hour. The boss’s health had been reduced to 26%.

The DPS were going all out, but their health fluctuated unpredictably. Though they managed to hold on, they were constantly at risk of being killed by a single blow from the boss.

At 25%, everyone’s attention heightened instantly, and they all leaped to higher ground.

Along with being knocked airborne, additional skills included small mobs and red circles. ZenSlasher immediately pulled away the small mobs, but the red circle landed on ClearWind, who was farther away from ScarletFruit.

ScarletFruit urgently shouted, “Windy, come over here!”

“I can’t make it, you’ll have to pull me over later,” ClearWind had already used a red potion earlier, and now it was on cooldown. If he had received the red circle a bit earlier, he could have found a closer spot or swapped positions with Apple. Unfortunately, the red circle appeared after he climbed the slope, and if it exploded followed by a whip strike, he wouldn’t survive.

The red circle exploded, reducing his health to less than 40%.

At that moment, a fresh floral fragrance suddenly surrounded him, followed by a faint pink shield enveloping him. His health, which was nearly depleted, slowly began to rise at this critical moment. Just as the boss’s whip strike came crashing down, he miraculously survived with only 3% health remaining.

The spinning knockback ended, and Su Mo opened the pre-prepared seawater sprinkler over ClearWind. Within seconds, ClearWind regained his mobility, returning to ScarletFruit’s embrace just before the next attack.

ClearWind exclaimed in shock, “Holy crap, Fruit, what was that skill just now? Healing from such a distance?”

ScarletFruit looked bewildered, “I didn’t heal you; weren’t you using a potion?”

ClearWind paused for a moment, confused about what just happened.

“I did. It was a healing skill, a single-target heal, barely enough.” Su Mo’s voice appeared on the Vicinity voice channel, “Everyone, resume positions, don’t let the DPS drop.”

The rest of the team then turned their attention to Su Mo. Previously focused entirely on the boss, they hadn’t paid much attention to their commander standing at the rear of the group. They knew Su Mo was tending to an egg, but they didn’t realize it had already hatched. Now, seeing the small elf-like spirit perched above his head, someone blurted out, “Holy crap!”

This spirit pet, born during battle, turned out to be a healer!

ClearWind’s mood completely shifted, “Heaven is on our side now!!”

ScarletFruit quickly changed his tune, “Soul Rabbit’s prenatal education seems pretty good after all. When we’re out of here, I’ll treat it to ten premium treats!!!”

“Wow, that’s impressive. Many DPS players struggle to get a healing pet. For quest types, it wouldn’t heal every 30 seconds, would it?” Apple asked, “Boss, is your rabbit still offering egg-hatching services? We can negotiate the price.”

Su Mo replied calmly, “You’re thinking too much. It’s a single heal every 2 minutes.”

2 minutes per heal??? Everyone was dumbfounded. Isn’t this a quest spirit pet? Other high-level healing spirit pets typically have a cooldown of around 90 seconds, with some lucky ones having 60 seconds. Should a healing spirit from a quest spirit pet not have a cooldown of 120 seconds? And it doesn’t seem to heal much either.

ScarletFruit asked, “Is something wrong? Did it hatch incorrectly?”

Su Mo explained, “The cooldown is longer. The amount healed is decent, but it needs to level up to reach its full potential.”

ClearWind breathed a sigh of relief, “Well, as long as the cooldown is longer, the larger amount healed can compensate for the drawback.” In reality, the healing was still limited, and after hatching for so long, shouldn’t it be a powerhouse? Why does it feel so lackluster?

The group healing skill of the Flower Spirit had a cooldown of three minutes. Su Mo decided to have ScarletFruit save a skill and used Flower Healing early. By the time they reached 20% health on the boss, the cooldown should be ready.

Teammates enjoyed the gentle healing of the Flower Spirit’s lush flower sea. The healing was slow but steady, lasting for 10 seconds once activated. The range of the flower sea was quite large. Upon closer inspection, although this pet wasn’t exactly a powerhouse, it was considered an above-average spirit pet.

When the boss reached 20% health, its attacks and defenses intensified. ScarletFruit couldn’t keep up with the healing this time. Su Mo had to use Flower Healing again to barely stabilize the situation, but the entire team’s health was down to 30%. ScarletFruit’s skills were on cooldown, and so was the red potion.

ScarletFruit could only rely on single-target healing to manage everyone’s health, barely keeping the few of them alive.

Su Mo asked, “Can you hold on?”

ScarletFruit replied, “I can manage, but if the skills come any faster, I might not be lucky enough to avoid a wipe.”

The frequency of the boss’s skills was increasing. The only way to alleviate the pressure was for them to push the boss’s health down as quickly as possible. Sometimes, the boss would interrupt its normal skills to cast its 2% and 5% ultimate skills, reducing the pressure on the cleric from dealing with smaller skills before the ultimate ones.

As the boss’s health slowly dwindled, everyone focused intensely on attacking. The commands from the commander changed rapidly. They managed to endure the nightmare of two small skills every 5 seconds.

Exhausted, with health levels nearing 10%, ScarletFruit had to use the major healing skill that was originally reserved because of the boss’s series of small skills. When the screen filled with red circles, he and Su Mo coordinated their healing efforts. Unfortunately, luck didn’t favor ScarletFruit at this critical moment.

A dreadful turn of events occurred. The boss used its spinning knock-up followed by exploding red circles in rapid succession. With the change in skill order and the shortage of healing ultimate skills, this wave of explosions left only three survivors: Su Mo protected by Flower Protection, ScarletFruit, and Small Bear Biscuit.

Everyone was stunned. They couldn’t finish this fight with just three people left. The output wasn’t enough, the healing wasn’t sufficient, and the pressure from losing three teammates was overwhelming.

ScarletFruit asked, “Bro, retreat?”

Su Mo sternly replied, “We can do this. Save your cooldowns, no healing.”

Just then, the summoner descended from above and landed in the middle, casting a Flower Sea that immediately boosted everyone’s health. The wide-ranging healing of the Flower Sea revived the three surviving members. Following that, the spirit pet, Flower Spirit, let out a long chant, and a serene song echoed out. From its center, verdant green grass spread out instantaneously, seeming to extend to the distant horizon.

ScarletFruit was dumbfounded, “Wow, what kind of skill is this, little buddy?”

“[Flower Spirit sacrifices itself to perform Resurrection of All Things. Accept the power of resurrection?]”

This prompt appeared in front of all the deceased players. Without hesitation, they clicked “confirm,” and were instantly revived on the spot.

“This is resurrection!?” 

“It’s actually resurrection!!”

Su Mo commanded, “Raise your health, focus, we’re down to 9%.”

The resurrection skill is the third skill of the Flower Spirit, as if its somewhat crippled first two skills were designed for this skill. However, it cannot compare with other resurrection skills. While other group resurrection skills are unlimited in scenes and time, this resurrection skill is limited to specific scenes and times, and also limits the number of people it can resurrect. It’s equivalent to a quest item that can only be used once per scene.

[Resurrection of All Things: The Flower Spirit sacrifices itself to resurrect 5 deceased teammates within a 50-meter radius. After sacrificing itself, the Flower Spirit will return to the pet inventory, and the owner will be unable to summon it again for 1 hour. (Please note: This skill cannot resurrect the owner, and has limitations on where it can be used. It can only be used once per scene in dungeons or mission scenarios with up to 10 people. It cannot be used in safe zones, wilderness areas, competitive arenas, etc.)]

In the game Celestial Horizon, there are group resurrection items, most commonly quest items, but very few players obtain them due to difficult acquisition conditions. Next are the group resurrection skills of the two major healing professions, healer and cleric. It is said that these professions can use group resurrection if they master their skills, but the conditions for implementation are extremely stringent.

Healers need to stack healing buffs, continuously applying their own healing until they reach 50 stacks before they can cast their skill. Clerics, on the other hand, need to summon 10 summons and then perform a sacrifice after 3 seconds. During the 5-second sacrifice period, none of the summons can die in order to perform a group resurrection.

Many healers on the leaderboard have already mastered their skills, but the conditions in quest dungeons are too difficult. Performing group resurrection requires protection and cooperation from teammates. Even for the top healer on the leaderboard, HealsFor25000, it’s rare to be able to use it. In quest scenarios, it hasn’t been used at all.

Quests require careful positioning, so it’s not worth wasting time just to cast group resurrection. Moreover, if you manage to cast group resurrection but fail to use it within the specified time, it’s all in vain. There are many healers in dungeons, and group resurrection is even less applicable to healers. With so many healers around, single-target resurrection every 3 minutes is more practical.

So when they saw the group resurrection skill on the pet, they were all shocked. In the Celestial Horizon database, it’s indeed possible for spirit pets to learn resurrection skills, but they never expected to encounter such a resurrection skill themselves, and it’s even the pinnacle of resurrection skills – group resurrection.

Now, their gaze towards Su Mo changed, and even their gaze towards the newly summoned Soul Rabbit changed. This rabbit, the mother of the first group resurrection spirit pet [Flower Spirit], hatched such a newbie spirit pet.

“I’m back, guys!!” ChatMasterWu ran back from afar.

ClearWind: “You died so close by!”

ChatMasterWu: “I got knocked out and almost died by the rocks over there. Once dead, I couldn’t speak or type, so I couldn’t notify you.”

So he happened to die within the range of resurrection??

The Flower Spirit could no longer be used, and they were back in a situation lacking healing. But the advantage was ChatMasterWu’s return, and their output returned to normal. Perhaps the consecutive changes boosted everyone’s morale, making them fight more fiercely.

The boss, however, was still formidable. Its increased defense and attack capabilities made them suffer.

When the boss’s health dropped to 7%, it started using two minor skills simultaneously. Su Mo used Black Tortoise’s damage reduction on a teammate and used a ferret to increase his own speed.

At 5%, they almost wiped. ScarletFruit’s healing burst out with an unprecedentedly high value for the first time, instantly filling everyone’s health.

At 3%, three waves of minions appeared. Two assassins quickly moved to pull them away, resolving the crisis.

1%, everyone unleashed various burst skills, and some DPS even used their own quest items or skills. They surprisingly broke through the boss’s heightened defense for the first time, achieving the highest possible output per second.

At this moment, it seemed they had shattered the boss’s high defense mechanism. The boss’s attacks increased while its defense decreased, allowing them to successfully kill this boss that had been draining their strength, just three minutes before the countdown to night ended!

[Server Announcement] East Sea Fishing Village Night. Honey-roasted Goose, Momo, ClearWindIsHere, ChatMasterWu… successfully defeated [Night of the Fishing Village · Lord of the Deep Sea], thwarting the conspiracy of the Lord of the Deep Sea. All members of the team receive [Lord of the Deep Sea’s Treasure].

After the announcement, players across the server heard the voice of the Global Mainframe.

[The East Sea Fishing Village mission [Night Assault of the Lord of the Deep Sea] has been completed. Global Boss suppression fully unlocked.]

[Under the leadership of player Honey-roasted Goose, the team successfully completed the preliminary kill task for the Global boss Lord of the Deep Sea, now removing the Lord of the Deep Sea’s [Blessing of Dormancy], lifting the day-night restriction, increasing the Lord of the Deep Sea’s hunger, and unlocking the Global Boss Lord of the Deep Sea database. Players can now access the Lord of the Deep Sea’s storyline information in the official database.]

[Global Boss, Lord of the Deep Sea challenges with a star rating of ★★★★★★. Best wishes to everyone.]

Just past 8:30, the Lord of the Deep Sea, who had just entered a dormant state, fully revived. Previously blurry mechanism information in the database was completely updated.

The Global Boss, Lord of the Deep Sea thrives on the [Moisture], preferring to prey on human cultivators for nourishment. It perpetually remains in a state of hunger, where greater hunger means lower defense but higher attack power… Various plot details appeared in the database, differing slightly, yet closely resembling momo’s initial speculation about its hunger.

Upon scanning the information, Yu Zhen and the others’ mission details were also updated. After defeating it, they were only two steps away from completing their mission, needing to inform the villagers to reveal the truth. The information instructed them to go to a certain cave to find Liu Da, whose fishing boat could access Su Mo’s side of the mission scene.

However, with the Global Boss now rampaging, even setting sail on the fishing boat, let alone killing it, became a problem.

The Global Boss, Lord of the Deep Sea’s defense decreased, but its attack power increased accordingly. The frequency and damage of its skills not only did not diminish but rather increased. Rather than saying it weakened, it was more like another level of strengthening. However, as long as there were enough players, this crusade shouldn’t be a problem.

At this moment, a notification popped up in his field of view — ReturnToSimplicity logged in.

He immediately gathered his team and checked the location to see the other party at the beach where they logged off last night.

“How did you come here?” Yu Zhen asked.

The other person on the team seemed silent for a while before explaining, “We have the last two rounds of the mission left. They planned to wait for everyone to gather before crossing.”

Su Mo suppressed the feeling of not being able to get through to Yu Zhen and instead chose to return to the high position from yesterday to observe. Every time he heard Yu Zhen’s voice, it would inexplicably remind him of last night’s dream. Although dreams are easy to forget, in fact, he couldn’t remember most of them, but he still clearly remembered the blurry face of the person at the end of the dream…

He took a deep breath, trying to forget about the dream first and focus on the Global Boss.

Yu Zhen caught a glimpse of the marksman in the high position, his eyes slightly darkened.

Was it his imagination? Since morning, Su Mo seemed to have been avoiding him.

After Su Mo logged in, he entered yesterday’s channel. Compared to last night, about a third fewer teams were participating.

The situation outside wasn’t favorable. Their original plan was to launch a full assault on the Global Boss at 10:30, but now with daylight gone, the boss went berserk early, and there was no time for preparations. Guild managers were urging everyone to log in.

After he logged off yesterday, CloudTraveller took over his command. The original formation was still intact, so pressing the boss’s health wasn’t much of an issue. In the past two hours of the night, the boss’s health had been pushed to 25% and was quickly approaching 20%.

Su Mo hadn’t forgotten the situations they encountered inside—multiple skills appearing simultaneously, and the boss preemptively interrupting skills…

“Maintain positions as they are, but I suggest pulling the line back a bit. The sea team should move closer to the shore for easier mobility,” Su Mo continued, “For the land team with extra capacity, assign one or two summoners to the sea team to assist in pulling small monsters. Control the cooldowns of healing professions’ skills and prioritize protecting the squishy DPS.”

CloudTraveller immediately adjusted upon hearing this. More players were logging in, and many online players noticed the new adjustments to the Global Boss, rushing to the East Sea beach to watch the excitement. Gradually, more and more players gathered around.

There were new players and those who had participated yesterday.

In this situation, the priority task was to adjust positions properly to prevent later players from wandering aimlessly and inadvertently increasing casualties, thus raising the difficulty.

“The first eight teams, maintain last night’s positions. Newcomers, don’t scatter. Spread out from the central position, move forward without clustering, and disperse immediately upon arrival. Leave the middle positions for assassins and marksmen to pull and adjust monsters,” Su Mo quickly adjusted the strategy. “Pay attention to healing cooldowns. Move back a few steps to leave ample space for dodging red circles. Those caught in poison circles should not risk detoxifying in the sea; instead, head to the less crowded middle positions. Other professions, use your spare time to splash water.”

“All squad leaders, redeploy profession positions.”

Su Mo added calmly, “Let’s aim to finish in the morning to avoid wasting time.”

In the strategy channel, most of the team leaders were very familiar with ReturnToSimplicity’s instructions. The current layout and positioning were proposed by ReturnToSimplicity. Before this, they only knew of ReturnToSimplicity’s great reputation as a server-opening deity in Celestial Horizon for over half a year. He still firmly held the top position among marksmen, and rumors about him were widespread.

However, they had only known him to be formidable before, not realizing that ReturnToSimplicity was also such an excellent strategist. He had turned a boss with such complex skill mechanics into a fight resembling dungeon battles, where damage could be mitigated by proper positioning.

ScarletFruit, ClearWind, and others even opened alternate accounts to join the team and help out. The Alliance channels of various guilds were bustling, with continuous information about team formations in the conquest channel. Coincidentally, there was a new team forming in the Fruit Gang, so they decided to follow Apple into it. Although the leader didn’t know them, Apple called him “Old Banana,” suggesting they were acquainted.

“Are the rest of you in one group?” Old Banana noticed that the few Apple had brought in weren’t in crucial professions. “We’re a mobile team here. We’ll fill in wherever needed, mainly protecting the adjacent teams of our Fruit Gang.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve been through this before,” reassured ClearWind.

“They just came out of the mission scene like me,” Apple added.

“No wonder ClericID looks familiar to me.” Old Banana suddenly realized, scanning LuckyScarletFruit’s ID. “Oh, I see. Alright then, just play freely and don’t die.”

More and more people logged in, and surprisingly, the elite teams gathered together without chaos. In fact, the order was better than before. Those who had fought before noticed adjustments in the land team’s positions at the start, initially unsure of the reasons. However, as the boss’s skills started to change later on, they understood the benefits of these open spots.

For instance, it was easier to rescue someone who was close to death by running to an open spot.

If someone got trapped by a red circle, others could pour seawater while running to an open spot.

Moreover, when small monsters appeared, a group of assassins could be seen pulling them to open spots, which was both conspicuous and impressive.

In the strategy channel, the commander’s voice continued to direct operations after the boss’s skills changed, “At 20%, two ultimate skills will appear. Pay attention to the small monsters, red circles, and ink whip. These three skills will likely come together. Prepare to pull monsters, lie down when the red circle appears, and be ready to activate defensive skills against Ink Whip.”

“Who’s commanding?” 

“Our leader said it’s ReturnToSimplicity taking charge!!” 

“Wow, ReturnToSimplicity is also here?” 

“Yeah, did you see that high spot?” 

“ReturnToSimplicity is really amazing. I watched the video on the forum last night, and the battle was intense.” Besides fighting the boss, many were discussing ReturnToSimplicity. ScarletFruit, the gossip king, had spent a long time on the forum after skipping yesterday’s raid. The news of the Global Boss takedown had spread widely, dominating the forum boards. Most discussions revolved around ReturnToSimplicity’s spectacular return to command. Some said it was someone using ReturnToSimplicity’s account, others claimed it was a friend, but most believed it was ReturnToSimplicity himself. The forum even dug up many of ReturnToSimplicity’s previous battle records for discussion. ScarletFruit couldn’t help but glance at the voices around him. “These people are exaggerating. Has ReturnToSimplicity really reached this level? So many fans.”

And this lineup isn’t exaggerated, okay? His big brother’s strategies are even more newbie, capable of turning the tide in quest scenarios. How is that like ReturnToSimplicity? Whatever profession you need, he’s got it…

Plus, the environment outside is too friendly. With so much protection, if you die, you must really be bad at this.

The leader, Old Banana, looked at them in confusion. “Huh? You don’t know? It’s not him playing on ReturnToSimplicity.”

ClearWind: “??? Isn’t that what the forums are saying?”

“I thought you knew.” Old Banana looked surprised. “Our deputy leader said it’s Momo playing on ReturnToSimplicity. You guys are so close to him, I assumed you knew!”

ClearWind was speechless.

ScarletFruit: “……???”

 Apple: “Ahem.”

Author’s note: 

ScarletFruit: I’m with my brother every day, and I had no idea they were so close! 

ClearWind: Unbelievable, just unbelievable. I don’t understand. 

Apple: Should I say something? 

ScarletFruit: Shut up, you!!

Old Banana watching from the sidelines: They didn’t even know this? Is this what they call a plastic friendship in legends?