101: I'm waiting for the CD

“You two take a break, it’s almost done.”

Cheng Zhen handed two bottles of happy water to Brother Tian and Lizi.

“Ah? Is it almost built?” Brother Tian felt a strange sense of loss.

People from the Flower-Planting Nation have a bit of a construction bloodline in them. They love farming, anticipating young seedlings growing into trees bearing abundant fruits.

The title of Infrastructure Maniac is not for show either; towering buildings rise from flat ground, and countless mansions reach the sky.

And all of this was built with resources they obtained from logging, to the point where Brother Tian had become somewhat addicted to cutting trees.

“Yes, this dungeon is almost over.”

Cheng Zhen said calmly, “I’ll dig a hole later, and you two can hide in it.”

“Huh?”

The two were puzzled. Wasn’t it almost dismantled? Why hide in a hole?

“Haven’t you noticed that there are fewer Snowmen recently?” Cheng Zhen asked.

Brother Tian and Lizi exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Because Snowmen would be stomped on by the Survivors as soon as they appeared, the two hadn't paid attention to the Snowman problem for a long time.

But Cheng Zhen knew very well, because he and Buster were very aware of the Survivors' status.

The Survivors had been frozen far fewer times in recent days, which was unscientific.

Because there were more people, and they walked more tiles, there should have been more and more Snowmen created.

But fewer people were getting frozen, which was abnormal.

Cheng Zhen knew very well that even though this BOSS didn't look human, its intelligence was definitely not low.

Just like how Mountain Child used the mechanism of a three-day limit for the Raiders to barely survive, it would be a miracle if the BOSS of this five-star dungeon just let itself be captured.

From the decrease in the number of Snowmen, it was possible that the Snow Giant Beast had the ability to store its subordinates.

Then, at the very end, the number of Snowmen they faced could be astonishing.

Brother Tian and Lizi were both good people, diligently helping to cut wood for 20 days, plus they still had a points contract, so it was better to arrange a safe place for them.

“Is there anything you need me to do?” Brother Tian thought for a moment and still asked.

Cheng Zhen glanced at him and said, “It’s very dangerous. If you’re not afraid of death, you can stay up here with me.”

“Heh, the bold ones thrive, the timid ones starve.” Brother Tian smiled. “If we were afraid of death, we wouldn’t be Raiders. Besides, aren’t you staying outside too? Someone as powerful as you definitely wouldn’t just wait for death outside.”

“I want to earn more performance points, so I have a better chance of getting a special title. Otherwise, after all this work for so many days, just getting basic points, I’d be kicking myself black and blue in the middle of the night.” Brother Tian admitted.

Lizi also thought it made a lot of sense and asked Cheng Zhen if he needed her help. This girl looked a bit shy but was quite adventurous.

Cheng Zhen agreed to both of them, assigned them tasks, and then quietly waited for the BOSS to make its move.

Time passed minute by minute, and the diligent Survivors were already nearing the edge of Ice Snow City.

Just as Lizi’s strategy stated, the outer perimeter of Ice Snow City was entirely composed of towering, thick ice crystals, firmly encasing the entire area.

Cheng Zhen went and placed several Furnaces, just waiting for the Survivors to gather enough resources to upgrade them and melt the ice crystals.

And as he placed the last Furnace, the Snow Giant Beast, which had endured for a long time, suddenly began to act.

Dozens, even hundreds, of Snowmen suddenly appeared around the Furnaces, drawing warmth from them like moths to a flame.

[Beep, you have received 13 stacks of ‘Cold Curse’.]

[Beep, you have received 18 stacks of ‘Cold Curse’.]

…

Seeing the curses rapidly stacking on him, Cheng Zhen immediately understood the BOSS's plan.

This guy also knew how to use dungeon mechanics!

When Snowmen touched a person and shattered, they would apply curse stacks to the person (or summoned creature) that destroyed them.

And destruction caused by items (bonfires, Furnaces) would apply curse stacks to the item's owner. This had been confirmed by several Raiders before, which was why they were so hesitant.

The Snow Giant Beast actually knew this mechanism and was trying to use Cheng Zhen’s Furnaces to stack curses on him.

As long as Cheng Zhen was fully cursed, he would be completely at its mercy!

Cheng Zhen frowned and immediately ordered the Survivors to surround the Furnaces, knocking down all the Snowmen before they melted.

All the Survivors worked together and quickly dispersed the surrounding Snowmen.

The Snow Giant Beast didn’t care, immediately roared, and summoned another group of Snowmen to another side.

Because their position was already in the outer area, they were no longer restricted by grid movement within the inner fortress, so these Snowmen had become like Mundo, free to go wherever they pleased!

Cheng Zhen quickly acted, pulling out another group of customers to block them.

Although they were knocked down quickly, a few stacks were still applied, reducing Cheng Zhen’s movement speed by 20%.

The Snow Giant Beast unhesitatingly sent Snowmen towards the third Furnace.

“It even knows how to play tricks.”

Cheng Zhen stared at the BOSS, whose beast face even showed a hint of smugness.

With his movement speed reduced, Cheng Zhen definitely couldn’t catch up to those Snowmen, and naturally couldn’t pull out customers to block them.

The same was true for the Survivors. Although the Furnaces could remove their freezing effect, that only happened when 90 stacks triggered the freezing reaction. When the stacks were below 90, the slowing effect on them could not be removed.

Both sides were slowed, making it impossible to catch up to the Snowmen that the Snow Giant Beast had sent falling from the sky.

The Snow Giant Beast became even more smug, its gaze on Cheng Zhen already contemplating how to torment him for amusement later.

“Do you really think I have no way to deal with this?”

Cheng Zhen looked at him coldly, raised his right hand, and revealed a walkie-talkie.

“High-tech product, something your beast brain can’t decipher!”

“Buster, shut down all Furnaces!”

Buster obeyed, immediately shutting down all Furnaces.

I went to confirm in the game, it can be turned off. After turning it off, the temperature instantly drops.

The temperature drop and rise of this thing are equally unscientific; there’s no concept of preheating or heat dissipation. It turns on and off instantly; with the flick of a switch, it freezes on the spot.

The Furnaces that were steaming hot one second ago instantly turned into ice lumps the next, leaving the Snowmen surrounding them for nothing.

“Heh… heh.”

The Snow Giant Beast let out a broken, mocking laugh, “You… turned… it… off, what… else… can… you… do?”

With a wave of its claw, the Snowmen surrounded Cheng Zhen.

If you keep them on, I’ll keep sending them until you freeze to death.

If you turn off the Furnaces, you can’t unfreeze, so how will you get out? I’ll wear you down with Snowmen.

This was an open scheme, leaving him with no good choices.

Cheng Zhen also looked at it with new respect.

“I didn’t expect your beast-shaped monster to be more intelligent than a human-shaped one.”

“Then, let the Old Shaman learn some military tactics from you!”

[Warriors, come to my side!]

All the Warrior points accumulated over more than 20 days were thrown out.

“Hail, King!!!”

Hundreds of Warriors raised their weapons, their unified roar shaking the clouds.

[Mutemacha, become my subordinate!]

The Old Shaman’s figure slowly condensed, then he raised the scepter in his hand and activated his ability—

Green flames ignited on the Warriors, their scorching heat rising to the sky.

Looking at the somewhat stunned Snow Giant Beast, Cheng Zhen smiled.

“These past twenty-plus days, I was waiting for cooldowns, what were you waiting for?”