25: Chapter 25 The Scarecrow's Miracle

The chaos dice tumbled on the ground a few times before finally coming to a stop.

Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the pitch-black dice.

The face pointing upward was a blood-red number—

"4"

[System Prompt: chaos dice effect triggered—4 points: All entities shrink by 50%, lasting 60 seconds. The effect applies randomly to both allies and enemies.]

"4 points?"

Chen Ergou was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.

"Oh no! It's the shrinking effect!"

Before the words faded, a gray light erupted from the dice, instantly enveloping the entire battlefield.

The Demonized Wolf King took the brunt of it, shrouded in the gray light.

"Awoo?"

It let out a puzzled howl, and then... its body began to shrink.

The 15-meter-tall behemoth turned into 7.5 meters in the blink of an eye.

Although it was still huge, it was half the size it had been before.

"It worked!"

"The wolf king has shrunk!"

The players cheered.

But the next second, their cheers came to an abrupt halt.

Because that gray light hadn't just covered the Demonized Wolf King; it had enveloped every creature on the battlefield—including the players themselves.

"I... why did I shrink too?"

"Me too!"

"What kind of effect is this?!"

The players realized with horror that their own bodies were shrinking as well.

The 1.8-meter-tall burly men became 90-centimeter-tall dwarves.

The 2-meter-tall warriors became 1-meter-tall little runts.

Every creature on the entire battlefield, whether player or Demonized Wolf, had shrunk by half.

"So... this is the side effect?"

Chen Ergou looked at his shrunken body, unable to laugh or cry.

"The effect applies randomly to both allies and enemies... So that's how it is..."

The Demonized Wolf King was also stunned.

It looked down at its "small" body, then looked up at those "small" humans, feeling a bit confused for a moment.

But soon, it reacted.

Although its size had decreased, its strength hadn't diminished.

Moreover, those humans had also shrunk, making them easier to deal with.

"Awoo—"

The Demonized Wolf King let out an excited howl and charged toward the players again.

"Damn it! It can still move!"

"Run!"

The players fled in terror, but their little legs were no match for the Demonized Wolf King.

Seeing that they were about to be wiped out again, Chen Ergou had a flash of inspiration. He took a substitute scarecrow out of his backpack and threw it hard.

"Scarecrow! Help!"

The substitute scarecrow landed and instantly turned into a huge scarecrow—well, "huge" relative to the currently shrunken players.

In reality, it was only two meters tall.

But a two-meter-tall scarecrow was already a "giant" on this battlefield.

The Demonized Wolf King paused, its attention drawn by the substitute scarecrow.

It tilted its head, looking at this strange "creature," seemingly thinking about what this thing was.

Seeing the Demonized Wolf King staring at it, the substitute scarecrow suddenly spoke.

"Brother Wolf King, listen to me."

Demonized Wolf King: "?"

"Don't you get bored staying in this forest every day?"

Demonized Wolf King: "??"

"Eating, drinking, and fighting every day—what's the point of a life like that?"

Demonized Wolf King: "???"

"Why not learn baking from me and open a bakery? I guarantee it'll be more profitable than being a BOSS!"

Demonized Wolf King: "..."

Players: "..."

The whole scene fell silent.

Everyone stared at the substitute scarecrow in astonishment, then looked at the Demonized Wolf King.

What... what was going on?

The substitute scarecrow continued to ramble on: "Think about it, you're a world-class BOSS right now. While it's impressive, the risks are huge, right?"

"Players come to fight you every day. Don't you find it annoying?"

"But if you open a bakery, it'll be different!"

"Players will come to your shop to buy bread. Not only will they not fight you, but they'll also give you money!"

"What do you call this? This is called a transformation! This is called industrial upgrading!"

The Demonized Wolf King tilted its head, seemingly listening carefully to the substitute scarecrow.

A trace of... confusion flashed in its eyes?

"Besides, baking is so much fun!"

The substitute scarecrow continued, "Flour, eggs, butter, sugar—mix them together, put them in the oven, and with a 'ding,' fragrant bread is ready!"

"That aroma smells much better than human flesh!"

"You can make whole-wheat bread, cream bread, pork floss bread, red bean bread..."

"You can even open chain franchises and open branches all over the world!"

"By then, you'll be the CEO of the Wolf King Bakery, reaching the pinnacle of life!"

The Demonized Wolf King's gaze became increasingly confused.

It lowered its head, looking at its claws, seemingly contemplating something.

"Can I... can I really open a bakery?"

It actually spoke!

Although its voice was very hoarse, it was definitely human language!

The players were all stunned.

"Holy crap! The wolf king talked!"

"This substitute scarecrow... is actually doing career planning for the wolf king?"

"Hahaha! This is too funny!"

"The wolf king was swayed?"

Seeing the Demonized Wolf King react, the substitute scarecrow became even more enthusiastic.

"Of course you can!"

"Brother Wolf King, you have the strength and the courage!"

"As long as you're willing, I can teach you how to bake!"

"First, we need to prepare flour..."

The substitute scarecrow began to explain baking knowledge in a continuous stream, from the choice of flour to fermentation techniques, from oven temperature to decoration art—it spoke very eloquently.

The Demonized Wolf King was fascinated, actually lying down to listen to the substitute scarecrow's lecture.

Its tail was even wagging, like an attentive student.

The players looked at each other, unsure whether they should take the opportunity to attack.

"What... what is this situation?"

"Should we attack it?"

"It seems to be listening to the substitute scarecrow's lecture..."

"Strike while it's down?"

"That doesn't seem right... It feels a bit like bullying..."

Ye Liuli was also stunned. She looked at the Demonized Wolf King lying on the ground listening intently, then looked at the rambling substitute scarecrow, not knowing what to do for a moment.

Chen Ergou watched from the rear, dumbfounded.

"This... this substitute scarecrow... is too awesome..."

"It actually swayed the wolf king?"

"System, what is the origin of this substitute scarecrow?"

[System Prompt: substitute scarecrow, built-in AI voice system, equipped with random dialogue function. Specific dialogue content is generated randomly by AI based on the scene; the host cannot control it.]

"Randomly generated? That's too random!"

Chen Ergou was unable to laugh or cry.

But regardless, the substitute scarecrow had successfully stalled the Demonized Wolf King, buying valuable time for the players.

"Guild Leader! Now!"

Chen Ergou shouted.

Ye Liuli snapped back to reality and immediately ordered: "All units, listen up! Go all out!"

"Attack the Demonized Wolf King's eyes! That's its weak point!"

The players raised their weapons one after another, launching attacks at the Demonized Wolf King's eyes.

"Fireball!"

"Arrow Rain!"

"Berserker Slash!"

"Backstab!"

Countless attacks landed on the Demonized Wolf King, especially its eyes—that eye slashed by Iron Wall became the players' main target.

"Awoo—"

The Demonized Wolf King felt the pain and let out a miserable shriek.

It wanted to fight back, but the substitute scarecrow was still chattering in its ear.

"Brother Wolf King, you have to pay attention to the oven temperature. Too high and it will burn, too low and it won't be cooked..."

"Also, when kneading the dough, you have to use strength, but not too much, otherwise the dough will get tough..."

The Demonized Wolf King was so annoyed that it felt dizzy, unable to focus on fighting.

"Shut up!"

It roared and swiped a claw at the substitute scarecrow.

"Boom—"

The substitute scarecrow was smashed into pieces.

But at that very moment, the players' attacks arrived.

"This is it!"

"Go all out!"

"Kill!"

Countless skills landed on the Demonized Wolf King simultaneously, especially its eyes.

"Puff—"

The Demonized Wolf King's other eye was also blinded.

"Awoo—"

It let out a shrill scream and began to struggle frantically.

But having lost its vision, it couldn't lock onto the players' positions at all.

"It worked!"

"It's blind!"

"Keep attacking!"

The players' morale soared, and they attacked frantically.

The Demonized Wolf King's HP dropped rapidly.

90%... 80%... 70%... 60%... 50%...

"Almost there!"

"Give it another push!"

"It's almost done for!"

The players shouted excitedly.

But just then, the Demonized Wolf King suddenly stopped struggling.

It howled at the sky, the black scales on its body began to glow, and a terrifying aura erupted from it.

[System Announcement: Demonized Wolf King HP dropped to 50%, entering the second phase! Unlocking new skill: Wolf Pack Summon!]

"What?!"

"There's a second phase?!"

"This BOSS is too insane!"

The players' expressions changed drastically.

The Demonized Wolf King opened its bloody maw and let out a heaven-shaking roar.

"Awoo—"

Following its roar, countless Demonized Wolves surged out of the Dark Forest again.

This time, the number was even higher than the first time!

"Damn it! It summoned reinforcements!"

"What do we do?"

"We're almost out of mana!"

The players fell into despair.

Ye Liuli gritted her teeth. She knew the real battle had just begun.

"All units, listen up!"

"Warriors, hold off the wolf pack!"

"Mages and Archers, continue attacking the Demonized Wolf King!"

"Assassins, find a chance to sneak attack!"

"We cannot lose this battle!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

The players shouted in unison and threw themselves back into the battle.

Chen Ergou stood in the rear, watching the fierce battle on the battlefield, and clenched his fists.

"System, is there any other way?"

[System Prompt: The host can use remaining items or wait for the daily refresh.]

"Daily refresh?"

Chen Ergou checked the time; there were still several hours until the system refreshed.

"It's too late..."

He gritted his teeth and took out the last few chaos dice from his backpack.

"I have to gamble on this!"

He looked at Ye Liuli and shouted: "Guild Leader! Catch!"

He threw another chaos dice over.

Ye Liuli caught the dice, looked at Chen Ergou, and a flash of complex emotion crossed her eyes.

"Ergou..."

"Throw it!"

Chen Ergou shouted, "Trust in luck!"

Ye Liuli took a deep breath and threw the chaos dice toward the Demonized Wolf King.

The dice tumbled in the air, and everyone held their breath.

What number would it roll this time?

Would it be the speed boost of 1, or the invincibility of 5?

Would it be the instant death of 6, or...

The dice landed on the ground, and the face pointing upward was a blood-red number—

"6"

[System Prompt: chaos dice effect triggered—6 points: Single-target instant death. The effect applies randomly to both allies and enemies.]

A blood-red light erupted from the dice and shot toward the battlefield.

Everyone widened their eyes, staring intently at that light.

Who would it land on?

The Demonized Wolf King?

Or... some player?