107: Amazing mission speed

【Plain Blue Ant, ☆☆-LV5】

Although the opponent only had a two-star mark above its head, Shi Li did not let his guard down.

He raised his wrist, and a 【Probe】 shot out.

【Plain Blue Ant】

Balanced, Attack 40, 100/100

【Cooperation - Passive】: When all Plain Blue Ants on the field attack the same target, they gain 20 points of 【Healing】 (T5)

【Molting - Passive】: When the Plain Blue Ant's Health reaches 0, it can gain 2 instances of 80 points of 【Revival】 (T0)

"80 points of 【Revival】, isn't that equivalent to full Health revival?"

Shi Li couldn't help but complain.

He heard that some monsters would derive special terms based on their growth environment.

It seems this Plain Blue Ant evolved this 【Revival】 term based on the rules of this special area.

Although only 1+1 can be on the field, one card can 【Revive】 twice, which is equivalent to having six cards on the field.

This 【Plain Blue Ant】 did not have the concept of an ace card; the ace card position would not have extra bonuses. Even so, six cards exceeded the 4+1 limit.

"The term is very good, but unfortunately, it's useless."

Shi Li felt the opponent was not worth fearing.

It just so happened that the 【Red Blade Maiden】 had just acquired the skill 【Vast】.

As an ace, with 70 Attack and 200 Health, one 【Vast】 would instantly kill them.

【Healing】 was useless because Health reaching 0 would automatically invalidate the T5 recovery effect.

The 【Jumping Guard】 in the front row only needed to 【Defense】 throughout; the two cards on the opposite side combined could only deal 40 points of damage to it, easily withstanding five rounds.

Thinking of this, Shi Li sent a card player mark over.

Buzz...

The barrier immediately rose, and the card game began.

The card game proceeded smoothly, eliminating one 【Plain Blue Ant】 per round.

By the sixth round, the 【Jumping Guard】 was gone, and the 【Red Blade Maiden】 endured one normal attack to completely defeat the opponent.

As the card game ended, the large ant flipped onto its back and lay on the ground.

【Screech!!】

But before it died, it let out a mournful shriek.

In a flash, a large number of blue ants appeared from who knows where.

"Just in time, I haven't farmed monsters in a long time."

Shi Li looked at the expanse of 【☆☆-LV5】 without any fear.

He then checked his panel.

【Stamina】: 215/222 (1.8 ↑)

The consumption of this two-star monster card game was about 10 points of 【Stamina】.

If the card game had been played any slower, the consumption rate would have almost caught up with the recovery rate.

【Screech!】

Just then, a large ant rushed over.

Buzz...

The card game began again.

After more than an hour of intense battle, the entire stone forest finally quieted down.

"Not bad."

Shi Li surveyed the ground covered with large ants.

Although he hadn't 【Gathered】 yet, he already felt a sense of great harvest.

Looking at his 【Stamina】 again, it was just barely past halfway.

He bent down and placed his hand on a large ant at his feet; a flash of light appeared.

【Gather Failed, Stamina - 5】

"Oh, crap."

One large ant thus turned into light and completely disappeared.

After two breaks in between, Shi Li finally finished Gathering these ants.

He harvested a total of 17 material cards: 13 one-star and 4 two-star.

Among them, one two-star card was of good quality and seemed like it could fetch a good price.

With the ants dealt with, there were no more monsters in the entire strange stone forest.

To improve search efficiency, Shi Li directly climbed to the top of a large stone and proceeded by jumping.

Relying on a bird's-eye view, he could spot targets faster.

Indeed, after searching rapidly for more than ten minutes, he finally found something.

In the central area of the strange stone forest, there was a stone that looked different from the others.

Its blue color was particularly rich, and its texture was translucent, like crystal jade.

【Gather Failed, Stamina - 60】

"This thing is definitely problematic."

The high 【Stamina】 consumption immediately indicated it was not simple.

This was the most 【Stamina】-consuming Gatherable Shi Li had ever encountered.

If a card player with lower Stamina came, they wouldn't even be able to meet the Gathering threshold and couldn't complete the task.

He finally understood why Brother Han and Zhang-dui valued the 【Stamina】 stat so much back then.

...

Around the same time, at another mission point.

It was also a chaotic stone forest, but the stones here were fiery red.

Zhang He and a group of Pioneer Team members were fighting fiercely.

In addition to the members who had completed the prerequisite tasks, the team also included a group of elites from the Pioneer Team.

Each one was a special attacker, possessing their own specialized monster types, while also having decent general combat power.

But at this moment, they were in a tough battle.

And the objects of their struggle were fiery red Scarlet Slimes.

【Gah!】

In front of Zhang He, a Scarlet Slime's body suddenly exploded.

"Hoo..."

She let out a long breath.

This area also had special rules: all cards could not restore energy.

Logically, at such a time, the most suitable cards to appear would be Balanced, Berserker, and Wise types.

But these Scarlet Slimes carried a very annoying special effect, which was 【Quantum Entanglement】.

【Quantum Entanglement】: Lose 10 energy; if no energy, lose 10 Health.

If the target had no energy, they would lose Health.

This Health loss was "loss" and not "damage," so it was not affected by damage reduction or 【Defense】.

At the same time, it belonged to an instant effect with T4 priority, so T2's 【Purification】 was completely useless.

Because when you Purify, I haven't appeared yet.

Due to the existence of area rules + monster-specific terms, the Pioneer Team's combat was particularly difficult.

"What, tired?"

Zhong Xin had just finished a card game and asked Zhang He with a smile.

However, it was clear that his face also showed fatigue.

"Mind your own business."

Zhang He rolled her eyes at him.

"The situation is not optimistic. Is it still too difficult to challenge the 【Core Event】 here with a 【Gold】 rank?"

Zhong Xin's smile turned bitter: "You know, the High Priest said that the four divine stone areas—red, yellow, green, and blue—are arranged in order of difficulty, with the red divine stone being the easiest to obtain and the blue divine stone being the hardest."

"Yes, and we're already struggling so much just in the red zone..."

Zhang He sighed.

Crucially, they hadn't even seen a shadow of the divine stone yet.

It seemed they couldn't continue searching without clearing out these Scarlet Slimes.

"Don't be lazy, hurry up and continue."

Zhong Xin had already set his sights on another Scarlet Slime.

As leaders, they should lead by example when facing difficulties.

However, at this moment, a line of text popped up in front of all the card players present who had accepted the Gathering mission.

【Blue Divine Stone has been Gathered.】

【Event (Gather Divine Stone) current progress (1/4).】

"Ah?!" xN

They were all stunned for a moment.

What was going on? Did someone complete the task for them?