26: Chapter 26: The Professional Association Arrives! The Extremely Powerful Second Form of the BOSS!

Right before their eyes.

The BOSS in front of them not only changed its size instantly, but its attributes were also completely different.

[Steel Tyrant: King of Scrap] (Legendary BOSS)

Rank: 20

Health: 105,000/210,000

Damage: 388

Defense Value: 275 (+137)

Skills: Metal Absorption, Bullet Storm, Armor Overload

Not far away, Wang Fei leaned against the furnace, staring dumbfounded.

"Perverse, this is too perverse!"

Zhang Jian observed carefully.

Although the opponent looked more terrifying, and its defense and health had increased significantly,

its movement speed seemed inferior to before.

Perhaps this was the price?

With a thought, he took a step forward and thrust his sword out tentatively.

MISS!

-1323!

-1323!

-2037! (Critical Hit)

...

Watching the continuous damage numbers floating out, Zhang Jian's heart sank.

Damn it!

Without the guaranteed ten-fold critical hit bonus,

the damage of each sword strike looked mediocre. Furthermore, his base damage couldn't break through the defense to deal additional damage.

The damage from [Sword Qi Slash] looked quite pathetic.

Even with the effect of the Legendary [King of Solo], where almost every [Sword Qi Slash] could trigger a burst,

the cumulative damage was only barely over ten thousand.

However,

watching the opponent roar furiously yet unable to catch up with him, Zhang Jian did not panic.

In this case, he only needed to slowly wear it down to kill it.

It shouldn't be hard!

But just as he was thinking that,

the tentacles on the BOSS's back began to wave violently.

It seemed as if a massive suction force was being launched in all directions.

Various metal parts and discarded equipment on the surrounding ground floated up and flew toward the BOSS.

+2100!

+2100!

As it continued to absorb, numbers representing health recovery floated above the BOSS's head.

Zhang Jian immediately felt something was wrong.

This was likely the effect of the innate skill [Metal Absorption].

To actually be able to recover health by absorbing metal Materials was truly exaggerated.

The environment of this dungeon was itself an abandoned factory; the metal parts and equipment inside were countless.

They were essentially inexhaustible first-aid kits for the BOSS.

How was he supposed to crack this?

Zhang Jian fell into deep thought.

...

Outside the dungeon, Brother Hu was chatting with Wang Dong on his lounge chair.

He was in a very good mood, earning money while lying down.

Wang Dong had also just sold all the growth weapons Zhang Jian had forged, reaping a significant profit, so he too wore a smile.

But just then,

the arrival of two men in black broke the silence.

They approached the two and asked,

"Who is Meng Hu?"

Brother Hu squinted and sat up.

"Do you want to run the dungeon?"

The long-haired man spoke, "We're looking for Zhang Jian. He's in the dungeon right now, isn't he?"

Meng Hu became wary.

"I don't know any Zhang Jian or Wang Jian. What are you guys here for?"

The man with the buzz cut stepped forward and flashed his personal terminal.

"Professionals Association Debt Department. The debtor, Zhang Jian, has failed to repay his loan on time. We are here to seize the collateral."

Meng Hu got a bit flustered.

"Don't talk nonsense. How could someone with an overdue loan enter a dungeon? You must be mistaken."

The buzz-cut man stared at him, a hint of ferocity in his eyes.

"We've checked the nearby surveillance. It's confirmed that Zhang Jian has been here twice in the last 24 hours."

"If you're willing to cooperate, we can overlook the fact that you let someone into the dungeon privately."

At this, Meng Hu was both shocked and relieved.

"That's what you said, you won't hold it against me."

"Zhang Jian is indeed inside. He's been in for over an hour, so he should be coming out soon."

After saying that, he stepped aside,

indicating that the two could wait in front of the dungeon.

His actions made Wang Dong's face look very ugly.

But he couldn't very well lose his temper at the man.

He could only glare fiercely at the two newcomers.

The buzz-cut man only then noticed Wang Dong and said in surprise,

"Oh, Dong-ge, why are you here too?"

He was about to step forward to shake Wang Dong's hand but was stopped by the long-haired man,

who whispered in his ear,

"The department said Wang Dong might be involved with Zhang Jian. We shouldn't associate with him!"

The buzz-cut man's eyes narrowed, and he gave Wang Dong an apologetic smile.

Wang Dong sighed and instead stepped forward.

"Zhang Jian is a good kid. Why do you have to push him like this?"

The buzz-cut man smiled bitterly.

"Dong-ge, we're just acting according to the law."

"In less than an hour, we officially enter the compulsory enforcement stage. Zhang Jian must return the collateral."

Wang Dong's eyes lit up.

"One hour?"

"In other words, if Zhang Jian can pay off the loan within an hour, everything will be fine?"

The buzz-cut man nodded instinctively, "Of course!"

Wang Dong nodded, "I understand."

He immediately began operating his personal terminal.

...

Zhang Jian tried a few more times.

He found it still didn't work.

The BOSS's recovery method was simply too perverse.

With normal attacks, he couldn't keep up with the opponent's recovery speed at all.

Even if he killed the surrounding mobs to max out the progress of his critical hit affix,

once the BOSS activated the [Armor Overload] skill,

not only did its defense increase greatly, it even gained a certain amount of critical hit resistance.

This heavily discounted the originally 10-fold increased critical damage, making it still impossible to achieve a one-hit kill.

He had to make a change!

His mind raced as his hands never stopped moving.

Until a monster fell, and he instinctively checked the accumulated experience on his panel.

322,468!

It seemed enough to level up a skill?

Zhang Jian's heart stirred.

He retreated a few steps, dodging the BOSS's attack.

Besides its perverse recovery speed and defense,

this big guy also had a signature move: [Bullet Storm].

It could directly turn absorbed metal into high-speed bullets, firing them in all directions.

Zhang Jian was barely holding on with [Sword Qi Absorption].

From time to time, he had to disengage from combat to reactivate it from other mobs.

Fortunately, in this state, the BOSS's movement speed was relatively slow.

After escaping the combat zone, Zhang Jian immediately poured all his experience into the skill.

[Sword Qi Slash] (excellence) (+6)

LV5/5

When using sword-type weapons for normal attacks, there is a 100% chance to add seven additional strikes, dealing 300% (+300%) of the original attack as Sword Qi True Damage.

Max Level Trait:

[Sword Qi Erosion]: Each Sword Qi hit generates a Sword Qi Mark, which can reduce the target's healing/recovery effects by 10%, stacking up to 9 times.

(Upgrade conditions: Omitted)

Yes!

Zhang Jian shouted inwardly.

With this effect, there's hope!

To be safe, he didn't upgrade the critical hit affix first.

Instead, he charged directly at the BOSS.

MISS!

-1764!

-2716! (Critical Hit)

...

Although the damage increase wasn't huge,

the BOSS's body was now being engraved with small, vertical sword marks.

When it absorbed metal again to try and recover,

+1680!

+1050!

+630!

...

The health recovery numbers clearly dropped and finally stabilized at 630 points.

And as Zhang Jian attacked again, this number continued to drop.

Eventually, only 210 points remained.

Zhang Jian's eyes were full of excitement.

It actually stacks multiple times!

Not only that.

As the [Sword Qi Erosion] effect deepened,

more and more Sword Qi Marks covered the BOSS's body.

The super high defense and critical resistance brought by [Armor Overload] also seemed to be constantly decreasing.

Until it stabilized at a certain level, Zhang Jian's heart settled.

It seemed this was the limit.

He glanced at the remaining dozen or so mobs on the field.

This was the last hope.

He carefully farmed the critical hit progress.

Until the last mob fell, the [The More Crits the Merrier] affix finally reached 100%.

Zhang Jian raised his sword and walked toward the BOSS step by step.

The decisive moment is now!