37: Chapter 37 Goblin Knight Ironjaw (Hero), Killing Instinct (Orange Epic)

Before them lay a huge cave, much larger than all the camp caves they had passed through before, measuring a full four to five hundred meters across.

The rock wall overhead hung high in the darkness, with several thick stalactites dangling from a ceiling whose top could not be seen.

The smell of smoke in the air was several times stronger than outside, mixed with the pungent, gamey odor unique to large beasts, hitting them in a wave of heat.

Dozen of crooked tents were scattered throughout the cave, a size larger than the simple tents seen earlier.

A small bonfire burned in each of the four corners, while a giant bonfire blazed in the center, its flames leaping more than three meters high and casting mottled light and shadow across the entire cave.

Goblins were everywhere in the camp.

Hobgoblins wandered around carrying bone clubs, Goblin Shamans danced twisted dances around the bonfires, and Goblin Hunters crouched on rocks, sharpening the strings of their short bows.

These elite-Rank Goblins were densely scattered across every corner of the camp, easily numbering over a hundred at a quick glance!

And beside the giant bonfire right in the center sat a Goblin that looked like a giant.

Sitting down, his height already exceeded one and a half meters, and standing up he would probably approach three meters.

He wore a suit of pitch-black, heavy battle armor, the plates engraved with rough and ferocious scratches, flickering in the firelight of the bonfire.

His exposed skin was dark brown, as rough as old tree bark, and most of his face was concealed by a ferocious helmet improvised from the skull of some large prey, leaving only a pair of triangular eyes visible through the gaps in the bone.

Those eyes flashed with a cunning and cruel light in the reflection of the bonfire, unlike the turbid and flustered eyes of ordinary Goblins, showing instead a calm, intelligent ferocity.

Beside his hand, deeply thrust into the rock of the ground, was a pitch-black long spear.

The shaft of the spear was thick, tied all over with faded fragments of battle flags and strings of withered finger bones.

The long spear was nearly five meters in length, its tip sharp, emitting a chilling glint under the light of the bonfire.

This Goblin was leaning against a giant wolf.

The giant wolf crouched on the ground, its shoulder height only a hair's breadth shorter than the black-armored Goblin.

Its whole body was covered in grayish-black fur, the mane along its spine standing straight up like steel needles, emitting a dim luster under the firelight.

Hanging from the giant wolf's flanks were two round leather shields and several bags of short spears for throwing, and tied behind the saddle was a tattered horn, its leather surface so worn that its original color could no longer be seen.

With its breathing, the giant wolf's body heaved slightly, and with every heave, the outline of the large muscles under its ribs could be seen sliding beneath its grayish-black fur, like a rhythmically pulsating small mountain.

Seeing this black-armored Goblin, Rebecca, Shen Qingci, and the other two held their breath simultaneously.

There was a hint of solemnity in Lance's voice as he lowered it and said: "It's a Boss!"

Shen Qingci looked at the huge body leaning against the giant wolf in the distance, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly.

The light of the bonfire flickered across her pure, pretty face, and her eyes also carried a look of solemnity: "Judging by this appearance, it should be a Goblin Knight. I wonder what its Rank and stats are?"

Rebecca tried to check the Goblin's stats from afar, but she soon shook her head and said helplessly: "No good. The distance is a bit far, so I can't probe the stats. Besides, there are elite-Rank Goblins all around. If we approach directly, we'll definitely alert all the Goblins."

The taciturn Zhu Tongchen stood at the rear side of the party, quietly observing the distant Boss all along.

At this moment, he slowly spoke, his voice not loud but very steady: "I'll sneak over and take a look."

Hearing this, Rebecca, Shen Qingci, and Lance all frowned.

Lance turned his head to look at Zhu Tongchen, his round face taking on a bit more seriousness: "What Rank is your stealth skill? Make sure you don't get caught. If you're too far away, I won't be able to heal you."

Zhu Tongchen calmly explained: "It's fine. My stealth skill is a legendary-Rank skill rewarded by my Family. During the newbie phase, even a hero-Rank Boss can't see through it."

Hearing this, the three of them felt a little more at ease.

Lu Yang, standing to the side, had not spoken all this time, nor had he offered any opinions.

He simply leaned against the rock wall, arms crossed, quietly watching the four of them discuss.

This could also be considered Lu Yang's test for them.

As for whether Zhu Tongchen would fail?

Lu Yang wasn't worried in his heart.

Even if he really got discovered, Lu Yang was confident he could save him.

Just kidding, as long as Lu Yang turned on his dual auras, all the monsters would definitely attack him first.

Even if they were truly set on attacking Zhu Tongchen, Lu Yang's speed was likewise extremely fast.

Max-stacked War Frenzy added a full 500% movement speed, and Streamer Speed boosted movement speed by another 300%.

That added up to a massive 800% movement speed bonus!

That was almost ten times the speed.

With his current stats, running a hundred meters would take at most one second!

After making the decision, Zhu Tongchen didn't say anything more.

Black fog surged from around his body, silently swallowing his tall, slender figure.

The surrounding air was rather quiet; none of the four, including Lu Yang, could tell whether Zhu Tongchen had actually set off.

After less than a minute of such quiet, in the darkness, the familiar black fog suddenly emerged and solidified in front of them, and Zhu Tongchen's figure reappeared.

He took a deep breath, the expression on his face still quite calm, and his tone as brief as ever: "I've scouted it out."

He raised his wrist, bringing up a projected light screen on his personal terminal, and displayed the monster's panel stats in front of everyone.

[Goblin Knight · Iron Jaw (Hero)]: Rank 7, HP 13000, Attack 185.

Seeing these stats, Lance took a deep breath, grinned and said: "Goodness... 185 attack, that motherfucker is outrageous!"

Lu Yang also nodded slightly.

He was already Rank 9 now, but his attack power was still not as high as Iron Jaw's.

You must know that his equipment was actually quite good, and he had previously obtained the first-clear reward for the Withered Forest—a full 60 points of free attributes, all of which he had added to strength!

One could imagine just how strong this hero-Rank Boss's attack power was.

Zhu Tongchen calmly analyzed: "As a hero-Rank Boss, this Goblin Knight definitely has area-of-effect attacks. Moreover, looking at the pockets on the giant wolf's flanks, there are short spears for throwing, so he likely possesses ranged skills. Judging by the intelligence of a hero-Rank Boss, he will very likely target classmate Shen Qingci and classmate Lance in the back row. With his attack, can you guys block it?"

Shen Qingci thought for a moment and said with a firm tone: "Shouldn't be a problem. The defense boost from my Ice Armor is very high."

After all, her Soul Talent could increase the effectiveness of all frost-type skills by 200%. As a defense-type frost skill, Ice Armor was likewise within this amplification range.

Don't look at Shen Qingci as just a mage; once she put on Ice Armor, her defense was even stronger than that of average tanks.

Lance furrowed his small round face, his expression so conflicted that his features scrunched together: "I'm not so sure... After all, my Soul Talent doesn't boost defensive capabilities."

Hearing Lance's words, Rebecca raised an eyebrow and said confidently: "I have a damage-sharing skill; I won't let you die."

Hearing this, both Zhu Tongchen and Lance's eyes lit up.

In fact, Zhu Tongchen had also been silently evaluating in his heart whether he could withstand the AoE attack,

since his Soul Talent was similarly purely offensive-oriented.

[Killing Instinct (Orange Epic)]: Every time a critical hit is dealt, gain one layer of [Killing Instinct] effect. Each layer increases critical strike rate by 5%, critical strike damage by 20%, and attack speed by 10%, stacking up to a maximum of 10 layers, lasting for 30 minutes.

However, since Rebecca had a damage-sharing skill, his survival pressure was indeed reduced a lot.

The few of them looked at each other, eager expressions surfacing in their eyes.

Although crushing elite Goblins all the way just now was satisfying, to be honest, it was far from fully entertaining.

What could truly make people excited still had to be a Boss fight!

Shen Qingci smiled, her pure and sweet smile actually carrying a hint of sharpness: "Do you want to give it a try? Anyway, classmate Lu Yang is here to back us up."

Lu Yang had been leaning against the rock wall without speaking. Hearing Shen Qingci's words, he couldn't help smiling.

He straightened his body, patted the stone dust off his hands, and said in a casual and calm tone: "It's fine if you want to try it, as long as you can save your own lives. If you really encounter a very dangerous situation, I'll speed up and kill this Boss."

Hearing this, the eyes of several people suddenly lit up.

Lance gritted his teeth, slammed his staff onto the ground, and said: "Let's do it!"