37: Chapter 37 The Bones of Greed and the Million Insect Swarm

The night was as dark as ink, and the wasteland on the outskirts of Emerald City was shrouded in thick fog.

Qin Ji's figure moved through the withered yellow grass, the hem of his trench coat snapping in the wind with every step. After casually tossing a gold coin to a roadside beggar, he didn't linger in the bustling urban area but headed straight for the black wasteland known as the "Newbie Forbidden Zone."

A nauseating, sour smell began to permeate the air, and dense holes appeared on the ground, looking like festering scars on the earth.

[Endless Insect Hive].

This was a breeding ground for countless arthropod monsters, and a Hell for those with trypophobia.

Qin Ji stopped and took out the skill book he had just obtained from his backpack. The dark gold cover shimmered with an eerie luster, as if it were the skin of some living creature.

[Skill Book: Undead Calamity · Corpse Explosion (Dark Gold Grade)]

[Effect: Detonate a corpse to deal True Damage equal to 30% of the corpse's Max HP to enemies within a 5-meter radius. No cooldown. Mana cost: 10 points per cast.]

"What a... thoughtful gift."

A satisfied curve formed at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth. In a place where monsters swarmed like a tide, this skill was simply the switch for a perpetual motion machine. He clapped his hands together, and the skill book turned into a streak of black light that entered the space between his eyebrows.

Next, he hung the [Bone of Greed] at his waist. The moment this seemingly ordinary piece of bone came into contact with Qin Ji's aura, a strange purple glow flashed across its surface, as if a hungry eye was slowly opening.

"Come on, it's dinner time."

Qin Ji raised his staff and fired a basic Fireball at the nearest cave entrance.

Boom!

The flames exploded, not dealing much damage, but it was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil.

Rustle, rustle...

A scalp-numbing friction sound came from deep underground. A few seconds later, a black tide surged out of the hole—it was tens of thousands of [Iron-Jawed Soldier Ants] the size of washbasins. They waved their sharp mandibles, their compound eyes flashing with bloodthirsty red light in the darkness, instantly filling every corner of Qin Ji's vision.

Qin Ji didn't retreat a single step. The boundless insect tide was reflected in his purple-gold pupils, and he instead showed a hint of fanaticism.

He raised his left hand and made a grasping motion toward the soldier ant charging at the very front.

"Die."

A Shadow Bolt pierced through the soldier ant's head.

[Killed Iron-Jawed Soldier Ant (LV.12), Experience +120.]

The moment the corpse fell, Qin Ji's finger hooked slightly.

[Corpse Explosion!]

Bang!!

The soldier ant's corpse instantly swelled and burst. Dark red flesh mixed with shattered carapace swept across the surroundings like a high-explosive grenade.

-3200! (True Damage)

-3200!

-3200!

A dense cluster of white damage numbers instantly connected into a screen of light.

Centered on that corpse, the health bars of over a dozen soldier ants nearby were instantly emptied. And their deaths created new corpses.

The light in Qin Ji's eyes grew even more fervent. He tapped his staff repeatedly, as if conducting a symphony of death.

Bang bang bang bang bang—!!

A series of explosions echoed across the wasteland, and the black insect tide seemed to be wiped away by an invisible giant hand.

Just then, the [Bone of Greed] at his waist vibrated violently, and a purple notification box that only Qin Ji could see popped up.

[Bone of Greed triggered! Plunder successful!]

[Obtained Passive Skill: Chitinous Shell (LV.1)]

[Chitinous Shell: Your skin hardens, Physical Defense +10.]

"A drop already in the first wave?"

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow. A 1% probability was practically an inevitability when faced with such a large base number.

He didn't stop, continuing to push deeper into the insect tide. Every step he took was accompanied by chunks of flesh flying everywhere.

...

Meanwhile, on the official forum of the Myriad Realms game, the discussion about "Snow Emperor falling from grace" had already exploded into a frenzy.

The player with the ID [Game Brother Dong] seemed to have caught the traffic code, posting three pinned threads in a row, with every line filled with schadenfreude:

"Rational analysis: Snow Emperor's strength was only due to the mechanical dividends of the Newbie Village. Once he enters the main city without those one-time items, he's just an ordinary high-level player. This level drop is the best proof! He can't even get past the first floor of the Tower of Heaven; it's simply a joke!"

Below the post, countless voices of agreement rose one after another.

"Indeed, the hype was too much before."

"He probably bought some kind of cheat and got sanctioned by the System, right?"

"This is karma. Wasn't he very arrogant when he was snatching our bosses before?"

Amidst the mockery, an ID named [Futou Shield Mountain] stood out particularly, frantically arguing back under every hate post:

"Bullshit! Boss Snow Emperor must have been delayed by something!"

"Everyone makes mistakes! Do you guys even know what a tactical level drop is?"

"I believe Boss Snow Emperor's setback is only temporary; he will definitely rise again!"

However, these pale defenses were quickly drowned out by the spit of mockery.

Futou Club Base.

The burly Futou Shield Mountain looked at the malicious comments on the screen, trembling with rage, wishing he could crawl through the internet cable and give those people a shield bash.

Beep beep.

A private message popped up; the sender was [Futou Enchantress].

"Stop posting that nonsense online. It only makes people think our Futou Guild members have IQ issues."

Futou Shield Mountain was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied: "Sis, even you think Snow Emperor is finished?"

"Data doesn't lie. The level drop is a fact, and the failure in the Tower of Heaven is also a fact."

Futou Shield Mountain looked at the cold text, temporarily speechless. But the image of that figure who took on the entire server alone in the Newbie Village surfaced in his mind. He gritted his teeth and finally replied:

"I don't believe it. Even if a lion takes a nap, it's still a lion when it wakes up."

...

Deep within the Endless Insect Hive.

Qin Ji was unaware of the turmoil on the forum. Even if he knew, he would probably just treat it as a joke.

At this moment, he was completely immersed in a pleasure called "harvesting."

After half an hour of slaughter, more than three thousand soldier ants had died at his hands.

The trigger notification of the [Bone of Greed] was like the most beautiful piece of music, sounding every few dozen seconds.

[Plunder successful! 'Chitinous Shell' upgraded to LV.5 (Physical Defense +50)]

[Plunder successful! Obtained Passive: Acid Resistance (Weak)]

[Plunder successful! Obtained Attribute: Strength +1]

Although the value increased each time wasn't much, the feeling of watching the status panel swell bit by bit was enough to be addictive.

Just as Qin Ji was preparing to go deeper into the core of the insect hive, several golden System announcements suddenly streaked across the sky, forcibly interrupting his rhythm.

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to 'Hegemony Guild' for taking the First Clear of the 'Land of Mists' dungeon on Hard Difficulty! This announcement is made to encourage all players to learn from them!] ×3

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player 'Richest Under Heaven' for leading his team to take the First Clear of the 'Land of Mists' dungeon on Nightmare Difficulty! Reward: Gold Grade Equipment Treasure Chest ×1!] ×3

A series of announcements flooded the screen; clearly, the major guilds were starting to make their moves.

The Land of Mists was the first Level 10 dungeon around Emerald City. Taking the first clear not only meant top-tier equipment but was also a symbol of a guild's strength.

Qin Ji glanced at the announcement, his gaze lingering on the words "Gold Grade Equipment" for half a second before he lost interest.

"A group of people fighting tooth and nail for a few pieces of transitional equipment..."

He shook his head and casually smashed an [Acid Beetle] attempting a sneak attack with his staff. Looking at the "+1 Agility" prompt above his head, he chuckled:

"How can that compare to the practicality of directly snatching attributes?"

Just then, the ground suddenly vibrated violently.

The previously flat ground of the insect hive began to bulge, and soil churned as if some massive creature was about to burst out of the earth.

Rumble!

A hill-like mound of earth exploded, and a giant soldier ant over five meters tall crawled out. Its entire body was dark gold, and corrosive venom flowed from its massive mandibles. Its six legs were thrust into the ground like steel pillars.

[Iron-Jawed Queen's Guard (Elite Boss)]

[Rank: LV.15]

[HP: 80,000/80,000]

"Finally, something decent."

The laziness in Qin Ji's eyes instantly vanished.

An Elite Boss meant a higher plunder probability and... rarer affixes.

The giant soldier ant was clearly enraged by the human who had slaughtered its subjects. It let out a piercing screech, and its massive body erupted with a terrifying speed that defied its size, turning into a golden afterimage as it lunged straight at Qin Ji!

"Too slow."

Qin Ji stood his ground, merely sidestepping slightly.

Whoosh!

The massive mandibles, carrying a foul wind, brushed past the tip of his nose, and a few strands of hair were severed by the gust.

At the moment they crossed paths, the staff in Qin Ji's hand suddenly transformed into a pitch-black dagger, and he stabbed it hard into the joint of the giant ant's carapace with a backhand strike.

Pshhh!

Green fluid gushed out.

But this was only the beginning.

Qin Ji used the momentum to leap up, his body tracing a strange arc in mid-air as he landed on the giant ant's broad back.

"Let's see what kind of surprise you can give me."

He held down the giant ant's frantically thrashing head with one hand and stabbed down with the dagger in his other hand like a phantom.

-890!

-920!

-1800 (Critical)!

Although the single-hit damage wasn't exaggerated, the attack frequency was astonishingly fast. The giant ant roared madly, trying to shake the flea off its back by rolling, but Qin Ji's feet seemed to have grown roots, firmly adhering to the carapace.

A minute later.

With one last mournful cry, the massive ant collapsed with a bang, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Qin Ji landed lightly, shaking the foul blood off his dagger.

There was no notification of equipment dropping, but the [Bone of Greed] at his waist erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling purple light, even outshining the surrounding darkness.

[Bone of Greed triggered (Perfect Plunder)!]

[Congratulations! You have plundered this creature's core talent!]

[Obtained Special Passive: Exoskeleton Armor · Overclock]

[Effect: When the damage received from a single hit is lower than 10% of your total defense, it is forced to be calculated as 1 point of damage, and 50% True Damage is reflected to the attacker.]

As Qin Ji looked at this attribute, his pupils suddenly constricted.

Forced 1 HP loss? Reflect True Damage?

This wasn't just a talent; it was practically a god-tier skill tailor-made for a "stat monster" like him who loved stacking numbers!

As long as he stacked his defense high enough, those attack-speed-oriented assassins and archers who hit him in the future wouldn't just fail to deal damage; they would be shocked to death by their own attacks.

"It looks like I won't be sleeping tonight."

Qin Ji looked deeper into the insect hive, where countless red dots were still flashing in the darkness.

He took a Mana Potion from his backpack, tilted his head back to gulp it down, and then raised his staff once more.

The moonlight was completely obscured by dark clouds, and the wasteland fell into absolute darkness. Only the continuous firelight of explosions deep within the insect hive and the rising and falling screams echoed through the night on this forgotten land like the death knell of Hell. Qin Ji stood alone atop a mountain of insect corpses, the blood beneath his feet converging into a river. He expressionlessly crushed the head of a still-struggling soldier ant, his purple-gold eyes gazing coldly at the brightly lit Emerald City in the distance, like a tyrant counting his spoils of war.