48: Chapter 48 The Unkillable Boss, the Mad Dog Who Wants to Be King

The sensation beneath his feet was wrong.

Qin Ji was originally standing on that massive head, waiting for the System's pleasant kill notification and loot feedback. However, the expected golden light did not appear. That head, with its eyes wide in death, along with the headless corpse on the ground, actually began to flicker and distort wildly like a holographic projection with a bad signal.

Zzzt—

A crackling noise, like an electrical short circuit, echoed in the air.

The ground beneath Qin Ji's feet suddenly gave way as the massive corpse disintegrated into countless turbulent flows of black and red code within a tenth of a second, converging frantically toward the other side of the cliff like a startled swarm of bees.

"Not dead yet?"

Qin Ji's brows twitched slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his purple-gold pupils, which was immediately replaced by an attraction to the data logic behind this scene.

In the Void Realm a hundred meters away, those black and red codes instantly reorganized. Village Chief Wang's figure coalesced once more, but he was no longer in the form of a Frost giant; instead, he had returned to his original human form. However, this body appeared more illusory. Although his health bar was full, a gray status effect labeled [Weakened Resurrection] had appeared.

"Cough, cough... Damned adventurer..."

Village Chief Wang clutched his neck, staring at Qin Ji with a venomous gaze, though his body was honestly retreating.

Just as Qin Ji was about to raise his sword and give chase, a chill that made his hair stand on end suddenly fell from the entrance of the abyss above.

It wasn't an ordinary cold; it was absolute zero, capable of freezing even thought itself.

Crack, crack, crack—

On the cliff walls, the flowing lava instantly solidified into dark red glass. The water molecules in the air were violently stripped of their heat, turning into countless crystalline ice flowers blooming in the Void Realm.

A woman wearing an intricate starlight dress was stepping down from above the abyss.

She was neither riding the wind nor flying.

With every step she took, the air beneath her feet instantly froze into a materialized ice lotus, supporting her dust-free boots.

One step, one lotus flower.

"Leona."

Qin Ji narrowed his eyes, instantly recognizing the sole heir to the throne of the Star Kingdom.

The Leona of now had long lost the gentleness she showed when issuing tasks in the Newbie Village. Her deep blue eyes held only the indifference of one looking down upon all living beings. In her hand, she held a scepter carved from Ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, its tip pointing directly at the newly resurrected Village Chief Wang.

"Respected Princess Leona, you have finally arrived."

Upon seeing her, the venomous look on Village Chief Wang's face vanished instantly, replaced by a nauseatingly fawning smile, as if the madman who had just wanted to destroy the world wasn't him at all.

Leona didn't even look him in the eye, simply waving her scepter lightly.

"You know what I'm here for."

Her voice was cold and clear, like ice beads falling onto a jade plate.

The muscles at the corner of Village Chief Wang's eyes twitched. He glanced at the nearby Qin Ji, then at the steadily approaching Leona, and suddenly spread his hands, revealing a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Princess Leona, since you already know, there's no need to play dumb. My admiration for you can be witnessed by heaven and earth."

"Admiration?"

A mocking curve formed at the corner of Leona's mouth. "You want to use my Bloodline to rise in status and devour the Star Kingdom's National fortune to help you Breakthrough the data barrier—is this your 'admiration'?"

Exposed, Village Chief Wang wasn't embarrassed; instead, he straightened his back.

"Great Princess, Your Highness, don't put it so harshly. You are currently trapped in this Newbie Village and cannot return to the capital. Those uncles of yours who covet the throne have likely already struck your name from the records. If you kill me, you won't be able to leave either."

"That is none of your concern."

Leona raised her left hand. In her palm, an incredibly complex deep-blue magic circle instantly took shape.

Buzz!

With her as the center, the space within a five-hundred-meter radius instantly transformed into a kingdom of ice and snow.

Village Chief Wang's expression changed drastically. He was well aware of the Princess's strength. As the kingdom's heir, her equipment and skills were all top-tier legendary grade.

"Berserk! Super Armor! Broken Wings Dance!"

Village Chief Wang roared as red light flashed repeatedly across his body. A pair of tattered fleshy wings tore out from his back. He flapped them violently, his entire being like a startled vulture as he fled frantically toward the top of the cliff.

Meanwhile, the corpses of the Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress and the yellow weasels at the bottom of the abyss, which had just been blown apart by Qin Ji, were actually reassembled under the pull of some eerie power. They roared and lunged at Leona, attempting to use meat-shield tactics to stall for time.

"Nonsense."

Leona didn't even turn her head, simply snapping her fingers.

Snap.

The few Boss-level monsters that had just resurrected were instantly turned into lifelike ice sculptures the moment they charged within ten meters of her. Immediately after, dense cracking sounds came from within the sculptures—the sound of cells being burst by ice crystals.

Boom!

The ice sculptures exploded, turning into a sky full of ice powder.

Having dealt with the small fry, Leona pointed her scepter from afar at the fleeing Village Chief Wang.

From the heavens above, a giant forty-meter-long ice sword broke through the clouds, striking precisely at Village Chief Wang's spine with a piercing sonic boom.

-1,592,800!

A terrifying seven-digit damage number floated up.

Even Qin Ji's pupils shrank slightly upon seeing this number. This was the explosive power of a magical glass cannon. Although it wasn't as perverse as his plundering mechanism, this raw stat damage was indeed enough to insta-kill everything at this stage.

"Ah!!"

Village Chief Wang screamed as his fleshy wings were sliced off by the ice sword. He fell like a broken kite, crashing heavily into a deep pit on a rock not far from Qin Ji.

A massive ice shield appeared out of thin air, pressing down on Village Chief Wang like a coffin lid, pinning him so he couldn't move.

"Kill me! Go ahead and kill me!"

Village Chief Wang gave up struggling. Lying at the bottom of the pit, his face covered in blood, he actually laughed. "I am a field Boss! I have the [Infinite Resurrection] affix granted by the System! Even if you kill me a thousand times today, I'll live for the thousand and first! As long as I don't die, you can forget about ever getting that key!"

Leona's movements stopped.

She naturally knew the characteristics of field Bosses. This was the disgusting part of the System; to maintain the game's ecology, Bosses converted from important NPCs often possessed immortality.

"What? Not going to do it?"

Seeing Leona stop, the madness in Village Chief Wang's eyes intensified. He struggled to turn his head and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with ice shards. "Since you can't kill me, why not listen to my suggestion?"

"I'll marry you, and we'll join forces."

"I am a data lifeform, but I have received the Blessing of the Gods and possess a [Growth Panel] just like those adventurers!"

At the words "Growth Panel," Leona, who had remained expressionless, tightened her grip on her scepter.

In this world, the greatest tragedy for the natives was that their potential was locked. Even for a princess, whatever Rank she was born at would be the Rank she died at, maybe a few levels higher at most. Only players, the so-called "adventurers," possessed the possibility of infinite leveling.

An immortal Boss with a player growth template?

This was indeed an excellent bargaining chip for contesting the throne.

Qin Ji stood to the side. Having already exited his combat state, he was watching this family drama with great interest. He keenly captured Leona's momentary hesitation.

"Tsk, tempted already?"

Qin Ji sneered inwardly. If Leona agreed to Village Chief Wang's proposal, it would not only mean this trip was in vain but also mean losing a massive potential source of profit.

In this world of data, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

"We can have a fake marriage!" Village Chief Wang struck while the iron was hot, his voice full of persuasion. "As long as we can finally take the Star Kingdom, you can be your Queen and I'll be my Prince Consort, without interfering with each other! This costs you nothing!"

It had to be said, he was painting a very pretty picture.

Leona fell silent.

The air at the bottom of the abyss seemed to freeze, with only the faint sound of lava flowing in the distance.

Just as Village Chief Wang thought he was about to turn the tables, Leona suddenly turned her head. Her deep blue eyes bypassed the ice shield and landed on Qin Ji.

"I think I have many choices for partners."

Leona's voice suddenly became steady. "For example, this one."

Village Chief Wang's pupils shrank violently as he snarled, "Him? He's just a greedy adventurer! He's not of our kind; his heart must be different! Once he grows up, the first person he'll kill is you!"

"No."

Leona shook her head, a meaningful curve appearing at the corner of her mouth. "I don't need to marry him. I only need to offer him a price he cannot refuse."

She looked at Qin Ji, her eyes flashing with a certain fanatical light—the determination of a gambler before going all-in.

"Qin Ji, are you willing to help me ascend the throne?"

"If you can help me be crowned as King, I will use the entire power of the Star Kingdom to open three thousand ancestral halls for you, title you as the Guardian War God, and let you alone enjoy the incense of a whole nation!"

Buzz—

Qin Ji's brain buzzed.

Incense? Deification?

As a veteran high-level player, he knew all too well what those words meant.

In the Late Stage of "God's Domain," once one reached the Rank 100 Bottleneck, simple attribute stacking could no longer produce qualitative changes. To Breakthrough the limits of a Mortal and ascend to a demigod or even a True God, the only way was through [Power Of Faith], also known as incense.

That was a top-tier resource even scarcer than Divine Artifacts or Forbidden Spells.

In his previous life, countless max-level big shots would fight tooth and nail just to contest the faith of a small country.

And now, a ready-made kingdom heir was actively trying to shove this massive cake into his mouth.

[Ding! Hidden plot triggered!]

[Princess Leona has issued you a Legendary Unique Quest: Road to Kingship.]

[Quest Objective: Assist Leona in being crowned Queen of the Star Kingdom.]

[Quest Rewards: Exclusive title "Star War God," unlock special attribute panel "Faith Value," right to all incense offerings within the Star Kingdom.]

This wasn't a multiple-choice question.

This was a freebie.

The coldness on Qin Ji's face melted instantly, replaced by a brilliant smile, as if the cold-blooded Devil Head from moments ago wasn't him at all.

"Deal."

Qin Ji didn't waste any words and directly clicked accept.

"Madmen! You're all madmen!!"

Village Chief Wang completely broke down, frantically slamming against the ice shield and letting out a desperate roar. "Leona! Do you know what you're doing?! Giving the nation's faith to an outsider—you're inviting a wolf into your house!!"

"Shut up."

Leona gave him a cold sweep of her eyes, then looked at Qin Ji. "Since we've reached an agreement, it's time to talk about how to leave this place."

"The old geezer was right; if we don't kill him and take the key, we can't get out." Qin Ji pointed at Village Chief Wang, who was pinned under the ice shield.

"We don't need a key."

Leona turned around and looked toward the deepest part of the abyss, where two pillars of light intertwined, sealing a terrifying ancient corpse.

"The Yin and Yang Twin Fish Formation Seals an ancient Drought Demon. As long as we release the Drought Demon, the impact of its Corpse qi upon awakening will be enough to shatter the Newbie protection barrier of this space. When that happens, chaos will be the best ladder."

Hearing this, Village Chief Wang stopped struggling and stared at Leona with wide eyes, as if looking at an absolute monster.

"Re... Release the Drought Demon?"

"Leona, you're a fucking lunatic! Do you know how much impact releasing that thing will have?! The entire Newbie Village, and even several nearby main cities, will be turned into dead lands!!"

"So what?"

Leona raised her scepter, starlight gathering at its tip as she aimed at the node of the two sealing light pillars.

"The winner takes all. As long as I can take back what belongs to me, what does it matter if the world is flooded?"

Qin Ji stood to the side, looking at the princess who was about to personally release a world-ending disaster. The look of admiration in his eyes grew even stronger.

That's more like it.

This isn't some fairy tale.

This is naked data plundering.

"Do it."

Qin Ji gripped his abyssal fang tightly, feeling the surging power within his body. His purple-gold pupils reflected the light pillars of the Seal that were about to shatter.

Leona's scepter fell.

Boom—!!!

A blinding pillar of starlight struck heavily at the eye of the Yin and Yang Twin Fish Formation.

The earth began to tremble violently. Countless cracks spread frantically from the Seal point. Lava from the bottom of the abyss erupted, dyeing this dark underground world blood-red. Accompanied by a terrifying roar from ancient times, a withered, bluish-black giant hand covered in red hair slowly reached out from the ground, grabbing the edge of the cliff.

Amidst that world-shattering vibration, Qin Ji stood steadily on a protruding boulder. The wild wind blew his black hair into disarray. His shadow behind him was stretched infinitely long by the firelight, like a demon god admiring the scenery of the apocalypse, quietly watching the calamity about to burst from the earth.