Chapter 58: Dual Boss Lineup

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~~~"

A massive swarm of blood-sucking bugs rushed out from the roaring flames, rapidly surrounding and attacking from all directions!

Facts proved that empiricism could get people killed. While certain settings from the closed beta of *Star Abyss* could be applied directly, some things should not rely too heavily on beta experience. After all, this was a real world, entirely different from a 2D card game!

"Quick, take them down!"

Spear Like a Dragon shouted in alarm, veins bulging fiercely on his forehead.

I frowned. Blood-sucking bugs were a very specialized Tier-2 Zerg unit. They possessed no direct attack power, low health, and low defense, but their movement speed was terrifyingly high. Once they burrowed into human flesh, they would deal fatal damage!

Right before us, each of the level 30 elite blood-sucking bugs only had around 500 health points, but there were simply too many of them, making it extremely difficult to wipe them all out completely!

"Bang, bang, bang—"

I slammed down on the trigger, and the Ravager fired in a wild sweep. Immediately, the blood-sucking bugs rushing toward my side burst apart one by one, turning into patches of fiery red blood plasma.

Milk Tea Extends Life Immortal, Chaotic Demon King, and the others also began firing. However, their shooting accuracy was far from ideal. Coupled with the fact that the blood-sucking bugs possessed a degree of intelligence—constantly dispersing and regrouping to charge at the group—it was no easy task to slaughter them all!

"This is bad!"

Milk Tea Extends Life Immortal's gaze grew cold. Dozens of blood-sucking bugs were approaching his feet at lightning speed. Once surrounded, there would be zero chance of survival.

"Watch out!"

I spun around abruptly, switching my main weapon to the Legion Blade, and lashed out with a Earth Spike Slash!

"Puff, puff, puff~~~"

The attack range of Earth Spike Slash perfectly covered the swarm, and immediately a dense array of damage numbers popped up!

"759!"

"723!"

"711!"

"726!"

A clean sweep of one-hit kills! The 250% damage multiplier of the Level 10 Earth Spike Slash was truly explosive!

"Right, Earth Spike Slash!"

Spear Like a Dragon heavily brought down his spear, also unleashing a flash of Earth Spike Slash that shredded an entire cluster of bugs. Meanwhile, several nearby players went all out with their firepower, pouring a massive volume of bullets onto the ground to prevent the blood-sucking bugs from closing in.

Over on Team 2's side, Milk Tea Extends Life Immortal pulled back slightly with his gun, his face extremely pale.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~~~"

The blood-sucking bugs came on continuously, surging forward like a tide.

"Little Jiu, watch out!"

Spear Like a Dragon suddenly roared.

At the front of the defensive line, a shield-type super-warrior from Team 1 named "Nine Lives" turned pale with fright. Holding his submachine gun, he hurriedly retreated, but his previous shooting position had been too far forward, and in the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by blood-sucking bugs!

"Damn it, this is bad!"

Chaotic Demon King was terrified. "Old Jiu!"

"Quick, suppressive fire!"

I hurriedly turned around, swapped to a fully loaded magazine, and blasted the swarm in front of Nine Lives. Instantly, clusters of fiery red blood plasma exploded, and countless blood-sucking bugs were shot down on the spot.

But it was already too late. Over a dozen blood-sucking bugs were still rapidly closing in on Nine Lives. Then, our group could only watch helplessly as the blood-sucking bugs bared their sharp teeth, tearing open the flesh of his lower legs with crunching sounds and burrowing from his soles into his body. Immediately after, lumps began to bulge beneath his skin, and the bugs rapidly raced along his blood vessels toward his heart!

"Damn it, I..."

Nine Lives held his submachine gun, enduring the excruciating pain. His health bar plummeted wildly, and an icon of a blood-red bug even appeared beneath his health bar, apparently stacking with the number of bugs entering his body.

The moment that number hit double digits, Nine Lives' health bar was completely emptied!

"Boss, I..."

He stared in terror, collapsing limply to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the abdomen of Nine Lives' corpse burst open. Fat and satisfied blood-sucking bugs radiated a bloody glow, their head antennae twitching wildly before charging straight toward the rest of us!

"Fuck your mother, you bugs!"

Chaotic Demon King roared in fury, firing his submachine gun in a wild sweep.

The eyes of Spear Like a Dragon, Milk Tea Extends Life Immortal, and the others turned red as they fired frantically. As for me, I began picking targets off in three-round bursts, rapidly clearing out the blood-sucking bugs right in front of us.

About five minutes later, the wave of blood-sucking bugs was completely wiped out.

However, everyone's mood was heavy. After all, they had lost a member, and this kind of loss was very likely a permanent death.

"What the hell is this!"

Chaotic Demon King slammed his fist heavily against the ground, his eyes bloodshot as he said, "Old Jiu is just... gone like that?"

"Gone."

Spear Like a Dragon's expression was solemn. He turned to look at the others and said, "This is the terrifying reality of *Star Abyss*. One careless mistake and you won't even have a place to be buried. From now on... everyone must be extra careful."

"Yeah."

Milk Tea Extends Life Immortal said, "Boss, the ten-person squad is missing a member now. What do you think?"

"Have Zhang Yang step in as a replacement."

"Got it."

Shortly after, a buck-toothed shield-type super-warrior walked over. When he saw the horrifying death scene of "Nine Lives" with his abdomen blown open, his face turned extremely pale.

"Old Jiu's body..." Chaotic Demon King's gaze carried a hint of hesitation.

"Bury it on the spot."

Spear Like a Dragon said indifferently, "Then we continue the raid."

"Understood!"

Several players quickly dug a shallow pit and buried Nine Lives.

...

After that, the group advanced with even greater caution.

Everyone had now witnessed all the Tier-2 Zerg units and gained their own experience in dealing with them.

Exploding bugs required ultra-long-range precision kills; they must never be allowed to get close.

Stalkers needed to be focused down with concentrated submachine gun fire to minimize damage to their own health.

Blood-sucking bugs required extremely careful handling—they had to be lured out bit by bit before being wiped out with overwhelming firepower.

As for Scorpion Bugs, they were the most basic Tier-2 Zerg units and could be handled according to standard tactics.

In the blink of an eye, it was around 4 PM. Under normal circumstances, I should have finished work by this time, perhaps hanging out in front of the small convenience store downstairs to spar with little fatty Li Xiang.

Right at that moment, deep within the Wailing Bug Nest, a long, suspended corridor appeared. Both sides of the corridor were embedded with sword-shaped crystals, while below lay a boundless abyss. At the very end of the corridor was an open clearing, which also marked the end of this bug nest.

"The BOSS area is coming up."

Spear Like a Dragon walked in the front, holding a long spear, his gaze chillingly sharp.

"According to the intelligence gathered by Shadow Assassin, the final BOSS is a Level 30 purple BOSS named Thunder Snake, a mutated variant among the Tier-3 Zerg units."

I nodded.

With that, the group carefully crossed the corridor and entered the final zone.

"Hiss, hiss~~~"

Hair-raising hissing sounds echoed through the wind.

As we stepped into the final zone, we indeed saw a figure shrouded in a purple, hazy glow resting quietly at the far end of the bug nest. Its build was extremely massive, and a crown-like growth even sat atop its snake-like head. From its spine all the way to its tail ran a protruding backbone that emitted flashes of lightning, looking quite intimidating.

As our gazes lingered for a moment, strings of purple text floated outward—

【Thunder Snake】 (Purple BOSS)
Level: 30
Attack: 500-850
Defense: 180
Health: 100,000
Skills: 【Discharge Lv8】【Constriction Lv8】【Lightning Devour Lv8】
Details: This Thunder Snake is the master of the Wailing Bug Nest and a mutated variant among Thunder Snakes. Sudden genetic mutation has granted it greater power and higher voltage. Players who get close will suffer the devastation of its discharge. If you encounter this king of the underground bug nest, turn around and run immediately!

...

I frowned. Looking at the Thunder Snake's attributes, my heart was filled with shock. As expected of a purple BOSS, its growth attributes had comprehensively crushed me—the number one combat power in Xicheng. An 850 attack power, coupled with the hidden stat bonuses of a purple BOSS, meant that taking a hit from this thing would hurt terribly!

Moreover, the Thunder Snake's defense was sky-high at a full 180 points, and paired with 100,000 health points, it was simply too thorny an issue for players at the current stage!

"Damn..."

Milk Tea Extends Life Immortal, Chaotic Demon King, and the others swallowed hard as they looked at the Thunder Snake's stats, each of their faces turning pale.

The deaths of their teammates were still fresh in their minds, and that had only happened against ordinary mobs. Now seeing the raid boss, it was entirely possible that some of us would fall here, or even suffer a complete wipe!

"Such stats... absolutely broken..."

Lu Xun rewrote his review overnight to make this objective appraisal.

"Wait..."

Instead, I cast my gaze toward the spore vegetation off to the side, where another health bar seemed to be lurking.

"Hiss, hiss~~~"

The Thunder Snake turned around to stare at us, the gills on both sides of its head vibrating wildly while its tail swayed slowly, as if issuing an order. At that very moment, another figure emerged from the vegetation—strangely enough, it was a canine-shaped alien beast. Its entire body was covered in resonance chambers, giving off a strangely familiar feeling.

Tier-2 Alien Beast, Sonic Beast!

I was struck by sudden panic.

This Sonic Beast was a Level 30 blue BOSS! Who could have imagined that right beside the purple BOSS Thunder Snake, there would also be a blue BOSS Sonic Beast!

"This is..." Spear Like a Dragon's expression turned solemn.

The Sonic Beast looked at us with hostility, slowly walking over to the side of the Thunder Snake before dropping to the ground, whining a few times like a dog. The moment the Thunder Snake directed its anger toward us, the Sonic Beast immediately sprang to its feet, baring its fangs as its head instantly split apart into four vocal organs!

"Damn it, what is that?!" Chaotic Demon King gripped his submachine gun tightly.

"Sonic Beast, a Tier-2 alien beast."

I frowned and spoke in the party channel: "Unless I'm mistaken, this Sonic Beast has already been subdued by the Thunder Snake and is now serving as its guard dog. Therefore, if we want to clear the Wailing Bug Nest, we not only have to take down the Thunder Snake, but we must also eliminate this Sonic Beast along with it. Everyone be careful, the Sonic Beast... is extremely strong!"

"Ding Han."

Spear Like a Dragon glanced back at me. "Have you fought a Sonic Beast before?"

"I've killed one. Its Sonic Boom skill is terrifying—a massive AOE attack that deals around 5,000+ damage in a single hit. If it manages to cast a second Sonic Boom, we will definitely wipe!"

I said calmly, "So, Alliance Master Long, my suggestion is that regardless of whether we can ultimately kill the Thunder Snake, we should focus all our firepower to nuke the Sonic Beast down first. Do not give it a chance to cast a second Sonic Boom, or else we'll all die here."

"Alright!"

Spear Like the Dragon said in a deep voice, "Two shield-type super-warriors will take turns covering and drawing the Thunder Snake's attention. If things go south, use Burst Dash to get out of there. Everyone else follow me, we'll focus fire and nuke the Sonic Beast first, ideally without even giving it a chance to cast its Sonic Boom once!"

"Got it!"

Everyone nodded in unison.

The next moment, the shield-type super-warrior named Zhang Yang darted forward with a "swoosh," raising his long sword to heavily slash at the Thunder Snake's massive head!