49: Chapter 49 Fishing in Troubled Waters

"Kill my ass!!" The cursing started up again.

Qin Ce's expression turned cold. "If you won't kill them, then get lost and find your own monsters."

He paused, his voice suddenly rising to drown out all the noise:

"If you are going to kill them, then let's see who can snatch the killing blow!"

These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over everyone's heads.

Right, the killing blow.

According to the scoring rules of the team badge system, kill credit was determined solely by the last hit. Qin Ce wasn't violating any explicit regulations; he was simply exploiting the rules—just as they had snatched Qin Ce's tasks before.

Moreover, strictly speaking, they were the ones who had first broken the 'Principle of First Strike' by stealing the monsters Qin Ce had lured.

The accusations and curses were instantly choked back in their throats.

But their fury did not extinguish; instead, it accumulated in the silence, burning until their eyes turned red.

"Fine... fine!" Zhao Rui gnashed his teeth. "Then we'll snatch them! Everyone, listen to my command—change tactics!"

He stared fixedly at the figure in the air, issuing orders word by word:

"Abandon the regular output rhythm and switch to 'Instant-Kill Combos'! Suppress the monster's health to below 20%, then take it out in one set of moves. Don't give him any chance to steal the kill!"

The squad leaders understood immediately.

This was a tactic the Elite Class squads had all practiced—when facing a chaotic situation where they needed to snatch the final hit, they would hold all their burst skills in hand, wait for the target's health to enter the execution range, and then unleash everything at once to instantly kill the target.

The command was quickly passed down.

The atmosphere on the battlefield changed abruptly.

The originally disorganized siege became orderly. The squads no longer sought continuous output; instead, they began to rhythmically lower the Shadow Monkeys' health while holding back their most critical ultimate moves.

One Shadow Monkey was focused on by the Gale Squad, its health slowly dropping.

50%... 40%... 30%...

Zhao Rui stared intently at that Shadow Monkey, counting silently in his head.

Two more hits and it would reach the 20% Execution Line.

The palms of all the main attacking squad members were slightly sweaty. Their eyes were fixed on the Shadow Monkey as they counted down in their hearts: "Second to last hit!"

"Almost there!" the captain growled.

Several members who had been prepared for a long time had already raised their hands!

Intense skill lights lit up on their Pet Beasts—a blazing pillar of fire, a sharp rock spike, a swift flash of lightning. They were held back, waiting for that drop in health!

The power of this combo set could absolutely insta-kill a Black Iron High-grade Shadow Monkey in a near-death state!

Cold smiles of certain victory appeared on several faces.

Let's see how you snatch it this time, Qin Ce!

However, at the very instant before that second-to-last attack was about to hit the Shadow Monkey—

Buzz!

An extremely faint yet exceptionally sharp vibration of air seemed to ring directly within everyone's spiritual perception!

A green Wind Blade arrived first by striking later!

It didn't shoot from a common angle, but emerged from a gap hidden by leaves that no one expected. Its speed was extreme, pulling a green afterimage through the air!

Puchi—!

The dull sound of a sharp blade cutting into flesh.

The Shadow Monkey, which still had nearly 30% health, suddenly stiffened. A thin line of blood appeared where its head met its neck, then rapidly expanded.

Its crimson, violent eyes instantly dimmed. The massive impact and kinetic energy even sent its broken corpse flying sideways.

It happened to avoid the fire pillar, rock spike, and lightning that were released due to the surprise.

The several powerful attacks ultimately only struck empty space and trees, exploding into a mess.

Inside Qin Ce's mind, the notification rang out again: "Killed Black Iron High-grade Golden Claw Shadow Monkey, task progress +1."

Below, the cold smiles on the faces of the members of that squad, who had been charging their burst, completely froze, turning into incredulous dullness and confusion.

"How... how is that possible?" the captain cried out, his voice losing its pitch. "How could he have attacked even before us?! And... how could his attack power be so high?!"

That Shadow Monkey still had 30% health!

Theoretically, it should have been enough to withstand a powerful attack from their entire squad without dying, which was why they chose to launch their combo at 20%.

But Qin Ce's Wind Blade actually insta-killed it?!

Of course, they didn't know that under Nine-Star Insight, Qin Ce could not only see the Shadow Monkey's health clearly but also precisely capture the 'weaknesses' that existed in each Shadow Monkey due to individual differences and different injured parts.

For Shadow Monkeys with the same health, attacking a weak point in their defense or an old wound resulted in completely different damage.

Coupled with the extreme amplification of wind-attribute attacks by the 'Breath Condensation' talent and the Qingluan's own excellent aptitude, the damage of Qin Ce's single Wind Blade had long surpassed the skill power of a common Black Iron Peak Beast Tamer's Pet Beast, reaching the attack power of a mid-grade bronze!

Naturally, his Execution Line was much higher than others!

It was the same for one team, and the 'instant burst kill-stealing' tactics carefully prepared by other teams met the same fate.

Whenever a Shadow Monkey's health dropped to a certain critical point and the squads prepared to launch a thunderous strike, that green Wind Blade, like a reaper's scythe, would always strike from a tricky angle with terrifying speed and irrational damage, taking the lead to harvest the 'fruit'.

Once was a coincidence, twice was an accident, three times, four times... everyone understood.

This wasn't luck; this was an absolute crushing in terms of strength!

Qin Ce's insight, attack power, and grasp of timing completely surpassed them!

Their so-called coordination, calculations, and bursts were likely like children's games in Qin Ce's eyes, full of flaws.

Despair, like a cold tide, began to submerge the hearts of the squad members below.

They were many, they had tacit cooperation, they called themselves elites... but in front of Qin Ce's 'one-man team', they appeared so clumsy and powerless, like monkeys being toyed with.

The fury and battle intent that had been burning in their hearts earlier were now chilled to the bone by the cruel reality.

Could it be that the forty of them were really going to spend the whole day working for Qin Ce alone today, without even getting a penny of wages?

Amidst this suffocating atmosphere of oppression and despair, Zhao Rui, the leader of the Gale Squad and the lean-faced captain who had first suggested focusing fire to insta-kill the Shadow Monkeys, suddenly looked up, a flash of frantic ruthlessness in his eyes.

He roared hoarsely, his voice carrying across the field: "Everyone! Listen to my command!"

"Put aside the prejudices between teams! Give up on the so-called cooperation and combos!"

"Everyone! Free attack! Indiscriminate coverage!"

"Snatch any low-health Shadow Monkey you see! Regardless of whose monster it is or who wore it down, whoever gets the last hit gets the points!"

"There are forty of us; a flurry of punches can kill a master! I don't believe that he, one person, can compete with the luck of forty of us!"

In this desperate situation, this was the last and most helpless counterattack he could think of—to completely muddy the waters!

Use absolute numbers and chaotic attacks to drown out Qin Ce's precise Execution Line!

...