145: Nice skill, now it's mine!

In a huge stone chamber, apart from the ancient stone pillars used for support, there was nothing.

There were no other entrances or exits.

Chen Ming scanned his surroundings but did not see the presence of the Dog-Headed Monster.

He thought that the boss guarding the level would only appear after the survivors had fully entered the room.

Without hesitation, he strode in.

As soon as his foot landed, he felt a sense of being swallowed. The ground, which should have been hard, became quite soft, feeling strange underfoot.

Chen Ming looked down. Fine yellow sand, which hadn't been there before, was continuously emerging from underground like spring water.

It only stopped rising when it completely submerged Chen Ming's ankles.

At this moment, there was a sound from behind him.

Chen Ming turned to look. It was an iron bar door hidden within the wall, closing rapidly.

Zhang Bo reacted quickly, almost getting shut out.

The reason he didn't immediately follow Chen Ming into the boss room at first wasn't fear, but rather wanting to test if the iron bar door would close like this when other survivors were still standing outside.

Facts proved that Zhang Bo had overthought it. The mechanism would not remain open just because other survivors were outside the boss room.

Trying to be clever like this would only split their fighting strength. If they didn't go in, they couldn't leave either.

After those who entered were slaughtered by the boss, they would either stay in the passage until they starved or died of old age.

Or they would enter the boss room and gamble on the one-in-ten-thousand chance of clearing it.

"Phew, thank goodness, I almost got shut out." Patting his chest lightly, Zhang Bo let out a long breath upon seeing the iron bar door slam shut with a bang.

He certainly didn't want to stay outside and watch.

"Wuwuwu!"

Low growls coming from all directions forced Chen Ming's attention away from Zhang Bo.

Chen Ming turned back to look. Sand dogs, formed by the fusion of fine yellow sand and roughly the size of adult golden retrievers, had already surrounded him and Zhang Bo.

Stepping forward, they closed in step by step.

The number that Chen Ming could see alone was no less than a hundred!

Baring their teeth and growling continuously, the sounds stacked together, rumbling like the engine of a sports car at full sprint.

Seeing the situation, Zhang Bo didn't say a word and immediately drew the new weapon he had just obtained, taking this opportunity to test the sharpness of the blade.

However, just as he was about to charge out with his sword, he saw a patch of black spread out from under Chen Ming's feet.

Zhang Bo was so scared he thought it was a new boss skill he hadn't seen before. He instinctively retreated, his nerves tense.

Immediately after, he saw streams of Undead Corpse Dogs emerging from underground.

'This texture...'

After realizing it was Chen Ming's skill effect, Zhang Bo's hanging heart finally settled.

The Corpse Dogs were the first to launch an attack on the sand dogs. Their numbers were greater, forming a torrent.

With a pounce, they knocked the sand dogs to the ground, giving the opponent no chance to react. Displaying their hunter instincts, they took a large, fierce bite on their necks.

They still wanted to struggle, but the strength of the Undead Corpse Dogs was not to be underestimated. Their bodies, composed of yellow sand, continuously collapsed and shrank as their health decreased, leaving them powerless to resist.

Soon, they completely disappeared, merging back into the yellow sand underfoot.

However, the speed at which the sand dogs increased was no slower than their disappearance.

"It seems that as long as this yellow sand is present, they can continuously reshape themselves," Chen Ming concluded.

Snap!

Immediately, with a snap of his fingers, ice spread out from under his feet, accurately freezing every single grain of yellow sand, including their cores.

Sand dogs that were halfway through reshaping or halfway collapsed due to the Undead Corpse Dogs' attack all turned into ice sculptures.

Looking at this scene, one had to admit, it was quite artistic.

"Good, so powerful!" This was a completely new problem-solving approach that Zhang Bo, standing nearby, had never imagined.

'No, that's not right! Besides his teleportation gate and Undead summoning, he actually possesses ice-attribute skills!'

Zhang Bo looked at Chen Ming, his heart filled with astonishment.

From the speed at which it spread out in an instant, coupled with the fact that it restricted the guarding boss's ability, it was almost certain that the skill level would definitely not be lower than S-Rank.

Only higher, not lower!

'No wonder Commander Zhao and General Xu said that everything currently known about Mr. Chen is merely the tip of the iceberg!'

Hearing and seeing belonged to two completely different states of mind.

Zhang Bo's awe towards Chen Ming increased significantly again.

"..." Silently, he sheathed the blade that had just been drawn but hadn't had time to strike an enemy or be stained with blood.

He became even more convinced, 'Indeed, where Mr. Chen is present, how could there be an opportunity for a minor character like me to appear?'

He decided to honestly stand guard nearby. If Chen Ming needed him, he would definitely charge forward without hesitation.

After all, his life was given by Chen Ming. Even if he died for him, it wouldn't matter.

He raised his eyes.

Chen Ming noticed strands of yellow sand flowing down from the brick and stone gaps in the ceiling above, like mountain spring water. Some flowed quickly, some slowly.

Soon, they condensed into the guarding boss previously described by Zhang Bo and the others – a figure with a human body but wearing a golden Dog-Headed mask.

From its texture, it was made of gold, polished very new and bright, covering the entire head, neck, and collarbone.

The clothing on its body had a strong ancient Egyptian style.

Chen Ming couldn't help but think that there might be some connection between this guy and the deities worshipped in Egypt.

Just like zombies and talismans that should only exist in movies and TV shows.

Of course, this was just a guess. The actual truth might not be like this.

After its form was completely shaped, the Dog-Headed Monster raised its arm, clenched its five fingers, and the extremely sharp black pointed knife connected to a golden handle appeared out of thin air.

Then it turned the tip of the knife and pointed it directly at Chen Ming.

The condescending pressure was self-evident.

Chen Ming's expression was calm.

"..." Zhang Bo, who had previously died at the hands of the Dog-Headed Monster, instinctively reached out and gripped his sword hilt, cold sweat dripping down.

His mood involuntarily became anxious.

The fear he had previously been dominated by once again enveloped his heart.

The mental preparation he had done before vanished completely at this moment. All negative emotions uncontrollably bred and spread within his heart!

Suddenly widening his eyes, his pupils shrinking, Zhang Bo noticed something was wrong.

He quickly spoke to warn, "Mr. Chen, be..."

Before the word "careful" could leave his mouth, he saw that Withering King Cobra, wrapped in loose bandages, its body withered like a mummy, coiling and springing towards Chen Ming along the long knife in the Dog-Headed Monster's hand.

The moment it was within reach, it was completely frozen and fell to the ground.

Its body became brittle and, along with the ice, shattered into pieces upon falling!

Out of curiosity, Chen Ming used a skill to check it.

[A-grade skill Withering King Cobra: After releasing the skill, summons a Withering King Cobra to launch a surprise attack with lightning speed. Once its fangs hit, the target will be poisoned by the Withering Poison and head towards death!]

After reading it, Chen Ming only had one sentence he wanted to say in his heart: Nice skill, now it's mine!