People were wailing in the chat channel, saying that over a dozen people had frozen to death last night before the natural disaster had even arrived.
Song Xu changed her pace to a jog all the way.
At the exact same moment, inside Novice Canyon 233.
Lü Le (Vicious Stepmother) pulled out a skewer of roasted moth meat and took a bite.
Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, carrying a unique savory char.
“Holy crap, this is way too delicious!”
Yet no one saw a line of faint green text flickering above her head: Favorability 100/100.
After taking two bites, her insides suddenly churned with emotion.
“Am I… am I being too greedy?”
Yesterday, she had still felt that trading 100 skewers of meat for a skill fragment was a fair deal.
Actually, she had lied a little bit; someone had posted about this skill fragment long ago, but Baobao’s Mom might not read the public screen often, so she hadn’t noticed.
A lot of people had chatted about this matter.
Skills would definitely be very important in the late game, but right now the most essential thing was survival.
As long as one killed elite monsters, they could open treasure chests, and the drop rate for skill fragments was about fifty percent.
Therefore, one should level up first and return to farm monsters for treasure chests when their level was high; that was the most cost-effective approach.
That was why she had traded the fragment for food without any hesitation.
Yet now, with her mouth filled with aroma and her stomach full, she thought about how long it must have taken Baobao’s Mom to save up so much food.
However, she hadn’t told Baobao’s Mom the truth.
She had tricked her into using so much precious food to exchange for a fragment that was not all that important right now.
Lü Le was so overcome with guilt she was nearly brought to tears.
With hardly any hesitation, she opened private chat, selected all the remaining [Iron Ore x82] and [Stone x265] in her backpack, and sent them over to Baobao’s Mom.
[Vicious Stepmother: Sister! Use the ores first! I have tons of ores over here! The skewers are too precious, I can’t take so much for free!]
Song Xu had just walked to the edge of the swamp and was preparing to pull out moth meat to entice toads when a private chat prompt and a trade request popped up simultaneously.
Seeing the other party’s one-way trade, her face was filled with astonishment.
[Baobao’s Mom: What’s going on?]
[Vicious Stepmother: Sister, take it! I really have plenty of ores over here! No worry about not being able to trade for stuff! It’s just that after taking so much of your food, I feel bad inside.]
[Vicious Stepmother: Actually, that skill fragment isn’t of much use right now. There’s plenty of time to save up after our levels get higher; I didn’t tell you yesterday.]
[Vicious Stepmother: Sister, let’s leave it at that, I’m going to work. Once I dig up good stuff, I’ll give it to you.]
Song Xu twitched the corner of her mouth.
It should be ‘A Wise Person Submits to Fate’ taking effect.
Anyone could roast moth meat; she had gone through so much trouble to cook it before trading just to test whether it would work.
Since it was effective on any target, then players could definitely be affected as well, and having a few more allies would surely bring benefits.
It was just that she hadn’t expected the effect to be this good.
That [Master Wang Who Doesn’t Blink When Sleeping] didn’t have much movement; perhaps he hadn’t started eating yet?
Song Xu shook her head.
Disregarding those for now, time to work.
The process of feeding toads played out once again.
Soon, a dozen or so green-named toads gathered around, looking at her expectantly.
Song Xu did not stop, continuing to feed them.
Twenty, thirty…
Two hours later, an army composed of forty green-named toads finished assembling at the edge of the swamp.
Song Xu raised the Hunting Shortbow in her hand, pointing toward the deep parts of the swamp.
“Attack.”
As her words fell, a swarm of toads shot out in all directions.
Miserable croaking sounds echoed, and the scene instantly turned into utter chaos.
Standing on an earthen slope, Song Xu snapped off shots with her shortbow from time to time.
Under her command, the toad army swept across the entire swamp.
Experience points began jumping at rapid speed.
[Killed Red-Eyed Toad, Experience Points +5, Points +1.]
[Killed, Killed, Killed…]
[Congratulations on leveling up to LV6!]
A warm current surged past, boosting her attributes.
Soon, Song Xu noticed something was wrong.
Several red-named toads were bitten to death, but no experience was added.
She looked toward another combat cluster, drew her bow, and shot dead a low-health toad.
The arrow penetrated, and the toad fell to the ground.
Still, there was no prompt whatsoever.
Song Xu knitted her brows, opening the system prompt records she had ignored earlier to scan through rapidly.
[Prompt: The level difference between you and the target ‘Red-Eyed Toad (LV1)’ exceeds level 5. Killing it will not grant Experience Points, Points, or regular drops.]
So that was it.
She was now LV6, so killing LV1 trash mobs yielded no returns.
“Stop!” Song Xu raised her voice.
The movements of the green-named toads faltered, and they stopped one after another.
Song Xu looked at the ground covered in carcasses eliminated by the toad army and let out a sigh.
There were no experience points or regular points, but the toad oil couldn’t be wasted.
Jumping down the earthen slope, she pulled out her short sword and began gathering fat from the carcasses one by one.
Just as she was digging away with great relish.
“Croak—!!!”
A deep, drum-like roar exploded behind her!
Water violently splashed several meters high, and mud scattered in all directions.
A giant, dark-golden figure slowly rose from a puddle.
Standing taller than a human, fat and massive, its skin was covered in bizarre golden patterns, and its pair of eyes were blood-red, emanating a intense sense of oppression!
[Red-Eyed Toad King LV10 (BOSS)]
Almost simultaneously, the forty-plus green-named toads surrounding Song Xu instantly launched an attack against the Toad King!
-1-1-1-1-1…
Pitiful damage numbers floated up from above the Toad King’s head.
Whoosh~
As soon as the Toad King’s long tongue shot out, a green-named toad was sent flying directly by the whip, its health bar instantly emptied.
-198!
The Toad King’s attack power was actually this high!
Song Xu’s heart shrank violently.
Her health bar after leveling up to LV6 was only 110 points, and apart from a near-broken Tortoise Shell Shield, she basically had no defense; if she were to be whipped by it, she would probably die instantly.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Toad King hadn’t noticed her yet.
Holding the Tortoise Shell Shield in one hand to block in front of her body, she grabbed out a piece of roasted moth meat with the other hand and threw it toward the Toad King with all her strength.
Eat it for me!
The Toad King paused its steps, wrapped up the roasted moth meat, and a favorability display of 0.1/100 popped up above its head.
Song Xu froze just as she was about to continue throwing meat.
Her roasted moth meat was originally meant to be saved for feeding the toad army.
Looking at this situation, even feeding all of it to the Toad King wouldn’t be enough!
Song Xu immediately retreated to a safe distance, drawing her bow and taking aim.
Whoosh!
The arrow stuck right into the Toad King’s massive forehead.
(-88! Critical Hit)
Stung by the pain, the Toad King’s bloated body swung violently toward Song Xu, its muscles bulging as it prepared to pounce!
Song Xu was already no longer in her original spot.
After firing her arrow, she turned and ran while shouting out loud: “Attack! All-out attack!”
As if injected with chicken blood, the green-named toads leaped into the air from all directions.
Bite! Scratch! Whip with long tongues!
-1, -2, -3, -1…
Dense numbers popped up from above the Toad King’s head; although the damage was pitifully low, it couldn’t withstand the massive sheer quantity, and stacking them up in an instant was quite considerable.
More importantly, they stuck to the Toad King, interrupting its pounce.
Song Xu took advantage of the opportunity to draw her bow repeatedly.
Arrow after arrow shot toward the Toad King’s eyes, wide mouth, and belly.
-45, -51, -60!