Arthur had been an assassin in his previous life, and he had always fought with a pair of daggers. However, he had only managed to obtain an Epic Grade weapon when he reached Level 39, and even that had been due to sheer luck after opening an Epic Grade treasure chest.
Boom!
Arthur vanished from his original position. The enormous Orc Lord immediately sensed the danger and swung its massive axe toward him, but to Arthur, the Orc Lord’s movement was as slow as a snail. He could clearly see the trajectory of the axe, allowing him to effortlessly dodge the attack before leaping into the air.
Arthur knew that an Orc’s greatest weakness was its jugular vein. Striking it had a chance of triggering a critical hit, which would deal three times the normal damage. He had no intention of wasting such an opportunity.
Boom!
Arthur leapt nearly thirty meters into the air before suddenly descending toward the Orc Lord. His dagger flashed as he slashed directly at its neck. The blade landed perfectly on the jugular vein.
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A critical hit!
Arthur’s eyes lit up. He had triggered the critical effect on his very first attempt.
But Arthur wasn’t finished.
He used the momentum from his descent to kick the Orc Lord directly in the chest. The powerful impact sent him backward, and he used the rebound force to launch himself toward the ceiling. His feet struck the ceiling with full force, allowing him to propel himself back toward the Orc Lord.
The Orc Lord roared furiously.
Yet before it could even react, Arthur had already reached it.
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The dagger pierced into its body once again.
Arthur began moving throughout the entire boss room like a grasshopper, constantly changing directions and attacking from impossible angles. One moment he was on the ground, and the next he was flying toward the ceiling before launching himself back at the Orc Lord.
The massive Orc Lord swung its enormous axe repeatedly, but its speed was simply insufficient to keep up with an opponent who possessed a divine foundation. Arthur’s movements were too fast, and his attacks were too precise.
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....
The Orc Lord’s enormous HP bar continued shrinking with every passing second. Arthur’s 100% defense penetration ensured that none of his attacks were reduced by the monster’s defense, allowing every strike to deal its full damage.
Two minutes later, the battle finally came to an end.
Boom!
The enormous body of the Orc Lord collapsed heavily onto the ground, shaking the entire boss room.
[Ding! You have gained 50 Royal Gold.]
Arthur glanced toward the corpse and immediately noticed five glowing orbs floating above the ground. Two were gray, two were blue, and one was red.
He looked at his skeletons. They were also bullying the Elite Bosses. He didn’t need to interfere.
At almost the same moment, another notification appeared.
[Ding! You have gained 250 Platinum.]
The five Elite Grade bosses had also fallen.
Arthur looked toward his skeletons.
Those skeletons were truly a menace.
The five pairs had completely overwhelmed their opponents, leaving several glowing orbs scattered around the corpses.
"Not bad."
A smile appeared on Arthur’s face.
...
[Worldwide Announcement: Congratulations to player Darklord for becoming the first player to clear Hell Mode of the Graveyard of the Orcs. He has been rewarded with 5 Prestige Points.]
The announcement echoed across the entire world, instantly attracting the attention of countless players. Everyone who heard it was stunned. Hell Mode was something most players could barely imagine challenging, yet someone had already cleared it.
In a government facility, several officials looked up at the announcement in disbelief.
"This Darklord is really something. Right after obtaining those equipment, he directly cleared Hell Mode. I wonder what kind of equipment he has now. We’re still struggling to keep up with Normal Grade monsters."
Another official frowned deeply.
"Did he really create a Platinum Foundation? That’s 3.6 billion dollars, and the next five levels alone would require another 42.5 billion dollars. Is he the heir of some multinational corporation?"
"He surely is."
The general sitting at the head of the table remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"Regardless of who he is, we need to establish a good relationship with him."
The others nodded.
A player capable of reaching such a level this quickly was already someone the government couldn’t afford to ignore. More importantly, Darklord had already demonstrated that he possessed an extraordinary amount of wealth, equipment, and possibly even opportunities that ordinary players could never obtain.
Meanwhile, Arthur was completely unaware of the commotion his achievement had caused.
He had already turned his attention toward the five glowing orbs floating above the ground.
Arthur’s eyes immediately focused on the red orb.
"Let’s see what you’ve got."
Arthur immediately walked toward the red orb.
[Ding! You have gained the Epic Grade Skill, Drain Touch.]
[Name: Drain Touch]
[Grade: Epic]
[Function: You can drain the Vitality Points of a monster and add them to your own.]
[Special Effect: No limitation of this technique will apply until you reach Grade 9 Human.]
Arthur’s eyes widened.
"Grade 9 Human?"
He frowned slightly.
"What is this Grade 9 Human? Is it some kind of cultivation realm? But that doesn’t seem to be the case."
The term was completely unfamiliar to him.
Arthur decided to investigate it later. There were more important things to deal with first.
He collected the remaining glowing orbs as well.
In total, he had obtained fifteen Legendary Grade items from the five Elite bosses and four additional items from the Royal Grade Orc Lord.
"Good."
Arthur was quite satisfied with the harvest.
However, his expression soon turned frustrated.
He couldn’t place all the items inside his Adventurer Card.
"I really need to reach Level 11 and buy a storage artifact as soon as possible."
His current storage capacity was simply too limited.
Arthur took all the items he could carry and left the dungeon. He then dug a hole in the ground and carefully buried the remaining items that he couldn’t carry with him.
Afterward, he took nine items and headed toward the town. Each of them could probably be sold for around 200 to 250 Divine Gold.
For the next hour, Arthur repeatedly ran between the town and the forest. He sold nine items at the guild, returned to the forest, retrieved the remaining items, and then went back to the town to sell them.
By the end, he had sold fifteen items.
He kept the remaining four Legendary Grade items.
Those four were reserved for the government.
Arthur opened his communication interface and sent a message to Alex.
"I have some good stuff. Do you want to buy them? There are four Legendary Grade items."
At that moment, Alex was busy killing monsters in the wilderness. When he suddenly received Arthur’s message, his eyes widened.
"Holy shit! How does he keep getting Legendary Grade items?"
Alex couldn’t understand it.
Three Legendary Grade items had already cost the government 60 billion dollars. How could they possibly afford another four?
Yet despite his shock, Alex couldn’t suppress his desire to obtain them.
They were Legendary Grade items.
A single one could cost trillions of dollars through the guild, while Darklord was offering them at a fraction of that price.
"Big shot, I’ll need to ask my superior first. Can you wait?" Alex asked nervously.
"Give me 100 Royal Gold, and I’ll let you have two Legendary Grade items on credit."
Arthur immediately sent another message.
He needed fresh money to purchase the Stealth skill. Once he obtained it, he could trigger Infinite Multiplication on the skill.
Alex fell into deep thought.
Giving away 100 Royal Gold, equivalent to 10 billion dollars, in exchange for two Legendary Grade items was undoubtedly an incredible deal.
But 10 billion dollars was still 10 billion dollars.
Alex immediately logged out.
He needed to consult his superior.
.....
"Another four Legendary Grade items?"
The general stared at Alex in disbelief.
"Where the hell is he getting so many Legendary Grade items? We must have them. Go and take the money to him."
The general’s expression was serious.
He had already tried to investigate Darklord’s identity. Someone capable of creating such a terrifying foundation must have spent an enormous amount of money on Platinum to level up.
However, this time, the bank couldn’t provide them with any useful information about a transaction worth three or four billion dollars.
How could they know that Arthur had spent 50 billion dollars in a single transaction rather than three or four billion?
Even if they investigated the expenditure records, the game displayed different real life purchases at different times. There was no obvious connection between them.
Besides, billions of dollars were being transferred into the bank every day.
Without a specific name and account number, it was practically impossible to trace a player’s identity through their financial records.
Alex quickly returned to the game and went directly to meet Arthur.
This time, the two met outside the town.
[Ding! You have received 1 Divine Gold from player "Justice Lord."]
Arthur handed Alex two Legendary Grade items.
One was a Warrior-class axe, while the other was an Assassin skill.
"Thank you, sir."
Alex bowed excitedly.
Arthur waved his hand.
"There are many treasure locations scattered throughout the wilderness. You should try to find those treasures if you want to earn enough money. Killing monsters alone won’t be very efficient."
After saying that, Arthur turned around and left.
Alex watched his disappearing figure with gratitude.
Darklord was incredibly powerful, yet he was still willing to help the country.
"We should never become his enemy. Besides his terrifying foundation, he seems to possess luck that defies the heavens."
Alex muttered to himself.
.....
Arthur soon arrived at the guild.
"I’d like to purchase the Stealth skill."
"That will be 50 Royal Gold," the receptionist replied.
Arthur handed over the Divine Gold he had just received from Alex.
This was not multiplied money, so it could trigger the talent.
The receptionist accepted the payment and handed Arthur a skill scroll.
[Ding! You have received the Epic Grade Skill, Stealth.]
[Name: Stealth]
[Grade: Epic]
[Function: You can become invisible for five minutes upon activation.]
[Special Function: You can attack without breaking Stealth.]
[Cooldown: 3 minutes.]
Arthur stared at the skill description. For a moment, he was completely silent.
Then his lips slowly curled upward.
"Hahahahaha!"
Arthur could no longer contain his laughter.
This was practically an infinite Stealth skill.
In his previous life, the Stealth skill he had obtained was only Royal Grade. It allowed him to remain invisible for thirty seconds and had a five-minute cooldown.
Worse, attacking even once would immediately break the Stealth effect.
But this one was completely different.
Five minutes of invisibility.
Only three minutes of cooldown.
And most importantly, attacking wouldn’t cancel the effect.
Arthur’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
"It’s time to form my core."