Chapter 20: A Pleasant Surprise!

For an ordinary player, a Bee Queen in a frenzy is extremely dangerous. But for Lu Li, this meant victory was within reach. Although the Bee Queen’s attacks were incredibly swift, it possessed a fatal weakness: its stamina was abysmal.

In his previous life, Lu Li had soloed an entire hive, specifically leaving the Queen for last to act as a whetstone. He had expected such a lord-class creature to be difficult to deal with, only to discover its stamina was ridiculously poor. In the end, when it could no longer win, it tried to flee, only to be chased down and executed by Lu Li.

The current situation was much the same as his past life. The only difference was that Lu Li was still a Level 0 player, and the level gap between him and the Queen was quite significant. It was precisely because of this that Lu Li had gone to such lengths to provoke the Bee Queen, making it forget its own critical shortcoming of poor stamina.

Sure enough, after a few all-out charges, the Queen’s speed dropped significantly. Seizing the opportunity, Lu Li condensed a sharp blade from his right hand and slashed at the Queen. His Emerald-grade "Blade Arm" was incredibly sharp; while it didn't kill the target in one hit, it left a deep gash on the Queen’s body.

Lu Li was lucky; with just that one strike, he triggered the "Laceration" effect inherent to the "Blade Arm." The "Corrosive Toxin" also took effect simultaneously, eating away at the Queen’s vitality bit by bit. After a few more exchanges, the Queen was too exhausted to fly and could only scramble across the ground. Seeing that the moment had arrived, Lu Li didn't drag it out any longer; with a burst of accelerated movement, he cleanly and decisively split the Queen’s skull open!

He had won!

A pleasant notification chimed in his mind:
[Player Lu Li detected with a massive level gap against the Earth-Burrowing Bee Queen. Unlocked hidden title: Over-level Kill.]

Lu Li paused and pulled up his panel to check.
[Name: Over-level Kill]
[Requirement: Kill a monster of Level 10 or higher while at Level 0.]
[Title Effect: Each attack has a 1% chance to trigger an Absolute Kill!]
[Remark: This youth is terrifying; he must not be left alive!]

There was actually a hidden title! Lu Li was somewhat surprised. In this apocalyptic game, obtaining a title was extremely difficult. Not only were the conditions for acquisition incredibly harsh, but the unpredictable way they were triggered caused many players to lose heart. Obtaining a title now could be considered a pleasant surprise.

He equipped the title next to his name and cast "Soul Devour" on the Bee Queen’s corpse.

A Level 10 lord-class creature granted him 100 Soul Points, plus a Gold-grade talent ability: "Cursed Stinger"! Similar to the "Corrosive Stinger" effect, "Cursed Stinger" could apply continuous debuffs to a target. However, "Cursed Stinger" didn't just apply a "toxin" to drain health; it applied a "curse" that ignored healing effects! If Lu Li hadn't activated the second-stage ability of "Bloody Slaughter," the Queen’s "Cursed Stinger" might have truly cost him his life.

[Detected that "Cursed Stinger" and "Blade Arm" are both of the "Sharp" category. Would you like to perform a fusion enhancement?]
The fusion prompt arrived as expected.
"Fuse."

Because the "Blade Arm" was already Emerald-grade, the Gold-grade "Cursed Stinger" was directly converted into an auxiliary effect.
["Blade Arm" effect increased: Adds "Cursed Toxin" effect, 100% trigger probability.]

Including the previous two, there were now three auxiliary effects on his blade arm:
["Laceration," 50% trigger probability;]
["Corrosive Toxin," 100% trigger probability;]
["Cursed Toxin," 100% trigger probability.]

If he added the "Over-level Kill" title, Lu Li could potentially trigger four different effects in a single strike! Satisfied, he nodded and turned his gaze toward the Queen’s corpse. A small treasure chest had appeared above it!

There was loot! Lu Li opened the chest, full of excitement. But when he saw what was inside, his smile instantly collapsed. He had thought he might get something good, but it turned out to be just a bottle of "Purification Potion."

[Item Name: Purification Potion]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Function: Consume to purify all negative effects.]
[Remark: Let the fire purify everything... err, sorry, wrong script...]

Better than nothing. Fortunately, there was also a Tier 3 Origin Crystal inside the Queen, which slightly soothed Lu Li’s wounded heart. But soon, he began to worry again. The entire underground parking lot was filled with the corpses of Earth-Burrowing Bees, and each one contained an Origin Crystal. If he had to dig them out one by one, when would he ever finish?!

Just then, Lin Qinfeng walked over and bowed slightly to Lu Li.
"Friend, thank you for your help. The Lin family will not forget this debt of gratitude."

"The Lin family?" Lu Li looked up, sizing up the woman before him. In his previous life, he had never heard of this family, presumably because they had been wiped out for various reasons.
"What is your name?" Lu Li asked casually.
"The eldest daughter of the Lin family, Lin Qinfeng," she replied gracefully. "Friend, your strength is formidable. Would you be willing to add me as a friend? The Lin family will find a way to repay you."

When the apocalyptic game descended, players could add each other as friends, making it very convenient to send messages and trade items. Moreover, there were multiple privacy settings between friends, ranging from displaying only a name to showing detailed info like talent abilities, personal status, and coordinates.

The name "Lin Qinfeng" was not on Lu Li’s revenge list, so he had no reason to refuse. Lu Li accepted her friend request and said coolly, "Repayment isn't necessary. Just do me a favor later."
"Name it. As long as we can do it, we will spare no effort."
"Help me collect the Origin Crystals," Lu Li said, glancing around. "I see you have quite a few people with you; these corpses shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Lin Qinfeng was stunned. She hadn't expected Lu Li’s request to be so simple. Just help collect the Origin Crystals?
"What? Is there a problem?" Lu Li asked, seeing her silence and assuming she was reluctant.
"No, no!" Lin Qinfeng quickly nodded. "I was just surprised that Mr. Lu’s request was so simple."
Lu Li waved his hand. "I have things to attend to, so I’ll be going. Once you’ve collected the crystals, just send them to me via the friend trading system."

With that, he prepared to leave the parking lot. Lin Qinfeng was surprised again and couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Lu, aren't you worried that I might pocket these Origin Crystals?"
Lu Li didn't look back as he walked away. "If you were that kind of person, you wouldn't have wanted to add me as a friend."

Lin Qinfeng smiled. This young man named Lu Li didn't seem hard to get along with; she felt there would likely be many opportunities to win him over in the future. However, at that moment, the anxious voice of Lin Qinhua came from afar:
"Big sister! Big sister, come quickly, the third sister is failing!"