Seeing the high-level professionals present, the Level 20 newcomer immediately bowed modestly to the crowd, saying, "Greetings, Seniors. My name is Mu Xing. I had just received the Alliance's notification to come and help. I heard that a student is lost inside, is that correct?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the eerie flickering of the rule barrier.
"What... What's going on?"
Didn't they just say that a student was stranded inside and needed help? How did they find people to cause the BOSS to mutate in just ten minutes? How many Level 20 experts must have worked together to achieve such efficiency?
"Hello, Mu Xing. My name is Ling Yu. I'm the inspector responsible for student safety during this rookie assessment. I'm the one who called you here."
"Hello, Senior Ling," Mu Xing replied, adopting the demeanor of an obedient girl.
"Let's skip the pleasantries. I originally asked you here to rescue a student named Chen Mo who got lost inside..."
Hearing this, Mu Xing realized she had likely made this trip for nothing. After all, they've already found a team to make the BOSS mutate; what's left for me to do?
But unexpectedly, Ling Yu continued, "As you can see, the rule barrier is now showing signs of The Master of Mutation transforming. I want to give you another task: please go in and investigate what triggered this BOSS's mutation."
"Ah!?"
Mu Xing couldn't help but wonder if she had misheard. Investigate what triggered the BOSS's mutation? Didn't you Seniors already find a group of experts to deal with the BOSS?
"Not at all. Besides seeking out some unaffiliated professionals like yourself to rescue the student, we haven't notified any other groups. And according to the Alliance's previous information, you were the closest Level 20 professional to this location. Yet now, a group of Level 20 experts has suddenly appeared from nowhere. In less than ten minutes, they've killed a Level 20 Master of Mutation! Even though this Master of Mutation is Non-Rebirth, a Level 20 Non-Rebirth Master of Mutation should still have a full 75.8 billion Health. Killing it in ten minutes is just too fast. This whole situation is very strange, so we need you to investigate."
After Ling Yu finished speaking, Mu Xing couldn't help but become intrigued.
"Is that so?!"
Curiosity sparked within her. If these high-level professionals weren't summoned by the Seniors, then where on earth did this mysterious team—capable of eliminating a Master of Mutation with tens of billions of Health in just ten minutes, a team the Alliance couldn't even track—spring from?
She was already eager to go in and see for herself.
"This is a Hidden Pearl. It offers a high degree of concealment. It's not very useful for high-level professionals like us, but it's quite effective for those around Level 20. Generally, no one around Level 20 should be able to see through your invisibility. It will help you hide effectively while you investigate the full story."
Accepting the misty pearl Ling Yu handed her, Mu Xing said happily, "Thank you, Senior."
"Be careful with everything. If you encounter any unusual problems, it's best to come out immediately and discuss it with us first."
"I understand, Senior. I'll go in now." Mu Xing looked back at everyone, and after making sure they had nothing else to instruct, she activated the Hidden Pearl and entered the rule barrier.
"I'm really curious about what kind of news this little girl can bring us."
"Rather than pinning our hopes on this young lady, I'm more hopeful that Chen Mo can come out now. He's been inside from the very beginning. He should have the clearest idea of what actually happened in there."
"That rascal, always so reckless. Sigh... this time it's my fault too. I can't really blame him," Shen Rulong said, a look of helplessness on his face.
Meanwhile, as those outside noticed the rule barrier flickering strangely, aware that The Master of Mutation was transforming, Chen Mo had already stood up and quickly hidden in the forest behind him.
A BOSS undergoing mutation can develop abilities it didn't have before. If it mutates some deadly new power, my life could be forfeit.
Naturally, Chen Mo prioritized hiding and observing the situation clearly first!
Although the rewards for a mutated Master of Mutation are better, no reward is more important than my own life.
As streams of peculiar Rule Energy surged into the Nomad's body, its form began to change dramatically. Its body doubled in size, and its original six arms were reduced to two. The shortaxes in its hands transformed into two long-handled giant axes. Furthermore, its body was now clad in thick armor. Its once unremarkable centaurian body now featured eerie hooves burning with black-red flames. And at its rear, a tail ending in a snakelike head had appeared!
Seeing his opponent transform so grotesquely, Chen Mo quickly used an exploration skill on it!
[Monster Name]: Chaos Herdsman
[Monster Rank]: The Master of Mutation - Extreme (Field Team BOSS - Non-Rebirth)
[Level]: 20
[Attribute]:
〖Life〗: 37.9 billion / 75.8 billion
〖Energy〗: 10 billion / 10 billion
〖Physical Attack〗: 2,947
〖Physical Defense〗: 1,750
〖Magic Defense〗: 1,450
〖Critical Damage〗: 300%
[Active Skills]: Axe Wind's Circle - Extreme, Charge to Kill - Extreme, Deadly Venom - Extreme
[Passive Skills]: Giant Strength Strike - Extreme, Desperate Overlord - Extreme, Nightmare Flame Path - Extreme, Demon Armor - Extreme
〖Giant Strength Strike - Extreme〗: When attack power is higher than the target's, deals an additional 100% damage.
〖Desperate Overlord - Extreme〗: For every 10% decrease in Health, all damage dealt increases by 10%, and all healing received increases by 10%.
〖Nightmare Flame Path - Extreme〗: Leaves a Nightmare Flame Path on its movement route that lasts for 1 minute. Enemies on the path take fixed damage equal to its attack power per second and have all damage they deal reduced by 20%.
〖Demon Armor - Extreme〗: Reduces all damage taken by 30%.
[Traits]: Enduring Battle - Extreme, Solid Skin - Extreme, Demolish Magic - Extreme
〖Enduring Battle - Extreme〗: Recovers 2% of maximum Life and Energy every 1 minute.
〖Solid Skin - Extreme〗: Reduces all ranged Physical Damage taken by 75%.
〖Demolish Magic - Extreme〗: Reduces all Magic Damage taken by 40%.
This is truly disgusting. Although the BOSS's offensive and defensive attributes haven't changed post-mutation, its overall skill and trait sets have been massively enhanced! Its damage reduction is maxed out, and its recovery capabilities are also significantly boosted. A normal team would find this much tougher, relying heavily on their Support's abilities. Thankfully, Resistance Expert is gone, so I don't need to worry about its Poison Resistance Level increasing from stacking poison anymore.
Chen Mo had found fighting this BOSS quite comfortable before because all its attacks had a very small range.
But now, after its mutation, two of its original four skills—which were long-range—had vanished. In their place, it gained a potent new long-range poisoning skill, and its remaining two skills had both their range and damage drastically increased! Moreover, the cooldowns of its skills were significantly shortened! Skills that previously had cooldowns of over half a minute were now ready in just a few seconds!
A single Axe Wind's Circle or Charge to Kill could probably wipe out a whole swath of skeletons with ease. It's not going to be as easy to stack poison quickly like before.