Louise squeezed out a bottle of milk and threw it to George. She also threw him a leather book: "This is your ultimate skill. The real ultimate skill!"
George caught the bottle and opened the leather book. On it were four big words: Frenzy Slam.
Frenzy Slam: Active skill. Enter a berserk state, increase attack by 178–190, increase attack speed by 200%, lasts 5 seconds, costs 50 mana per second, cooldown 30 seconds.
[Ding! Host has obtained the skill Frenzy Slam, rebound effect is active, effect completed!]
[Frenzy Slam: Active skill. Enter a berserk state, increase attack by 350–400, increase attack speed by 500%, lasts 5 seconds, cooldown 10 seconds.]
[Ding! Host has received a mission: Slay Fish Dragon, obtain Dragon Sinew and Rib!]
"Louise, goodbye," George said, the book in his hands disappeared. He walked to Louise, who was still crouched in front of the Dragon Bone, studying it.
Louise didn't turn around. She just waved at George. The golden door appeared.
Back in the Peacekeeper Office, George checked his stats.
Level: 31
...
HP: 1200/1200
MP: 550/550
Strength: 130
Arm Power: 98
Agility: 86
Reaction: 102
Talent: 51
Insight: 53
Skills: Bloody Hands, Frostbite, Guardian Spirit, Frenzy Slam.
No ranged attack, but Frenzy Slam increased attack speed and damage, which helped fix his weakness.
Plus, he had the Dwarves Iron Hammer in hand.
George didn't pull out the Monster Encyclopedia right away. Instead, he left the Peacekeeper Office.
"Boss!" Buck ran up immediately.
"What's the mission this time?" Dorothy asked.
"First, I'll help you collect Wraithroot herbs," George said.
"Why?" Dorothy asked, confused.
"Boss, if that's the case, I also have a job mission..." Buck quickly said: "I did most of the work this time!"
George thought for a moment and didn't hide anything. He explained what Louise had said.
At that moment, Marx walked out and tossed a Token to Dorothy and Buck each. He gave George three Tokens:
"George, good job. You're the team leader now. You can form a five-person team. If they agree, they're your team members. If not, find others."
Both were Peacekeeper Identity Tokens.
George got one leader Token and two member Tokens.
Marx said that, then turned around and walked back into the Peacekeeper Hall.
"What does that mean?" Buck was stunned. "What if I steal in the city later? Am I going to arrest myself?"
"Do you think Louise will trick you again?" Dorothy put her Token away.
"This game is completely unfair. NPCs even trick players into dying!" Buck complained.
George put his Token away. "This time, it probably won't be too bad."
"Hey, why?" Buck asked. "Boss, we almost died, okay!"
"He gave us Tokens," George said. "This game is highly open and free, but missions will always favor players."
"Of course, if it didn't, they could just make something impossible to beat and kill players," Buck said.
"So!" George said. "The Dwarves mission, my identity is between Peacekeeper and NPC. Elena said other players have broken into many Peacekeeper Offices. So our Ceylon City Peacekeeper Office can't be too strong, or too ahead of other players."
"Boss, now you're the leader, you're more like an NPC now, and that's even more dangerous!" Buck said.
George shook his head. "I don't think so."
Dorothy also said, "I agree with the leader. If they still wanted to trick the leader into dying, they wouldn't have given us the Token. Giving the Token means that the Ceylon City Peacekeeper Office is basically broken by players now. It's just player vs player from now on. The NPCs will stay fair, and if they stay fair, they won't give players impossible missions."
"Leader!" Dorothy said. "My Wraithroot herbs aren't urgent. We should focus on the mission, level up, get rewards, and not let the players outside Cologne Island get ahead. We also need to go out and fight!"
George laughed. "When did you get so ambitious?"
Dorothy blushed and lowered her head. "I... I just don't want to see the leader fail."
"What about you?" George looked at Buck.
"I'm a thief! I can't steal in the dungeon. I can't level up, can't learn new skills!" Buck said with a sad face.
"You don't have to go," George said.
"Boss, that's not what I mean!" Buck quickly said. "I mean, can I still practice in the city later?"
"Sure, just be careful. Don't get caught by the peacekeepers," George said.
"Then I'm in!" Buck said. "The boss is a player-NPC trained by an NPC. I have a hidden class. We're all weird, and weird people should be together!"
"I'm not weird!" Dorothy said weakly.
George smiled, pulled out the Monster Encyclopedia, and looked up Fish Dragon.
He had seen a Fish Dragon before when he was fighting octopus in the sea. He had stayed far away and never got close.
Fish Dragon: Level 35 Sea Monster. Has two skills: Tornado and Tsunami.
Tornado: Fish Dragon uses Speed Boost to spin, and the water pulls players in. Players get Dazed, lasts 5 seconds, and lose 210–230 HP per second.
Tsunami: Fish Dragon roars with a sound wave attack. Area attack. Can't dodge. Lasts 3 seconds. Takes 110–130 damage per second.
George nodded slowly.
Good thing!
Tornado hits directly and will kill George if it lands. So he must dodge, and if not, use Guardian Spirit.
Tsunami can't be dodged, but the damage is low. He can take it.
"Let's go," George said, heading toward the port.
"Boss, can we not go?" Buck asked. "My strength isn't even 100. If I get hit, it hurts a lot!"
"Stay alive," George said. "You two just watch from behind and share the experience."
He needed to level up fast, or he'd lose the Ceylon City Peacekeeper Office.
Buck and Dorothy could level up as much as they could.
At the port, he found only a few players.
"Where are the others?" George asked the player.
"They... they all went to fight the Fish Dragon!" the player said.
"Fight the Fish Dragon? They?" Buck looked surprised.
Fish Dragon was level 35. But it had to be fought underwater!
Underwater, movement slowed, and players took damage over time.
A level 35 Fish Dragon underwater could match a level 39 monster on land.
"Several players from Azure League are going," the player said. "Azure League said, as long as you go and contribute, you'll get a reward. They even showed three levelless gear items. That's like 29-level weapons!"
"Boss, Azure League knows we need Fish Dragon to build the ship. They're doing this on purpose to mess with you!" Buck said.
"I know!" George said. "Where did they go?"
The player pointed in a direction.
George took a big step forward and turned back. "You're not lying to me, right?"
The player shook his head quickly. "Never!"
"Move fast!" George said, putting one hand on Buck's shoulder and the other on Dorothy's wrist.
"Leader, that's my skill. It hurts a lot..." Buck said with a sigh.
George said nothing, but tightened his hand.
"Leader, it hurts, it hurts! I'm moving, now I'm moving!" Buck said, then started running.
Not long after, the three of them dropped underwater and started losing health.
"Found it! There's movement up ahead!" Buck shouted excitedly, then slowed down and hid behind George.
...
Three hundred meters away.
Elena and her five people stood on a small boat made from tree spirit corpses. They watched the Fish Dragon rush and kill players, and they saw the sea surface keep rising and falling.
"Leader, we can harvest now!" one of the members said. "Should we fight? Too many players are dying!"
Elena shook her head. "Azure League doesn't take weak players. Only three weapons. We wait until only three people are left."
The team members said nothing. They watched the chaos below the water, watched players being killed by the Fish Dragon one by one.
Suddenly, Elena and the priest Reed in the group both turned around.
"Leader, someone is coming!" Reed said.
"George!" Elena gritted her teeth.
"Leader, he's alive. Should we take him down?" Reed said, holding a branch that glowed green, and vines jumped into the air.
"Go!" Elena looked at George getting closer, and finally made up her mind.
She was the first to jump into the ocean and rushed out.
The warriors took a step forward, grabbed Reed and threw him far, then rushed out too.
Reed flew through the air and suddenly appeared above George and his group.
He held the branch and pointed at George, shouting:
"Thornwrap!"
Crash!
Countless poisonous, sharp thorns rained down, ready to wrap around George.