Chapter 4: The Swarm's Intimidation

As they spoke, a faint flush colored Xu Xiao’s face, barely perceptible. Before Lu Li could react, she hurriedly explained, “I’m the class monitor; it’s my duty to look after every student in class!”

“Oh... such a saint? You won’t last long in the apocalypse...” Lu Li teased with a mocking smirk, then quickly advised, “Let Ma Han try attacking the queen bug’s neck.”

“What?!” Xu Xiao was about to object, but hearing Lu Li’s suggestion, she immediately ordered, “Wang Chao, try to restrain the queen bug’s movements!”

“I’ll do my best!” Wang Chao roared, charging fiercely at the queen bug.

“Ma Han, attack the queen bug’s neck with all your strength!”

“Damn it, fatty, don’t move! I can’t aim properly!” Ma Han called out anxiously, but the arrow in his hand lingered without release.

With the situation on the verge of being reversed by the queen bug, Lu Li furrowed his brow and quietly activated his ability.

[Swarm Deterrence: Intimidates insect-type creatures, causing a stiffening effect; duration depends on the level difference and talent grade.]

Although Lu Li was level 0 and the praying mantis queen bug was level 6—a full six levels above him—the golden-grade [Swarm Deterrence], influenced by Xu Xiao’s abilities, automatically upgraded to platinum!

Even the queen bug stiffened momentarily.

“Good opportunity!” Ma Han exclaimed joyfully, releasing his arrow which struck the queen bug’s neck with force.

Struck at its weak point, the raging queen bug’s head tilted sharply before it collapsed, utterly dead.

“Is it dead just like that?” Wang Chao and Ma Han stared in disbelief.

The queen bug before them was clearly a level 6 lord creature, yet the three level 0 players had managed to kill it? Was it really that easy to kill across levels?!

Xu Xiao, looking at the fallen queen bug, turned to Lu Li with astonishment: “How did you know its weak point was the neck?”

Lu Li shrugged, “I have reconnaissance ability. As long as the target is within ten levels, I can find its weak points.”

The three suddenly realized something.

It seemed that even an iron-grade ability wasn’t entirely useless. If used properly, it could still produce tremendous results.

Ignoring the stunned trio, Lu Li approached the queen bug’s corpse and activated his soul-devouring ability.

[Devoured level 6 monster’s soul; Soul points +15]

[Plundered ability—Blade Arm (Gold)]

[Plundered ability—Swarm Deterrence (Gold)]

[Detected Blade Arm ability can be further advanced; upon completing advancement tasks, will automatically upgrade to Platinum.]

[Detected Swarm Deterrence ability can be advanced; trigger advancement task? Yes/No]

Staring at the options before him, Lu Li fell into thought.

Could the advancement task for [Swarm Deterrence] possibly require him to kill 100 queen bugs within 24 hours?

After all, [Swarm Deterrence] was quite effective against insect creatures. Losing it upon failing advancement would be a pity.

As Lu Li hesitated, Xu Xiao suddenly asked, “Lu Li, can your [Reconnaissance] see the position of the primal crystal?”

Without thinking, Lu Li answered, “Yes.”

His answer immediately triggered the still-open task interface!

[Ding! Ability advancement task triggered!]

[Task: Kill an over-leveled player within 24 hours!]

[Reward: Challenger’s Chest ×3; Ability ‘Swarm Deterrence’ upgraded to Platinum grade!]

[Kills: 0/1]

“Damn...” Lu Li muttered under his breath.

Xu Xiao, seeing his grim expression after the curse, mistakenly thought he was unwilling to reveal the primal crystal’s location and inwardly grumbled, “Lu Li is so stingy.”

Outwardly, she maintained a businesslike demeanor: “Don’t worry. Although we killed the queen bug, you were the first to discover it and pointed out its weak spot. The primal crystal we get will be split evenly.”

Lost in thought over how to complete the advancement task, Lu Li barely heard her and just nodded absently, “The primal crystal is inside the queen bug’s head.”

Hearing this, Wang Chao raised his fist and started pounding the queen bug’s head wildly.

Within moments, an orange primal crystal dropped out.

“A third-tier primal crystal! Absorbing this alone might grant a hundred experience points...” Ma Han clicked his tongue, excitement written all over his face.

No player had yet advanced to level 1.

With the apocalypse just beginning, monsters were scarce and killing them granted no experience; experience could only be gained by absorbing primal crystals.

Most players had a natural fear of monsters.

Even the braver ones, who managed to kill a few, only obtained first-tier primal crystals, each providing a single experience point—nowhere near enough to reach level 1.

As for the military, although they could acquire enough primal crystals to level up, centralized distribution meant no one would quickly reach level 1.

“It takes 10 experience points to go from level 0 to 1, and 20 more to get to level 2... If we absorb this primal crystal, we could probably jump straight to level 3!” Wang Chao’s eyes burned with excitement, but he still took the primal crystal from Ma Han and handed it to Xu Xiao.

“You’re the leader, you decide how to distribute it.”

Before she could respond, Lu Li, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

“If you don’t want to die, it’s best if you don’t touch that primal crystal.”

“What do you mean by that?!” Xu Xiao looked at Lu Li, confused.

Was he planning to betray them and keep the third-tier primal crystal for himself?

“Exactly what I said,” Lu Li replied, not in the mood to explain further. He strode toward the insect nest.

He couldn’t let a second person in on the secret of his reincarnation; further explanation would be a waste of time.

With two consecutive advancement tasks triggered, Lu Li was quite busy!

Xu Xiao never expected Lu Li’s attitude to turn so cold; her knuckles gripping the primal crystal whitened.

She was the class monitor, and after the apocalypse, she had awakened a rare amplification ability.

Though she wasn’t vain or fond of praise, Lu Li’s icy demeanor left her feeling deeply unsettled.

“What’s with the attitude? You just awakened a reconnaissance ability. If I didn’t like you, you’d already be queen bug food!”

Wang Chao and Ma Han, watching Lu Li walk away, turned to Xu Xiao.

“Class monitor, do we still split this primal crystal or what?”

“Hold onto it for now. Let’s follow Lu Li and see what he intends to do.”

Xu Xiao tucked the primal crystal close and quickened her pace after Lu Li.

After a few steps, the three spotted the nest entrance, shaped like a small mound, and the corpse of another queen bug lying by the entrance.

Though smaller, it was clearly not a low-level minion.

“There’s another queen bug? Did Lu Li kill it?” Xu Xiao’s eyes widened in surprise, but when she saw the neat cut on the bug’s head, she dismissed the thought.

“Lu Li’s ability is reconnaissance, but this queen bug was clearly killed by a sharp weapon. It probably wasn’t him,” she said.

“Maybe two lord creatures fought, and the bigger one killed the smaller, and Lu Li just happened to pass by and got lucky,” Ma Han speculated, stroking his chin.

“Sounds plausible. Smart thinking, Old Ma!” Wang Chao gave Ma Han a thumbs-up.

While they spoke, Lu Li prepared to enter the nest.

Xu Xiao immediately called out, “Lu Li, what are you doing?”

“Tsk, why is she still following me...” Lu Li glanced at her with exasperation. “Use your smart brain to figure it out, class monitor.”

With that, he ignored her and plunged into the insect nest.

...