Chapter Twenty-Two: The Captain of the Sentinels

While Zhang Shan was grinding monsters, he chatted idly with everyone and occasionally browsed the forum. By that afternoon, he had reached level 11, but more importantly, he finally got a level 10 plain white cloak, so he was no longer a fragile target.

Silk Hemp Cloak: +500 HP, level 10 equipment, all classes.

With the Silk Hemp Cloak equipped, Zhang Shan’s health rose to over eight hundred. From then on, he no longer needed his pet to draw aggro while farming monsters. With his HP up, he wasn’t afraid of mobs suddenly spawning beside him—he could take several hits without worry.

So on the Bo Wang Wasteland map, he would take down any monster he saw, clearing a straight path and noticeably increasing his leveling efficiency.

He was also no longer afraid of being ambushed. Even if other players were well-equipped, at most their attacks would only take two or three hundred HP per strike—no threat at all. If anyone dared challenge him head-on, he’d simply send his pet in for a combo; whoever faced him would end up on the ground.

Just as Zhang Shan was preparing to dominate the Bo Wang Wasteland, disaster struck. A group of demons suddenly charged toward him at high speed.

No way, I didn’t pull that many mobs—where did all these demons come from?

Zhang Shan quickly recalled his pet and fled in embarrassment, hiding to observe quietly from the side.

It didn’t seem like they were after him—were they patrol monsters?

Some monsters didn’t stay fixed in one spot but patrolled around. This demon squad was probably a patrol group.

Zhang Shan breathed a sigh of relief and carefully examined their attributes.

Huh? Besides the level 13 demon minions, there was also a BOSS—marked orange: Demon Sentinel Captain. As for its stats, Zhang Shan couldn’t see them. He didn’t know if it was level 13 like the minions or level 15, but either way, he couldn’t afford to provoke it.

“Found a wild BOSS, orange rarity,” Zhang Shan called out in the party channel.

“What level? What are its stats?”

“Boss, should we go for the BOSS? We can’t keep grinding brown bears forever.”

“No idea on the stats. The BOSS is patrolling the whole map with a bunch of minions. I’m not messing with it.”

“Are there many other players around you?”

“None. I haven’t seen a single one. The mobs here aren’t easy to farm—most classes have a hard time with them.”

“Six-barrel, keep an eye on the BOSS. Boss, let’s head over. We’ve got to give it a try—I haven’t fought a New World BOSS yet.”

“Damn, how am I supposed to keep an eye on it? It’s running all over the place. I’ll follow it for a bit, but if we’re going to attack, we need to decide fast.”

“Let’s do it. This will be our guild’s first event in the New World. Little Secretary, head back to the auction house and buy a cloak—it doesn’t have to be great, just something with extra HP,” Fengyun World decided.

Since they were set on taking down the Sentinel Captain, Zhang Shan trailed behind the BOSS. If any minions came to attack him and he could kill them quickly, he did so; if not, he’d have his pet kite them away.

After about ten minutes, Zhang Shan saw from the party chat that most of the guild members had entered the map.

“The BOSS is right in front of me. Don’t run into it, or you’ll be sent back to town—maybe only Little Secretary can survive it,” Zhang Shan warned in the party channel.

“Is the BOSS really that tough?”

“You’ll know soon enough.”

Gradually, everyone gathered.

Fengyun World said, “Clear all the minions except those right next to the BOSS. We’ll wait for Little Secretary to arrive before we start.”

Though the demons were a pain to deal with, the situation was different with dozens of players of all classes; the minions were cleared out quickly.

Everyone followed the BOSS, clearing monsters and waiting for Little Secretary to return with a cloak.

As long as no one blocked its path, the patrol BOSS would continue its set route, endlessly circling the map.

“How close are you, Little Secretary?”

“Almost there. Damn, there’s hardly any gold left at the exchange. I had to buy out all the 13 blue coins for 1 gold to scrape together 50,000 gold, just to buy a level 10 green cloak. I’m a sitting duck here,” Little Secretary grumbled.

“No worries, it’s pocket change for you.”

“Am I that rich? Why don’t I know about it?”

“As long as we know, hehe. Hurry up!”

Soon, Little Secretary arrived.

“How are we doing this?”

“Little Secretary tanks the BOSS. Everyone else clear the minions near the BOSS. Healers, keep an eye on the tank’s HP,” Fengyun World arranged casually.

There was no need for nerves—this time, they had numbers, and most were veterans with much better gear than the average player. Unlike in the starter zone, where just a few of them barely managed to take down a purple BOSS, this was no big deal.

After the plan was set, Little Secretary charged through the minions and directly attacked the BOSS. The others quickly followed, dozens of players ganging up and clearing the minions in no time.

“Damn, this BOSS is tough. I’ve got nearly six thousand HP and just a few hits almost emptied it—keep the heals coming!” Little Secretary cried out.

With the minions dealt with, Zhang Shan took the chance to examine the BOSS’s stats.

Demon Sentinel Captain: Level 15, HP 200,000, Attack 1,200, Skill 1: Sweep; Skill 2: Warhorn.

Sweep: Attacks all targets within five yards in front, dealing 100% extra damage.

Warhorn: Summons ten demon warriors to assist in battle.

“Not bad—this BOSS isn’t hard, just hits a bit hard. Melee classes, make sure to stand behind it or you’ll get hit by Sweep.”

“Yeah, as long as someone can tank it, it’s easy—not like those BOSSes that wipe out squishies with one screen-wide attack.”

“It’s not that easy to tank—one hit takes nearly a thousand HP, five or six hits and I’m down. If it enrages, just two or three hits would finish me,” Little Secretary complained.

“It’s fine, there are lots of us. Even if each person only chips away a few dozen HP, we’ll take it down soon enough. You don’t have to tank for long.”

That was true. With enough people, as long as the BOSS didn’t have a one-shot skill, numbers alone could bring it down, even if it meant some casualties. With a tank, it was even simpler—everyone else just had to stand and deal damage, and the BOSS would fall in no time. There was strength in numbers.

Not everyone could attack the BOSS, though. There was limited space behind it—only five or six people could fit. Other melee classes could only stand by and watch.

“So boring. You guys fight the BOSS while we’re just spectators,” Thousand Miles Lone Rider complained, having failed to secure a good position.

“Melee who have nothing to do, spread out and guard the area—don’t let anyone come and mess things up,” Fengyun World assigned tasks, just in case.

As everyone attacked, the BOSS’s HP dropped rapidly—over 20,000 per minute.

Every so often, the BOSS would use Sweep, dealing over 2,000 damage to Little Secretary at a time. Thankfully, he had high HP; any other class would have died instantly. The Warhorn skill was easier to handle—when demon warriors appeared, everyone switched to clear the adds, with each warrior class tanking one. Easy enough. If all went smoothly, the 200,000-HP BOSS would be down in less than ten minutes.

When its HP dropped to 20%, the BOSS went berserk. Little Secretary’s health became dangerously unstable, even with three healers struggling to keep up.

“Damn, I can’t take it anymore! I’m not even level 11—if I die and lose a level, don’t send me back to the starter village, please!” Little Secretary yelled.

“Relax, you won’t go back to the starter zone. At worst, you’ll respawn in Dangyang City.”

“No worries, as long as the BOSS doesn’t land back-to-back crits, you’ll survive.”

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t crit during a skill cast…”

“Who’s jinxing it?”

Despite Little Secretary’s constant fretting, the whole process went smoothly, and the Sentinel Captain was quickly defeated.

System Announcement: Congratulations to Fengyun World, Fengyun Little Secretary, Windchime Breeze… for successfully defeating the Demon Sentinel Captain. All members receive +1 skill point and +100 merit.

“I finally made it onto the announcement, haha!”

“Is taking down a BOSS this easy? It’s basically a training dummy.”

“Yeah, too easy. Maybe we should split up and find more BOSSes. Just kill them as we find them—this could be our big break.”

“Don’t kid yourself. Not every BOSS is this easy. This one was a physical ‘training dummy’ type with no magic skills. If we run into a magic BOSS, one skill could wipe out half the party.”

“That’s true. But we should still be able to handle purple BOSSes, right?”

“Yeah. Rogues, when you’re free, comb the maps around Dangyang City and check for BOSS spawns. Try out all the purple BOSSes below level 20.”

“Open up the loot! Let’s see what we got.”

Fengyun World opened the party inventory and displayed all the drops.

There was no coveted Heroic Order among the loot. The drops included an orange staff, two pieces of purple heavy armor—a tunic and boots—a skill book for Sweep (the same as the BOSS’s skill, great for berserkers as an AoE), and a mysterious metal material. The material didn’t specify its rarity or use.

The staff was given to Fengyun World after discussion—no one else in the guild needed it, and it was only fitting for the guild leader to have decent gear.

The armor went to Little Secretary, since he made the greatest contribution by spending a hefty sum on a cloak just to tank the BOSS. No one else objected.

The skill book was rolled for by all the berserkers in the party.

Berserkers were a popular class—out of about fifty guild members present, twelve were berserkers.

In the end, Fengyun Blade and Thousand Miles Lone Rider didn’t win the roll; another berserker took it with a 98.

“So close, just missed it!” Fengyun Blade was dejected.

“Quit whining. Didn’t you already learn Charge? You’ve got a skill already—don’t be greedy.”

For the final item, the mysterious material, Fengyun World said, “We don’t know its rarity or use, but since it dropped from an orange BOSS, it should be valuable. Let’s have everyone present roll for it—the winner keeps it.”

“Sounds good.”

“Time to show my true abilities!”

In truth, everyone just wanted to join in the fun. The material might be a priceless treasure, or it could be junk.

Everyone rolled—51, 32, 86, 75…

Zhang Shan threw his die casually—100.

“Damn, seriously? Six-barrel, your luck is ridiculous. What’s the point of us even playing?”

Under the roll system, no matter how many players joined, there could only be one 100, so the material was Zhang Shan’s.

“Hehe, thanks, everyone.”

“That’s it for now—go back and keep leveling. Get to 15 first. Rogues, start unlocking new maps and look for purple BOSSes. When you find one, organize a group to take it down and upgrade everyone’s gear. Relying solely on the auction house won’t cut it for now,” Fengyun World announced after distributing the loot.

“Do you think there are higher-level BOSSes on this map? It’s huge, and the one we just killed was called the Sentinel Captain—there must be a more powerful leader, right?” Zhang Shan wondered aloud.

“There should be stronger BOSSes. Rogues, keep an eye out. If you spot a red BOSS, just note its location—we’re not ready to tackle it yet.”

OK.