Chapter 216 – The Final Battle (Part 2)

After the initial shock, the audience gradually calmed down and could finally analyze the current situation rationally—

[Constellation] Phantom Assassin: Although the tank issue is resolved, low DPS is the Ghost Server Legion’s fatal weakness.

[Constellation] Waiter Chen: The burn phase is indeed a bit slow, only 20%. Not sure how the other two teams are doing.

[Constellation] Ever Bright: Live update—Dutch Chamber of Commerce has pushed the burn phase to 40%.

[Constellation] Flowing Wind: Iceborn is also at 40%.

[Constellation] Lonely Alien: Wait, when I switched over from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce earlier, they were already close to 40%. How could they only progress by a fraction of a percent after all this time?

[Constellation] Miss CoCo: Now that you mention it, Iceborn seems to have been stuck at 40% for a while too.

[Constellation] Dashing Handsome: Did anyone from Iceborn drop out?

[Constellation] Miss CoCo: No. What are you implying?

[Constellation] Dashing Handsome: Someone from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce dropped out—seems like they’re searching for something.

[Constellation] Miss CoCo: Ah! Dropped out, dropped out, dropped out!

[Constellation] Rabbit Next Door: Damn, could you finish your sentence? At a glance, I thought some steamy drama was happening. Scrolled up to check the chat log, got all hyped for nothing =_=

Initially, the Ghost Server comrades, who had muted the World Chat, had no idea what the spectators were discussing. The last message in the bottom-left corner of their screens was still Mad Lad’s equipment flex on the Megaphone. They hadn’t even received the audience’s “praise” for Mad Lad, let alone updates on Dutch Chamber of Commerce and Iceborn’s battle status. It wasn’t until the burn phase reached 25% that Your Sister suddenly spoke up—

“Commander, both Iceborn and Dutch Chamber of Commerce got stuck at the 40% burn phase. It seems like they need to find some item to continue dealing damage to the boss. Otherwise, the boss will stay at 60% HP forever.”

“Seriously?” Fang Zheng took this very seriously. Even though their own boss still had 75% HP, if this was a hurdle both Dutch Chamber of Commerce and Iceborn had encountered, their team wouldn’t be able to avoid it either.

“Yeah.” Your Sister was absolutely certain. “I just glanced at World Chat—everyone’s talking about it.”

Polly: “What item?”

Your Sister: “They don’t know either…”

She had more to say, but Polly was faster: “That means the other two teams haven’t found it yet.”

If they had, spectators in Spectator Mode would’ve definitely seen system messages about obtaining or using items. But since even the audience didn’t know what the item was, it meant both Iceborn and Dutch Chamber of Commerce were still clueless.

Your Sister was still marveling at the Deputy’s lightning-fast deductive skills when the Commander asked, “How’d you think to check World Chat?”

Your Sister paused, slightly embarrassed. “Actually, Drink told me, and then I went to check World Chat…”

The Commander suddenly understood and sighed emotionally, “Having a boyfriend is really nice…”

The Deputy suddenly understood and sighed emotionally, “So you are single.”

The team members suddenly understood and sensed… a hint of danger =_=

Commander, the boss isn’t down yet—you can’t die first!

Fang Zheng: “You’re not my boyfriend…”

Commander, stop pouring oil on the fire!

Fang Zheng: “You’re my man.”

Meng Chudong: “…Ahem. Focus on the boss.”

Deputy, that “~\(≧▽≦)/~” shy emoji floating in the sky is definitely your spirit avatar, right?!

Many, many years later, when the first Lover’s Constellation had become a distant legend among players, when the once-dominant Elite Squads had long since vanished like dragons hiding their tails, a lore-loving fan would post on the forums: “Investigating Ghost Server Legion—Why Does [Polly] Outclass [Milk is Mom] in Combat Power Yet Only Serve as Deputy Commander?” The replies poured in instantly. Some analyzed it from the differences between healer and Assassin classes, some from their personalities, and some spread rumors based on their ambiguous relationship. Every theory had supporters, each spawning lengthy discussions that drowned out a certain two-line reply in the sea of comments—

Reply by: Everyone voted me as the representative—so nervous >_<

Content: You got it backward. It’s not the Deputy outclassing the Commander—it’s the Commander outclassing the Deputy. We all agree that, in terms of combat power, the gap between the Deputy and the Commander is a hundred fold. Your Uncle.

[Constellation] Eight Hundred Miles Express: What the hell are they even supposed to find?! Seeing the boss HP stuck like this is so frustrating!

[Constellation] Swarovski: You’d have to ask the teams themselves. If they both sent people to search for something, they must’ve received identical system prompts.

[Constellation] Rabbit Next Door: The Ghost Server team seems to have figured something out—they’re changing formations!

[Constellation] White Peony: We’ve been chatting so openly in World—anyone would know what’s up by now.

[Constellation] Duke Rum: But they haven’t even hit the 40% burn phase yet—did they get a system prompt already?

[Constellation] The Wind Rises: That said, having one person drop out is actually advantageous for Ghost Server, right? The other teams sent DPS, but they have three healers—they could easily send one without affecting their overall DPS at all.

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: The problem is, even with one less DPS, the other teams still out-DPS their full lineup!

[Constellation] Flying General of Dragon City: That’s true. Too many healers, one of them a half-baked healer, plus the Assassin in full tank gear—their DPS is just too low.

[Constellation] Savage Traveler: Fuck!

[Constellation] Flying General of Dragon City: Fuck!!

[Constellation] The Wind Rises: Fuck!!! Did they see what we said?! But there’s no need to give up! If you don’t feel bad about wasting the Assassin’s purple gear, I do!!!!

[Constellation] Ever Bright: What’s happening with Ghost Server?

[Constellation] Fog City Ghost: They didn’t just send one person—they abandoned the boss entirely to search for the item!

[Constellation] Lonely Alien: Please don’t tell me the boss’s HP reset…

[Constellation] Giordano: You think the boss is gonna wait around while you look for the item?!

[Megaphone] Manicurist: Ghost Server Legion, what the hell are you thinking?! You already cleared a third of its HP—why give up now? Are you out of your minds?!

[Megaphone] Passing Master: My captain told me to stay put and take interviews from reporters. P.S. The megaphone is ponsered by Mad Lad O(∩_∩)O

[Constellation] Fog City Ghost: Who cares about that?!

[Megaphone] Passing Master: The Deputy said it’s better to take a gamble than wait for death. Sure, we wasted our earlier DPS, but if one person takes X minutes to find the item, ten people take X/10 minutes. If X=10 minutes, we gain a 9-minute lead. If X=20 minutes, we gain an 18-minute lead. The bigger X is, the more time we save by sending all ten people, enough to make up for the 40% burn phase. Worst case, we lose the First Kill, but we’ll still down the boss. If we win the gamble, the First Kill is a bonus. Either way, we don’t lose ~\(^o^)/~

[Megaphone] Miss CoCo: As a humanities major, I don’t want to see your math. I just wanna know—who gave you the confidence that “we’ll still down the boss”?!

[Megaphone] Swarovski: And you don’t even know what you’re looking for—how do you expect to make up for the 40% burn phase in search time?!

[Constellation] Holy flames reappear in the mortal realm—the final Day of Judgment approaches! Player [Refined Into a Demon715] has successfully collected the Fire Seed!

[Constellation] Swarovski: …

[Constellation] Dragon Slumber: …

[Constellation] Officer Big Bear: …

[Constellation] Flying General of Dragon City: In the blink of an eye—what the hell is this guy?!

[Constellation] Frost Blade in the Mist: Iceborn seems affected—their boss fight formation is in disarray.

[Constellation] Xiamen U QR Code: Not only did Ghost Server overtake them from behind, but their own Fire Seed is still nowhere in sight. Of course they’re rattled!

[Constellation] Heartless Red Bean: Dutch Chamber of Commerce is staying calm—still fighting the boss and searching for the item methodically.

[Constellation] Dashing Handsome: As expected of a top-tier legion.

……

[Dutch Chamber of Commerce YY]

Thousand Mountains: “Tch. They beat us to it.”

Don’t Stop the Meds: “Can’t be helped. You know how he is…”

Entire Team: “Gathering—he’s a professional at that =_=”

……

Despite Ghost Server Legion being the first to obtain the key item, the spectators didn’t become more optimistic about their chances. Just six minutes after they retrieved the item and resumed fighting the boss, Dutch Chamber of Commerce secured their Fire Seed. Four minutes later, Iceborn succeeded as well—by then, Ghost Server had only cleared 20% of the boss’s HP!

[Constellation] Dead Demon Refiner: Ghost Server’s done for. Thought their quick item grab would turn things around, but they’re still way behind.

[Constellation] Phantom Assassin: Like I said—DPS is their fatal flaw.

[Constellation] Kneel on Keyboard: At this rate, when will they ever catch up to Iceborn and Dutch Chamber? Ugh, what a waste of that Assassin’s purple gear.

[Constellation] Durian Noodles: Maybe it’s just me, but their DPS seems sharper than before?

[Constellation] Dead Demon Refiner: How do you figure =_=

[Constellation] Durian Noodles: In the time we’ve been chatting, they’ve pushed the burn phase to 25%.

[Constellation] Dead Demon Refiner: Holy shit! They really did hit 25%! What’s going on—are they landing crits nonstop or something?!

[Constellation] Waiter Chen: Not exactly, but I feel like that Assassin’s gotten sharper.

[Constellation] Kneel on Keyboard: Which Assassin? They’ve got too many =_=

[Constellation] Waiter Chen: March to Liangzhou.

[Constellation] Quicksilver: I didn’t notice any gear changes, but he’s been almost one-shot by the boss a few times recently.

[Constellation] Waiter Chen: That’s the issue! His defense wasn’t this low before—he must’ve tweaked his gear while searching for the Fire Seed!

[Megaphone] Dryland King of Hell: [March to Liangzhou], mind showing us your gear?

Silence.

[Megaphone] Dryland King of Hell: [March to Liangzhou][March to Liangzhou]

[Constellation] Alinda: Stop shouting. Clearly, this guy’s not the same type as that other Assassin =_=

[Constellation] Mouse of the Gods: Can’t you tell? It’s the Baggins Set.

[Constellation] Jiangnan Blade King: The full purple set from the Flagship’s Perfect Storm instance?

[Constellation] White Rhino: I’ve seen the set’s stats on the forums—balanced attributes. No way his defense is this low.

[Constellation] Mamba: Unless he socketed pure attack gems and switched to a full DPS weapon.

[Constellation] The Wind Rises: Why does this feel so familiar…

[Constellation] Wandering Miracle Doctor: Does that accessory look like a blue crystal specifically for boosting attack power?

[Constellation] Xiamen U QR Code: “Look like”? That flashy visual effect is definitely the pay-to-win Ultimate Blue Crystal…

[Constellation] Shovel Roams the World: So the gems he socketed are also the untradeable Ultimate Attack Enhancement Stones?

[Constellation] The Wind Rises: This is a legitimate purple set! Rarer than the Goddess of Fortune Set! A single piece of this is priceless! Are they… a whole team of Mad Lads?!

Starting from the 10% burn phase, Fang Zheng felt the team’s DPS was speeding up, but he couldn’t be sure. As a healer, though, March’s HP dropping faster was undeniable. Since March hadn’t restricted others from inspecting his gear, Fang Zheng took a quick look and immediately understood.

As the spectators had said, the Baggins Set was a balanced purple set with top-tier stats in all areas. But after March’s modifications, its offensive stats went from terrifying to downright broken, while its defensive stats plummeted to rock bottom. This weakness wasn’t obvious in normal situations, but against a boss like Azazel, it was glaring. If not for the Assassin class’s naturally decent defense, March’s squishiness would rival that of the Spirit Master Your Uncle!

“March…” Fang Zheng called his name but didn’t know what to say. Mad Lad, who had spent his whole life chasing DPS, had switched to full tank for the legion—that alone had nearly brought tears to his eyes. And now March, who had no prior connection to Ghost Server, had done the same for these temporary teammates…

“Captain,” March said, half-joking, “keep me alive, okay?”

Fang Zheng took a deep breath. “Absolutely.”

Not just now—from this day forward, March to Liangzhou would need a dedicated healer on standby at all times! Even if he couldn’t be fully healed, he’d get every last drop of healing possible! But where would they find another healer in Fairy Dreamland? And even if they did, who’d be willing to waste their time constantly healing an Assassin…

March: “Passing.”

Passing: “Hmm?”

March: “After Lover’s Constellation ends, wanna join our legion?”

Passing: “Galloping Through the Yellow Sands?”

March: “Yeah.”

Passing: “Honestly, I don’t wanna solo anymore either. I want teammates. But I only know you—what about the others in your legion…”

March: “There are no others. Just me, the lone leader. If you join, you’re the Deputy.”

Passing: “Can I submit my application now?!”

…Scheming is definitely a universal trait among Assassins!!!