On the frozen surface of Permafrost Lake, a three-man team was trudging against the wind.
"Captain Kai, are you cold? I could hold you to make it better," Ruan Yu suggested.
In terms of cold resistance, Jiang Kai's Ghost Armor and Night Pants were all about being lightweight, which clearly wasn't very effective. Even wrapped in the Night Cape, he was still the coldest one.
Jiang Kai shot Ruan Yu a look of utter disdain. Just thinking about what Ruan Yu had done to the Ghost Banshee made Jiang Kai feel even colder.
"No, no need... I'm not cold, brrr..." Jiang Kai's teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Damn it, if only I'd kept that thick Snow Fox Outer Armor!
"Captain Kai, I'm craving a drink..." Ruan Yu stammered.
"Go ahead," Jiang Kai replied indifferently.
There were quite a few teams nearby, and when they saw the trio, they couldn't help but gossip.
"A three-man team?"
"That looks like Half Immortal Hu, the Feng Shui Master from the Safe Zone! Hiss... it's him, I remember! And another one, looks like the Drunkard?!"
"The Drunkard? No way, it really is! A fortune teller, a drunkard, and one without decent gear, what are they doing here... looking for death?"
"Any random merman could eat them alive!"
A three-man team was already rare enough, as most teams had at least five members. Moreover, this team included a fortune teller and a drunkard!
As the Fire God Squad struggled forward in the fierce wind, suddenly cracks appeared on the ice beneath their feet.
Moments later, the ice exploded, and a blue-green figure burst through the thick ice layer!
The figure broke through the ice, leaped high, and landed steadily in front of Jiang Kai and his team.
"It's a Double-Horned Merman!" Hu Yan exclaimed.
This was a massive merman with four limbs, about two and a half meters tall, covered in scales. A red fin ran along its spine, and two long, anglerfish-like antennae sprouted from its head. Its mouth was huge, revealing a set of sharp, piranha-like teeth.
The merman held a transparent ice spear over two meters long, its red eyes fixed on its prey.
Two or three nearby teams noticed the situation and immediately stopped.
"Let them wear down the merman's strength, and we'll take the chance to kill it!"
"You're giving them too much credit. If I'm not mistaken, the merman will kill all three of them in less than ten seconds."
The merman wasn't as massive as the Black Ape, but no one doubted that the Double-Horned Merman was far more dangerous, even more so than the Iron Armored Lizard Dragon!
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Not only did the merman have extremely high agility, but most importantly...
People relied on excellent equipment to hunt beasts, and the merman also had a complete set of "equipment"!
The merman held a crystal-clear ice spear, which was incredibly hard and had strong penetrating power! Its scales provided excellent defense and were covered in a thin layer of ice, making them extremely slippery. If the attack angle was slightly off, it would easily slide off the scales.
With weapons and armor, the human advantage in equipment disappeared in front of the merman.
The merman didn't give its prey much time to react, raising the ice spear and thrusting it forward.
Jiang Kai immediately pushed Hu Yan and Ruan Yu aside.
In a flash, the merman lunged at Jiang Kai, its ice spear already at his chest.
Jiang Kai didn't dodge at the optimal moment, and the ice spear pierced down instantly!
"Phantom Form!"
The ice spear penetrated Jiang Kai's body, but at that moment, his body turned into a phantom.
The merman probably didn't expect its lethal strike to have no effect. At that moment, Jiang Kai leaped back a step, his body solidifying.
However, he now held four throwing darts in his hand.
With a flick of his wrist, the darts shot out, piercing the merman's face.
At first, the merman only felt a sharp pain in its face, far from fatal. But the moment the third dart struck, a massive force sent it flying.
[Killed a 31-year-old Double-Horned Merman, gained 124 experience points.]
[Obtained one "Double-Horned Merman's Corpse."]
With a wave of his hand, the four darts embedded in the ice returned to Jiang Kai.
Picking up the merman corpse card, Jiang Kai shook his head regretfully, "Moving around seems to have warmed me up... I should've fought it longer."
The teams waiting to reap the benefits were stunned by this scene.
There were many high-level teams at Permafrost Lake, and even they needed some time to kill a merman. Yet, this unassuming guy had instantly killed it...
"What kind of monster is that guy?!"
In fact, before setting out, Jiang Kai had assessed his own attack power.
He was now level 12, with a base strength of 48 points. With equipment bonuses, the Ring of Spirit added 4 points, Night Pants 6 points, and Ghost Armor 8 points, totaling 66 points of strength.
Once Nine Tribulations Chasing Death triggered a critical hit, even the first hit could increase the critical effect by 10%, with a critical multiplier reaching 220 times.
His damage coefficient reached a terrifying 14,520!
Even if he used darts, causing some damage reduction, even halving it, his final damage coefficient would still be 7,260!
Ordinary people, even if they stacked critical damage, would consider five times damage after a critical hit very high. To reach such a terrifying damage coefficient, one would need a base strength of 1,450!
Jiang Kai didn't know the attributes of high-level professionals, but roughly estimated, even considering high-level equipment factors, it would probably require at least a fourth-tier professional!
Of course, Jiang Kai wasn't overly confident.
High-level professionals had more powerful equipment, and Nine Tribulations Chasing Death might not even penetrate their armor, significantly reducing damage.
And they could exploit any of Jiang Kai's weaknesses to deliver a fatal blow!
However, with Jiang Kai's damage, dealing with a Double-Horned Merman was more than sufficient.
As for Hu Yan and Ruan Yu, after following Jiang Kai for a while, they were already used to Jiang Kai instantly killing prey.
The Fire God Squad ignored the nearby teams' gazes and continued on their way.
As the sky grew darker, three hours later, when night fully descended, the Fire God Squad finally reached the windless zone outside Permafrost Island.
At this time, flames surged around Permafrost Island, painting the night sky red.
"The main force of the Black Tortoise Guild from the Eighteenth District is basically there. Other teams here to observe or help can't enter the island; they have to stay on the lake to fend off ordinary mermen," Hu Yan explained.
"I, Ruan Yu, have never been inferior to anyone in my life!" Ruan Yu shouted, drawing strange looks from other teams around.
Jiang Kai and Hu Yan were already used to it.
"Captain Kai, what do you plan to do?" Hu Yan asked quietly, leaning closer.
Jiang Kai poked the fire with a stick, glanced at Permafrost Island, and squinted slightly.
To be honest, it was Jiang Kai's first time seeing such a spectacular scene.
Tens of thousands of people hunting together was indeed quite shocking for a newcomer like him.
Moreover, for China to continue expanding on Ghost Star, they had to hunt king-level BOSSes to obtain the "Summoning Skull." Causing trouble at the Black Tortoise Guild now would not only be irrational but would also make him a target of public criticism.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Kai said, "Old Hu, you said the minimum requirement to participate in the hunt is second-tier max level?"
"Yes, once they start, a large number of elite and stronger mermen will appear around the king-level BOSS. At that point, no one can protect anyone else, and from a big picture perspective, no one can afford to hold others back, so only second-tier max level people can participate."
Jiang Kai pondered for a moment and nodded, "Hunting a king-level BOSS is a big deal. If things go wrong, a guild could lose tens of thousands of people! So even those with privileged backgrounds can't break the rules... Old Hu, do you know what tier Huang Da is?"
"Well... unless you see him in action in the wild, he wouldn't tell me voluntarily."
"Is he at least second-tier max level?"
"He should be," Hu Yan said confidently, "The Huang Family is a major family in the Black Tortoise Guild, and they're the leaders of the Eighteenth District Black Tortoise Guild. With guild resources, they can reach second-tier max level in a year or two."
Jiang Kai was at a loss.
If Huang Da was on the island, there wasn't much he could do.
But suddenly, Jiang Kai thought of someone else.
That guy who wanted to create his own era couldn't possibly be second-tier max level yet, and for such an important event, as one of the core members of the Huang Family, he would definitely participate.
"Huang Wei... I almost forgot about you. You've only been on Ghost Star for about ten days, right? We haven't seen each other in quite some time." Jiang Kai said with a sly smile.
"Old Hu, keep an eye on Ruan the Ghost, make sure he sleeps. I'm going to scout around alone." With that, Jiang Kai donned the Night Cape and quickly vanished into the night.
[Author's Note]: Third update complete.