Fatal Shot
chapter-396

“The Life Protozoa is a cellular microorganism that originates from a planet from outer space. It can co-exist with its host through a parasitic or symbiotic relationship, and can survive for a certain period of time after leaving its host. Since they can quickly dissolve or repair the cells of organisms, to the extent where they can even temporarily replace the body’s metabolism and other physiological functions, the Life Protozoa can increase the host’s abilities. Different species have different attributes. As such, they can bring unique powers to the host.”

Feng Luo quickly read through the system’s introduction of the Life Protozoa as he scrolled through the menu, its introduction was quite simple.

“From a planet from outer space… Does this mean that this thing is an alien?” After reading through all the information, Feng Luo was kind of shocked.

Considering War’s background, it wasn’t weird that there was alien life on the planet. Since the planet had already entered the galactic era before the planet’s culture was destroyed.

“What’s weird is this thing’s attribute. Isn’t it a bit too powerful?” Feng Luo could not help but question gently, as it was incredibly powerful.

At first glance, the unnamed Life Protozoa’s symbiotic stats seemed terrible with just HP: 200; Force:10; Defense: 10. These stats were something that even better Normal Grade defensive gear for players between Level 10 to 20 could reach.

However, one should remember that this thing was only Level 1.

Feng Luo later found that the Life Protozoa’s stats growth before it reached Level 50 was “HP +200, Force +10, Defense +10” per level, a 100% stats growth rate that increases so many stats at every level.

Based on the stats growth rate, when it reached Level 50, the symbiotic stats would be 10,000 HP, 500 Force, and 500 Defense. Feng Luo was shocked.

Just what does 10,000 HP mean?

Theoretically speaking, this is the equivalent of wearing a full set of Rare Grade equipment. For glass cannon professions like Gunners and Manipulators, without focusing their stats on Vitality, there was no way their HP would reach 10,000.

Using himself as an example. Before his Force was awakened, while wearing the full SUV tactical equipment set, he only had around 7,000 HP. This was also after his Evolution Talent granted him approximately 2,000 extra HP.

Even after Feng Luo’s Force had awakened, and he received the 2,000 HP and “+20 to all stats (Some of which increased HP)” bonuses, meaning his HP had only barely passed 10,000.

The 500 points in Defense was also just as insane. Continuing to use Feng Luo and his gears as examples, the five piece Eye of the Thunder set increased 500 Defense. If the Symbiotic Life Protozoa reached Level 50, it would be as if Feng Luo was wearing two armor sets.

There’s also the 500 Force bonus. Now that Feng Luo’s Force had been awakened, this might be even more important than the earlier two.

The system only granted Feng Luo 200 Force after it was awakened. Even Ghost Weep, being a Legendary Grade item with the evaluation of Excellent, was only given a bonus of 100 Force.

In addition to everything else, the Life Protozoa also had the “combo skill.”

Although Feng Luo had not yet tried the real effects of the skill, since it was a skill that required the user to consume the Force, this skill was definitely considered a Force Skill.

Adding the skills from the Force Skill-Fusion Chip and Ghost Weep, this meant that Feng Luo already possessed three Force Skills even though he had just awakened the Force.

…

“The stats are a bit too strong. For the Commander Grade Life Protozoa to be this strong. It sure makes me think that it’s stronger than Commander Grade pets. Hold on… So, that’s how it is. Symbiotic stats are different from normal added stats. It is dependent on the ratio of the Life Protozoa. When being attacked, the Life Protozoa species ratio will decrease along with the player’s HP. The stats-increase will also decrease as a result. When the species number recovers, the stats increase will also recover, but the Life Protozoa’s recovery speed is slower. Normally, when the number reaches 10%, it would need around an entire day before it can fully recover. It has limitations, after all. But it looks like it won’t have as much of an impact for non-melee combat professions, especially Snipers. It’s hard for us to get hit in the first place!” For some reason, when Feng Luo saw the limitations of the Life Protozoa’s stats increase, he let out a breath of relief.

Feng Luo felt the Life Protozoa was like a “free lunch.” For something as nice as this to happen to him without any particular reason, Feng Luo felt quite uneasy.

Feng Luo then shook his head and suddenly laughed at himself. “Heh, when did I become so overly cautious? Who cares about the reason, if it increases my strength, it should be a good thing. But this Life Protozoa doesn’t have any attacking abilities. It also needs a bunch of experience to level up like a pet. I already have a super customer in the form of 24K. With this addition, it looks like I’ll be spending some time farming monsters.”

Both the Life Protozoa and 24K could not get any experience from his Hunting Missions. So, the only thing he could do was to farm monsters and complete missions.

“After the status of the Life Protozoa changed from Parasitic to Symbiotic, it went from Level 50 to Level 1, making it quite similar to pets. Could it be that, fundamentally, the Life Protozoa is also a type of pet? Players can have more than one talent in War and more than one pet?” Feng Luo wondered in his mind. He remembered something else. “Now that I’m thinking about pets, 24K should have completed its evolution by now.”

In the login space, Feng Luo could not summon 24K, but the system log could show information about any changes to the player’s pet.

Feng Luo used the audio command again and selected content about his pet.

[Your pet obtained 50,000 experience from devouring the Black Beetle Commander’s crystal. Your pet has leveled up. It is now Level 40.]

[Your pet’s evolution has been completed. Obtained: HP +2,000; Maximum Psionic Energy +400; Psionic Energy Recovery Rate +35%; Maximum Beetle Egg Storage +10; Daily Egg Production Speed +1.]

[Your pet obtained a new skill: Mental Attack.]

[The mental link between you and your pet has strengthened.]

As expected, 24K’s evolution was a success. Not only did it reach Level 40, but it had also obtained a new skill, just like when it devoured the psionic energy crystal last time.

It was actually quite difficult to trigger 24K’s Devour Talent even once. Although in the skill description, it said, “Has a certain chance to obtain additional stats or skills from devouring crystals,” although it seemed to be more potent than Feng Luo’s Evolution Talent, the probability was actually quite low.

Feng Luo had fed 24K more than one core crystal. He even let 24K had a chunk of the Quasi-boss core crystal that cost over a million credits previously, and that also did not provide 24K with any additional stats or skills.

It only Evolved twice; once was when it ate the Psionic Energy in Withered Desert, and the second time was after it ate the Dark Beetle Commander’s core crystal the day before.

Feng Luo was almost completely confident that 24K’s Devour Talent was actually quite similar to his previous Evolution Talent. They only activated when a specific set of conditions had been met.

Now, there’s another talent like this. The Commander Grade Life Protozoa’s talent was also Evolution.

…

[Mental Attack]

1. Consumes Psionic Energy to initiate mental attacks on single or groups of enemies within a specific range. The simpler the target’s thoughts or when the target is in a confused state, the easier it is for the target/targets to be affected.
2. When used to target a single target, there is a certain percentage to manipulate the target’s actions and thoughts to a certain degree. (Consumes a large amount of Psionic Energy. Moreover, the stronger the target’s mental strength, the easier it is for the target to resist. The probability of success, when used on players, is lower).

“Mental Attack, 24K actually obtained a skill like this.” Feng Luo was quite familiar with this skill, after all, he had seen it twice already.

“But from the description, it looks like this skill is even crazier than I had imagined. Not only is it able to create mental illusions, but it can also manipulate single targets. Although it requires a huge amount of Psionic Energy, it is something that can definitely change the tide of battle in crucial moments. But control type skills are usually less effective on Commander or above Grade monsters. If it can only be used on Elite or Normal Grade monsters, then the skill might actually be more of a liability.” At that moment, Feng Luo’s mumblings stopped, reading the next message in his log.

[Since you are in an unconscious state, your body is temporarily being controlled by your pet through the mental link. Your pet used Mental Attack on Tyrant (Level 43 Commander).]

“Tyrant, I encountered a Tyrant after falling unconscious?” Feng Luo was stunned for quite a while.

Naturally, there’s no longer any need to mention the combat strength of a Tyrant. A Level 43 Tyrant’s combat strength was estimated to be the same as an ordinary Level 50 Commander Grade monster. Even when he was awake, before he awakened the Force, there was no way Feng Luo would have been able to win in a close-range battle.

“24K actually used the mental link to command my body. My game character’s body sure has become a free-for-all vessel. Immediately after the Life Protozoa controlled it, it became 24K’s turn. But since I did not drop level, it should mean that I managed to escape from the Tyrant. 24K used Mental Attack on the Tyrant. What’s the result? Did 24K succeed in manipulating a Commander Grade like the Tyrant?” Feng Luo felt as if he was slapped in the face by his own pet, but at the moment, he did not care about that at all. Instead, he quickly scrolled down to continue reading.

[You’ve used Ghost Power and consumed 50 Force. Continue to consume 10 Force…]

[You’ve dealt 4,560 weak point damage on the Tyrant. You’ve dealt 4,467 weak point damage on the Tyrant. You’ve dealt 8,322 lethal damage on the Tyrant.]

[You’ve killed Tyrant (Level 43 Commander). Kill Contribution: 100%. Obtained Experience: 21,500. Obtained Story Points: 430. Obtained Merit: 50.]

“No way! ‘I,’ no, 24K killed the Tyrant?” Feng Luo was starting to not believe what he was seeing.

24K manipulated his character in the game and killed a Tyrant?

No, no, no, not only one Tyrant.

[You’ve killed Zombie (Level 50 Normal). Obtained Experience: 500. Obtained Story Points: 1.]

[You’ve killed Zombie (Level 42 Elite). Kill Contribution: 100%. Obtained Experience: 1680. Obtained Story Points: 3.]

[You’ve killed…]

…

Among the remainder of the kill notifications below the earlier mentioned ones, half of them had the word “Elite” in them.

“Alright, now I’ve gotta admit that my pet has really slapped me right in the face…” Feng Luo was now sweating a little. He had just realized that his game character’s body was controlled by his pet and had successfully defeated a Tyrant as well as a group Elite and Normal Grade zombies.

“Could this be the effects of the Force Skill and 24K’s new Mental attack skill? But 24K should have been in the pet space the whole time, could his Mental Link be used when it’s inside the pet space? Now that I think about it, this does sound plausible. Earlier when I was at the flea market in Withered Desert, it did send me a message through mental link when it was in the pet space. But to solo and defeat a Commander Grade monster, a Tyrant at that, this is a bit too unbelievable.” Feng Luo shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Why was he agonizing over it? After all, he just had to enter the game and test them out.