Fatal Shot
chapter-72

The angle of this shot was very tricky. The armor-piercing round did not only go into the mouth of the Giant Python, but it directly hit the roof of its upper jaw. And from what could be seen, the damage of that shot even reverberated through to its brain. This was also why it dealt red lethal damage.

And with the bonus from his Talent, the high damage of around 8,000 also made everyone look at Feng Luo with a bit of a shock. Previously, in truth, when Feng Luo shot the Stingray, he dealt even higher damage. However, since the previous distance was far, and the situation was dire, many people did not even see it.

This time, they discovered that Feng Luo's lethal damage was incredibly high, but none of them said anything since they already guessed that it was probably due to his Talent or one of his Skills.

However, this lethal damage shot created a big problem. It was because when the Giant Python had its vital spot attacked, it felt an unprecedented death threat. As a result, the head that had been originally attacking Big Pineapple stopped, and the fierce glare of the snake turned toward Feng Luo.

Crack!

One of the huge trees that were blocking its way was actually snapped in half from the sheer force of its bucket-thick body. After that, the Giant Python completely ignored the moving shield held by Big Pineapple right under its eyes. Instead, it wrapped around the other tree and moved swiftly into the air before it leaped straight toward Feng Luo from the sky, accompanied by a foul wind.

"Hmm!?" Feng Luo had not expected things to suddenly go out of control. However, he reacted quickly and instantly cast Quick Sneak before running to his side.

Boom!

The Giant Python rushed toward Feng Luo as if it had fallen directly out of the sky. Its upper body landed heavily in Feng Luo's previous location. Feng Luo was not hit, as he had already run a certain distance to the side.

However, the Giant Python's head suddenly jerked forward. Its red tongue, which was as thick as a person's arm, shot out as quick as lightning and wrapped around Feng Luo's trailing right leg.

Feng Luo felt a strong force coming from his leg as his entire body was pulled before falling to the ground. After that, he was pulled backward toward the mouth of the Giant Python. At the same time, the thick body of the Giant Python flew quickly to wrap around his body.

The squeezing strength of pythons was undoubtedly their greatest weapon. In theory, an adult giant python could easily kill a crocodile around half its size by squeezing it, so there was no need to imagine what would happen to the fragile human body. Moreover, this creature's tongue was definitely the by-product of mutation. On the surface, there was a layer of reverse-hook snake's teeth. Feng Luo felt the combat uniform around his calf being torn to shreds, and his ankle was in great pain due to the squeezing.

In this moment of crisis, Feng Luo turned and sat up. He extended his hand and grabbed the Mad Dog military knife on his tactical belt before slashing at the tongue of the Giant Python.

Chi!

−3255

The scales of the Giant Python were tough, but it did not mean that its tongue also possessed high defense. The red tongue that was as thick as an arm was completely cut in half by Feng Luo's slash. At the same time, a foul stench accompanied by the python's blood splashed across Feng Luo's face and legs.

Ang!

The Giant Python let out a sound that was hard to comprehend after suffering the painful blow.

Its tongue immediately retreated from Feng Luo's hand as its entire body started to shake and tremble violently. The rage it felt after having its tongue hurt seemed to have truly awakened its wildness. It lowered its head and slammed against Feng Luo who had not yet gotten back to his feet.

With its attack, if Feng Luo were to get hit, it could possibly lead to an instant kill! At that moment of crisis, a large alloy shield landed heavily on the right side of its head!

Bang!

Big Pineapple who had his shield raised slammed into it like a wall. Even if the Giant Python weighed several tons, its head was sent flailing in the other direction due to the impact of that hit, and over a thousand damage appeared on its head.

−1450

This skill was not a normal skill of Heavy Armor Warriors. It was a Level-45 Rare skill that Big Pineapple had bought at the Exchange, Shield Punch. This was an upgraded version of the Level-20 Heavy Armor Warrior skill, Shield Rush.

It allowed him to accumulate power while rushing with the shield, and as he reached the side of the target, all the accumulated power would be transformed into damage. The further the rush distance and the straighter the path, the higher the damage.

The reason the damage he had caused was low—not even reaching 1,500—was because the rush distance was too short. If given a straight 100 meters to rush, Big Pineapple could even deal over 5,000 damage and instant-kill some low-HP professions. This was an extremely powerful rare skill, and it could be upgraded.

After Big Pineapple's hit, he followed it up with another Shield Bash. The alloy shield landed heavily on the python's body, forcing it to change its target upon suffering excruciating pain.

He!

−3560

Neutron Star, who lagged a few steps behind, did not just sit around and do nothing. He leaped into the air and landed a heavy slash on the tail of the Giant Python, His full-powered slash paired with the effects of a skill actually helped him cut down its tail.

The Level 35 Light Armor Warrior skill, Devastating Slash, had amazing destructive power against armored type defense, and it was a must-have skill for all Light Armor Warriors.

−5340

An enormous fireball condensed by Red Queen landed heavily on its body and dealt another over 5,000 points of high-output damage. At the same time, a fist-sized white ice ball that did not really seem all that impressive had already landed on the Giant Python's body and turned into snow and ice that kept spreading.

After a dozen or so seconds, the Giant Python's HP had fallen to less than 5 percent after all the continuous attacks. As it fell into a heavily injured state, its body and attacks weakened, and in the end, it was finished off by a normal attack from Neutron Star.

You've participated in killing the infected Mutant Giant Python (Level 50 Commander). Contribution: 9.75%. Received 975 experience.

"Wow! It dropped equipment!" Big Pineapple exclaimed as he ran to the side of the Giant Python's corpse.

He picked up a helmet that was emanating a slight glow. (Newly dropped equipment would always glow for a certain period of time in players' eyes so that it was easier for them to pick it up).

Normally, Commander-grade monsters would definitely drop at least one piece of equipment, so no one was particularly shocked. However, Big Pineapple quickly found another piece of equipment beside the Giant Python's body. This item was very small and fine, so no one noticed its glow at first. However, right now, there was no doubt that this piece of equipment had attracted everyone's attention. That was because it was a ring. It was a black ring with its surface wrapped around by a simple-looking python.

As previously mentioned, decorative equipment was very rare in War. A Fine-grade decorative item could be priced around the same on the Exchange as a Rare-grade piece of equipment with slightly weaker stats.

The ring itself looked quite nice, and there was a possibility that it would be a Fine or even Excellent-grade piece of equipment! However, all the stats of the ring were represented with question mark symbols, which meant that it could only be determined after it was appraised by an appraiser in the city.

Based on the principles generally recognized by the players of War, for mercenary missions like this that involved huge spending, any items or equipment dropped by monsters that were killed by everyone would generally be owned by the employer—unless it was stated otherwise in their contract.

As such, although many people wanted the ring, Big Pineapple handed it to Red Queen.

Red Queen clearly did not give too much attention on the ring, whose value was not inferior to a piece of Rare equipment. Instead, she handed the ring straight to Glazed Ice and instructed her to send the stats of the ring to everyone after it was appraised in the city. If anyone wanted it, he or she could bid for it, and the final amount received for the ring would later be distributed evenly among the others. The decision of the boss undoubtedly gained the favor of everyone, whether it was the new employees or the temps.

Apart from that, the helmet was a piece of Heavy Armor Warrior equipment: Level 45, Excellent-grade, with decent stats. Moreover, the stats could be identified easily after a scan by the personal terminal. In the end, Big Pineapple spent 13,000 credits to nab it. The money was handed over to Glazed Ice to be distributed along with the money to be received for the ring.

As the players were in the midst of distributing the "leftovers," the NPC scientist called Aike had already taken out a detector in excitement and was running to collect the fresh blood spilling from the corpse of the python.

As for the young NPC girl called Lin, she looked at Feng Luo's face in amusement. Her gaze behind her black spectacles was somewhat odd.

Feng Luo also thought it was a little weird, since normally, wasn't it more normal for the assistant to do the dirty work? Why was the middle-aged scientist called Aike the one who was always busy, while, on the contrary, the supposed young female assistant always just observed from the side?