Chapter 25: The Adventuring Team's Combat Style
30 kilometers south of the royal capital of East Gorteau.
Boom.
A loud explosion rang out, followed by a piercing scream.
The scream came from within a large basin. The basin was vast, with a few low hills at its edge.
Bang, bang, bang...
Muffled gunfire echoed from around the basin. This was the distinctive sound of sniper rifles. Hidden on the surrounding hills and peaks were seven snipers, unleashing a relentless barrage of firepower into the basin below.
"Hold the line! We absolutely cannot retreat, or we'll all die."
"Captain, Dar is dead."
"What?"
Shouts of battle and roars of fury came from the bottom of the basin.
Inside the basin at that moment, several dozen contractors were besieging a humanoid creature with skin flushed red. This creature was exceptionally ferocious. Despite being surrounded by dozens of enemies, it held its ground and could break out of the encirclement at any moment.
The besieged target was one of the three direct guards of the Ant King: Menthuthuyoupi. He was the highest-ranking Chimera Ant aside from the King himself. His genes were entirely derived from various beasts, allowing him to freely alter his form. His Nen ability was Enhancement-type.
Unlike the other two direct guards, Youpi was impulsive. The most prevalent emotion within him was rage, and he could even use this rage to fuel his combat.
The ones besieging Youpi were a medium-sized adventure team plus over a dozen independent contractors. This team was named the Starfire Adventure Team. It wasn't large, but it followed an elite path. Earlier, they had been recruiting on the derivative world contact platform, and the purpose was clear: to hunt down and kill one of the three guards, Youpi.
Within the battle formation, a white fireball slammed into Youpi. His arm suddenly hypertrophied, wrapping around his head.
Before the flames had even dissipated, several bullets flew in. The combined kinetic energy of the bullets knocked Youpi back a few steps. He used his muscles to force the deformed bullets out of his body.
"This guy is way too tough."
A melee contractor behind Youpi seized the opportunity to charge forward, swinging a greatsword at the back of Youpi's head.
But Youpi had no blind spots. Over a dozen blood-red eyes suddenly sprouted from his shoulders and the back of his head, granting him vision from behind.
Without warning, four arms grew from Youpi's ribs. These arms lashed out like fleshy whips toward the melee contractor.
Bang!
Sparks flew high into the air as a shield appeared in front of the terrified contractor. Having narrowly escaped death, he immediately retreated.
"Shorty Tai, thanks."
The contractor was referring to a main tank named Shorty Tai, who was about 1.5 meters tall. He wielded a tower shield nearly two meters high, which looked somewhat incongruous. Despite his short stature, Shorty Tai was incredibly stocky, built like forged iron. Combined with his full suit of steel armor, he was a complete block of metal.
The one who had blocked Youpi was Shorty Tai. He was a third-rank main tank who had invested all his resources into improving his survivability and defense.
"You rats!"
Youpi, at the center of the crowd, roared and charged outward. Shorty Tai immediately met him head-on.
Boom!
Mud and rocks sprayed from behind Shorty Tai's feet. His eyes bulged, his teeth clenched, and blood seeped from between his gums.
"Captain, I can't hold much longer. This bastard's strength is insane."
Shorty Tai shouted in the team channel. Hearing his roar, the channel went silent. If Shorty Tai died, everyone present would die, because the off-tank had been blown up by Youpi just a minute ago.
"If you can't hold, you still have to hold! Three healers are pumping you full of heals. Don't tell me you can't hold!"
The captain of the Starfire Adventure Team was a bald, burly man. He looked like a melee fighter, but he was actually a summoner. However, five minutes ago, all twelve of his summons had been torn apart by Youpi, making him furious enough to kill.
In peacetime, every main tank was the captain's "favorite son," getting whatever they asked for. But in battle, unless the main tank died, they could never retreat.
"Shorty Tai, hang in there! Youpi's health is at 40%. Once it drops below 20%, we can finish him off."
The bald captain's expression was twisted. He had come prepared to hunt Youpi.
"I can't, Captain. It's not the healers' fault. My arms are about to break, and the Soul Chain won't last much longer."
Shorty Tai knew the situation. Today, either he died, or Youpi died.
The Starfire Adventure Team's formation for surrounding Youpi was well-organized. At the center were the main tank Shorty Tai and a group of melee fighters. A gray chain extended from Shorty Tai's shield, embedding itself into Youpi's body, preventing him from breaking out in other directions.
Youpi wasn't a mindless NPC monster. Realizing he couldn't quickly deal with the shorty in front of him, he tried to break out from another direction. But the gray chain limited his escape routes. This was an ability every main tank had to master, no exceptions. A team-oriented main tank might not need a shield, but they absolutely needed a similar ability.
The center held the main tank and melee fighters. Beyond them were mid-range attackers, like contractors using ninjutsu or bows. Behind them were support-type contractors, ready to deploy barriers or crowd control in critical moments.
The outermost ring consisted of mages, snipers, and healers. These dozens of people had Youpi completely surrounded.
On a hilltop a kilometer away, Su Xiao sat on a rock, holding binoculars.
"So this is how adventure teams deal with plot creatures. No wonder their individual combat ability is so weak."
Su Xiao rarely interacted with adventure teams in derivative worlds, so this was his first time seeing one besiege a plot creature.
Bubu Wang was also watching the contractors with great interest. He had never seen this situation either. In Su Xiao's team, the procedure for dealing with powerful plot characters was as follows:
Amu charged in first to draw aggro, inflicting ten stacks of Frostbite on the enemy. After taking a beating, he immediately retreated.
Then Su Xiao stepped up to duel the big boss. Bubu Wang watched from the sidelines, ready to heal Su Xiao or charge in at a critical moment to distract the enemy.
In other words, Su Xiao's team had almost no tactics. In fact, they didn't need any. It was just one person, one dog, and one bull. There were too many variables in battle, making tactics largely ineffective.
The Starfire Adventure Team was different. They had strict tactics. Before engaging a powerful plot creature, they would choose favorable terrain and allocate supplies.
"They're about to collapse. From a humanitarian standpoint, we should help."
Su Xiao tossed the binoculars to Amu. Hearing Su Xiao mention "humanitarianism," Bubu Wang's dog face twisted into an awkward expression.
"Bubu, get ready."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked, jumped down from the small hill, and quickly disappeared from Su Xiao's sight.
A few dozen seconds later, Bubu Wang sent back a message: there was a barrier around the basin, and he couldn't get in.
That wouldn't do. If Bubu Wang couldn't get in, who would be responsible for looting the treasure chest? Treasure chests dropped from multi-person sieges had no protection mechanism. Whoever grabbed it first owned it.
Su Xiao pulled a pitch-black sniper cannon from his storage space. This deadly weapon was three meters long, with three gems embedded in the stock.