After Miracle City got a small lobby administrator, Quinn's life became very relaxed. He spent most of his time lounging around the mansion, with various resources and income automatically flowing into his pockets.
[Adventurer 'White Little Deer' generated 1 point of Mental Power!]
[Adventurer 'Cat Meow Meow' generated 1 point of Mental Power!]
[Adventurer 'Pig King' has died, Mental Power +1, Soul Crystal +1!]
[Adventurer 'Moonlight Shines on Snow' has died, Mental Power +1, Soul Crystal +1!]
[...]
Boss Quinn happily scrolled through the panel.
Today, there were a full 160 Adventurers.
Although it was bound to be a great harvest, expenses were also increasing. Some Adventurers discovered that clearing the novice mode had a high chance of dropping zombie soul essence, so they didn't challenge the official levels at all. Instead, they repeatedly reset the novice level, attempting to fleece Boss Quinn.
[Adventurer '"Silly Goose" obtained Zombie Soul Essence from the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm, your Mental Power -1!]
[Adventurer "Wool Warrior" obtained Zombie Soul Essence from the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm, your Mental Power -1!]
[...]
The Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm loses 1 point of mental power for every ordinary essence extracted.
However, this small expense. It was nothing to Quinn!
The Adventurers might think they're profiting greatly and enjoying the thrill of fleecing.
But, Boss Quinn never loses!
Ordinary zombies have no manufacturing cost. The extraction cost of a mere 1 point of mental power per zombie, compared to the territory's current income, is nothing.
Keep grinding!
Keep grinding!
Let you fleece to your heart's content!
Anyway, most of it will be recycled. This is exactly the resource Quinn currently urgently needs.
Today, not only were many ordinary zombies dropped, but also some special zombies were produced sporadically.
[Adventurer "Lonely Swordsman" obtained Smoker Essence from the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm, your Mental Power -4!]
[Adventurer 'Wind in Sleep' obtained Boomer Essence from the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm, your Mental Power -4!]
[...]
As of now.
The cumulative number of Adventurer challenges is around two hundred, and a total of four special infected essences have been dropped.
There were Hunters, Smokers, Spitters, and Jockeys. These monsters have a certain deployment cost, but only require 3 mental power.
Every time an Adventurer defeats one, another must be replenished in the Secret Realm. Replenishing plus the extraction cost results in a consumption of 7 points of mental power per monster.
This is still within the acceptable range. After all, the drop rate for special zombie essences is very low.
Not only did Quinn not think this was a bad thing, but he actually hoped the Adventurers would grind more, thereby enriching the Underground City's troop types.
As Boss Quinn happily tallied his phase-by-phase income, he heard the noise and excitement in the Secret Realm Lobby, feeling a bit puzzled for a moment. He immediately came to the hall himself to understand the situation.
"Why is it so noisy!"
The small lobby administrator Nancilia was currently engrossed in watching.
She had been completely captivated by the Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm content.
"Ah, Lord, why are you here..." Nancilia was startled for a moment. She quickly explained, "Adventurers just discovered a large monster zombie, and now several hunting parties have been formed to defeat it!"
"Oh, so it's a Tank Zombie. Was it discovered so quickly?"
Quinn was slightly surprised.
He had deployed a total of 3 Tanks and 5 Witches.
There were more Witches than Tanks, and they were also more sinister than Tanks. He hadn't expected the Tank to appear first instead.
However, it was also normal.
The random spawn points Quinn chose for the Witches were mostly dark shopping malls, underground parking lots, or other indoor spaces, while the Tanks were all placed on open streets, so the latter indeed had a slightly higher chance of being disturbed.
The creation cost for both types of monsters was 20 mental power!
Their strength and level, even if they didn't reach elite monster status, were at least at the peak of ordinary monsters!
Such top-tier five-star monsters.
They are rare in Black Stone Town!
Very precious!
The Tank Zombie's exaggerated size and ferocious fighting style were full of oppressive presence, also giving these Adventurers the feeling of challenging a great BOSS, undoubtedly stimulating their desire to win and conquer.
"Lord, should we take measures to stop the Adventurers..."
Nancilia whispered, such a precious monster, if it were defeated by Adventurers, it might cause considerable losses to a newly starting Underground City.
"It's alright, this Lord is magnanimous. Since I released it, I can afford to lose!"
Quinn was very unrestrained. This wasn't entirely to build goodwill with the little elf. He genuinely wished the Adventurers could defeat the Tank, because the territory currently urgently needed such combat power!
Currently, at least four teams were in action!
They found the street where the Tank was active and launched a prepared and premeditated challenge.
However, the results were clearly not good. Before Quinn arrived, they had already failed seven or eight times. Several times, they were attacked by Chargers or other zombies before even reaching their destination, leading to casualties or even complete annihilation.
Even if they successfully encountered it, the result was also being brutally defeated.
The Tank's combat power was no joke!
At this moment, another team was challenging the Tank. The area around the four Secret Realm crystals was crowded with Adventurers. These guys were so focused and engrossed that no one even noticed the Lord appearing in the hall.
"Come on!"
"Almost out of energy!"
"Let's try to kill this big muscle guy this time!"
This team of Adventurers learned from the previous teams' lessons and didn't confront the Tank Zombie head-on. Instead, they attempted the tactic of circling a pillar, like driving a huge mammoth off a cliff.
A fast Adventurer went in lightly equipped, kiting the Tank Zombie in circles, while the other three were responsible for firing.
However, it was meaningless.
The Tank directly smashed through the obstacles.
In just a few moves, it grabbed the Adventurer circling the pillar and tore him limb from limb on the spot.
The Tank then grabbed concrete slabs or small cars as projectiles, successively smashing the three ambushing Adventurers to death.
The other watching Adventurers were speechless.
"I told you this plan wouldn't work!"
"Too clownish!"
"Might as well go head-to-head!"
"Your firepower is too weak. How can you kill this guy with just a few sub-machine guns? I think to defeat this big muscle guy, you must first upgrade your weapons!"
"Makes sense!"
"Lonely Swordsman and Moonlight, they're starting again."
"This should be the last attempt. I hope it succeeds!"
They fought on despite repeated defeats.
The Adventurers didn't give up.
Lonely Swordsman, Wind in Sleep, Black Stone Hammer King, and Moonlight Shines on Snow formed a team again.
The four didn't go directly to the Tank's ambush location. Instead, they prioritized scavenging for supplies to maximize their firepower, successively finding a shotgun, an assault rifle, and two sub-machine guns.
Lonely Swordsman: "With these, plus three oil barrels, I think it should be enough!"
Wind in Sleep: "First lure the monster, be careful to dodge projectiles, don't confront it head-on. This guy doesn't have much intelligence. As long as it falls into our trap, we're halfway to success!"
"Let me do it!"
Black Stone Hammer King personally lured out the Tank Zombie. The four took turns firing while fighting and retreating, not confronting the Tank head-on, but leading the Tank Zombie into a preset trap.
This was piled with many flammable materials. Plus the three oil barrels they carefully scavenged.
The moment the Tank approached, Moonlight Shines on Snow shot the oil barrels, and in an instant, the Tank was covered in raging fire, letting out painful howls on the spot, invigorating all the Adventurers.
"It's working!"
"This attempt is working!"
"It seems this zombie is also afraid of fire!"
"Good chance!"
"Hammer Bro, come on, kill it!"
The fire caused significant damage, but it wasn't enough to kill the Tank.
The four Adventurers began emptying their remaining ammunition, while the Tank, facing the relentless storm of bullets, used its arms to shield its head to resist, then grabbed two cars and hurled them at the Adventurers.
Black Stone Hammer King immediately pushed Wind in Sleep away disregard of his own safety. But he himself was hit and severely injured on the spot.
"No! Hammer Bro!"
The Tank Zombie roared and grabbed Black Stone Hammer King. It seemed the tragedy of tearing a living person apart was about to repeat, but Black Stone Hammer King didn't panic this time. He spat blood and laughed at the same time.
"You big fool, you fell for it. Look at this!"
Black Stone Hammer King held the already lit homemade explosive. The moment the Tank grabbed him and was about to tear him apart, the fuse of the homemade explosive finished burning, and it detonated right in the Tank's face on the spot.
Boom!
Black Stone Hammer King died heroically!
The Tank's already heavily injured body became even more precarious.
"Damn it!"
"Avenge Hammer Bro!"
The three used this opportunity to reload their magazines. They launched a furious onslaught with crossfire from different directions.
This was their last ammunition. If this wave of attack didn't succeed, they would die trying!
Finally, luck favored the Adventurers. After enduring the onslaught, the Tank Zombie's massive, oppressive body crashed down like a collapsing golden mountain or jade pillar.
This monster! It finally died!
The scene was a mess.
The three surviving Adventurers, at this moment, they were all covered in wounds, gasping for breath, staring blankly at the scene before them, somewhat unable to believe their eyes.
[Adventurer Black Stone Hammer King has died, Soul Crystal +1, Mental Power +3!]
[Adventurer Moonlight Shines on Snow generated 2 points of Mental Power!]
[Adventurer Wind in Sleep generated 2 points of Mental Power!]
[Adventurer Lonely Swordsman generated 2 points of Mental Power!]
The crowd of Adventurers watching the live broadcast outside first fell into a brief silence, and then cheers echoed through the hall.
They won!
For these young Adventurers. This battle was truly thrilling and incredibly exciting!
It was definitely a soul-stirring, exhilarating great victory!