Monster Synthesis Master

Chapter 31: The Jack Gang’s No. 1 And Elite!

Screams filled the hall, but Lin Ke didn’t relent because of them.

These thugs might be very tough as a group, but they are as blind as bats in the dark! With the Silver Army Ants also restraining their actions, how can they possibly put up an effective defense as a group?

The thugs moaned and groaned in pain and agony. The army ant bites on their bodies brought them severe pain, while the flying ants in the air grouped together and went straight for the thugs’ heads.

Think about it; when one’s entire head was covered in Silver Army Ants—numbering up to 1,000 of them—would even a piece of intact skin still remain on their face?

The thugs had already gone mad by this point. They fished out their guns and began to fire haphazardly.

With a leap through the air, Lin Ke quickly hid behind a stone table. As he watched the EXP—which he was about to gain—go up in smoke, anxiety filled his heart, and his eyes turned red.

The thugs have gone mad from the army ants’ torture. They are actually thinking of firing their guns to drive the army ants away!

“I don’t mind teammates dealing additional blows, but oh, my EXP!” Lin Ke’s heart ached terribly. Many of the thugs had already been crippled by Lin Ke, but they were being dealt finishing blows by his own crazed teammates in the end.

I’ve invested many bullets, yet I didn’t get the EXP. What a huge loss!

What made it even worse was that Lin Ke didn’t even dare to charge out, considering the current situation.

Stray bullets didn’t watch where they went; getting hit by even a single bullet was no joke.

At this point, Lin Ke could only place his hopes on the army ants. He wanted them to make full use of the time to deal finishing blows, striving to seize a bit more EXP from his enemies.

[The Silver Army Ants have killed a Level 5 Ruffian. You’ve gained 250 EXP.] x2

[The Silver Army Ants have killed a Level 5 Ruffian. You’ve gained 250 EXP.] x3

[The Silver Army Ants have killed a Level 6 Ruffian. You’ve gained 300 EXP.]

…

The lower-right corner of Lin Ke’s system interface was currently being spammed by battle indicators and enemy kill message prompts.

Through the dramatic gain in EXP, Lin Ke rediscovered the pleasure of farming monsters.

The gunshots in the hall gradually came to a stop. A large number of thugs had been brought close to the brink of death because the army ants had gnawed on them.

Weak, dispirited moans of pain were the only things resounding in the dim, lightless hall. No sooner after one subsided, another moan resounded. The thugs sounded just like fiends going through torture and punishment in hell all day long.

Lin Ke rose up from behind the stone table, and whizzing gunshots—full of rhythmic tempo—delivered headshots to the thugs that were still alive one by one.

Lin Ke dealt the finishing blows and killed them.

Squeak, squeak!

Just as Lin Ke was killing the thugs, Treasure Hunter Rat suddenly let out intense warning squeaks.

Lin Ke immediately retreated, but the resulting wind from the fist rushing to his face was extremely wild and intense. The wind made Lin Ke’s cheek hurt as it blew across.

Lin Ke didn’t keep the Glock 17 pistol in his hand idle. He fired the pistol fiercely, producing whizzes as he retreated.

A series of messages enough to make one despair then appeared in Lin Ke’s interface…

[You’ve used the Glock 17 Pistol and struck an unknown enemy, causing 8 damage points (12 points mitigated by Bulletproof Vest, 8 points mitigated by Resistance)!]

[You’ve used the Glock 17 Pistol and struck an unknown enemy, causing 9 damage points (11 points mitigated by Bulletproof Vest, 8 points mitigated by Resistance)!]

…

The Glock 17 pistol—capable of dealing 25-odd damage points to the Jack Gang thugs—could only deal single-digit damage when the bullets struck the enemy in the shadows!

Lin Ke was pretty much having a mental breakdown! Not only was the wind generated by the enemy’s fist strong and powerful, but Lin Ke’s speed of retreat also wasn’t as fast as the other party’s. Just as the iron fist emerged from the darkness and entered his sight, Lin Ke was suddenly hit by a wave of inspiration.

Whistle!

Upon hearing Lin Ke’s whistle, all the flying Silver Army Ants grouped together and dove straight toward the enemy’s back.

Bam!

Before the other party’s fist could connect with Lin Ke, a surging, torrential energy wave suddenly broke out and threw Lin Ke outward, causing him to crash right against the metal mesh at the side.

[You’ve been hit by the energy wave from an unknown enemy’s [Power Punch], losing 10 Health Points]

With a muffled grunt, Lin Ke fell to the floor. Despite having 15 Endurance points, Lin Ke still felt aching pain all over his body.

Though Lin Ke was able to endure the aches in his body, the mysterious person—which suddenly showed up in front of Lin Ke—was creating great, surging waves at the bottom of Lin Ke’s heart.

Doubts sharply and abruptly rose within Lin Ke. Since when did the Jack Gang gain a tough character like this? When I raided the Jack Gang in my previous life, I had easily shot them all, and that was about it. I didn’t encounter a strong guy like this at all.

Forced to turn around, the mysterious man’s fist then went flying out with a boom.

The flying Silver Army Ants—which had grouped together—sensed the air currents gathering around the mysterious man’s fist. It was as though the unknown man’s fist was now the eye of a tornado on the ocean surface—extremely dangerous!

The flying Silver Army Ants dispersed at once. However, the energy waves still ended up hitting over ten flying ants nonetheless.

A small handful of flying ants fell to the floor, their front and hind legs weak and dispirited. Their wings also drooped at their sides spiritlessly. Even standing was now a problem for them.

Fortunately, the flying Silver Army Ants now had metallic bodies. Hence, the hit had only knocked them out of the fight for a while. After a short rest, they would recover and be able to throw themselves into battle once more.

Lin Ke’s countenance was grave. I’ve run into a tough one this time! This man’s punches carry intense power, and he even has the Power Punch skill! He is clearly a Martial Arts-type Fighter!

In his past life, Lin Ke’s main class had been Fighter. Therefore, he couldn’t be any more familiar with a Fighter’s moves.

“So it’s you.”

Jack slowly walked out from the night’s shadows. Half his body was bathed in moonlight while the other half remained hidden in the shadows.

Previously, in order to investigate his subordinates’ deaths, he had specially requested the subway entrance’s video footage from the underground black market. Based on the target and his subordinates’ time of death, his focus had stayed on Forbes the whole time.

Although Lin Ke had passed by wearing conspicuous flax clothing in the video footage, there was a high volume of footfall in the underground black market every day. Hence, Jack and his subordinates hadn’t given Lin Ke that much thought at all.

However, all his doubts were dispelled when he saw Lin Ke now—the two of them, Forbes and Lin Ke, were partners-in-crime.

“I told you that we would meet very soon.” Lin Ke slowly lowered his pistol-holding arm. He didn’t reload right away. He knew very well that the other party would charge toward him without any hesitation the moment he made any movement with his arm.

Lin Ke knew nothing about the enemy at this point, so stalling for time was currently his best bet. Lin Ke took advantage of the opportunity to speak, using Scout on the other party as he did so.

[In view of the difference between the target’s and your levels, the following information has been obtained.]

Name: Jack

Race: Human

Level: Lv10+ (Elite)

Class: Martial Arts-type Fighter

Status: Leader of the Jack Gang

Health Points: 910/1,000

Energy Points: 180/200

Stats: Power (12). Others, unknown

Talent: Unknown

Skills: Power Punch. Others, unknown

Equipment: Spiked Boxing Gloves (Green), Bulletproof Vest (White)

Appraisal: Engaging in close-quarters combat with a mature Fighter is the most foolish decision one can make!

Jack? Leader of the Jack Gang? Although the name fits the situation very well, from what I remember, the name of the Jack Gang’s leader had been ‘Mr. Cong’ when I annihilated the Jack gang in my previous life…

Where is Mr. Cong? Where did that big lump, Mr. Cong, go? Alright, they have changed their leader, so be it.

However, what currently posed a bigger problem was that not only was this Jack standing in front of him a high-level character, but he was an Elite and a Fighter as well!

If one must describe this situation with a phrase, then it would undoubtedly be: ‘One disaster after another!’

In Destiny, the strength of monsters and NPCs was dependent on their character levels and their suffixes. Those that only had character levels denoted were considered normal living things. However, once a suffix was added behind their levels, there would be a dramatic change in their stats and strength.

There were three types of character level suffixes—Elite, Leader, and Legendary.

Take Jack, the man currently standing in front of him, for example. If he’d been a normal Level 10 enemy, his HP would have ranged between 150 to 250; this was subject to minor changes depending on monster type.

However, once the enemy turned into a Level 10+ (Elite), not only would their stats skyrocket, but they would also possess unique abilities and equipment.

Lin Ke was terribly troubled. Although he held six years of game experience after he was reborn, the game’s official storyline hadn’t started yet. As a result, some of the game’s plot had yet to develop to what it was like in the public beta.

After coming here all fired up to mow down the Jack Gang, it seemed like Lin Ke had slipped up this time…

Lin Ke was only Level 6 at the moment. Trying to go against a Level 10 Martial Arts-type Elite was just as difficult as challenging a boss a few levels higher by himself.

Jack spread his senses into the surroundings. After glancing about, he asked, “Where’s your partner?”

“Against someone like you, my partner’s help isn’t necessary.”

Jack looked at Lin Ke with great interest. A brief moment later, he said, “You have very unusual abilities, and you’re also pretty strong. You also have pretty impressive courage and insight. If you’re willing to join the Jack Gang, I can spare your life. I can even let you take the fourth most important spot in the gang and lead these thugs.”

“The fourth most important spot? There are two others stronger than me?” As Lin Ke followed up on Jack’s conversation topic, his mind went into overdrive while he tried to come up with a strategy.

Not only was Jack a Level 10 Elite, but he was also a Fighter with Endurance as his forte. If Lin Ke fought him head-on, he wouldn’t stand a chance at all. However, Lin Ke had still managed to glean some of Jack’s Stat information that was missing from his Scouting through the exchange of blows just now.

After all, Lin Ke was a seasoned Fighter in his past life. To put it crudely, Lin Ke could even accurately determine how strong a Fighter’s fart would be when they got into the horse stance[1]!

Power Punch was the first skill Fighters learned; it was also the skill most commonly used by low-level Fighters.

The discharge of damage-dealing energy waves only happened at Level 3 Power Punch and above. Combined with how there was an obvious two-second energy-charging period when Jack punched earlier—as well as the damage Lin Ke had taken when the punch grazed him—Lin Ke was able to determine that the opponent’s Power Punch was only at Level 3.

Since Jack’s skill was Power Punch Lv3, then he likely also had another move—Acupoint Seal[2]. However, the skill was probably just at Level 1.

Therefore, the most crucial point Lin Ke had to take note of in the upcoming battle was that he mustn’t allow the other party to get within close range of him!

Once he allowed Jack to get near him and gave Jack the opportunity to use Acupoint Seal, not only would Lin Ke’s speed be reduced by 30%, but he would also be immobilized for one second. When that happened, Lin Ke would completely end up as Jack’s human punching bag.

Lin Ke had no doubts about that. After all, the Green-quality Spiked Boxing Gloves around Jack’s hands said it all—he really would be beaten into a pulp!

Therefore, Lin Ke was left with only one battle strategy—long-range attacks. Even so, there was another problem—the bulletproof vest.

All good and proper Fighters go into battle bare-chested, but that piece of sh*t is actually wearing a bulletproof vest! He can’t get any more cowardly than this!

The bulletproof vest blocked Jack’s upper torso—which had the largest surface area on one’s body—causing Lin Ke’s gunshots to deal only single-digit damage upon striking Jack.

One needn’t bother suggesting things like aiming for the head or the lower body. When up against a Level 10 Elite, one should already consider themselves lucky that they could even hit them in the first place.

Striking Jack wherever he wanted?

Dream on!

Due to the fact that Lin Ke had installed silencers to his guns, Lin Ke hadn’t chosen the 9mm armor-piercing explosive rounds with higher lethality when he had purchased ammo. The ordinary 9mm caliber bullets were practically nothing more than tickles to Jack.

Judging by Jack’s current HP, Lin Ke would need to hit him with 90 bullets before he could kill him! However, Lin Ke currently only had an absolute maximum of 100 bullets on him, even after taking everything into account.

“Battles aren’t Old Second and Old Third’s forte, but they have their own strengths when it comes to managing operations and socializing. I promise that your status won’t be beneath theirs as long as you join the Jack Gang!”

“Who is Mr. Cong, then?”

“Oh? You’ve heard of Old Third?”

Lin Ke continued to engage in trifling conversation with Jack to stall for time while sounding Jack out for information at the same time.

So the Jack Gang leader in the official version is the current Old Third… Lin Ke stared at Jack’s bulletproof vest closely as he continued to think of a solution to break the deadlock.

Bulletproof vests held a certain degree of durability. White-quality bulletproof vests had a durability of 500 points; they were capable of withstanding 500 damage points in total.

Once the durability was depleted, the vests would become useless. In which case, only the mitigation effect from Jack’s Level 10 Elite resistance would remain when bullets struck him…

In other words, Lin Ke would be able to deal about 20 damage points with every shot that connected.

“Hurhur, don’t dream of stalling for time.” Jack secured the Spiked Boxing Gloves around his hands and started to pace around Lin Ke. “I don’t see any intention of surrendering and pledging allegiance to us in your eyes. You’ve also been staring at me ever since we started speaking. You must have been trying to think of a countermeasure, right?”

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“Well, let me tell you that all of it is futile. Frankly speaking, I truly admire you very much. After all, you have truly shown a level of maturity uncharacteristic of your age since you are able to keep your composure and think of a way to break the deadlock in the face of a strong enemy.”

“However, it can’t be helped… You’ve killed so many of my subordinates and even wrecked the Jack Gang’s business. Since you don’t have any intention of pledging allegiance to us, then I can only reluctantly… kill you!”

A swift shadow cut across, and Jack started attacking Lin Ke!

[1] A common posture in Asian martial arts

[2] Literally ‘Touching acupuncture points’. Refers to the technique commonly seen in Chinese martial arts stories where one can deal different effects like immobilization, etc by hitting someone’s acupoints