Chapter 17: A Hundred Strikes, Certain Death
“It’s actually pretty light!”
The moment Ye Da got his hands on the black iron breastplate, he immediately put it on. He had to admit, rare gear was truly impressive—not only was it light, but it fit perfectly, not hindering his movements in the slightest.
“Whack!”
To test its defense, Ye Da struck himself hard with a stone axe. The result: a chunk of stone chipped off the axe, but the black iron breastplate didn’t even bear a scratch. It was incredibly sturdy!
But he wondered...
If he used a top-tier steel axe, would the breastplate still hold up?
Ye Da glanced at the materials required to upgrade his stone axe to a steel one.
[Item: Crude Stone Axe]
[Attack: 2]
[Durability: 36]
[Top Tier Upgrade: Fine Wood (6/1), Steel Ingot (1/2)]
He had enough fine wood, but he was short one unit of steel ingot.
So for now, he couldn’t upgrade.
“It’s getting late.”
Ye Da checked the time—16:02 displayed on the light screen. According to the forecast, sunset today would be at 17:30, leaving him only an hour and a half to be outside.
He debated whether to stay here to chop some wood before leaving, or to head straight for the bamboo grove and try his luck.
Besides, his backpack was filled with random items; he’d have to return to the house to empty it first, or there’d be no space left for anything else.
Ye Da picked up the black iron chest on the ground, planning to bring it back for storage.
“Whoa!”
But as he tried to lift it, he nearly toppled over—the chest was just too heavy. Though he could stuff it into his storage backpack, it wasn’t worth keeping such a heavy thing; better to dismantle it and use the wooden chests for storage instead.
[Dismantle]
[Dismantling successful. Iron Ingot +10]
[10 units of Iron Ingot can be synthesized into 1 unit of Steel Ingot. Synthesize?]
“Just what I needed!”
Ye Da was delighted and immediately chose to synthesize.
[Steel Ingot +1, Iron Ingot -10]
Now, with a steel ingot synthesized, he finally had enough materials to upgrade his stone axe.
Without hesitation, he chose to upgrade—just in time to free up some storage slots for other materials.
[Upgrade successful. “Crude Stone Axe” upgraded to “Superb Steel Axe”]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, player has triggered a luck effect!]
[Superb Steel Axe gains S-class special attribute—Hundred Strikes, One Kill!]
[Hundred Strikes, One Kill: Every hundred swings has a chance to trigger an instant kill, ignoring defense and health for a one-shot kill!]
“Damn, that’s a sick skill!”
Ye Da grinned at the skill. With this, no matter what level of monster he faced, as long as he kited well enough and dodged in time, eventually he’d be able to chop it down!
Even if each strike only took a single point from a boss, at the hundredth swing, if the instant kill triggered—
One shot, dead!
Just the thought thrilled him.
Of course, this was just wishful thinking. If he really encountered a boss that only lost one point per hit, that boss’s agility would hardly be low. There was no way he could land ninety-nine hits without getting touched.
So...
This was all just theory; in reality, it was impossible!
“Time to go!”
With rare armor and an upgraded steel axe, Ye Da’s trip to the little grove had certainly paid off.
He decided to stick to the original plan and head for the small bamboo forest.
He could chop some bamboo for bamboo rice; with luck, he might even catch a hopping mushroom or dig up bamboo shoots for dinner.
“Woof woof!”
“Awooo!!”
Just as Ye Da was about to leave the grove, he heard the yelps of a puppy—soft, childish whimpers rather than fierce barking, more like the cries of a pet begging for attention than a real threat.
Curious, Ye Da walked in the direction of the sounds, a vague worry in his heart—could it be those two wolf cubs?
“Damn!”
But when he reached the source and saw the creature making the noise, he was stunned.
He stood there, dumbfounded for a long moment, then let out a string of exclamations.
“Holy crap, crap, crap!”
Ye Da wanted to put into words the shock of the scene before him, but lacking a better vocabulary, he could only keep swearing.
At the edge of the grove, a gigantic python, weighing at least several hundred pounds, had its jaws wide open, clamping down on a white wolf cub, trying to swallow it whole.
The gray wolf cub, sensing its brother was in danger, was desperately biting and clawing at the python, trying to free its sibling from the serpent’s maw.
But...
The difference in strength was overwhelming.
Little Gray couldn’t even break the python’s skin; so it switched tactics, attacking the serpent’s tail, trying to grab hold of the lashing tail and force the python to loosen its grip.
But the serpent didn’t regard Little Gray as a threat—probably just as a bothersome fly—and ignored its attacks, focusing solely on swallowing Little White.
The wolf cubs were small, but their wild instincts were fierce.
At last, Little Gray found an opening, pounced on the python’s tail, and bit down with all its might.
“Crack!”
The python, startled by the pain, jerked its head up, fixing its slender eyes on the culprit. When it saw that the attacker was nothing bigger than its own head, a trace of contempt flickered in its gaze.
Then—
The python lifted its tail, hoisting the wolf cub high into the air.
Little Gray now hung like a fish on a hook, struggling furiously but refusing to let go.
Annoyed by the persistent cub, the python lashed its tail toward the ground.
“Whack!”
The wolf cub was flung like a ball, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, then bouncing high into the air, blood spraying from its mouth in a red arc.
“Awooo!”
The cub howled in agony.
Ye Da’s heart clenched at the pitiful sight. He’d assumed the two cubs, after drinking poisoned milk, wouldn’t survive long, which was why he’d resolved not to get involved; otherwise, he couldn’t stand to watch them die.
But he hadn’t expected the cubs to survive, nor to end up in the woods, hunted by a python.
More importantly...
The spot where the wolf cubs appeared was right along the path Ye Da had taken into the grove.
Could it be that these two little ones had come looking for him?
The thought made Ye Da’s heart ache even more.
But...
He gripped the steel axe tightly, eyeing the python towering above him. He wasn’t at all sure he could take it down.
Kiting tactics?
No sooner had the idea appeared than he dismissed it.
Kiting only worked against creatures with high defense and low agility—like turtles or other slow-moving bosses. But pythons were notoriously fast and agile, and didn’t fit that category at all!