Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

After clearing out the disgusting area of ​​the Poison Frogs, the team took a short rest and continued to advance into the deepest part of the Eye of the Poison Swamp.

The further you go in, the dimmer the light becomes.

What was originally just a hazy, gray miasma has now transformed into a nearly tangible, thick black fog.

The towering, withered trees around them resembled twisted corpses, their claws outstretched as they pointed towards the sky.

[WARNING: You have entered the core area of ​​the Abyss—the Despair Quagmire!]

[Warning: Healing and shield effects reduced by 50%.]

Accompanied by a glaring red system warning, the view ahead completely blocked their path.

There is no road.

What appeared before them was a vast, black swamp.

The surface of the swamp was not calm, but rather like boiling asphalt, constantly bubbling up huge, dark purple bubbles.

The moment the bubbles burst, they release a thick, visible plume of toxic fumes.

In the very center of the swamp, hundreds of meters from the shore, a humanoid creature draped in a gray-black cloak sat cross-legged.

"That's... the final boss?"

Lu Qingyan's palms were sweaty as she gripped the tower shield.

Song Xin squatted on the edge of the swamp, her brows furrowed tightly.

She pulled a straw doll out of her backpack and threw it forcefully into the black swamp ahead.

laugh--!

The scarecrow didn't even fall into the mud; it just passed through a half-meter-high layer of poisonous gas above the swamp and melted into a puddle of pus at a visible speed.

It dripped into the swamp, but didn't even make a splash.

"My goodness..."

Song Xin gasped, taking two steps back abruptly. "What the hell is this swamp?"

Lu Qingyan didn't believe in superstition.

She turned to look at the edge of the area where she had just killed the Baneling Frog, where a lone Baneling Frog was wandering around.

Lu Qingyan rushed over in a few steps.

"Bang--!"

A muffled thud.

The poor Poison Frog was knocked unconscious before it could even react.

Lu Qingyan lifted it with one hand and threw it directly into the black swamp ahead with a sudden burst of force.

"Croak—?!"

next second.

The damage numbers are displayed.

"-1000"

The poisonous frog let out a shrill scream in mid-air as its fur was instantly corroded.

But what's even more terrifying is yet to come.

"-1000"

"-1000"

"..."

The damage numbers jumped extremely fast, five times in a single second.

The poisonous frog struggled in the swamp for a few seconds before melting into a pool of blood, leaving not even a bone fragment behind.

"Five thousand points of damage per second?"

Lu Qingyan subconsciously tightened her grip on the tower shield.

As the main tank in the team, she is extremely sensitive to health and resistance.

What is the concept of 5000 points of environmental damage?

An ordinary level 20 warrior, fully equipped with silver-grade gear, would have a maximum of seven or eight thousand health points.

In this area, you don't even need any monsters to do anything; as long as your toes touch the swamp, your health bar will be completely depleted in seconds!

Lin Wei covered her mouth, "How disgusting..."

"It's not just disgusting."

Lu Qingyan's face turned deathly pale as she stared intently at the swamp. "Not only is she constantly losing health, but this swamp also slows her down!"

"The Poison Frog is very fast, but even with its frantic struggles, it can't get out. Once we go in, we'll be trapped and probably won't be able to get out!"

Her brows were furrowed.

Losing a thousand health points every second... Lin Wei simply couldn't raise her health bar.

Even she couldn't hold on for long.

"There's no way to fight."

Song Xin shook her head and spread her hands, "That distance is at least 150 meters. Even if you, Senior Lu, used your charge skill, it would still take you at least three minutes to run across in the slowing environment of the mud."

"Three minutes..."

She gave a wry smile. "We can't even hold on for a few seconds."

Lin Wei raised her staff.

They tried to put a new shield on everyone.

A soft, holy light enveloped the four of them.

but.

The shield was incredibly thin and much dimmer than the previous one.

"no……"

Lin Wei sighed, "My shield and healing effects have been reduced by 50%, and the shield's health is now less than a thousand."

Dead end.

A complete and utter dead end.

Song Xin asked, "Senior Lu, what does the military intelligence say?"

"The military intelligence did not mention this swamp; they probably haven't traversed the area inhabited by the poisonous frogs."

Lu Qingyan shook her head helplessly.

"Then let's cancel the order."

Song Xin sighed, "Although Boss Su has high damage and can kill monsters instantly, he's a mage, a fragile character. If he goes in, he'll probably be gone in a second."

"……well."

Lu Qingyan bit her lip, her face full of resentment.

Having finally reached the end, they were completely blocked by the environmental mechanisms of the underworld.

Could it be...?

Are we really going to lose everything we've worked so hard for?

at the same time.

Su Chen silently gazed at the black swamp in front of him.

This swamp... is incredibly strong.

If only he had this skill, he could create a swamp that would poison any enemy who entered.

At that point, it will be over 100 million damage per second!

pity.

No if.

He sighed, glanced at the billowing poison gas ahead, and then at the BOSS on the distant circular platform.

What is a desperate situation for others, for him...

It's not without a solution.

"You all wait here, don't get too close."

Su Chen said casually, tapping the ground with his toe.

"Junior Su, don't be impulsive."

Lu Qingyan quickly stopped Su Chen.

"It's okay, I'm not stupid."

Su Chen smiled and said, "I've observed it. This poisonous swamp ahead is hit-and-run based. As long as your feet touch this black mud, you'll lose health. So, I'm going to... fly over there."

"fly?"

Lin Wei was taken aback. "Junior Brother Su Chen, you have the ability to fly?"

"Um."

Su Chen nodded. "There's a piece of equipment that happens to have the flight attribute."

"..."

The girls' mouths were slightly open.

In this world, the skill of flight is extremely rare. Usually, only wind mages can master it after their third job advancement, or it requires extremely rare equipment.

Su Chen... Where did a student who just finished the college entrance examination get so many top-tier equipment?

"But, Junior Brother Su Chen, you're a mage with such a low health bar. What if you accidentally fall down halfway down the road..."

Lin Wei dared not continue.

The terrifying image of Su Chen transforming into Lao Da in mid-air, crashing, and then melting into blood had already flashed through her mind.

Lu Qingyan also advised in a deep voice: "Lin Wei is right. Although your output is invincible, the mage's survivability is a fatal flaw. This environment mechanism is specifically designed to counter squishy characters. You can't take this risk."

Song Xin nodded in agreement: "Yes, Boss Su, as long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback. This world... not all abyss dungeons can be conquered. Let's go out and help the military defend the city; there's no need to risk our lives here."

Seeing these three girls, who looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, earnestly trying to dissuade him.

Su Chen sighed.

He scratched his face: "Well, my health bar is actually a little bit thicker than you guys think..."

"A little thicker?"

Lu Qingyan was stunned.

Even if you max out your stamina, how tanky can a fragile mage like you be?

one thousand?

two thousand?

It'll melt away in no time!

Su Chen didn't explain, but directly activated the robe's concealment effect.

next second.

boom!

An extremely powerful black-purple magical energy surged from Su Chen's robe!

The dragon runes on the robe seemed to come alive, flowing across the fabric like swimming dragons, radiating a chilling aura.

[Skill Activation: Dragon Bone Illusion]

[Effect: Enter flight mode, movement speed +200%, duration 60 minutes, can be canceled early, cost: 2000 mana.]

Whoosh!

A pair of translucent, purplish-black dragon wings, several meters wide, suddenly unfurled from behind Su Chen!

A strong wind swept through, directly dispersing a large area of ​​poisonous miasma within a ten-meter radius.

But what shocked the three women was not the cool flying skills.

The moment the dragon wings unfolded, a thick, suffocating purplish-black shield appeared around Su Chen.

【Dragon Language - Bone Sanctuary (Passive): Automatically generates a shield with a value of 10 times your Spirit Points. This shield persists indefinitely and regenerates after 60 seconds if broken.】

[Shield Value: 69120 / 69120]

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

At the edge of the poisonous swamp, only the gurgling sound of bursting bubbles remained.

Lu Qingyan stared intently at the shield value, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Her hand, which was gripping the tower shield, began to tremble violently.

A shield value of 69,000?!

Lu Qingyan felt her head buzzing.

She turned her head and glanced at the panel she was so proud of.

As a main tank focused on physical strength, she used her ultimate skill with all her might, barely managing to break 10,000 health and shield points.

And this guy in front of me keeps saying he's a mage.

Just casually putting on an automatically triggered shield costs 69,000?!

Song Xin even swore.

"Holy crap?!"

She pointed at the number above Su Chen's head, her fingers cramping.

"Boss Su...you...you're cheating, aren't you?"

"Seriously? You're a mage, and your damage output is so high you can wipe out everything, but how come you're also so tanky?!"

"Your shield... is this even achievable by a carbon-based life form?!"

Lin Wei's mouth also gaped open.

She looked at the few hundred points of shield she had just managed to heal with all her might, and then at Su Chen's blindingly bright 69,000 shield.

The clown was me.

She murmured to herself.

"Sixty-nine thousand shields..."

"Even if I complete the third job advancement, I might not be this powerful at level 60..."

"You call this 'slightly thicker'?"

"..."

The three women were starting to question the meaning of life.

A shield of 69,000... Not to mention ordinary people, even Chen Feng, a top student from Sky Dome Academy, would have to spend half a day cutting through it!

and.

This shield will regenerate every 30 seconds, meaning that if you can't break his shield within 30 seconds, you'll never be able to damage him again.

"Hey, what's with that look?"

Su Chen rolled his eyes. "I'm perfectly normal, okay?"

"..."

None of the girls responded.

Even his gaze hadn't changed; it was still the same look he gave a pervert.

Su Chen curled his lip: "Forget it, I'll go deal with the BOSS. You guys find a place to hide."

The voice just fell.

The purplish-black dragon wings suddenly flapped.

The wind howled.

Su Chen soared into the air, transforming into a streak of blackish-purple light, and charged straight toward the desolate black swamp ahead.

"Hiss hiss hiss—!"

Su Chen had just entered the airspace above the poisonous swamp.

The black mud below, like a shark smelling blood, instantly boiled.

Countless strands of black swamp mud shot up like tentacles, frantically wrapping around Su Chen's body.

The girls were immediately startled.

This swamp... can actually attack people on its own?

"Boss Su, come back here!"

Song Xin's eyelids twitched: "I knew this swamp was no ordinary place!"

Su Chen didn't even bother to look at it.

boom!

A thick, corrupted tentacle slammed into the shield.

[Warning: You are under attack by environmental toxins.]

"-1000"

"-1000"

……

The damage numbers on Su Chen's shield jumped wildly.

The black toxins were frantically corroding the purplish-black dragon language shield, making a teeth-grinding dissolving sound.

"Is this what it feels like to be poisoned? It's disgusting."

Su Chen watched the shield value steadily decrease and muttered a complaint.

No wonder those who were poisoned by him broke down.

Watching helplessly as his health bar slowly dwindled, with absolutely no way to stop it, felt like he'd been completely wrecked.

This is torture.

however.

Su Chen remained completely calm.

The Dragon Language Shield is as stable as Mount Tai.

It wasn't broken at all, not even a single crack appeared.

With a shield value of nearly 70,000, losing 1,000 HP per second is practically like scraping a scald.

While in flight, Su Chen's movement speed increased by 200%.

In just a few seconds.

Su Chen had already traversed a distance of 150 meters and was steadily suspended above the scorched black earth.

The shield value was still more than half remaining.

In the center of this scorched earth, there was a huge, dark green tumor, as big as a heart.

The surface of the tumor was covered with large blood vessels that pulsated rhythmically, each pulsation spewing out thick, abyssal miasma.

Beneath this tumor, a figure sat cross-legged.

No, to be precise, it was a humanoid creature.

It has no eyes.

His face consisted of only a mouth that split to his ears and two deep, black hole-like openings.

Moros, the Guide to the Abyss (Dark Gold Tier)

[Level: 30]

[Rank: Dark Gold]

【Strength: 1500】

[Agility: 1200]

[Physical Fitness: 3000]

【Spirit: 4500】

[Skills: Abyss Barrier, Swamp Domain, ???]

[Abyssal Barrier: Reduces all physical and magical damage taken by 90%.]

[Swamp Domain: Creates a highly poisonous swamp within a 500-meter radius, causing enemy units to continuously lose health.]

【Unknown Skill】

……

Su Chen hovered in mid-air, looking at the BOSS panel that popped up in his field of vision, and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Good guy.

This interface, this mechanism, it's practically leaving no way out for anyone.

This level 30 Dark Gold BOSS not only has incredibly high stats, but its dual resistances and damage reduction are also as high as 90%.

Moreover, the professionals have to fight him while immersed in a highly poisonous swamp.

Even a normal team, even a level 50 elite team, would have a tough time.

Just as Su Chen was sizing up Moros.

The humanoid creature that had been keeping its head down slowly raised its head.

Those two dark eye sockets stared at Su Chen from halfway through the air.

"You... carry... the scent of the abyss..."