The First Wave: A Test of Strategy and Teammates

Lin Ran recalled that, apart from naming his abilities and the recently acquired electrical discharge, he hadn’t truly felt like a Demon King.

As such, he had no intention of bearing the responsibility of a damage dealer.

“I’ll play support. A Demon King’s abilities are well-balanced, and you, as a fire mage, can’t really play support, can you?”

Lin Ran could only offer this explanation.

Wang Pangzi scratched his head, pondering the thought.

It seemed he actually had a point!

Pairing a 60-point damage dealer with a 90-point support,

was far more effective than a 100-point damage dealer with a 0-point support.

“It’s always Big Brother Lin Ran! His judgment is always so much sharper than mine, the brainless one! Hahahaha!!”

Wang Pangzi playfully mocked himself, having already instinctively begun referring to Lin Ran as “Big Brother” as he spoke.

However, Lin Ran knew that if Wang Pangzi were truly brainless, he wouldn’t have survived this long.

[Team battle arena #18029 detected. Team responsibilities have now been assigned.]

A chilling notification echoed within the minds of the five individuals.

[Invasion has begun prematurely. Up next: the first wave of thieves.]

[Proceed to defend your respective wooden cabins.]

[In this defense round, defeating enemies will not yield crystal cores. Upon completion, 100 crystal cores will be awarded directly; please distribute them yourselves.]

[Failure condition: Any wooden cabin is successfully plundered.]

No sooner had the announcement ended and Lin Ran was about to issue commands, than his voice was instantly drowned out by Wang Pangzi’s booming roar.

“You two women, you both have some combat ability, right? Then the three of us will defend three cabins! Big Brother Lin Ran can definitely solo one without an issue!”

“That small guy… no, the short guy, do you have any combat power?”

“If you don’t have combat power, let Big Brother Lin Ran protect you; he’s got more than enough strength!”

Having said that, he hoisted his flaming hammer and charged with a war cry into the thick of the thieves.

It had to be said, Wang Pangzi was far too modest.

Was this what he called being brainless?

He had, in an instant, analyzed the intensity of the enemy’s assault and allocated two battlefronts with reasonable combat power.

Even without a clear understanding of his own strength, he had displayed confidence.

Taking advantage of others’ disinterest in him, he hadn’t revealed the information about the Demon King, merely emphasizing his sufficient strength.

Evidently, he was far from the foolish, bumbling giant he appeared to be; rather, he possessed a subtle cleverness.

Had Lin Ran been the one to allocate the battlefronts, he would likely have chosen a similar approach.

Still, it had to be admitted.

Wang Pangzi assigning those two women to him… well, that was quite the burden on him.

Nevertheless, Lin Ran felt completely at ease with him.

After all, Wang Pangzi could single-handedly defend at least three paths against the first wave of thieves—

The first wave of thieves consisted of extremely weak creatures like small goblins and gnomes.

Beneath Wang Pangzi’s flaming hammer, a single full-force strike, coupled with a fire spell, would unleash a small mushroom cloud akin to a missile explosion, leaving behind a swathe of charred corpses.

Meanwhile, the two women, Shen Yu and Liu Yan, immediately latched onto him like sticky candy.

They incessantly chanted phrases like, “Student Wang, you’re amazing!” and “Go, Student Wang, go!”

Indeed, they showed absolutely no inclination to lift a finger.

Even when Wang Pangzi sustained injuries while casting spells, unable to attack during his incantations, Shen Yu did not offer him any healing.

Lin Ran, for his part, remained indifferent to the pitiful scene unfolding; he was content with his leisure and saw no reason to lecture the two women.

With his particular passive ability, keeping his distance from women was, after all, the wisest course of action.

“Vera, prepare for ranged engagement at the window.”

Then, he raised his Favorability Pistol high and fired it skyward.

“I wish for the corrosive fluid to burst open like fireworks!”

Before his words fully faded, the corrosive fluid exploded in the air, raining down upon every single thief.

Yet swiftly, those thieves struck by the corrosive fluid began to collapse one by one!

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that large holes had been corroded into the parts of their bodies touched by the fluid!

Naturally, such corrosion alone would have been utterly ineffective.

The true agents of their demise were Vera.

Wielding a machine gun—the kind dolls would be equipped with after multiple evolutions in a dream—she systematically strafed every point where the corrosive fluid had landed.

This was the inherent nobility of being a high-tier doll.

Starting with a machine gun, how were others supposed to compete?

However, his monster legion was a matter he needn’t expose just yet.

For now, the first wave presented little pressure, so he decided to focus on his nearby teammates, intending to understand their capabilities for future plans.

He approached Qi Xiaoyu, who had remained silent all this while, and offered a friendly smile.

“Hello, I’m Lin Ran. Shall we, as fellow supports, exchange information about our abilities?”

“Hello, my name is Qi Xiaoyu.” His voice was equally pleasant, clean and crisp.

But the next moment, glancing at the top of Lin Ran’s head, he was startled, his eyes widening as he stumbled back several steps.

“De… Demon King…”

Lin Ran chuckled, patted his shoulder, and made a shushing gesture.

Qi Xiaoyu nodded, offering no further words.

He simply and silently transferred the liquid from his cauldron into numerous small bottles.

Lin Ran leaned in for a closer look, discovering that these were potions capable of inflicting negative effects such as [Slowness] and [Weakness].

Truth be told, he coveted them greatly.

Since Vera’s abilities leaned towards positive effects, she hadn’t yet manufactured potions with negative effects.

It seemed, then, that the ability [Witch’s Cauldron] primarily focused on creating these negative potions.

“You’ve likely witnessed my strength; for now, just leave it to me. Your responsibility is simply to handle logistics and distribute the potions to everyone.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaoyu unconsciously broke into a smile.

It seemed a genuine joy, stemming from the recognition of his abilities.

Encouraged by Lin Ran’s words, he immediately rose, intending to hand the potions to their three other teammates.

However, he had barely taken two steps when Wang Pangzi’s furious roar echoed from the distance.

“Damn it! My crystal cores! Are you two made of wood?”

Lin Ran turned to look, only to see Wang Pangzi absolutely seething with rage.

Just moments ago, he had been preoccupied with showing off in front of the two girls, resulting in several incredibly swift goblin thieves slipping past him.

They had rushed into his wooden cabin and stolen the crystal cores he had painstakingly accumulated.

He had considered the two women useless, but he never imagined they could be *this* useless.

To think, these two women had been standing right at the cabin’s entrance just now!

If they couldn’t even stop two low-tier thieves, what good were they?

He had no one to heal his injuries, and no golem to draw aggro while he charged ahead.

The two women initially feigned grievance, exchanging glances and daring not to speak, but as the scolding continued, they too grew somewhat agitated.

Shen Yu was the first to speak, her face instantly morphing into an expression of wronged indignation and suppressed fury.

“What kind of attitude is that? You’re a grown man, why are you yelling at us two girls? Fighting and killing is your men’s business to begin with, and now you blame us for a small mishap?”

“Exactly! We’re not your hired bodyguards! It’s our freedom to choose how we fight! What gives you the right to demand things of us by your standards? Do you think you’re hot stuff just because you can throw a few fireballs?”

The more they spoke, the more agitated they became, eventually escalating to declarations about the injustice of the world and how reliable men were as much as sows could climb trees.

Finally, Liu Yan delivered her concluding remark.

“Pah! You damn fatty, you get a little bit of power and immediately start discriminating! You and that Lin Ran are both public enemies of women; people like you deserve to be bachelors for life!”

‘Public enemy of women…?’

‘When had he, without realizing it, acquired yet another strange title?’

No sooner had the words left her mouth than two Dream-Eaters emerged from the wooden cabin.

One, from Wang Pangzi’s cabin, clearly stepped out to back him up.

She was roughly Wang Pangzi’s height, with muscles sculpted like those of a boxer.

She simply stood there, serene, as an invisible aura of authority emanated from her.

Her cold gaze fixed upon Liu Yan and Shen Yu, as if they were two insignificant insects unaware of their impending doom.

‘It seemed… she was here to protect her cub?’

‘However… rather than a partner, she resembled more of a gang leader.’

‘Damn, look at that Dream-Eater! Reliability practically radiated from her entire being!’

‘Then there was the other one…’

“Looks like there’s some drama? Where, where?”

It was his very own Anmeng Yue, here to ‘eat melons’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘chī guā,’ meaning to spectate or gossip about drama).

She hadn’t even watched where she was going, tripping and falling as she emerged.

Lin Ran’s vision momentarily darkened.

Still, Anmeng Yue was indeed the only monster girl he could openly reveal on his side.

Moreover, amidst the squabbling, the 100 crystal cores for surviving the first wave had already been automatically disbursed.

As fate would have it,

those 100 crystal cores had, quite literally, fallen straight into the hands of Anmeng Yue, the miser.

‘Could that money… ever be retrieved?’

****