The Great Thief

”No secret can be hidden from me. May your petty existence be burned.”

As these familiar words were spoken, all of them braced themselves and paid full attention.

There was a flash of light as five of them caught on fire.

However, things were different this time. Because they had changed their positions, the fires on three of them was instantly extinguished.

”March, do Riceball, Wandering, do Moonlight,” Lu Li instructed.

Both March Rain and Wandering casted their debuff recovery skills on their respective targets.

This time, although Riceball and Wandering had lost most of their HP, not a single person died. This meant that Lu Li’s new strategy was working.

Of course, this depended on their ability to react fast enough; one success didn’t prove anything.

Lu Li wasn’t in a hurry, so he didn’t say much when they were wiped for the second time.

Although Lu Li didn’t say anything, it didn’t make the others feel any better. Every person felt partly responsible.

The Scarlet Halo’s duration had expired and Lu Li left once again to clear Scarlet Paladins to regain it. The Scarlet Awakening buff was still applied and was unlikely to end before they completed their quest.

While he was doing that, Water Fairy contracted him again to ask about the Arsenal strategy. Lu Li naturally rejected her offer.

”This is just a small hitch,” Lu Li thought to himself as they got wiped for the third time. Previously, he had just been in a bad mood.

It wasn’t that they weren’t strong enough to beat it, rather, it was just that some of the players were weak in certain areas. Reaction time and coordination… these were things that couldn’t be learned through rebirth or some operation. These were skills that had to be slowly trained.

Fortunately, they weren’t being wiped in vain. Lu Li could see hope when he noticed their gradual improvements, both in skill and in attitude.

Eventually, they started their fourth attempt.

”We don’t have much time left for today. We’ll give Vishas one last try and if we fail, we’ll continue tomorrow. Make sure you rest well after logging off; don’t take anything to heart,” Lu Li explained calmly before they started. He then added with some pride, ”The other guilds are still stuck under Herod’s Axe”

”Yep, if we’re getting wiped like this then the other guilds must have it even worse.”

Even Wandering had stopped insulting everyone. It was unusual to hear him encouraging the others.

Come to think of it, the Xin Xin Mercenary Group hadn’t faced a setback like this in a long time.

Unlike the other guilds, they wouldn’t normally get wiped dozens of times before being able to complete an Instance Dungeon.

Lu Li knew from his past life that the Instance Dungeon that had taken the longest time for anyone to complete was Naxxramas.

At the time, Peerless City was thriving, and the other guilds were unable to even get to the final Boss.

Peerless City gained a certain reputation because of this.

Unfortunately, a few days after the First Clear, their strategy for the Instance Dungeon was leaked. Obviously, the high-level members of the guild were devastated.

However, even with the strategy, not everyone could make it through the Instance Dungeon. It was only until later when the game company reduced the difficulty of the Elite and Nightmare Levels that the ordinary guilds had a chance.

Lu Li’s team being wiped three times was really nothing to worry about.

Lu Li had also considered changing out two members of the party for two members of the Elite Group. These could have been Fat Monkey or Nuo Yu, who were Fire Mages that had a decent amount of Fire Resistance. The change would have been quite significant.

However, from a different perspective, if he couldn’t bring himself to permanently change the party’s members, it would have just been a temporary solution.

It was better for Vishas to serve as a whetstone for the team.

This attempt didn’t weigh too heavily on the members. After all, Lu Li had said that they could just continue trying the next day if they needed to. Even if the other guilds caught up, they were unlikely to get through the Instance Dungeon anyway.

They had withstood the seventh wave of burning without losing a single member. Lu Li silently wiped the sweat off his forehead.

This was the kind of rhythm they needed to get through.

He didn’t way to say anything in case he increased the pressure and just continued playing carefully. The other who were more observant soon also realized this and followed Lu Li’s example to continue casually playing.

On the tenth wave, Lonesome Flower didn’t cast his skill quickly enough and was killed. The Boss that they were fighting was still standing before them.

”Hachi Chan, Resurrect Flower. We’re gonna defeat the Boss,” Lu Li said as he let out a sigh of relief.

”What? We’re about to defeat it?”

”Ah! Are we gonna do it? Can we finally do it?”

The biggest reactions came from Remnant Dream and Hachi Chan. They had been fully focused until now and when they finally heard that they were about to defeat the Boss, they cried out.

Lu Li patted Hachi Chan’s head and said, ”Don’t get too excited yet and quickly Resurrect Flower; the Boss still has 10% HP.”

With wave of Hachi Chan’s hands, the whole party was back and fighting.

Vishas was no longer a threat to them. Although his damage was stronger, there weren’t any more area of effect skills to worry about. With March Rain’s abundant healing, the team quickly finished him off with ease.

Their EXP values soared as two of their members reached level 30.

”I got a skill point!” Remnant Dream cried out excitedly. She was crying and laughing at the same time.

”You’re the best Dreamy!” Hachi Chan exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her.

”Will the next two Bosses be even harder?” Wandering followed Lu Li and sat on the ground with no regard for the blood everywhere.

Lu Li didn’t say anything; he was afraid of scaring the younger ones.

Everyone was really tired. They had just fought Vishas four times which was even more exhausting than farming out in the wild.

”The young are just so energetic. Back in my day…” Azure Sea Breeze leaned on Wandering’s shoulder as he watched the two girls jump about. His tone was expressive and reminiscent.

”Go away; leave me alone.”

Wandering’s words were unforgiving but he didn’t have the strength to physically push him away.

”Dreamy, go loot the body. We all want to log off and rest; aren’t you tired?” March Rain reminded the little crazy girl about the fruits of their labor.

Although this wasn’t the final Boss, this was still a Scarlet Monastery Instance Dungeon, so there was no reason why it would be stingy with the rewards.

”Gold Pants which give my pet critical hit; they even reduce damage. It’s mine! It’s mine!”

The first equip that Remnant Dream looted was hers, so she was even happier.

”Wipe your tears, you ugly girl.”

Wandering habitually insulted everyone, no matter how cute they were.

”Ahem, the second item is a Plated Belt. Let’s give it to Moonlight; Wandering is being naughty,” Remnant Dream pleaded at Lu Li in retaliation for being called an ugly girl.

”Alright,” Lu Li didn’t even look at the the attributes and just nodded.

Wandering: …

”Bloody Knucklebone – what is this item?” Remnant Dream asked as she looted the third item.

”It’s a rare material which can be used to make gloves for a Shaman. It’s a pretty good item; give it up Memories.” Lu Li didn’t need to see its attributes to determine what it was used for.

The fourth item was a Cloth Healing Hat; this was obviously given to March Rain.

”Oh, there’s a Strengthening Stone. It’s quite pretty. There were five things this time,” Remnant Dream said, pleasantly surprised.

However, she was excited for no reason because this item was always given to their star player. Lu Li took the beautiful red stone from her hands.