Zhang Shi released Pipi, letting it gain experience while keeping watch, while he took out his compound bow and began firing rapidly at the street ahead. Whether it was due to the sheer number of invisible beings or their inability to dodge, within minutes the warehouse entrance was piled high with translucent, blood-stained corpses.
A flash of light appeared, and after many days, Zhang Shi finally reached level 25, unlocking a new class skill.
[Malice: Passive skill. Each time a target is killed, there is a 20% chance to spawn a shadow at the target's location.]
Zhang Shi knew how powerful this skill was, and he was eager to test its effects, so he fired even more blindly forward.
A few arrows were fired, and the effect of the malevolent intent was quickly triggered. A shadow identical to Zhang Shi's form appeared in front of the invisible corpse. The other monsters must have noticed the shadow's presence, as they rushed forward and tore it to shreds in a few moves.
Zhang Shi was taken aback. He remembered that shadows existed in the form of energy and were immune to all physical attacks. The fact that these intangible beings could damage shadows meant that their attack methods existed in the form of energy. However, they could also be damaged by ordinary physical attacks, which was somewhat different from spirits.
Zhang Shi drew his bow again. This time, after triggering the evil intent, he passed a steel blade to the shadow. Zhang Shi focused all his attention on controlling the shadow to fight. He used Shadow Slash and Triple Strike together, clearing out an area in front of him in an instant. At the same time, more shadows were triggered. Zhang Shi's level increased, maintaining the duration of the shadows at about 3 seconds. Soon, a shadow army formed on the street.
Once the number of shadows increased, it became more difficult for Zhang Shi to focus on controlling them. However, the advantage in numbers was still fully demonstrated in small-scale battles, and within just a few minutes, the streets returned to silence.
The shadows vanished, leaving only bloodstains and body parts on the ground. Without the beasts to clean up, the entire street was filled with a strong stench of blood.
Zhang Shi and his team successfully reached 1000 kills, unlocking the Fog City teleportation point. At the same time, a private message popped up on Zhang Shi's system panel. He opened it and found it was from Mao Tai. Zhang Shi's heart skipped a beat, guessing something might have happened on the island. Before he could open the private message, Cai Qing also sent him a message, the content of which was exactly as he had guessed: a fleet of over fifty ships had anchored near the island, and Lao Bai had already deployed artillery along the coastline. He was now returning to oversee the situation.
Upon hearing that the other party had more than fifty ships, Zhang Shi knew they were no ordinary people. He immediately informed everyone of his request for funds and decided to return to the island to deal with the emergency.
Zhang Shi opened the system panel and clicked "Evacuate." Accompanied by a flash of white light, five figures appeared at the secret realm stone tablet on the island.
Just as Zhang Shi was about to head to the north bank to check the situation, Pipi suddenly started barking wildly beside him. Zhang Shi knew Pipi's personality well; he knew it was intelligent and wouldn't make noise for no reason, so he quickly turned to look at the others.
Upon looking around, Zhang Shi immediately noticed something was wrong. Of the original six people, only five had returned, and Chen Beipan, who had been staying in the back as a nobody, was nowhere to be seen.
Zhao Feng also noticed Chen Beipan's sudden disappearance and cursed angrily.
"That brat, he got away in the blink of an eye. If I had known this would happen, I should have broken his legs beforehand."
Ge Dalong shook his head and explained.
“Something’s not right. The whole team was evacuated during the evacuation. I didn’t see anyone leave the team. He probably didn’t run away on his own initiative.”
Zhang Shi also silently sensed the connection between himself and Chen Beipan, and found that the connection between them had become extremely weak, but the contract still existed.
"The master-servant contract is still in effect, and we can't figure out what happened to him for the time being. Let's deal with the problems on the island first."
Zhang Shi quickly composed himself, realizing that the most important thing right now was to deal with the crisis on the island. He turned to the others and briefly assigned tasks: "Feng Ge and Lao Ge, you two are responsible for checking the equipment and supplies to ensure we can be deployed for battle at any time. The rest of us will go to the north shore to check the situation and contact Lao Bai to get the latest updates on the fleet."
Zhao Feng and Ge Dalong nodded in agreement and quickly got to work. Zhang Shi, along with the remaining team members, including Pipi, sped towards the north bank. On the way, he quickly made contact with Lao Bai through Cai Qing, Mao Tai, and others.
"Old Bai, we're back. How's the fleet? Any further developments?"
Zhang Shi's voice carried a hint of urgency.
Old Bai's voice came through his wristwatch, tinged with seriousness: "My lord, the fleet doesn't seem to have any immediate plans to land, but they're lingering on the sea, perhaps waiting for some signal or opportunity. I've ordered the artillery to remain on high alert, ready to respond to any unforeseen circumstances."
"Okay, we'll head over now. You keep things stable for a while."
After Zhang Shi finished speaking, he hung up the call and quickened his pace.
Upon reaching the north shore, many soldiers were already in position, intently watching the coastline. Zhang Shi's arrival greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers, who then focused even more intently on the ships on the shore.
Zhang Shi didn't say much, but quickly found a concealed spot and observed the situation on the sea through a panoramic map. Sure enough, just as Lao Bai had said, a huge fleet was spread out in a fan shape on the sea, with figures on each ship, and the busy figures of the crew could be vaguely seen. Zhang Shi noticed that most of these ships were equipped with heavy weapons, including several giant cannons, the barrels fixed inside the hulls, the muzzles protruding and pointing towards the island.
"It seems like they've come with ill intentions."
...
The sea station is operating normally today. Many tourists who arrived on their own were frightened by the fleet of boats at sea and hurriedly steered their boats away. More tourists who arrived on the island with Wang Wu's team are gathering at the bar, demanding that Zhang Shi come out and give an explanation.
Mao Tai had never encountered anything like this before, so he could only keep calming the tourists. Originally, he could keep them in check for a while thanks to Zhang Shi's reputation, but as Zhang Shi failed to appear, the tourists became increasingly uneasy and started to get agitated, on the verge of causing trouble.
At the critical moment, Zhang Shi pushed open the bar door.
Who wants to see me?
The bar fell silent.
"Who wants to see me? I've come, why is no one answering?"
Zhang Shi spoke in a neutral tone. Seeing that none of the tourists dared to speak, he sat down at the bar and downed a glass of beer in one gulp.
“I know that the fleet at sea looks intimidating and makes everyone a little uneasy. I, Zhang Shi, hereby promise you that as long as I am here, not a single ship will land on the island without my permission.”
Seeing that Zhang Shi had made a promise, the tourists looked at each other, and then a bald man wearing floral shorts stepped forward to explain.
"Boss Zhang Shi, we don't mean anything by it. We're just a little worried that those petty thieves at sea might cause trouble, spoil everyone's enjoyment, and affect your business. It would be quite awkward if we ended up fighting each other."
Zhang Shi smiled and nodded, then spoke loudly again.
"Don't worry, everyone. Please go back to the post station and continue playing music and dancing. I will handle things outside."
"Mao Tai, all drinks today are 20% off, as compensation for the fright you all suffered."
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