Chaos Caused by the Trembling Clown!

In the Los Angeles Ruins, countless players were plunged into terror.

"Fuck! That BOSS is going on a rampage in the trading market!"

"And it specifically targets people with high lifespans!"

"I heard it has clones and can turn invisible, with a Stealth Level exceeding 8!"

"I was killed by that BOSS. The system prompt said 'died to an Unknown Existence.' It's too creepy!"

"If it weren't for a big shot from the Crota guild having level 10 True Sight to see the BOSS's form, we wouldn't even know it was an Epic BOSS…"

"Huh? An Epic BOSS, why would it come to our City Ruins?"

…

The largest trading market in the Los Angeles Ruins was in complete Chaos.

Originally, this place was somewhat guarded by official forces.

But the incident happened so suddenly. The official players stationed there were the first to be taken out by the Epic BOSS. Immediately after, the invisible Ernie Ross, the Quivering Clown began weaving through the crowd like a dragon!

Players were being taken down one after another—white-skinned, black-skinned, yellow-skinned…

lifespan orbs burst out one after another, then were instantly sucked away by the invisible BOSS.

The entire trading market was in utter disarray.

"Quick, let's go! Back to the Hideout!"

In the crowd, a long-haired woman of Xia descent with a longbow hanging at her waist had a grim expression.

She was a manager of the 'Los Angeles Xia Chamber of Commerce' guild, codename 'Dawn.' She had originally brought guild members to this trading market to purchase equipment and skill books, but this incident happened suddenly, throwing the surroundings into Chaos.

Just as she was turning to leave with the five players behind her…

Dawn raised a hand and instantly cast a skill—'Keen Sight'!

Her eyes lit up with a semi-transparent glow. As she swept her gaze forward, she clearly saw a humanoid shadow with twisted limbs, wielding daggers in both hands, darting through the crowd!

The limbs of that humanoid shadow were twisted, allowing it to pass through obstacles at impossible angles like a soft-bodied creature. It was extremely eerie.

——

[Ernie Ross, the Quivering Clown (Lv30)]

[Grade: Epic-grade]

——

The simple description made the long-haired woman, Dawn, frown.

Keep in mind, for this procurement trip, she was carrying over seven hundred years of lifespan. If she died here, she'd lose three to four hundred years in one go!

Moreover…

She wasn't sure if this Epic BOSS possessed any special Upper Affixes!

Once afflicted with statuses like Whispers or nightmares, it could very well mean true Death!

Suddenly…

She saw the Quivering Clown instantly turn to face her, seemingly locking onto her.

"Go!"

She shouted, quickly turning and leading her team in a hasty retreat.

However…

When she glanced back, she saw the Quivering Clown give her a bizarre smile, then turn to slaughter in another direction.

"This… it let me go?"

The long-haired woman, Dawn, didn't know that her guild, the 'Los Angeles Xia Chamber of Commerce,' was on a special list maintained by official forces.

Furthermore, this BOSS was being very polite in adhering to the agreement.

This situation didn't lead Dawn and the others to realize the truth. They simply thought they were lucky.

"Quick, back to the Hideout. If possible, try to log off for now."

Dawn made the decision and led the team away from the chaotic trading market.

An Epic BOSS appearing in the City Ruins was no small matter!

Soon, Dawn brought everyone back to the Los Angeles Xia Chamber of Commerce's Gold-grade Hideout, the 'Bone Crematorium.' Many more Xia players quickly approached, anxiously asking about the situation.

The guild leader was a middle-aged man, Dawn's father.

He breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing his daughter and said in the guild channel, "Everyone, don't panic just yet. Our diplomatic contact just messaged me. This Epic BOSS generally won't attack members of our guild."

"Of course, for now, we'll maintain a wait-and-see stance. Until we're completely sure it's safe, stay in the Hideout. Everyone can log off for now. I'll stay online to monitor the situation."

Hearing this, Dawn immediately said, "Dad, I'll stay with you."

"Log off."

The middle-aged man gave her a stern look, waved his hand, and busied himself with other guild officers.

…

As news spread from Los Angeles…

Qin Feng was in the process of pushing towards level 30.

He knew that the Quivering Clown possessed two Upper Affixes: 'Instant Death' and 'nightmare.' Like the Great Calamity Underworld King, but since it wasn't the BOSS's true form, it didn't have the Upper Affix aura.

It primarily relied on normal attacks and skill attacks to build up the 'Instant Death' gauge.

Once a target died, they would immediately have a 100% nightmare gauge applied, falling into a 'nightmare' state. This was a mechanic-based application; no amount of nightmare resistance would help.

In other words…

Against the Quivering Clown, nightmare resistance was useless. Only Instant Death resistance mattered.

In the Los Angeles Ruins, many players who had fallen into the 'nightmare' state were reviving in their respective guild Hideouts. These players, upon revival, began screaming and running amok.

They were trapped in terrifying nightmares, experiencing extreme agony every moment.

They wouldn't attack others, but they would flee in panic, leaving the Hideouts to run painfully outside…

These players were the ones previously killed by the Quivering Clown.

That is to say, they were players 'selected' by the Quivering Clown, those carrying a significant amount of lifespan.

By falling into nightmares and running around, the Quivering Clown could harvest their lifespans again, taking even more of their remaining lifespan!

However, all of this had little to do with Qin Feng anymore.

After all this work, he had finally stored up enough experience.

"Finally, level 30."

As Qin Feng issued the level-up command, he consumed all the experience he had saved.

His level surged from 25, instantly reaching 30!

Between levels 20 and 30, players gain 6 points in all attributes and 15 Free attribute points per level.

Therefore, Qin Feng's 5-level increase gave him a total of 30 points in all attributes and 75 Free attribute points.

Qin Feng allocated all his Free attribute points to 'spirit'.

He glanced at his attributes:

——

[Codename: Shadow]

[Class: Shadow (φ)]

[Level: 30]

[non-tradable lifespan: 12,200 years]

[tradable lifespan: 70,800 years]

[prestige value: 537]

[Strength: 996 (Each point converts to 25 Physical Attack Power)]

[constitution: 983 (Each point converts to 70 HP, 7 Physical Defense)]

[Agility: 1469 (Agility's effect on speed increased by 32%)]

[spirit: 1201 (Each point converts to 21 Elemental Attack Power, 7 All elemental resistance)]

[…]

[HP: 34,405 (Maximum HP reduced by 50% due to 'roslavs contract')]

[Additional damage reduction: 56.3806% (From roslavs contract, Buffetts Equivalent Exchange Agreement)]

[Additional Elemental damage reduction: 24% (From Soul Devouring Bracers)]

[Additional Fire Element damage reduction: 30% (From Phoenix Cry Amulet)]

[Physical Defense: 6,881 (Base) + 1,231 (Equipment) = 8,112 (Physical damage reduction: 89.02%)]

[All elemental resistance: 8,407 (Base) + 980 (Equipment) = 9,387 (Elemental damage reduction: 90.37%)]

[…]

——

After reviewing his attributes, Qin Feng focused on his defensive stats, especially his elemental resistance.

"I need to go buy things from Oddity Bro. I should stack my Fire Element resistance even higher."

If others knew he considered his 90% Fire Element resistance insufficient, they'd probably be utterly bewildered.

At this stage, top-tier warrior or tank players would be doing quite well with 60%-70% elemental resistance.

Yet Qin Feng, an assassin, relying on his extremely high spirit attribute and 'Soul Devourer' Bloodline, had reached 90% elemental damage reduction!

And that was just the reduction from base elemental resistance.

If he factored in 'damage reduction,' 'Additional Elemental damage reduction,' and the effect of the Phoenix Cry Amulet, Qin Feng's final Fire Element damage reduction reached 97.81%!

This was exactly why Qin Feng had simply reached out and picked up the little phoenix that fell into the lava back then.

He wasn't afraid of the lava at all!

Qin Feng's Fire Element resistance was even higher than that of the newborn little phoenix!