"How much time is left until the instance ends?"
Gao Ming glanced at Liang Jie, who replied, "About an hour or so."
Bai Ye asked, "Are there no more bosses to kill?"
Liang Jie said, "The fastest one will respawn in three hours and forty minutes."
Bai Ye nodded, then said, "Then let's head back to town first."
Bai Ye wanted to finish things up here and leave as soon as possible, but he still needed to gather all the items he intended to take out before departing.
Therefore, a plan for boss competition needed to be formulated. Instances were also a high-yield source of red-quality items.
Upon returning to town, they wouldn't need to worry about the Cang Long Society for the time being.
Towns within the game could be understood as safe zones. However, unlike the false safe zones in the world battlefield, towns in the game were true safe zones.
Fighting was strictly prohibited here. Any attacks were invalid, causing no damage, and unable to harm anything within the town. Furthermore, there were guards.
Simply put, nothing could be done effectively, and one would be driven out.
After entering town, Gao Ming first had people inventory their belongings.
With twelve people, each carrying three red-quality items out would require thirty-six red-quality items.
"The harvest from killing the Earth Spider was immense. We currently have twenty-two red-quality items..."
Gao Ming looked at Bai Ye, silently asking with his eyes.
This was because Bai Ye was also among the twelve people.
"I only need one," Bai Ye said. "I just obtained two items I want to take out. Shall I pick?"
"No problem, you pick, you pick!"
Gao Ming was as obedient as a child bride, doing whatever Bai Ye said.
Bai Ye, of course, wasn't actually looking to pick items. This was to let the King's Treasury harvest more leeks, so he couldn't pick now.
Therefore...
"No rush," Bai Ye said. "Let's gather the items first."
Gao Ming nodded, then said, "Liang Jie, you speak."
Liang Jie explained, "A boss generally drops at least one red-quality item, regardless of its quality, as a minimum guarantee. With good luck, two or three can also drop."
"Calculating based on this ratio, we'll need to kill at most fourteen bosses to complete it. However, based on experience, ten bosses should be sufficient. It's unlikely every single one will only yield the minimum, right?"
Bai Ye asked, "What about the game instances?"
Liang Jie replied, "The drop rate is similar to the outside bosses. However, the two instances on the third floor, one with five bosses and the other with four, will respawn simultaneously with the instance refresh. Unlike wild bosses, you don't need to time them and search for them one by one."
Bai Ye stated, "Then let's secure one instance. Your numbers and strength probably can't handle two simultaneously."
Liang Jie inquired, "The Cang Long Society?"
Bai Ye countered, "If you enter an instance, they can't get in, right? To monopolize an instance, you have to linger at the entrance, correct?"
Liang Jie confirmed, "Correct."
Bai Ye proposed, "I'll go to the entrance and kill them all, or scatter them, won't that suffice?"
Liang Jie's reaction was...
The logic was sound, but they were the elite team of the current number one power in the world battlefield. Each member possessed first-class individual strength and had been honed for a long time with excellent coordination. It felt too casual to say it like that.
However, what made Liang Jie uncomfortable was that he couldn't refute it, because Bai Ye had actually done it before.
Gao Ming, being more familiar with Bai Ye, had no qualms about speaking directly. "Bai Ye, I know you are very strong. You did repel the Cang Long Society before, but that wasn't their main force."
"The value of instances is immense. Securing two instances is equivalent to monopolizing nine bosses. Therefore, the Cang Long Society's focus will inevitably be on the two game instances."
"However, instances have a player limit. Those extra people who can't enter the game instances will be idle and come to trouble us. So, what do you think is the standard for entering a game instance?"
What standard?
It was strength, of course!
Gao Ming was reminding Bai Ye in a rather subtle way that the group Bai Ye had easily defeated was likely the weaker contingent of the Cang Long Society members sent into the virtual game forbidden zone.
Being able to defeat them easily didn't mean he could easily defeat the others in the Cang Long Society.
"It doesn't matter, if I can't defeat them, it's my problem." Bai Ye pointed at Liang Jie and asked, "Can you guys handle the bosses inside the instance?"
It wasn't that Bai Ye didn't trust them, but these guys weren't much against the Earth Spider.
While it wasn't impossible for them to kill the Earth Spider, it would undoubtedly come at the cost of some lives.
"We can," Liang Jie replied. "We arrived before the Cang Long Society. One of the instances was actually cleared by us during its initial run. It will be a bit slower, though."
Bai Ye nodded, then instructed, "Make a table and plan the time. Since one game instance's bosses aren't enough to gather the items, list the bosses that can be hunted before the instance opens."
"If we can't gather enough before the instance opens, then list how many more bosses need to be hunted after the instance opens, according to their respawn times. However, your previous figure of fourteen is incorrect. Don't forget the layer guardian boss on the third floor."
"Right!" Liang Jie slapped his forehead. "Regardless of the item's quality, if we need all red-quality items, then the third-floor guardian boss guarantees at least three red-quality items, and can drop up to five!"
Liang Jie spoke while taking out a piece of paper and starting to sketch.
"That's enough!" Liang Jie concluded. "Before the instance opens, we can still kill two more bosses, namely Aoandon and Arakawa no Nushi. Then, by taking on the five bosses within the instance and the third-floor guardian boss, we should likely have enough, unless we're incredibly unlucky and only get the minimum drops."
Bai Ye stated, "It's fine. We can decide based on the number of items after the instance ends. If we have eleven items, we'll go directly for the guardian boss. Even if we only get the minimum of three red-quality items, it will be enough to reach our target of thirty-six red-quality items."
Gao Ming nodded. "If it's not enough, we'll consider hunting one or two more bosses. But these are minor issues, just a matter of spending more time. The main problem is the Cang Long Society..."
"It's fine, as I said, if I can't handle it, the responsibility is mine." Bai Ye clapped his hands. "Time is almost up, let's get moving. First, let's kill Aoandon and Arakawa no Nushi, then we'll go to the instance to find the Cang Long Society!"
The others exchanged glances, then excitement surged through them.
They had been bullied by the Cang Long Society for a long time. Now, Bai Ye was planning to lead them to confront them directly. How could they not be excited?
...