Chapter 301: Acid Rain Crisis

Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Acid Rain Crisis

The Continuous Bone-breaking Hammer.

When Seraphina saw the weapon’s stats, she’d thought it was an excellent, top-tier piece of equipment.

It was especially practical for melee Players.

However, that didn’t mean she was going to snatch it from Simon Holt.

For her, the hammer was just icing on the cake. She already had her Magic Scissors and Anesthetic Ability, and her combat style was already established.

But for Simon Holt, the hammer was a quantum leap—a crucial asset for survival and counter-attacking.

With it, he had a way to protect himself and could play a greater role in combat. That meant Seraphina no longer had to be distracted with protecting him at all times, making it a win-win situation.

Upon hearing the system issue a [Special Mission], Simon Holt’s eyes immediately lit up.

He looked at Seraphina with excitement and anticipation. "Boss, this server-wide... ah, no, this dungeon-wide mission. Are we going to do it?"

He had personally experienced the benefits of following a powerful Player.

Back when he was on Samson Sharp’s team, he had been constantly on edge and treated like a liability. But now, not only was he alive and well, his power had also seen a significant boost.

In his mind, Samson Sharp was an absolute joke compared to Seraphina.

Seraphina nodded decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"Of course, we’re going. Clearing radiation sources might not reward Special Treasure Chests anymore, but the sources themselves are very useful for my pets. Now that there’s an added ’World’s Gift’ reward, there’s no reason to pass it up."

Seraphina’s gaze sharpened as she looked into the distance. "Besides, a large-scale mission like this is bound to attract a lot of participants. Who knows... we might even run into some ’old friends.’"

’She thought of Sean Chandler, from whom she’d been separated. Perhaps this mission was a chance to reunite with him.’

Hearing Seraphina’s decision to take on the world mission, Simon Holt’s excitement gave way to a cool-headed analysis.

"Boss Sullivan, with the world mission announced, every Player can see the locations of the radiation sources on the map. The competition for them is probably going to be incredibly fierce."

Seraphina nodded in agreement.

Just as Simon Holt had said.

Along with the system notification, a holographic map covering the entire dungeon area had appeared in their minds.

The map clearly marked dozens of flashing points of light of various sizes, each representing a radiation source.

The map’s function was remarkably similar to Simon Holt’s Talent Ability, but this one was available to all Players.

With this "official walkthrough" available...

It was easy to predict that the scramble for the radiation sources would soon become white-hot.

"There’s less than a day left before the seven-day survival mission ends," Seraphina said, quickly formulating a plan.

"We’ll clear as many radiation sources as we can. We’ll do our best, but we also need to be realistic about our limits."

"Understood!" Simon Holt replied. He tightened his grip on his [Continuous Bone-breaking Hammer], feeling a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

Meanwhile, Flora had finally finished devouring the giant toad, along with the [Mutated Meteorite] fragment inside it.

Its enormous flower closed with a sense of satisfaction, sending out a mental wave of fullness and drowsiness. "BURP... I’m so stuffed! Master, I feel like I need to sleep for a while to digest all this Energy..."

Seraphina could feel Flora’s Aura slowly but steadily growing stronger.

Knowing it was at a critical stage of its growth, she recalled it into her Space to let it digest in peace.

She left Chubbs, whose feathers shimmered with a metallic luster, and Tubbs, whose body was wreathed in faintly flickering Flame, to stand guard outside.

"Boss Sullivan, should we head to the nearest radiation point first?" Simon Holt suggested, pointing to the closest dot of light on the holographic map.

Seraphina examined the map closely and quickly spotted something unusual. "Wait, look. The dots of light for the radiation sources aren’t all the same size."

She pointed to the nearest one. "This dot is the largest of them all. Usually, a stronger energy reading means a larger dot, which also implies the danger there is probably the highest."

Instead of fear, a flicker of challenge lit up in her eyes. "Looks like this ’grand prize’ is a heavy one. Let’s go check it out and see what’s so special about it."

Without further delay, the two of them immediately set off toward the largest point of light.

As they traveled, the sky suddenly darkened without any warning.

Thick, dark clouds gathered from all directions, quickly blotting out the sun and its vicious rays.

Simon Holt glanced up at the sky, a hint of joy on his face.

"Is it going to rain? That’s great! The clouds will at least temporarily block that deadly ultraviolet radiation. It’ll be more comfortable for us to move around."

Seraphina, however, stared up at the churning, almost black clouds, her eyelid twitching uncontrollably.

A sudden sense of dread washed over Seraphina.

It was as if something extremely dangerous was brewing above the clouds.

Her sixth sense was screaming a warning.

These sudden dark clouds were no ordinary precursor to rain. They held immense danger!

Seraphina had seen plenty of movies and read enough material on the theme of post-nuclear apocalypses.

She knew all too well that in a high-radiation environment, rain often brought with it terrifying disasters.

Acid rain, or even "black rain" carrying highly radioactive fallout!

The moment she considered the possibility, the hairs on her arms stood on end, and a chill shot up from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.

’Don’t tell me I’m right?’

’If this really is highly corrosive and radioactive acid rain, being out in the open is suicide!’

She immediately scanned her surroundings, desperately searching for a place to take shelter from the rain.

Her gaze fell on Simon Holt, who was still silently celebrating his escape from the UV burns, completely oblivious to the far more lethal danger about to descend.

He only had torn rags to cover his skin, which offered no defense against the corrosion of acid rain. What’s more, he didn’t have special equipment like the [Purification Set] to protect him from the contamination.

"Found it!"

Seraphina’s sharp eyes spotted an inward-curving cliff face on a nearby mountainside. It formed a natural, shallow cave, just big enough to shelter two or three people from the rain.

"Quick! Follow me!"

Seraphina grabbed the oblivious Simon Holt and shouted, pointing at the recess in the cliff.

The two of them sprinted toward the shelter at top speed.

The very instant they stepped into the recess...

"HSSS—AHH!"

A murky raindrop landed squarely on the back of Simon Holt’s neck. A searing pain shot through him instantly, as if he’d been branded with a hot iron!

He cried out in pain and instinctively reached for the spot, only to feel a small patch of skin that was rapidly turning red and even starting to fester slightly!

"This rain! This rain is acid rain! It’s corrosive! Dangerous!"

Simon Holt finally realized, his voice filled with terror.

’This is bad,’ Seraphina thought. ’The corrosive properties of this acid rain are even stronger than I expected!’

"Get inside! All the way to the back!"