Universe Infinite Canteen

After wiping out another Flaming Chili Pepper, the red dots on the chessboard map had dramatically decreased from the initial count of 31 to just 7, and Ma Lu's experience bar was finally full.

His Knight Level had risen from Level 1 to Level 2, and he had acquired a virtual item—a Recovery Banner.

Ma Lu glanced at the description, noting that virtual items could only be employed on the squares of the chessboard map, and using one would add a type of terrain effect to a designated square.

For instance, with the newly acquired Recovery Banner, planting it in any square would slowly restore the health points of allies within the square at a rate of 1 point per minute.

Once the banner was planted, it could no longer be moved, and it could only be used once per game.

Then Ma Lu checked the status of the Hellhound. When she had joined the team, she only had 30 HP left and had just endured three battles. Despite her agility and Ma Lu's assistance in drawing aggression, she had still lost 7 points of health.

In contrast, Yun Que had maintained a full HP throughout the combat.

There was no helping it; for a melee class to farm monsters without taking damage like a ranged class was nearly impossible, especially since the purple-haired girl was already wounded.

Any slightly vigorous movement would aggravate the wound on her back, yet the Hellhound hadn't uttered a single complaint despite the prolonged battle.

Nevertheless, from her increasingly pale complexion, Ma Lu could tell that she was nearing her limit.

The arrival of the Recovery Banner was indeed timely.

However, Ma Lu did not rush to plant it underfoot. After clearing the area of Energized Plants, he turned to the two Witches beside him and said,

"Let's go; we'll fetch that chest."

Although there were still 4 red dots left on the first floor, they were all contained within a locked-off area and wouldn't be able to escape. Moreover, for Ma Lu's Knight Level to rise from Level 2 to Level 3, he needed 150 experience points.

Even if they were to eliminate those four Energized Plants, the distance to the level-up requirement was still far off, so Ma Lu decided to skip them and directly attack the largest red dot inside the warehouse.

Whether it was coincidence or not, the room housing it and the two smaller red dots was also where the silver suitcase was stored.

Yun Que uttered an "Oh" and then turned to look at the purple-haired girl, her eyes full of concern. After hesitating, she still suggested softly, "Should we take a rest first?"

"I'm fine," the Hellhound snorted.

But then she heard Ma Lu say, "We will rest for fifty minutes after reaching the second floor."

"Fifty minutes? Isn't that a bit too long?" the purple-haired girl frowned.

"It's not too long, just enough time to treat your injuries."

"I told you my injury isn't a big deal." The Hellhound was still putting on a brave face, but her speed had noticeably decreased in the last fight, and she had almost stumbled over a piece of scrap metal.

In her prime condition, she would never have made such a rookie mistake. In the end, it was Ma Lu who rushed to her aid in time, blocking the flames with his armor.

And after the fight, when Ma Lu checked the purple-haired girl's attribute panel, he noticed her HP had plummeted from 74 to 23, and her Attack Power had also dropped by 2 points, from 12 to 10.

"I need you to fully recover so that we can defeat the Energized Plants in that room," Ma Lu said.

"Complete recovery, what nonsense are you talking about? My injuries will take at least a week to heal," the purple-haired girl finally couldn't help but speak the truth.

"Bliss, who could heal me, is already unconscious, and there are no medicines or medical equipment here. Every second you waste, I only get weaker," she said.

Despite her words, there was no fear on the Hellhound's face; instead, she cracked a smile.

"Hey, I'll admit that the fight we just had has changed my impression of you, you're indeed somewhat different from the other Knights from the Church. But if you want to survive in this cruel world, there are some things you'd better learn from them," she said.

"Like what?"

"Like realizing sooner that Witches aren't just weapons for Knights, but can also be expendable when necessary."

The Hellhound licked the blood off her lips.

"If it were any other Knight here, they would definitely take advantage of my remaining strength right now and immediately launch a raid on that room,

"Let Yun Que cover me as I rush in and try to snatch the box, then throw it out.

"That way, you could report back to the Church, and it's the only way to complete the mission," she said.

Ma Lu shook his head, "I said, as long as you're willing to follow my command, I have a way to beat whatever's in that room and get the box."

He had already checked the Energized Plants there in advance, which included a Cucumber Skull Crusher with an Attack Power of 11, a Cabbage Guard, and the boss on this little map, the Infinite Split Cabbage.

Especially the latter, with a whopping 500 HP and its Defensive Power being 1 point higher than the Potato Heavy Shield Soldier they had encountered earlier, reaching an alarming 9 points.

Moreover, it had a particularly disgusting trait; every minute it suffered an attack, it could split off and reproduce another Cabbage Guard.

Cabbage Guard's HP was also 50, with Defense and Attack both at 4, not a very high base attribute, but if not quickly eliminated, their numbers would keep multiplying. Stay connected via empire

Put simply, this Infinite Split Cabbage came with a DPS (Damage per Second) check: only if the team's damage output was high enough could it possibly be killed.

However, in Ma Lu's Witch squad, only the Hellhound was able to deal damage.

In her weakened state, Hellhound's Attack Power had dropped to 10, and she could only deal 1 point of damage per attack, clearly unable to keep up with the Infinite Split Cabbage's reproduction rate.

But if her Attack Power could recover to 12, she could deal 3 points of damage, and since the Infinite Split Cabbage was a fire-weak unit, fire attribute attacks would deal double damage to it, meaning 6 points.

And that's not all, Hellhound's passive Skill [You Look Delicious] came with a 20% extra damage increase.

With this, Hellhound could deal 7 points of damage per attack. Moreover, once the Infinite Split Cabbage's HP was reduced below 50%, it would trigger Hellhound's second passive [Bloodthirst], which would increase her attack speed by 30%.

Yet this was still not the purple-haired girl's limit; she also had an active Skill [Hell's Roar].

After activating [Hell's Roar], Hellhound could temporarily increase her Attack Power by another 5 points, to a terrifying 17 points, the damage she could inflict on the Infinite Split Cabbage would surge to 19 points in one fell swoop.

That was Ma Lu's confidence. The reason he previously hesitated to unleash Hellhound's weapon was that he was worried she might waste her Skills indiscriminately on lesser troops and use up the precious Sin Value quota prematurely.

That way, Ma Lu would have no way to deal with the Infinite Split Cabbage in the room, after all, compared to damage output, Yun Que was more suitable for the role of the poster girl; her small pistol was powerless against boss-level enemies, not even managing to scratch them.