Chapter 5: The Phantom Rhinoceros Appears!

Morning Wind took advantage of his professional skills to sneak in and slay goblin civilians, hunting swiftly in the early phase. The dwarven Holy Knight, Autres, was resilient and deadly; his speed at killing monsters would certainly surpass Morning Wind’s in the mid and late game. If it were an ordinary expert, seeing Morning Wind’s rapid pace early on, they’d be anxious. But a top-tier player like Autres understood well that Morning Wind merely held a slight advantage for the moment.

Under the suppression of class stats and equipment, Morning Wind’s edge was minimal. Autres could pull three or four goblin patrols at a time, whereas Morning Wind could manage at most two before his skills needed cooling down. Autres only had to sit and drink after slaying ten goblin patrols, wasting little time. In terms of aggro speed, Autres could gather mobs effortlessly, while Morning Wind had to wait for monsters to come within range and could only pull a limited number at once.

Morning Wind seemed at a disadvantage now, but only because he hadn’t brought over his warrior character. Even just the warrior alone would outpace Autres in killing monsters, not to mention two characters at once. Morning Wind had no intention of running both accounts; it would be cumbersome, and if Autres discovered it, given his slyness, he’d surely turn against Morning Wind.

Phantom Rhino!

Morning Wind summoned the Phantom Rhino. With this two-meter-tall spectral beast, he felt he could weather anything. First, the Phantom Rhino was a ghostly creature, immune to 30% of physical attacks. Morning Wind had deliberately invested extra points in its Constitution, boosting its health and defense. Coupled with its advanced Hardened passive, which increased defense by 20% and reduced physical damage by 15%, plus advanced Life Steal for 30% health restoration, the Phantom Rhino was a super pet, capable of tanking and dealing damage. Aside from any special abilities, it was not inferior to a divine beast.

With 45% physical damage immunity, and nearly all monsters in the goblin stronghold being physical attackers, the Phantom Rhino could easily tank them. Even if its advanced Life Steal couldn’t fully replenish its health, Morning Wind could heal it himself—no problem at all.

The Phantom Rhino had reached level 30, yet had never been used in the outside world. Morning Wind guessed Autres wouldn’t know he possessed such a fierce pet. The newly summoned beast was restless; as Morning Wind drew three goblin patrols, the Phantom Rhino charged in, unleashing a barrage of attacks.

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Ferocious! The Phantom Rhino was incredibly fierce. Even with epic weapons, Morning Wind could only deal several hundred damage, but the Rhino’s direct attacks exceeded a thousand, and its critical hits could break 3000, even nearing 4000. Morning Wind knew the Rhino was strong, but hadn’t expected it to overshadow his own power; only his warrior could compare.

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Hits on Morning Wind landed for at least 300 damage, but on the Phantom Rhino, only a little over a hundred. Considering the Rhino could deal thousands of damage, its Life Steal restored at least 300 health per hit; even without healing, it could tank easily. Now, its health stood at a staggering 6400, far surpassing Morning Wind’s—a true physical tank.

“Pull more goblin patrols!” Morning Wind drew two more patrols over. The Rhino, bombarded by attacks, grew more agitated: its attack speed increased, and its critical rate surged. Thanks to its advanced Penetration skill, its crit rate rose by 20%, and with each critical hit, its health was almost instantly restored.

Morning Wind cast a Rejuvenation spell for continuous healing on the Rhino, and himself shifted into Leopard form, focusing attacks to quickly snipe monsters and relieve some pressure from the Rhino. After half an hour, the number of goblin patrols in the stronghold dropped rapidly, and the gap between him and Autres widened once more.

Morning Wind's kill count: 85, Autres' kill count: 51.

A gap of 34 kills! Even with Autres summoning his Wyvern to assist, he couldn’t outpace Morning Wind. The dwarven Holy Knight was furious—he had the advantage in class and equipment, so how was Morning Wind’s mid-to-late game kill rate so fast?

“Hey, Crow, do you Chinese really love cheating so much? How come your kill speed suddenly shot up? This can’t be right!” Autres didn’t care for Morning Wind’s game ID; the first time he saw him, he was a crow, so he simply called him Crow. Probably only Morning Wind could transform into a crow in this game. Truthfully, Autres was quite interested in Morning Wind’s class.

“Ignorant, aren’t you!” Morning Wind saw Autres was fishing for information. He didn’t mind telling him; he sent the Rhino’s stats to Autres and said, “Is there any mention of this Phantom Rhino in my profile?”

“Damn! Such high aptitude, such great skills—how did you get this thing?” Autres exclaimed in surprise. “Why not sell it to me? I really love the Phantom Rhino, especially its design!”

“I love its design too. With a pet of such high aptitude, I’d sooner die than sell it!” Morning Wind was extremely attached to the Phantom Rhino. He could lend out his divine beast, but never this one. Lin Shanshan had long coveted the Phantom Rhino, but Morning Wind never lent it to her, only the Sandstorm Birdman.

Autres knew there was little chance now. He glanced at his own Wyvern; at first, he thought his six-skilled super-mutated Wyvern was among the top ten pets in the game, but compared to Morning Wind’s Rhino, it was garbage. The gap in aptitude was huge, especially since the Phantom Rhino was a ghostly creature with special physical immunity.

“How about surrendering and losing half?” Autres felt hopeless. With Morning Wind’s robust Phantom Rhino, there was no contest.

“Fine, but if we kill the Goblin Engineer, you have to let me choose an item first.” Morning Wind didn’t expect to win Autres’ platinum coins; from what he’d researched and his brief acquaintance, he figured Autres wouldn’t honor the bet even if he lost.

He’d been tricked!

Autres never intended to give Morning Wind platinum coins; he was just making conversation, but Morning Wind agreed. If he refused now, it would make future cooperation difficult. If he couldn’t even agree to losing half, people would easily suspect he never intended to pay up.

“Alright! But any engineering-related drops must go to me, even if you win the roll afterward.” Autres decided to let it go; losing 25,000 gold coins wasn’t much, at least the platinum coins were safe. Considering their value, they were worth far more than 50,000 gold.

Come to my side, let’s kill monsters together!

With the Phantom Rhino unleashed, victory was decided! Morning Wind was elated. When Autres arrived, he indeed handed over 25,000 gold coins, which completely alleviated Morning Wind’s recent shortage.

Soon you’ll cough up everything, interest included!

Seeing Morning Wind so pleased, Autres cursed him quietly in his heart.