After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

Lin Da connected the "Invigorating Forest Wreath" to the magic circuit and then placed it in the space ring. He kept the wristwatch, and sold the rest to a merchant in exchange for equipment.

Apart from the income from gifts, a substantial amount of the Phoenix Tail Flower's spoils of war were also sold.

Klrona bought the Wolf Fang Club from the Goblin Chieftain.

Out of respect for an old teammate, Lin Da gave a 10% discount, only charging Klrona 180,000 gold.

He sold the orange long spear to Minnie for 200,000 gold.

Gale bought the levels 1-19 Mental Series Demon Core for his collection for 50,000 gold.

Equipment dropped by hidden magical creatures on the 678th floor was also sold, bringing in 190,000 gold.

With the gifts and spoils added to Lin Da's savings card balance, he currently had a total disposable "cash" amount of: 1,520,000!

This substantial amount of cash was something many Rock-level Squads did not possess.

The next morning, Lin Da took his teammates to sell the gifts and exchange them for gold coins, which they spent at the merchant's.

Lin Da kept 500,000 gold in reserve and purchased two level 20 orange gear pieces and seven purple gears, arming his teammates.

The entire Phoenix Tail Flower Team's combat strength had once again increased!

Back at the villa on the third floor, in the war room.

Lin Da held a long stick, pointing at a white board depicting a Goblin in a red cloak, his voice firm and resolute:

"The one with the blonde hair, don't fall asleep! Look at the whiteboard!"

"This is our next target, the Goblin Prince!"

"There are three days left until the Great Mystery Continent opens, and we need to expedite our training to adapt to the various skills of the Goblin Prince."

"But before that... as a captain, I need to check your physical stats!"

Hearing this, Monica's face immediately turned red, somewhat flustered, "Eh, eh, eh?"

Lulu was the first to stand up and said, "My strength is about 3600, and the thickness of my Life Barrier is 5000."

"Very good, sit down."

A touch of surprise flashed in Lin Da's eyes.

Lulu's output capability was higher than he had expected.

Lulu's strength reached 3600, while he only had 2515.

Although there were differences in professional roles, the biggest gap came from the main weapon.

If Lin Da could switch to a level 23 epic main weapon, his dual attack could potentially increase by 1000.

Lin Da had no intentions of competing with Lulu; he was accustomed to using his own abilities as a baseline to assess the output capability of his teammates.

Next, it was Monica's turn to report her numbers.

"So it's just this."

Monica sighed in relief.

She thought Lin Da was going to check her development.

Monica often felt self-conscious about her physique, attracting strange glances wherever she went, as if she were a freak.

Only Lin Da didn't look at her that way, treating her like a normal girl.

Monica raised her hand and said, "My magic power is about 2900, and the Life Barrier is 3000."

Kafni reported, "Strength 2000, Life Barrier 4000."

2000...

Lin Da felt a headache coming on.

He rubbed his brow, considering the impracticality of expecting Kafni to output damage against the Goblin Prince.

But considering Kafni's "Super Theft" and "Magical Creature Aura Perception," along with the Phoenix Tail Flower's strongest card "A Trace of Divine Power," even if Kafni had no output, Lin Da still needed to include her.

Lin Da's current attributes were:

Level: 23

Profession: Chosen Recovery Warrior

Hit Points: 9700 (6900+2800)

Magic Power: 2615 (705+1910)

Strength: 2615 Experience new stories on empire

Defense: 319 (299+40)

Magic Defense: 447 (367+80)

Agility: 380 (300+80)

Extra Bonus: Skill cast speed +10%

Resistance: Poison Resistance 30%

Experience Points: 50000/150000

Skill Points remaining: 5 regular, 1 gold

Mystical Points: 124867

...

After equipping the orange helmet gifted by the White Dove Adventure Group, Lin Da's hit points reached an impressive 9700.

This meant his Verdant Shield's thickness could go up to 4365 points, higher than a whole tube of Monica's blood.

Yet, even with such strength, Monica's fragile defenses could not handle direct attacks from epic magical creatures.

As the level of magical creatures increased, so did their damage. Even the strongest adventure group could have their boat capsized in a gutter.

Fortunately, Lin Da had an ultimate skill "Guardian Sword."

While causing a small range of output, it also applied "Guardian Shield" to a maximum of three people around him, the thickness being 50% of the maximum hit points, amounting to 4850.

The Guardian Shield's stack on the Verdant Shield meant that even if Monica were targeted by an epic magical creature, she could withstand it.

There wouldn't be a scenario where the back row was annihilated before everyone else could react.

Lin Da convened this tactical meeting specifically to gather detailed information from his team members and devise a plan to subdue the Goblin Prince.

Shh, shh, shh.

His brush in hand, he scrawled a line of graceful Continental Common Script on the whiteboard, naming the plan: "Defend One, Wipe Out Five: The Magical Creature Assault Strategy."

The team members looked puzzled.

They had heard of "Defend Five, Wipe Out One," like Snow Goose was.

Aside from team leader Lia, everyone else was support.

But what was this "Defend One, Wipe Out Five"?

Moreover, the Phoenix Tail Flower Team only had four people in total.

Under the probing gazes of everyone, Lin Da smiled serenely and tapped the Goblin Prince's head on the whiteboard with a long stick, saying,

"This creature's characteristics are quite clear, high damage and a large amount of hit points, but it only has two phases, and most attacks are targeted at a single individual."

"As long as one person can hold the Goblin Prince's attention, everyone else is safe."

"With my 9700-hit point life barrier, coupled with the Verdant Shield and Guardian Shield... the Goblin Prince will need at least three full attacks to take me down."

Lin Da shrugged, "But I also have Healing Art, so as long as I can hold the Goblin King's animosity and keep him attacking me... this subjugation is a sure win."

"I see," Lulu realized with a flash of enlightenment in her eyes.

At the same time, she was also somewhat surprised; the old Lin Da used to be very frail, but after his class change, he had transformed into a Blood Ox.

A life barrier of 9700, almost on par with Star Rank.

"But can you maintain the enmity?"

Kafni looked less optimistic, "High-level magical creatures, even those conjured by the World Tree Goddess, possess a certain level of intelligence. If it realizes it can't hit you hard enough, it will definitely attack someone else, and you don't have the compulsory 'Taunt' skill."

Taunting Skill, a powerful skill that forces magical creatures to attack oneself, is something only tank-class warriors like Chloe possess,

Chloe, who can match the strength of a Five-star Character in the later stages, has a supremely dominant Taunting Skill dubbed "Small Fry, Small Fry," which can infuriate a magical creature into cerebral hemorrhage, causing it to lose its senses.

"Yeah," Lin Da replied helplessly with a smile, "The Taunting Skill is exclusive to front-line professions. My toughness is no less than that of a front-liner, but the Taunting Skill is challenging to learn. Therefore, we need to decide this battle quickly, before I lose the enmity and defeat the creature."

Monica timidly raised her hand, "Captain, I read in a book that the Goblin Prince has a barrier of 400,000 hit points, can we really do it?"

"Yes, 400,000, Monica is correct."

Lin Da praised Monica, who had been brave enough to speak up; this made her cheeks flush slightly with pleasure.

"To deal with this creature in the shortest time possible, we need to hire two temporary members to join us on the fifth level."

"The Goblin Prince's nest can accommodate up to six adventurers; any more would trigger its three-phase berserk state, which is counterproductive. Six is the optimal number of people for the subjugation."

"I already have someone in mind."

Lin Da said, "The 500,000 Gold we saved when buying equipment is to hire them."

"Who are they?" Lulu asked cautiously, her wolf ears perking up.

"You'll find out tomorrow." Lin Da clapped his hands, "This half-day is your last time to rest, starting tomorrow, we'll begin the training specific to the Goblin Prince. Anything you need to do, get it done today."

"Ugh," Kafni pouted, her face lacking enthusiasm, "There's a new ale at Tyrannosaurus Tavern tomorrow."

Lin Da, with a half-smirk, stated, "Kafni, others might complain, but you shouldn't, right?"

As a deity come to save this world, Kafni thinking of slacking off to drink was utterly preposterous!

"Fine, fine." Kafni yawned, "I'm not well-rested, need to go back to catch up on some sleep."

Lin Da: ...

Monica said, "Captain, Chloe is coming over today, can she take me out for the day?"

"Of course," Lin Da answered as he took a hundred Gold Coins out of his space ring and handed them to Monica.

His face showed a trace of reassurance.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Monica actually had friends and could step out of the villa to have fun.

"Just make sure not to come back too late," Lin Da said.

"Yes!"

The tactical meeting concluded, and Lin Da next went to the Magic Puppet shop to pick up the previously ordered "Goblin Prince Illusion Puppet."

Enhanced by a magic circle, Lin Da could use a joystick to manipulate a faux Goblin Prince, simulating various skills allowing the team members to quickly familiarize themselves with this creature.

Compared to the real Goblin Prince, the difference was still significant, but it was sufficient for learning skill mechanisms.

It transformed armchair strategizing into practical simulation.

A magic circle carved on a circular carpet, a joystick, and a Goblin Prince 'figure,' this was all that Lin Da had custom-ordered.

"One hundred thousand Gold Coins, thank you!"

The puppeteer, a pretty single pony-tailed elf, packed the items in a handheld gift box and handed it to Lin Da.

After paying the Gold Coins, Lin Da rode a horse-drawn carriage to his next destination.

He needed to go hire those two adventurers.

On the carriage, Lin Da remembered the rigid condition for an ultimate clear on the ninth layer: Slay the hidden magical creature within 10 seconds.

In games, one could brute-force their way through levels with microtransactions, but in reality, without an epic-grade main weapon, achieving a 10-second kill was difficult.

'If only Kafni's Super Theft could steal the Goblin Prince's "Sword of Royalty".' Lin Da chuckled at his own ludicrous thought.

The Sword of Royalty was an epic-grade main weapon; if it could be stolen, the Phoenix Tail Flower Team could breeze through levels undermining the enemy.

These luck-dependent strategies were never something Lin Da considered seriously; it was just a fleeting thought.

As he pondered, the carriage arrived at the first stop of the day.

Ice Flower Adventure Team's villa.

...

In a neat and modest bedroom.

The furnishings were simple, focusing on practicality, belying the fact that the room belonged to a well-known beautiful girl of White Dove City.