Soon, the fourth wave of the monster attack began.
〖Fourth Wave: 1000 Spinach Monsters〗
This time, the assault still came from the front, so Qi Xu didn’t make any additional arrangements. The formation remained exactly the same as during the previous wave.
This time, the monsters didn’t roar their arrival. Instead, they made a "click-click-click" sound, eerily similar to chopping vegetables on a cutting board.
When Qi Xu saw the horde of Spinach Monsters hopping toward them, he couldn’t help but recall an old friend who would never appear again—the Dough Monster.
These Spinach Monsters... weren’t they just sentient spinach? The way their leaves flapped around was downright arrogant! If they could be cooked into a dish... slurp...
Since they were edible, wouldn’t it be a waste to just kill them outright?
Just as Qi Xu was about to say something, he noticed Shredder Sis licking her lips and looking at him eagerly. Clearly, she was reminiscing about their old friend too.
Qi Xu couldn’t help but chuckle, though his grin looked a little sleazy. Dongfang Yuan immediately understood—this round was less about killing monsters and more about harvesting ingredients!
The vanguard of Spinach Monsters had just charged forward when they saw the two human players grinning at them with unsettling enthusiasm.
Their large leaves flapped even faster, and using their leaves to push off the ground, they launched themselves into the air before crashing down.
The Spinach Monsters weren’t much different from regular spinach, except they were countless times larger—about half a person’s height—with vibrant green leaves that flapped incessantly, making them oddly endearing.
Qi Xu moved swiftly, aiming his pink chainsaw straight at the stem of one Spinach Monster. With a clean slash, he severed it and, in the same motion, expertly stashed the fallen leaves into his backpack.
The whole sequence was smooth and practiced.
The Spinach Monster was baffled. I had so many leaves... Why are you so excited just for plucking one?
Qi Xu declared, "Spinach is rich in vitamins, good for eyesight, immunity, antioxidants, blood clotting, and digestion. So, you all get it now, right?"
Aside from Dongfang Yuan and Retired Magical Boy, none of today’s teammates had participated in the infamous Dough Monster heist, so they weren’t entirely sure what was happening.
But their hands had already started mimicking the motions on their own.
Retired Magical Boy splashed excitedly in his water tank at the back. "I love spinach! I could eat it all day! Boss, grab more!"
With his pink chainsaw in hand, Qi Xu targeted the spinach stems exclusively. These were all special ingredients—the screen displayed that eating one spinach leaf reduced fatigue by two points!
Even if they had to munch on raw spinach leaves right after the battle, it’d still be worth it. Plus, Master Chef back home could use them—he was always short on special ingredients.
If they could cook every meal with special ingredients from now on, their stats would skyrocket in no time.
Since Qi Xu was the only one with a proper weapon, he took on the toughest job, leading the charge at the front alongside Lala, tanking most of the damage.
The others were clumsy at first, but soon... the constant chime of the screen announcing 〖Spinach +1〗 was just too satisfying.
The Spinach Monsters’ attack pattern was simple—they just slapped people with their leaves. Though each hit stung, no one could resist the joy of free harvesting.
By the end, everyone was in high spirits, their heads ringing from the slaps, their exposed skin flushed bright red from head to toe.
Qi Xu alone had collected 533 spinach leaves. If he weren’t so wary of this dungeon’s unpredictability, he’d have loved to keep going.
But when he glanced back at Fortune God’s Only Daughter, who was desperately plucking leaves despite being slapped into a swollen mess, he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
"You better not be laughing at me, or I swear I’ll curse you out once we’re out of here!"
"Of course not! I just think you’re adorable, babe..."
Fortune God’s Only Daughter rolled her eyes, cheeks burning, and turned away from Invincible Black Whirlwind.
The Spinach Monsters were utterly demoralized. These humans seemed impervious to pain—no matter how hard they slapped, it had no effect!
They’d rather be cleanly killed than slowly stripped leaf by leaf. They tried to form a defensive formation, but the moment they paused, another leaf got plucked...
These humans were downright shameless!
If they had mouths, they’d have cursed these vegetable-obsessed players to oblivion!
In the end, the Spinach Monsters gave up attacking and tried to flank around to smash the three water tanks holding the prisoners.
Qi Xu decided they’d harvested enough and called out, "Wrap it up! Protect the tanks!"
"Roger!"
Their trust in Qi Xu was absolute. When he said to focus on harvesting, they abandoned offense. The moment he called for a halt, they switched back seamlessly.
Though the Spinach Monsters weren’t particularly strong, their sheer numbers made the fight grueling. Qi Xu weaved through the horde with his pink chainsaw, exhausted but barely scratched.
It took another 30 minutes of all-out effort to wipe out every last Spinach Monster.
Despite their fatigue, everyone’s first instinct was to crouch down and scoop up the remaining spinach leaves before they vanished.
From a distance, the seven of them looked like a flock of ducks, pecking frantically at the ground...
Only when the monster corpses fully dissipated did they collapse onto their backs, panting.
Fortune God’s Only Daughter gasped between breaths, "Good... grief... that was intense. I mean, you’re the top-ranked player who triggered a server-wide announcement... Was it really worth it for some spinach leaves?"
"Don’t overthink it. Just tell me—was it fun or not?"
"...Yeah."
What she didn’t say was... Invincible Black Whirlwind had accidentally stumbled onto the right strategy.
Spinach Monsters weren’t that tough—just numerous. The real challenge was that they’d stack atop each other, merging into one colossal Spinach Monster.
In previous attempts, that’s exactly what happened. But today, they’d been so overwhelmed they never got the chance...
No need to tell Invincible Black Whirlwind, though. She was smug enough as it was.
Qi Xu pondered the rewards for this round, hesitating over the choices...
Reward 1: Water levels in the three prisoner tanks remain unchanged.
Reward 2: Any three players gain the ability to retrieve weapons from their backpacks freely.
Reward 3: All players’ fatigue is reset to zero, and health fully restored.
.........
