Necromancers themselves were a distinct class. After becoming mages, their physiques deteriorated until they were left with nothing but a skeleton-like frame. Without passive skills such as Bone Enhancement, every necromancer was just a short old man.
This necromancer was only a little over 1.7 meters tall, and the Gate of Origins was a true-to-life game.
Chu Fu and the others swarmed him, instantly filling every inch of the surrounding area.
Chu Fu discovered that the enlarged Plantman had also become a melee fighter. She, Shen Chi, Jiao Jiao Bu Jiao, and Lu An charged forward together, completely surrounding the little old man from every direction.
“Hey! That’s not fair! Leave me some room to deal damage!” Grandma Wu Yingchun took several quick little steps and squeezed in beside Lu An. Her reactions might have been slow, but her attributes were still overwhelming.
Strength had an innate advantage when it came to shoving people around.
Xie Lin had originally been a melee fighter, but he was now controlling a hundred flying swords in midair, sending them crashing down toward the necromancer’s head.
Not to mention Zhimengzhe’s Dragon-Eye Dolls and the pig pets belonging to Shafu Liangu—they couldn’t even squeeze their way into the crowd.
Suture Saint and Bitter Melon King, on the other hand, had it easy. As long as they had line of sight, they could cast their skills through any available opening.
Dream King was in the same situation.
“Psychokinesis—Dismemberment by Five Horses!”
A pair of invisible hands, visible only to him, seized the necromancer and pulled in opposite directions.
Crack!
It took only a single second.
Under everyone’s concentrated assault, the necromancer’s limbs went flying, his body was crushed to pieces, his skull was pulverized, and his tattered necromancer’s robe was instantly shredded into strips by countless swords.
Soldier King Duanfeng did not even get a chance to make a move.
His eyes were blank with confusion.
He really wanted to ask: Who exactly was the boss here?
The boss’s HP had actually been wiped out in an instant!
He hadn’t misread it, either. The boss had a full eight million HP!
Was this some kind of health-bar deletion spell?
But in the very next moment, the system rewards descended.
[You have cleared the dungeon: The Necromancer’s Conspiracy (Normal).]
[Dungeon clear time: 5 minutes 14 seconds.]
[Your party has taken first place on the speed-clear rankings. You have received +5 to all attributes and a Silver Chest.]
It was over just like that.
Killing the boss had taken only one second.
He hadn’t even had time to walk over!
As for contribution, everyone else had contributed zero.
“The dungeon’s cleared. Bosses, you can pay up now. Does anyone want this Silver item?”
Chu Fu began settling the accounts and auctioning off the equipment.
Soldier King Duanfeng was thoroughly convinced. He paid 350 gold coins, all of which had been prepared in advance by the guild.
Silver equipment was beneath everyone else’s notice, but with the bidding starting at 50 silver coins, Soldier King Duanfeng thought it was cheap and placed a bid. In the end, he bought it.
Afterward, Chu Fu’s thirteen-person team submitted 20% of the funds to the guild and distributed the remaining money according to contribution.
What left Soldier King Duanfeng incredulous was that, despite the fight lasting only a single second, all thirteen players except one had managed to claim some contribution points.
The Twelve-Winged Holy Healing Angel, who had not attacked, received the guaranteed 1% reward for healing players: 2.8 gold coins.
She had received 2.8 gold coins without even doing anything. At long last, good fortune had come her way.
But… just how fast were these people’s hands?
She hadn’t even had time to react.
What she did not know was that contribution points were something Chu Fu’s team fought over, so every member was extremely alert.
Lu An, as the tank, had instinctively stepped forward to engage the monster. As for Dream King, he had noticed Soldier King Duanfeng staring at him the entire time and assumed that the man was trying to secretly overtake him and claim more contribution points. As a result, he had remained especially vigilant.
After the wages were paid, Chu Fu and the others left the dungeon and selected Hard difficulty.
At that moment, every player at the dungeon entrance could see that the team in first place on the speed-clear rankings had changed names. A dazzling multicolored effect appeared beside it, signifying the birth of a new record.
The speed-clear rankings did not trigger a system announcement.
However, the record would remain permanently on the rankings.
[First place on the speed-clear rankings: Captain: Who Wants to Be a Plantman? Guild: Thorn Guild. (Click to view party lineup.)]
Because this was a twenty-player dungeon, many players had still been waiting outside just moments earlier. Five minutes was not even enough time for them to assemble their desired team composition.
Now, a brilliant radiance appeared, instantly drawing everyone’s gaze upward.
“Huh? The team that just went in broke the record! They surpassed Lu Xing’s record!”
Everyone erupted in astonishment.
Lu Xing’s record had been extremely difficult to break. The clear time had been pushed to the absolute limit.
This immediately sparked another heated discussion among the players.
“Wasn’t this already discussed on the forums? Plantman can fight Lu Xing one-on-one. Look, they’ve surpassed the record!”
“How can you compare them? Lu Xing did it alone, while Plantman brought a twenty-player team. Of course they’d be faster!”
“It took twenty people giving it everything they had to beat Lu Xing by only nine seconds. Their strength isn’t anything special.”
“Did they really give it everything they had? Or was the top student just controlling his score?”
“If it was score control, I’ll eat shit while standing on my head.”
“Don’t come here trying to scam people into feeding you!”
The players continued arguing heatedly.
But it did not take long for them to discover that the team led by Plantman was finishing every difficulty level dozens of seconds faster than Lu Xing’s previous team.
[The Necromancer’s Conspiracy — Hard Difficulty]
Lu Xing’s clear time: 8 minutes 42 seconds.
Who Wants to Be a Plantman? clear time: 8 minutes 37 seconds.
[Nightmare Difficulty]
Lu Xing’s clear time: 13 minutes 28 seconds.
Who Wants to Be a Plantman? clear time: 13 minutes 10 seconds.
[Hell Difficulty]
Lu Xing’s clear time: 33 minutes 28 seconds.
Who Wants to Be a Plantman? clear time: 33 minutes 3 seconds.
“Done!”
Everyone received +50 to all attributes.
After they exited the dungeon, Laoji Fuli sent Chu Fu another private message.
“Classmate Chu, are you running the next dungeon? I’d like to join this time too.”
He had never expected Chu Fu to take the speed-clear rankings so quickly. Laoji Fuli had already reached Level 30, so perhaps he could ride along for the next dungeon.
Otherwise, he would have no chance at all.
Chu Fu, however, refused.
“We may need to take some guild members through it.”
After running this dungeon, Chu Fu had quickly analyzed its mechanics.
Judging from the current speed-clear rankings, as long as their movement speed was high enough, the boss would pose no problem.
Shen Chi’s speed was more than sufficient.
But Chu Fu and Xie Lin could fly as well.
As long as their speed exceeded 120 miles per hour, they could clear this dungeon.
Furthermore, under Feng Huimin’s arrangements, the Thorn Guild was operating with high efficiency. The first batch of fifty teams had already all reached Level 20.
That amounted to a full two hundred players.
Although they all had A-rank talents, their classes were not bad either, and they were equipped entirely with Gold gear. Once they reached Linjiang City, they would naturally have even greater prospects for development.
Chu Fu made the decision immediately.
They would cultivate their own people.
“Looks like I’ll have to be a chauffeur again!”
Shen Chi spent ten seconds returning to Fengdu Town, then used a little over an hour to bring all two hundred Level 20 players over.
The thirteen members split into three teams.
Each run could carry forty-seven players.
In four hours, they could give all of them +50 to every attribute.
Moreover, after those four hours, more Thorn Guild players would have reached Level 20.
Thus, on this day, the players of Linjiang City discovered that the [Necromancer’s Conspiracy] dungeon had been completely monopolized by members of the Thorn Guild!
Lu Xing’s speedrun record had long since been shattered beyond recognition.
