Chapter 444: A Chinese Ghost Story: The Ghost Tree Demon
Garp, being a brawler with pure strength attributes and a forthright personality, instinctively felt revulsion and hostility toward someone like Orochimaru.
"Don't speak like that, Vice Admiral Garp."
Smoker, chewing on a cigar, shook his head helplessly and tried to rein in Garp's reckless remarks.
The Navy Intelligence Division had already informed them of Orochimaru's background. Even though Smoker, who upheld a deep sense of justice beneath his cold demeanor, disliked Orochimaru as well, they were allies now.
Acting too overtly hostile could lower their chances of successfully hunting the Tree Demon Matriarch.
"Vice Admiral Garp has always been like this. Honestly, I envy that youthful mindset."
Borsalino pouted theatrically, his tone exaggerated and detached, as if the outcome of this hunt didn't concern him in the slightest.
He gave off the impression that he was only here because he was on the Navy Alliance payroll.
Akainu was already irritable. Seeing this, he snapped angrily, "All of you shut up. It's this kind of undisciplined attitude that has disgraced the Navy Alliance and caused others to underestimate us!"
Once he became Fleet Admiral, he was determined to whip the Navy Alliance into shape.
Borsalino feigned fear, his voice lazy as ever. "You're getting more and more irritable, Akainu. They say the Tree Demon Matriarch's portal can't be solved through brute strength alone. You'll need a cool head, too."
After the Samsara Game update, the biggest change was that brute force was no longer enough to clear maps or hunt bosses. Some maps and scenarios now incorporated puzzles and mystery elements.
If players could uncover the map's secrets or identify boss weaknesses, they could significantly weaken the enemy.
If not, the difficulty of the challenge would skyrocket.
The best example was the [Yomi Quest].
Jiraiya's main task had been to defend [Wall Maria] from the titans.
He chose to face the colossal and armored titans head-on, along with countless regular ones. One misstep, and he would have been crushed into paste.
Only someone like Jiraiya, with enough [Yomi Points] to purchase a variety of titan-slaying skills, could hold out until his full power was restored.
A clear case of brute-force clearance.
For regular players without Jiraiya's tools, a safer route was to retreat with Eren behind Wall Rose, join the training corps, and work with others to eventually retake Wall Maria.
That would also complete the quest.
Orochimaru's basketball world was another example.
Even with a full set of max-level basketball skills, leading an inexperienced team to defeat top academy squads was still extremely difficult.
The optimal strategy was to grow alongside teammates like Gen Daying—developing bonds, trust, and gradually improving together.
But Orochimaru had simply poisoned the opposing teams' players, hospitalizing them and winning every match by default.
When this came to light, Gen Daying and the others condemned him harshly.
Orochimaru didn't care. He turned them all into slaves and test subjects for his curse mark experiments.
Back to the point…
If they could discover a weakness or find an item that countered the Tree Demon Matriarch, even a dark-gold-tier boss could be significantly less threatening.
Smoker's eyes landed on Garp. "That's why, Vice Admiral Garp, don't go charging in before we've found any clues. Understood?"
Akainu might be cold-blooded, but he wouldn't screw up when it mattered.
Borsalino might act indifferent, but he wouldn't do anything unnecessary.
The real concern was Iron Fist Garp and Orochimaru. If they didn't follow orders, they might trigger a boss frenzy and wipe the entire team.
"Of course I understand!"
Garp declared confidently and casually popped a doughnut into his mouth.
Orochimaru didn't speak but nodded with a faint smile, signaling his willingness to follow orders.
"Let's move."
Akainu pulled out a palm-sized totem. As its runes lit up, a giant Pathfinder Titan was summoned. A stream of white smoke rose from the top of the totem like burning incense, connecting directly to the giant's body.
Once the totem burned out, the Pathfinder Titan would vanish.
So players had to constantly burn [Giant Totems] to keep it active.
The Navy Alliance's vanguard team stepped into the black mist.
Hiss...
As soon as they entered, Orochimaru expressionlessly snapped one of his fingers. From the wound, countless necrotic curse serpents slithered out and dispersed in all directions.
Next to him, Garp nodded approvingly. "That's a really handy ability."
He followed a pure martial route, specializing in close combat, and in a map filled with black mist, he was basically blind.
[Martial Heart Lv.45]: This skill allowed him to sense ripples and movements around him.
In a normal world, Garp could detect everything within a few hundred meters—wind, energy fluctuations, the works.
But in the black mist, Martial Heart's effective range dropped to under five meters.
Zzzzt…
Even after seeing Orochimaru's cursed snakes in action, Akainu remained cautious. He summoned several small Flame Demons to scout the surrounding area.
"Be alert!"
Almost simultaneously, both Akainu and Orochimaru's expressions changed.
All their scouting serpents and Flame Demons lost contact.
Smoker drew the short baton from his back, positioning himself where Akainu was looking, fully on guard.
In their field of vision, visibility was extremely poor. Anything beyond five meters was swallowed by darkness. The air was filled with floating ash particles, like torn paper drifting through the void.
Five meters might be a decent alert range for a normal person—
But it wasn't enough to detect the elusive dark monsters.
Crunch. Crunch.
A faint sound echoed, like someone pushing rocks across gravel-covered ground.
A massive black shape appeared in view.
Its limbs were gnarled branches, a trunk as thick as a human torso, and its feet were tangled masses of vines.
The noise they had heard was from the vine mass dragging across the rocky terrain.
[Ghost Tree Demon Lv.49]: A dark creature spawned from the Tree Demon Matriarch's twisted limbs. Anyone bound by it will be drained dry and used as nourishment.
"Hellfire."
Akainu extended his arm, and his open palm clenched into a fist.
A flaming red magic circle appeared beneath the Ghost Tree Demon. Roaring hellfire erupted like a pillar, burning with infernal heat and fury.
"Tree demons fear fire—especially hellfire. It's the bane of all plant-type monsters."
Akainu didn't follow up with another attack. He clearly had complete confidence in the Hellfire spell.
However—
The Ghost Tree Demon, even as it was engulfed by the fire pillar, flailed its branches wildly. Its limbs were as tough as steel, and despite being baked in infernal heat, it didn't combust as expected.
Instead, it surged forward like a flaming torch, charging straight at them.
Shlunk!
A radiant golden light prison enclosed the flaming creature, followed by a barrage of golden spears that pierced it from every angle.
Borsalino still held his throwing posture, golden light residue trickling from his hand.
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