Tower Defense: Public Enemy

Chapter 77 Ancient Bloodline

Lei Chi discovered that the specific compensation provided by the system follows a certain pattern. For example, when a player from the thug gang splashed paint on his camp, the system compensated him with a SpongeBob SquarePants that could clean up.

This time, Zhao Zilong didn't rob money or goods, he only killed people, and the system compensated him with experience gems.

Lei Chi pondered that if he could make good use of this pattern, it would be easier to target and farm compensation items.

He carefully collected the remaining 7 [Experience Gems] and then went to build the second [Little Mischievous Monkey].

"The shelter has been destroyed, and rebuilding it will cost 1,000 gold coins, but the system only compensated us with 500 gold coins... The shelter cannot be rebuilt for the time being!"

After a moment's thought, Lei Chi went to the guild camp and spent 300 gold coins to buy the fifth skeleton miner.

The newly purchased skeleton miner is only level 1. Although its gold mining efficiency is the same as the other four level 10 skeleton miners in the gold mine, the chance of mining gems and archaeological materials is much lower.

Lei Chi has obsessive-compulsive disorder. He feels uncomfortable if there are less than five skeleton miners in the gold mine. Now, the other four skeleton miners are all LV10, while the new one is only LV1. He is still uncomfortable, so he used three [Experience Gems] on the new skeleton miner to directly raise its level to the highest level of LV10.

The level cap for skeleton miners is LV10. Under normal circumstances, if they are allowed to level up naturally, even if they mine gold coins day and night in a LV5 gold mine, it will take more than 21 days to reach LV10.

It would be difficult for the average player to develop five rare skeleton miners.

Lei Chi felt relieved. He opened the five gold mine treasure chests one by one and found that they had accumulated quite a few [ancient fossils], as well as a [Earth Gem] and an [Ancient Weapon].

The "ancient weapon" was a rusted dagger, unusable as a weapon or equipment. It was clearly an archaeological tool, its specific function unknown, but it was likely that certain conditions would be met to obtain benefits from it.

"Excellent, excellent. Training skeleton miners is indeed a wise move."

Lei Chi was overjoyed. He took the Earth Gem, the Ancient Weapon, and all the fossils from the gold mine treasure chest. He first stored the first two items in the safe, and then took the fossils to the War Hall and gave them to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob was diligently assembling a skeleton in a corner of the War Hall. He now had three or four hundred pieces of fossils and was assembling three skeletons at the same time, but he obviously couldn't put together a complete set yet.

Lei Chi encouraged him and was about to leave the war hall when he suddenly heard a crash. Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw SpongeBob seemingly having a burst of inspiration. He knocked over the three skeletons that were already half-assembled, quickly removed a small pile of fossils from them, and then swiftly picked out quite a few more from the fossils that Lei Chi had just brought over, before reassembling them...

SpongeBob moves very quickly, and seems very eager and excited.

A moment later, a fairly decent skeleton was formed. The skeleton resembled a small dinosaur skeleton, but it looked more like an alien skeleton.

"Ding! Camp assistant SpongeBob has successfully proven the existence of ancient creatures through research on fossils. Your camp has unlocked the hidden technology [Ancient Bloodline]. With the support of this technology, certain Beast Towers can be upgraded to Ancient Beast Towers, gaining even stronger abilities!"

Lei Chi was stunned when he heard the system notification.

Does this work too?

The system notification continued: "Ding! Your secret camp has unlocked the hidden technology [Ancient Bloodline]. As a result, the special building shelter has been upgraded to the Ancient Shelter (currently in a state of destruction; reconstruction will cost 1,000 gold coins), gaining more functions. Please explore on your own."

"No way, that's amazing!"

Lei Chi quickly approached the "prehistoric skeleton" assembled by SpongeBob SquarePants. This thing had now become a whole and had a name, called "prehistoric creature," and was set as a decoration and was indestructible.

"SpongeBob is a genius!"

Lei Chi then praised SpongeBob highly, but SpongeBob, being very humble, happily continued to study the [paleontological fossils].

"Once you can piece together an ancient creature skeleton, the [Ancient Bloodline] technology will be unlocked. Of course, piecing together more won't hurt; they can be used as decorations!"

Lei Chi was delighted. Next, as long as he had more Wild Gems, he could upgrade the Big Tiger to a Tier 3 Saber-toothed Tiger.

He immediately went to the trading post to inquire about the [Wild Gem].

There are quite a few Wild Gems listed for sale in the Trading Post, and they are also available in the Auction House. Their prices are not very expensive; the cheapest one can be bought for 150 gold coins.

Lei Chi had previously obtained 500 gold coins from the compensation chest. He spent 300 of them to buy a Skeleton Miner and now had more than 200 left. He immediately bought a Wild Gem.

After obtaining the gem, Lei Chi rushed over to a large tiger.

"You've reverted to your ancestral ways, you big tiger!"

With a loud shout, Lei Chi activated the communication system and immediately upgraded the [Big Tiger] in front of him.

As the Wild Gem disappeared from its hand, the Great Tiger roared and its size immediately increased. After two or three breaths, it was nearly two meters tall while still on all fours. Its fur became thinner, but it gained a mane around its neck. The proportions of its head, four paws, and body increased significantly. Its forelimbs resembled those of a bear, and its body became more robust. Its eyes became narrower, and the most obvious change was the growth of its signature saber teeth.

Those two saber teeth were as long as an adult's forearm and about the same thickness. They were shiny and gleaming, like they were made of alloy, and even had a metallic sheen.

"Woohoo!"

It let out a roar that was louder and more imposing than that of the "big tiger".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Tower Name: Saber-toothed Tiger (Ancient Creature)

Area: 3m x 3m

Type: Beast Tower

Rank: Third Rank

Attack power: 500 + 3

Attack type: Physical

Attack range: Melee

Attack Speed: 1.0

Standard attack method: Right claw strike

Attack Effect: [Triple Strike] When the saber-toothed tiger attacks a target, there is a 20% chance to launch a triple strike. The tiger's body shakes, and within one second, it attacks the same target with its left and right claws alternately. Each attack can deal full damage. This skill has a built-in cooldown of 3 seconds.

Attack Effect: [Throat Lock], the saber-toothed tiger pounces on a nearby unit, biting its throat to suppress the target, rendering it unable to move and causing it to lose (500+3) health points per second. The throat lock lasts for a maximum of 20 seconds, during which the saber-toothed tiger cannot perform normal attacks.

Attack Effect: [Tiger Roar] The saber-toothed tiger lets out a roar, causing surrounding enemy units to tremble in fear, reducing their attack power and movement speed by 40%, with an effect radius of 15 meters and a duration of 15 seconds. The saber-toothed tiger needs a two-second cooldown to activate the Tiger Roar, and can only activate the Tiger Roar once per minute.

Attack Effect: [Bleeding Attack] When the saber-toothed tiger attacks a target, there is a 30% chance to inflict a physical wound, causing the target to bleed continuously, losing an additional 100 health points per second. The duration is uncertain, ranging from a minimum of 3 seconds to a maximum of 30 seconds.

Note: By fulfilling the hidden conditions, the saber-toothed tiger can be upgraded to [Totem Tiger], [Primordial Giant Cat], [Sword Tiger], etc. Please explore on your own for details.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"This attack power, in two words, is ferocious!" Lei Chi looked at the [Sabertooth Tiger]'s attributes three times over, thinking to himself that if he put the [Sabertooth Tiger] back to Jingyang Ridge, wouldn't it be easy to defend against monster invasions?

"A chokehold for twenty seconds, over ten thousand damage! Who can withstand that?!" Lei Chi felt like he was about to take off. "Sabertooth tigers can advance, and what the hell is this [Primordial Giant Cat]? A big cat advancing to a giant cat... that seems plausible!"