Chapter 157 Vegetable Meeting
——Potato Heavy Shield Soldier, Enoki Mushroom Assassin, Mint Hypnotist, Exploding Tomato…
What the heck is this?!
Ma Lu had thought the mascot girl on the main screen was abstract enough, but he hadn't expected even more bizarre things to come.
Turns out the fight he had at the abandoned warehouse with the Hellhound was just against a bunch of vegetables?
Ma Lu suspected he had read it wrong, so he closed his eyes and opened them again, only to find that the names on those little red dots hadn't changed.
Moreover, as he approached the forsaken warehouse, his Traveler's Bracelet gave a response.
Ma Lu received several notifications in a row.
——Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 1-star ingredient "Potato Heavy Armor Soldier," the "Potato Heavy Armor Soldier" handbook has been unlocked.
——Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 1-star ingredient "Bok Choy Scout," the "Bok Choy Scout" handbook has been unlocked.
——Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 1-star ingredient "Cucumber Skull Crusher," the "Cucumber Skull Crusher" handbook has been unlocked.
......
Ma Lu quickly stopped Yun Que, who was about to push open the big door, "Don't, that place is full of people, oh no, vegetables… you can't beat them."
Yun Que might be a bit lacking when it comes to combat, her attack power barely comparable to a healing mother, and she even has one less skill than others, but she has her merits, one of which is she's very obedient.
Unlike the Hellhound, the purple-haired girl almost had "rebellious" written all over her face. By comparison, even in times of obviously insufficient affection, Yun Que would still perfectly execute the knight's commands.
"There are fewer enemies in the back; we'll enter from the rear door and try to defeat them one by one."
Actually, the safest approach would be to climb up the drainpipe to the second floor like the Hellhound and stealthily infiltrate, but Ma Lu was now clad in armor, making it difficult to accomplish climbing movements.
And Yun Que didn't seem like someone who was good at physical activities either.
So, the two of them decided to faithfully execute the plan of flanking from the back.
The Chessboard Map showed only one red dot at the back door, named — Cauliflower Thinker.
Yeah, just by the sound of that name, it seemed easy; the Cauliflower Thinker's HP was only 19/19, even less than Yun Que's, and its defense was merely a single point.
Additionally, the nearest Flaming Chili Pepper was thirty meters away, and with its speed, it would take at least seven seconds to move here.
Therefore, Ma Lu resolutely pushed the door open and simultaneously unlocked Yun Que's weapon usage permissions.
Upon Ma Lu's reminder, Yun Que had already drawn her black pistol, kneeling on one knee, ready for battle.
She also removed the eyepatch from her left eye, revealing the mechanical eye underneath.
Ma Lu noticed that Yun Que's passive skill [Aiming Lock] that doesn't consume mana was also activated.
The girl looked nervous, her arms trembling slightly, yet the desire to rescue her comrades ultimately overcame the fear in her heart.
As the iron door in front of them opened, the enemy's figure also entered their field of view.
It was a humanoid monster with the build of an adult male, but its body was made up of leaves and stalks, and on its shoulders, not a head, but a giant cauliflower rested.
It sat on a container, assuming the classic pose of The Thinker.
Yun Que didn't hesitate, she immediately moved her gun muzzle and aimed at the Broccoli Thinker not far away, pulling the trigger.
A bullet, glowing with white light, struck the Broccoli Thinker's head accurately!
With the sound of a bang, pale yellow buds splattered everywhere!
Ma Lu noticed that the Broccoli Thinker's HP dropped by 4 points, exactly the damage dealt by Yun Que's attack minus its defense.
However, its stem and leafy body merely shook as if confused about why it was wounded.
Does this thing have no hearing? Seems like it's also lacking in sight.
Ma Lu carefully observed the enemy's reaction from the sidelines.
The Broccoli Thinker had already turned in a circle on the spot, but it still didn't seem to notice the two people not far away.
Just when Ma Lu thought it would be kited to death like this, he saw the initially sluggish Broccoli Thinker suddenly turn its "head" towards him, then it jumped off the container and charged in his direction.
Luckily, it wasn't very fast, so Ma Lu easily dodged it with the help of his power armor and even managed to land a punch on its head.
The punch made the Broccoli Thinker retreat half a step, but it seemed as if it could not feel any pain and quickly closed in again.
"Be careful, Sir Knight!" warned Yun Que. "These energized plants are tough and resilient, lacking the weaknesses of ordinary creatures. They can also self-heal. Only magic weapons can truly inflict real damage on them."
Ma Lu glanced at the Broccoli Thinker, its HP was indeed still at 15/19, unchanged.
Conversely, when Yun Que's second bullet hit it, its HP dropped by another 4 points to 11/19.
Yun Que then sped up her firing rate, taking out the Broccoli Thinker with three shots. The girl wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking expectantly at Ma Lu beside her.
The latter didn't skimp on his praise, touched the girl's head, and said, "Well done, you did great!" Read the latest on empire
A look of joy covered Yun Que's face.
In contrast, some were not so obedient. Ma Lu had already told the Hellhound to retreat from the warehouse, but perhaps due to a lack of affection, the Hellhound completely ignored his command and started acting on her own, rushing towards the location of the briefcase.
Ma Lu didn't bother with her any further, as she wasn't in any immediate danger for the time being. He focused his attention on the enemies in front of him.
Together with Yun Que, he continued to attack the nearby Flaming Chili Pepper, which was clearly more difficult to handle than the Broccoli Thinker, though their HP was about the same.
But the Flaming Chili Pepper moved more swiftly and could even spray blazing flames from its rear!
Yun Que ran and shot at the same time, trying to keep her distance from the Flaming Chili Pepper, but she still almost got licked by the flame. In the end, Ma Lu stepped in and used his armor to block it for her.
Yun Que kept shooting from behind the armor, taking the opportunity to harvest the last bit of the Flaming Chili Pepper's health.
Ma Lu looked at the charred grass around him, raising an eyebrow. These vegetables, though their names sounded a bit silly and their appearances were quite magical, indeed had some substance, showing such combat strength at only 1-star.
Each had a special skill, and encountering higher-starred ones later on would probably be even more challenging.
But those were concerns for later. Ma Lu glanced at his experience bar; the Broccoli Thinker and Flaming Chili Pepper had provided him with 3 and 4 experience points respectively, still a distance away from the 100 points needed for leveling up.
Ma Lu planned to first raise his Knight Level to 2 and in the meantime, study the various abilities of those peculiar plant people in the warehouse.