Mayor Cross's furious roar echoed throughout the entire town hall.
Cross moved with terrifying speed, appearing before Shi Feng in the blink of an eye and throwing a punch straight at him.
Every player around cast pitying glances at Shi Feng, eager to witness the power of Mayor Cross.
Cross was a level-15 elite — a single slap could wipe out any current player. And yet Shi Feng had gone and foolishly provoked him. Nobody in Red Leaf Town could save him now. He'd either be locked in confinement until he died or thrown out of the town entirely.
But Shi Feng looked remarkably calm, which left the other players confused. Had he already made peace with dying?
Just as Cross's fist was about to connect, Shi Feng — who hadn't moved until that very moment — finally sprang into action. Like a hunter who'd been waiting for his prey to take the bait, he drew his novice sword in an instant and raised it to block. The movement was blindingly fast.
Bang!
Cross's fist slammed into the novice sword, and Shi Feng's entire body went flying. Just as he was about to crash into the ground, he twisted midair like a nimble cat, flipped, and landed solidly on his feet. Still, his HP dropped by 84 points in a flash. The novice sword shuddered violently, its durability dropping by 1 point directly. Once durability hit zero, the weapon would be unusable.
Hiss…
Every player in the crowd sucked in a sharp breath.
They had assumed he was just some clueless noob looking for trouble. But Shi Feng's performance — anyone with half a brain could tell he was no ordinary fighter. Sure, Cross was a magic-type class with negligible physical damage output, but he was still a level-15 elite. Any random attack from him could one-shot a current-level player. Yet Shi Feng hadn't died. He'd used his weapon to block and minimize the damage.
"Even though he's a magic class, this kind of strength and speed is insane," Shi Feng muttered to himself, glancing at the wailing novice sword in his hand. Thank goodness he'd dumped all his points into Agility before this — it pushed his attack speed to 4. Otherwise, he'd be dead for sure, and he'd have to redo the entire quest from scratch.
"Die, you little bug!"
Having missed his first strike, Cross flew into an even greater rage. Suddenly his clothes shredded apart, revealing pitch-black fur all over his body. He transformed, in the flesh, into a fanged werewolf.
Every player present froze in shock. Nobody had expected the mayor to be an evil werewolf in disguise.
Cross teleported behind Shi Feng in an instant, raising his gleaming claws and swiping straight for Shi Feng's heart.
With only 16 HP remaining, Shi Feng's lips curled into a cold smile.
Cross's claws froze mid-swing — just centimeters from finishing Shi Feng off — when a level-25 guard's charge struck him, stunning him for 1 second.
In that brief window, Shi Feng retreated quickly.
The moment Cross recovered, he lunged after Shi Feng again, only to be interrupted by the second guard.
Both level-25 guards were warriors. Though not elites, their damage was devastating. A charge plus a normal attack took over 300 HP from Cross, and with both guards hitting, they stripped away over 600 HP in total, plunging Cross's health bar down to around 1700 in an instant.
"The guards really do hit like trucks," Shi Feng quipped from the sidelines, watching the battered Cross with amusement.
Guards were the town's protectors, tasked with defending its citizens and fending off evil. Now that the mayor had revealed himself as a werewolf, it proved he was no human at all — but a spy for the forces of darkness. The guards wouldn't hold back, treating him like any ordinary monster.
Sherlock's quest had seemed impossibly harsh, but in reality, all you had to do was provoke the mayor into attacking first and survive the opening blow. After that, the mayor would reveal his true nature, and the guards would handle the rest.
In his previous life, this unique quest had shaken all of White River City because it exposed the mayor as a spy for the forces of evil. It gave countless players a whole new perspective on God's Domain — NPCs weren't necessarily trustworthy. Some could be nothing more than dark forces in disguise.
At the same time, people were stunned by the player's technique for baiting the mayor into attacking. But pulling it off had driven that player to the brink of madness. After finally completing the quest, he naturally wanted to show off and posted his full guide online. And now that guide had fallen into Shi Feng's hands.
Mayor Cross was being pummeled by the two guards. Though their damage was high, Cross's target was always Shi Feng — he kept chasing him relentlessly. Unfortunately, the guards kept getting in his way. One used Hamstring, the other used Thunder Strike, and Cross's movement speed plummeted. Fortunately, Shi Feng had 5 points in movement speed and managed to stay just barely ahead every time.
Shi Feng chipped away over 2,000 HP from Cross this way. The mayor was on the verge of death.
The crowd of players watched Cross's health dwindle, and restlessness spread through them. They wanted to land the killing blow on the mayor. None of them understood why the guards were attacking Cross instead of Shi Feng, but this was a town mayor — and a level-15 elite, at that. If he died, he was sure to drop something good.