The Enhanced Fool Panda

"Is that your summoned beast?" "Yeah. Looks handsome, doesn't it?" "Pretty handsome." "What's your class? Can I ask?" "I'm a Smoker Warrior. Pretty trash class—can't unleash my full strength unless I smoke." "And after you smoke?" "After smoking, I lose HP." "That really is pretty trash." "What about you? A summoner?" "Yeah, Chaos Summoner. What beast I summon depends purely on luck." "Then your luck must be amazing." "I think so too." "Wu Degang." "Yu Xian!" "Pleased to meet you." "A pleasure." Along the path, Yu Xian and Wu Degang chatted as they walked. In truth, however, they were moving very quickly, and already they could hear the sounds of combat ahead, along with the roars of a monster. "Come on, let's deal more damage and rake in a few more fragments." Wu Degang broke from a fast walk into a jog. Yu Xian had no choice but to keep up. Emerging from the dense woods, their view suddenly opened up. A large crowd of class holders surrounded a black-and-white panda, attacking it. Whenever the panda moved, everyone shifted with it, causing their formation to constantly change. "Trouble. The enhanced beast this time is actually a Fool Panda!" Seeing the panda surrounded by class holders, Wu Degang's expression turned grim. "What's the deal with Fool Pandas?" Yu Xian asked curiously. Wu Degang explained, "Fool Pandas are among the rare low-tier monsters that possess area-of-effect attacks. Now that it's enhanced, its AoE capability has been drastically boosted. Watch yourself in a bit—don't get blasted all the way back to the respawn point." "Got it, thanks, brother," Yu Xian said with a nod. Wu Degang didn't have to share this information; since he chose to, Yu Xian owed him the courtesy. "I'm heading in first." Wu Degang nodded, then pulled out a cigarette and lit it. In the next moment, smoke enveloped his entire body. His speed exploded, a greatsword manifested in his grip, and sprinting into a leap, he actually walked briefly through midair by treading upon the smoke. *Holy shit, and you call that a trash class?* Yu Xian immediately recognized that Wu Degang's class possessed incredible mobility, mentally cursing in amazement. Of course, he didn't idle either. He decisively brought out the Ghoul's Shit-Stirring Stick and, using it as a sacrifice, cast Chaos Curse on the Fool Panda. The Fool Panda, which had just been rampaging fiercely, suddenly grew dizzy and began to vomit. [Fool Panda +3] [Level: 15] [Skills:] [Fool's Advantage: Defense increased by 90%, pain sensation reduced by 90%, strength increased by 300%.] [Black and White Bomb: Condenses a Fool Bomb and hurls it toward the target. If the target spots the Fool Bomb, it will suspend its detonation; the moment the target's gaze turns away, the Fool Bomb will detonate immediately.] [Enhanced Physique: Size tripled, vitality massively increased, all resistances +100.] [Remarks: Whoever gets bombed is the fool!] While the Fool Panda was trapped in place, Yu Xian wasted no time checking its stats. Although it was still only Level 15, its strength had increased enormously. Looking purely at the numbers made it difficult to fathom just how powerful it had become. To make a comparison, a normal Fool Panda was like a tiny kitten, whereas the enhanced version was an adult male lion. A hundred ordinary Fool Pandas would never be a match for this enhanced one. Seeing the Fool Panda abruptly halt and vomit, the surrounding melee fighters swarmed forward, blades and swords hacking frantically into its flesh. However, the Fool Panda's defense was astonishing. No matter how much they slashed, every blow caused only superficial wounds without injuring bone or sinew. Naturally, Yu Xian did not let the opportunity go to waste either. After all, the more damage dealt to the Fool Panda, the richer the rewards. Holding Mengmeng Fortune Cat aloft, he had it pelt copper coins continuously while ordering the Giant Ghoul to charge into the fray. But the Giant Ghoul had only landed a few hits before the Fool Panda recovered. With a low roar, it twisted around and swept its paws across its surroundings. Several class holders who had gotten overly excited in their assault were struck head-on; before their bodies even hit the ground, they were already dead as doornails. After all, anyone could enter the Zhen Realm. High combat power was never the sole requirement for entry—an ordinary person with good luck had just as much chance to step inside. However, individuals like that lacked discipline and easily lost their heads in the heat of battle; getting in easily also meant dying easily on the way out. "Scatter! Everyone, scatter!" Already airborne, Wu Degang shouted down to the crowd while treading upon the smoke he exhaled. The crowd scrambled backward, and the Fool Panda immediately pursued one of the fighters. The man went pale, swinging his blade in futile defense. One slap. The class holder was wiped out on the spot. Such terrifying attack power—now none of the melee fighters dared get close. This, however, had little impact on the ranged classes. Once the melee fighters fell back, countless arrows and energy spheres rained down upon the Fool Panda again, though to little effect. Yu Xian had originally planned to warn the melee fighters to stay away around the seven- or eight-minute mark, but he hadn't anticipated the Fool Panda shaking off the debuff so swiftly. All told, a status effect meant to last ten minutes had held on the Fool Panda for only about three. That was why he hadn't managed to issue a warning in time. He hadn't known the debuff would vanish so quickly, though he suspected it was tied to the Fool Panda's high resistances. Because its resistances were so high, debuffs wore off much faster. If so, facing monsters with high resistances would prove genuinely troublesome in the future—it would be difficult even to calculate how long their negative status effects would last. "Look out, Fool Bomb!" Just then, a sharp-eyed archer standing on high ground noticed the Fool Panda secretly condensing a gourd-shaped bomb and shouted at the top of his lungs. Hearing this, Yu Xian immediately scooped up Mengmeng Fortune Cat and turned on his heel to flee. Even its basic attacks were that terrifying. As for the Fool Panda's only active skill, anyone with half a brain knew its power had to be apocalyptic. The description of Fool Bomb was especially bizarre: *If the target spots the Fool Bomb, it will suspend its detonation; the moment the target's gaze turns away, the Fool Bomb will detonate immediately.* In short, it required an observer first. Furthermore, whether anyone could serve as this observer or if the Fool Panda designated a specific one remained unclear. If the Fool Panda selected a single observer, and that chosen person turned and ran... *Boom!* An entire swath of people would instantly be wiped out! In fact, his judgment was entirely correct. While he ran, others were fleeing as well. As a result, roughly fifty meters to Yu Xian's right, a horrific explosion erupted—he could even feel the violent shockwave rushing past. "Holy shit." Looking at the carpet of corpses left in the direction of the blast, Yu Xian instantly resolved to pull even further away and never get anywhere near that Fool Panda again.