(Note: Both the Great Shield and Hollow Skeleton reduce ranged damage by 50%, but the Hollow Skeleton applies its 50% reduction after the Great Shield’s 50% reduction, so the Skeleton Warrior actually reduces ranged damage by 75%.)

As for the stats of the Human Tier 3 unit, Shield Guard:

——Shield Guard: Attack 2, Defense 8, Damage 2-5, HP 20, Attack Speed 12, Movement Speed 8, Leadership 2, Special Abilities: Great Shield, Shield Wall. Kill Experience 17.

In terms of attack and defense stats, there’s actually not much difference! Even if Blake Storm, as a player, starts with 2 extra attack points, he still can’t break through the Skeleton Warrior’s defense. According to the formula, the damage is less than 85% of normal; with good luck, it takes two hits to kill, with bad luck, three!

Sure enough, at this moment, Blake Storm needs two or three strikes to kill each skeleton, and he himself takes two hits in return!

What kind of people are these! As long as you team up with John, John’s spearmen can take advantage of their long weapons to get a free stab first. When the enemy gets close, we finish them off together—wouldn’t that mean taking them down without any losses? Wouldn’t leveling up be super fast, without even needing to rest?

Damn, hogging all the gains without fear of bursting! Back in the day, John wasn’t as badass as you, but at least I knew to use people and then split up. The more David Carter thought about it, the angrier he got, and he gave the tree trunk beside him a hard punch!

——System prompt: You have obtained one coconut fruit!

——Coconut Fruit: Temporarily +1 HP, restores 100 stamina, the only source of fresh water on the island!

David Carter’s eyebrows jumped! The only source of fresh water? So there is something on the island after all! I knew it, the system couldn’t possibly put players in a true dead end! Excellent! David Carter knocked on every tree and collected 5 coconut fruits.

——System prompt: Unable to obtain more coconut fruit. Please come back next month when the fruit ripens.

Next month? That’s three real-world days! Wahahaha! Truly a rip-off! If you run out of fresh water, you’ll just have to gnaw on dry food! Eating dry food will probably lower your stats a bit, right? Anyway, as long as there’s a chance, I’ll make things difficult for him!

Once the weakness period ended, David Carter went back into the sea. Then he tried challenging various unknown sea creatures, but failed repeatedly!

John refuses to believe there isn’t a single one he can beat! Keep going!

By now, night had fallen, and the waist-deep seawater was receding with a rush—low tide! Under the starlit sky, the area of the island after the tide receded was more than a hundred times larger!

So there’s even low tide in the game! David Carter was struck by a thought: if some big fish that he couldn’t beat didn’t manage to retreat in time and got stranded on the beach, wouldn’t they be at John’s mercy? With this in mind, David Carter immediately perked up and searched everywhere. Unfortunately, there’s always a big gap between imagination and reality.

No way? Is the shipwreck really the only way out? David Carter looked angrily at the shipwreck. At night, the shipwreck was even more haunted, with skeletons swarming everywhere. That Blake Storm seemed to be leveling up and getting more and more excited. Damn!

Just as he was feeling helpless and frustrated, David Carter suddenly saw a faint red glow in the distance. What was that?

David Carter hurried over to check. It was a large group of little meatball monsters with waving tentacles in a tidal pool! What are these things? Anyway, David Carter had died so many times that he was no longer afraid, so he boldly approached. These red-named monsters still didn’t react!

So close and still no reaction? They look like coral? Sea anemones? Sea anemones, right?! Could they be plant monsters? Whatever, I’ll just deal with whatever I encounter!

Locking onto a target, David Carter thrust his spear—“-2!”

The meatball let out a squeak and lashed back with its tentacles! But it couldn’t reach David Carter! That’s right, the spearman’s special ability is “long weapon”!

David Carter was overjoyed! Another thrust—“-3!” The sea anemone still flailed its tentacles in vain!

David Carter burst out laughing! Found it! Heaven never seals off all exits—John finally found a way! This really is a great place. If it weren’t for the low tide, John would never have discovered this hidden area! They say plant monsters are weird, right? John’s spearmen may be weak, but they’re just right for dealing with you!

Three more thrusts, and the sea anemone burst with a splat and died!

——System prompt: You have defeated an unknown creature and gained 10 experience points!

Wahahaha, John can finally level up! Miracle Island truly lives up to its name—this whole patch of sea anemones is all John’s experience!

Chapter 4: The First Mate’s Relic

Under the starlit sky, beside the tidal pool, David Carter slaughtered these defenseless sea anemones, sweat pouring as his spear danced like a dragon!

Actually, plant monsters aren’t weak; it’s just that their inability to move is a fatal flaw. But their strengths are also bizarrely overpowered. Currently, the most ferocious plant monster announced on the official site is the man-eating tree. In the borderlands between the Elven Kingdom of Faloran and the Human Griffin Empire, the entire forest is full of them. Outsiders who wander in don’t even know what’s happening before the vines on the ground wrap around them, the tree trunks open their giant mouths, and no matter what tier your troops are, small units are instantly killed! Larger ones might struggle for a few seconds, but even if an entire army enters that forest, they’ll be wiped out in an instant! Plus, the man-eating trees are accompanied by symbiotic dryads and tree snakes, making the man-eating tree forest an unsolvable death trap. In the end, troop coordination is what matters most.

Of course, plant monsters are extremely rare, and their habitats are very strange. So far, the only plant monsters announced on the official site are the man-eating tree, poisonous dandelion, hallucinogenic poppy, and explosive yam. All of these plant monsters have the power to destroy entire armies!