The sack of Red-bellied Rattlesnakes was just purchased by Boggy from the market—fifty-nine in total. Because he bought them in bulk, the boss even gave him a 10% discount, totaling 4,779 Electric Degrees deducted directly from the last harvest.
Whereas the group of Bloodsucking Tail Weasels had been captured by the trio on their way here.
Ma Lu first sacrificed ten Red-bellied Rattlesnakes to test his luck.
The result was not a single Purple Blessing, and to make matters worse, he triggered two downgrades consecutively, in which two options for blessings turned from blue to white under the influence of the "Heartbeat Lottery" effect.
Fortunately, there were still other blessings to choose from, so it wasn't a big issue.
Ma Lu scanned through the ten Blue Blessings he had obtained; some of the more useful ones included:
[Loyal Companion: Increases all four basic attributes of animals and puppets in the team by 20%]
[Silence is Golden: Attacks by the whole team have a 15% chance to trigger silence status, lasting 3 seconds. Targets under silence status cannot use Psychic Powers]
[That's a Trap: There's a 15% chance for Earth-Series Psychic Power users in the team to create a quicksand pit nearby when using their abilities]
[Invisibility Cloak: Reduces the probability of team members being detected while in stealth by 15%]
Ma Lu scratched his head; these blessings all had decent effects but seemed to be doing their own things, with no synergy or clear sign of a strategy emerging.
Therefore, he decided to change his luck, using two Sand-Spray Qiangs as an initial trial, then sacrificed another ten Bloodsucking Tail Weasels for another round of ten.
As per the Conservation of Luck, Ma Lu finally struck it big this time, opening 3 purple and 7 blue blessings in one go!
The three Purple Blessings were:
[The Last Rampart: There's a 33% chance that the shields of team members will block one instance of damage completely when damaged]
[Backstab: When a team member attacks from behind the target, there's a 33% chance to speed up by 40% and inflict double damage]
[Ban on Noise: During battle, any combatant, friend or foe, that exceeds a volume of 60 decibels has a 33% chance of entering a paralyzed state for 3 seconds]
Acquiring [The Last Bastion] again, along with the previously recovered [Charge with Hits], Boggy's defense and counterattack strategy once again took shape.
Additionally, [Backstab] was quite practical, ideal for launching initial attacks and could also be used in tandem with the previous Blue Blessing [Invisibility Cloak].
"Probably about half an hour ago," Seta replied. "The guys from Black Horn are very alert. I was worried about being discovered, so I usually wouldn't get too close. I mainly relied on the tracker to follow them from a distance. I would only get closer to take a quick look when they stopped."
"You know how to track?" Ma Lu asked, surprised.
"Yeah, yeah," Seta nodded proudly. "Vice Captain, don't underestimate me because I'm young. My tracking skills are at least top ten in the Giant Curtain."
"Really? So where is Jinjian now?"
"This...," Seta replied, looking somewhat embarrassed.
At that moment, Boggy asked again, "What were Jinjian and his group doing here? Hunting?"
"No, although they did kill a few prey, it seemed more like they handled them as they came across them. Plus, they didn't bring any bait, so they weren't here to bait-fish. Instead, it seemed more like... they were looking for something?"
"Looking for something?"
"Right," Seta recalled again and affirmed, "They must be looking for something. As soon as they left the city, they headed straight here and have been wandering around this area for two days."
Mai Mai shook her head, "Once you lose something in the desert, it's very hard to find again. The winds and sands bury everything. Jinjian isn't a fool; he wouldn't be unaware of this."
"I want to go over and have a look," Boggy said.
"Could it be another trap?" Sadie, who had been mostly silent, worried aloud.
She had watched as her brother was stabbed in the heart with a dagger and had not slept well for the past week due to frequent nightmares.
"Then let's go together."
Ma Lu's original plan was to ambush Black Horn, preferably ending the fight before Jinjian and his people could react or causing heavy losses on the other side. However, he wasn't worried even if it turned into a head-on clash.
After bringing Seta into the team, Ma Lu spent some time explaining the upcoming battle tactics, especially the prohibited actions and the consequences of violating them, insisting that everyone must remember them clearly.
Many of these prohibitions sounded strange, but after witnessing events like coming back from the dead, including Seta, no one doubted Ma Lu any longer and made a mental note of his words.
Mai Mai even considered the broader implications, "In that case, during the battle, can we deliberately lure enemies into violating these prohibitions?"
Ma Lu nodded, "Yes, utilizing these prohibitions effectively can make the fight much easier."
Once everyone was familiar with the tactics, they hid their motorcycles behind the sand dunes and then carefully approached the area where Jinjian and his group had disappeared.
```