The reason Lu Ze chose Slay the Spire II as his template was largely due to the unique team mode exclusive to the second generation.
Aside from the ever-changing roguelike elements that kept players coming back for more, friends were also an indispensable part of the experience. After all, no matter the game, friends are always the most precious part.
"Hey, Senior Brother, you like playing Iron Armor Sect Cultivator too? Want to spar a couple of rounds at Quenching Gold Peak after we finish climbing the tower?"
Mu Yawen, seeing Zhong Yi had chosen the same character as her, happily waved at him.
"No need to spar... but today, Senior Brother is going to teach you a trick. Watch closely and learn well."
Zhong Yi mysteriously patted Mu Yawen on the shoulder.
A few days ago, he had taught Mu Yawen quite a bit about playing the Iron Armor Sect Cultivator, but looking back now, some of those theories were pretty outdated.
He glanced at the other two.
Zhou Qiaoling had chosen the Crown Prince, while Zhou Yue picked the Malfunctioning Spirit Puppet.
"Oh? Lao Zhou, why'd you pick that little thing?"
Zhong Yi found it amusing to see the yellow little spirit puppet marked with Zhou Yue's nickname.
Compared to the fourth strongest character in the first generation, the malfunctioning robot in the second generation was actually quite a bit stronger. Especially at the beginner level, it was much easier to win with than characters like the Bone Sister or the Crown Prince.
But as players climbed to higher difficulties, the Malfunctioning Spirit Puppet's power started to fall behind. Around this time, a vague group of people bashing the Malfunctioning Spirit Puppet began to appear on the forums.
The term "the fifth favorite character" seemed to be slowly spreading...
"What do you know... I think this little guy is a lot like me."
Zhou Yue crossed his arms, putting on a deep expression.
Zhou Qiaoling immediately cracked up: "Your brain's broken too?"
"Bah!"
Zhou Yue shot Zhou Qiaoling a glare.
"It's called rising to the challenge and gaining strength through accumulation! Just wait—this time I'm going to prove it to you!"
"Alright, alright, enough talk. Let's start climbing already."
Zhong Yi chuckled to himself, planning to show off a new set of strategies to Zhou Yue and blow his mind.
What chance did he have to get started?
Once Zhong Yi got his build online, he wouldn't give Zhou Yue that opportunity!
The team mode wasn't too different from single-player. The main difference was that monster health was multiplied several times over, and attacks were area-of-effect damage.
As a result, certain cards that performed average in single-player mode were much better in team mode, especially debuff cards that inflicted status effects on monsters.
Zhong Yi didn't play team mode often, but he had a decent understanding of the general rules.
Players didn't play cards in order of their turn number; instead, it was based on card speed.
"Wait up, I can apply Vulnerable first and—Lao Zhou, you already played all your cards!?"
"Uh, I'm too used to solo climbing, I forgot... Next time, tell me you have Vulnerable sooner!"
"Are you some kind of Fiora? Hitting all five strikes in one second!!"
...
"Junior Brother Mu, I can apply Vulnerable—don't block. Just throw out your highest-damage cards, Strength-stacking ones are best... What the hell is [Fight Me]!?"
"Huh? Didn't Senior Brother say Strength-stacking damage cards were best?"
"But [Fight Me] gives the monster Strength too!!!"
"It's fine—he gets one, I get two. I'm stronger than him."
"It's a multi-hit monster... and we don't get any benefit from it, dammit!! That hit hurts way too much!!!"
...
"Hee hee, I've never seen this artifact before... What's Sulfur?"
"No, don't—"
"I got two more Strength, Senior Brother Zhong!"
"And the monster got one more Strength, Junior Brother Mu!!!"
...
"Lao Zhou, what are you doing..."
"Hold on, I'm about to get started."
"And you, Junior Sister Qiaoling, what are you doing..."
"I'm waiting for the monster to get low on HP. I have [Greedy Hand]—killing it gives me extra gold... Let me take the last hit!"
"And you, Junior Brother Mu... Stop playing [Fight Me] already!!!"
...
...
Slay the Spire II's team mode could, in certain situations, be called a "friendship-ending simulator."
Take this moment, for example. Zhong Yi came out of the campfire room after resting and saw his three teammates all at low health. The corners of his mouth twitched violently.
"Don't look at me, Lao Zhong. I'm in this state—if I don't upgrade cards, I'll have even less damage..."
Zhou Yue avoided eye contact.
"Senior Brother Zhong, you know me. If I don't upgrade [Greedy Hand], I'd be betraying my reputation as the ultimate greedy player of Spirit Peak Sect!"
Zhou Qiaoling also looked down, not daring to meet Zhong Yi's gaze.
Only Mu Yawen stared back with big, bright eyes, grinning widely as he showed off his white teeth. "Senior Brother Zhong, last time you taught me—Iron Armor Sect Cultivators don't have HP bars; they have red block bars!"
"Dammit!!!"
Zhong Yi clutched his forehead and let out a wail.
"I can't carry this team anymore..."
"I can't do it!!!"
...
...
All joking and messing around aside.
After giving a few instructions, the team got back on track and stumbled their way to the first floor's big monster room.
Though it was clear that Zhong Yi was doing all the heavy lifting.
As the battle neared its end, Zhong Yi couldn’t help but find it almost comical watching the nearly idle faulty spirit puppet that had done next to nothing the entire fight.
If it weren’t for the fact that he had gotten lucky this round, drawing the powerful gold card [Crimson Cape] early on to hold the line, the four of them probably would have been eliminated by now.
Now that he had weathered the pressure and taken down the first-layer great demon, he grinned at Zhou Yue and teased, “Lao Zhou, where’s your damage output?”
“Well... you can’t put it that way…”
Zhou Yue flushed, immediately turning around.
“The monster only has so much HP. The more you take, the less I get. What’s the point of obsessing over damage output? Just give it another ten thousand HP, let me ramp up, and we’ll see.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll wait for you to ramp up.”
Zhong Yi laughed heartily, not pressing Zhou Yue further on the sore spot.
After all, Zhong Yi had seen Zhou Yue’s card draws for himself.
Just watching them was painful enough... anyone who could stick with that kind of luck and keep playing was a true legend.
“Here goes nothing…”
Zhong Yi rubbed his hands together, closed his eyes, and suddenly grabbed toward the golden energy sphere bursting from the great demon.
“Haha!! [Add Fuel]!! It’s [Add Fuel]!!! I’ve hit the jackpot!!!!”
Seeing the gold card in the middle, Zhong Yi couldn’t contain his excitement and burst out cheering.
“Senior Brother Zhong, once you burn through that card, what are you going to play?”
Mu Yawen scratched her head, puzzled.
“Don’t worry, you’ll understand once we get to the third layer…”
Zhong Yi wore a mysterious expression, eager to see the look of shock on everyone else’s faces when they witnessed his endless stream of card plays.
After defeating the first-layer great demon and resting at the start of the second layer to choose their artifacts, the four continued their challenge.
The moment they opened the map, Zhong Yi was dumbfounded.
All the rooms at the bottom of the map funneled into a single treasure room at the center, clearly indicating someone had secretly chosen the [Treasure Map] event.
“Shouldn’t we, as Lao Zhong said, pick the lower option since our combat power is stretched thin?”
Zhou Yue muttered, then quickly caught on, his gaze snapping toward the figure nearly hiding behind him.
“ZHOU!!! QIAO!!! LING!!!”
“You’re a bottomless pit in human form!!!”
[Been on the road all day, pretty worn out, and not in the best shape. I was going to rest, but I pushed myself anyway. These two chapters were written in a bit of a rush—I’ll tweak them after I wake up. Don’t want to miss a single day before hitting a million words.]
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
