With that said, the strategy meeting for the 26th Floor’s Field Boss began
Rozen and the rest of Red Wings’ members then stood at the center of the Clearers and said.
“How is the investigation go?”
This was a go-to question before every strategy meeting began.
Before holding a strategy meeting, obviously gathering as much information as possible was necessary to prevent any casualty. That was the job of the scouting team.
In SAO, the most important thing was neither level nor the equipment, but information. With sufficient information, Players could easily secure a highly efficient hunting grounds, obtained rare equipment, etc. Beta testers were a good example.
Rozen, who naturally wouldn’t ignore the importance of information, asked that question right off the bat.
The one who answered Rozen’s question was a solo player and Rozen’s acquaintance.
“We’ve secured at least the bare minimum amount of information, thanks to our scouting team, it’s easier than I thought.”
It was none other than Argo, the information broker who said that. She was already there before anyone realized it.
“This time, the Field Boss is not a humanoid monster, so it will not use Sword Skills, but it has a very tricky ability. The Field Boss will secrete adhesive substances all around its body. Players who are close enough to it will be instantly immobilized, and the only way to break free is by brute force. If the Players didn’t have high enough STR, they have no choice but to unequip their footgear unless they want to be stuck in place forever.”
Argo casually explained all the information that the rest of the Players didn’t know.
“In addition, this time the Field Boss is a tank type with high hp and armor, its attack power is also exceptional, but it’s very slow. It looked like an elephant, and it’s about three meters tall. Be careful of its trunk, though. It’s pretty fast; even a tank’s hp will be reduced by one-third if they got hit. Are you mentally ready for this?”
When I heard this, everyone could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
“So it’s sturdy and packs a punch, but slow?”
Agil was deep in thoughts.
“Although it’s troublesome to fight, at least it’s safer.”
Klein also voiced his opinion.
“As long as we stay clear from the adhesive, and be careful of its trunk, then basically it’s not much of a threat, right?”
Kirito also nodded his head.
Among all types of monster, the Players feared the most was agile monsters. Although they had lower hp, they were hard to deal with, and avoiding their attack was much harder.
On the contrary, the tanky type monster might take longer to defeat, but at least if the Players were careful enough, they should be able to deal with it.
Rozen was the only one who wasn’t surprised by Argo’s information.
“As I said earlier, the 26th Floor will not be as dangerous as the 25th floor.”
Rozen casually fed both of his Rainbow Butterflies as he said that.
“In this case, let’s decide on the formation first.”
Right after Rozen said this, Zahad immediately interrupted.
“Wait a minute, Chairman Rozen.” Zahad raised his hand and said: “Although it sounds like the Field Boss this time isn’t that difficult to deal with, don’t forget, our combat power has also decreased by a large margin. Are you sure we should challenge the Field Boss with the current formation?”
Zahad’s words made the atmosphere seemed heavy.
Of course, what he meant by the reduction in combat power was the absence of Aincrad Liberation Squad. Their absence obviously impacted the Clearers.
Even before the tragic fate that befell them, the Clearers only had nearly 200 Players, and after they parted ways with the Clearers, there were only about 130 members of Clearers remained.
In other words, Aincrad Liberation Squad’s retirement cost the Clearers nearly one-third of their combat power.
If Rozen didn’t arrive in time with the rest of the Clearers in tow, then none of Aincrad Liberation Force would remain by now. And without Rozen’s help, no one knew how much casualties the Clearers will suffer facing the 25th Floor Boss.
Recalling the nightmare on the 25th Floor, of course the Clearers would get a cold feet to challenge the 26th Floor Field Boss. Even though it was not a Floor Boss, but the fact that they went up by Floor remained, meaning the difficulty should increase.
“No matter how capable Chairman Rozen is and there was no casualty so far under your leadership, considering the Field Boss this time is the tanky type, and obviously it will take longer to defeat it. Yet during the whole time, we all have to pay attention to our distance to the Field boss to stay off the adhesive substance and its trunk as well while constantly dealing damage. Doing all this may not be a problem if we can keep it short, but once the battle drew on, the fatigue will catch up, and our movement will be dulled. Don’t you think that we’ll be prone to mistakes by this time?”
Zahad was trying to throw every plausible argument just to compete with Rozen.
Rozen looked at Zahad and said: “Then what do you suggest we should do, Chairman Zahad?”
All Players’ eyes were concentrated on Zahad, and upon realizing this, Zahad held his head high and proudly said.
“In my opinion, we should include lower-level Players in this Raid and then challenge the Field Boss after getting more people. Although they are nowhere as good as the Clearers, since the Field Boss is the tanky type, it won’t be as dangerous, we can leave them to deal as much damage as possible to make the Raid as short as possible.”
Rozen was the first one to laugh upon hearing Zahad’s idea.
“Now, that’s amusing.” Rozen smiled and said: “Including the lower-level and inexperienced Players in the Raid, so they will be stuck in the adhesive substances and become a living target for the Field Boss before they can deal any damage, you sure outdo yourself this time.”
“That’s…” Zahad was dumbfounded.
As Rozen said, increasing the number of Players certainly could improve the damage output. Thus it will take much shorter to finish the Raid, but at the same time, the chance Players falling victim to the adhesives will be higher as well. As a result, not only those lower-level Players couldn’t contribute, they will simply become a dead weight, and it will take all the Clearers got just to rescue them. Then who will deal damage to the Field Boss?
Zahad then nervously said: “T….Then we should find more experienced and high-level Players, that way, we can avoid casualties…”
At this point, it was no longer an argument, just a futile struggle from Zahad.
However…
“That’s right.”
Rozen actually nodded this time.
“We certainly are in dire need of experienced and high-level Players.”
Rozen then looked at everyone and said loudly.
“We have a good news.”
“We will soon welcome new Players.”
“No, new guild is the better way to put it.”
