Hearing the words of the Demon Star Tower Envoy, the faces of the few leaders of the Black Wind Mountain Robbers all showed disgust.
Especially Li Gun, his gaze toward the mysterious weirdo contained a hint of cold killing intent.
Only hesitating for a moment, they ultimately still did not dare to turn hostile.
"Hmph, what doomsday catastrophe, it’s just a trick used by those worldly society magicians to deceive people. I too have cultivated Taoist Divine Power, yet have never foreseen any such event.
Moreover, even if there really was a major catastrophe, it’s probably inseparable from the likes of you demons, instead, you try to pin the blame on those returnees, how absurd.
You need not frighten me, they are just a group of returnees, I am not afraid of them."
The Demon Star Tower Envoy paused, then a strange chuckle sounded from beneath the mask, "Kekekeke, the village chiefs really have some backbone, I hope when you die without a place to bury, you can still think this way.
It doesn’t really matter to me whether you die or not, but ’Heaven is kind’, my master truly cannot bear to see heroes like you suffer, and specially sent me to bring you some good things."
With those words, a claw from underneath his cloak resembling an insect with barbs was extended out, lightly stroking the table and leaving behind five vermilion fruits.
The fruits were covered in blood vessels, emitting an eerie red glow, quivering slowly with the rhythm of a heartbeat and respiration as if alive.
The sight induced fear in the viewer yet also exuded a captivating allure.
Li Gun snorted coldly, "Hmph, take your evil things away and scram."
But the Demon Star Tower Envoy did not get angry, instead, he laughed and said, "Don’t be so quick to refuse. These Immortal Fruits contain supreme Divine Power, just by eating them, one can acquire immense strength, which is much more convenient than painstaking cultivation.
Why not take them with you? In case of a dire situation between life and death, they might come in handy. If you truly do not want them, just throw them away, and I shall leave."
Having said that, the Demon Star Tower Envoy waved his hand dramatically, and a blood-red gate suddenly emerged from behind him. The man dived into it and instantly disappeared without a trace.
Seeing the disappearance of the Demon Star Tower Envoy, the leaders felt somewhat uneasy.
The notoriety of Demon Star Tower was well-known even in the distant Fengyin State. They had initially thought it was blocked by the Canglin State’s Heavenly Feather Army in the south, but now it seemed to have already permeated to this side.
Not to mention, now the returnees have come knocking on the door too, truly it’s an autumn of troubles, even becoming mountain bandits does not allow for peace.
"Big brother, what should we do with those returnees?"
"Hmph, we the Black Wind Mountain Five Tigers have dominated the region for over a decade, when have we ever been afraid? Just a group of returnees. If soldiers come, we’ll block them; if floodwaters rise, we’ll build ramparts against them. Wait for me to deploy our tactics, we’ll slaughter them all, brothers, prepare the troops, proceed with our earlier plan."
Li Gun’s voice was steady and confident, which also lent the other leaders a bit more calm.
"Big brother is right, brothers united, we must ensure those ignorant returnees don’t return from whence they came."
The men all walked out one after another, readying the troops and preparing for battle. Lao Wu, Cloud Guest Wu Tong, lagged behind at the very end and hesitated before stepping out.
"Big brother, what about these Immortal Fruits?"
"What Immortal Fruits, they are clearly Demon Fruits! Surely nothing good comes from eating them, we cannot keep such evil objects." As he spoke, Li Gun grabbed all five fruits in his hand, a ball of flame blazed fiercely in his palm, and within the rising flames, the five Demon Fruits instantly turned to ash.
Cloud Guest looked on with a touch of regret at the fruits that turned to ash, nodded his head, and followed out as well.
At this very moment, the clearing outside the Gathering Hall was already filled with well-equipped mountain bandits...
"Stop!" Xiao Jie suddenly shouted. "Everyone, cease fighting and come back to reorganize the formation.
At this point, about a quarter of the buildings in the mountain stronghold had been cleared, everyone was fighting smoothly when they heard Xiao Jie’s words, and they all stopped fighting immediately.
"What’s wrong, Captain?" Hidden Dragon Do Not Use asked in surprise.
"There’s something wrong with the number of monsters!"
Xiao Jie said gravely.
Before Hidden Dragon Do Not Use could continue to inquire, Xiao Jie began to analyze for everyone.
According to previous intelligence, the Black Wind Mountain forces belong to a large Monster Forces, with about 1000 low-level monsters in total. It’s not that there are only these 1000 little monsters, which, when killed, there would be no more trouble.
It’s that on the map, at any given time, only up to 1000 little monsters can respawn at once, and roughly an hour after being slain, the monsters would respawn.
That is to say, if the battle can be resolved within an hour, then there would only need to be a confrontation with these 1000 little monsters.
Monsters with intelligence, such as mountain bandits, are capable of commanding and deploying troops. Their respawn locations are not randomly determined by the system, but rather arranged according to their battle tactics.
"From the moment we went up the mountain to the main gate of the stronghold, we’ve killed about 120 little monsters in total.
That means there should still be around 880 little monsters inside the stronghold.
Although this number isn’t completely accurate, it should not be too far off.
Just now we cleared about a quarter of the buildings, and in total, the number of mountain bandits killed was only 105. According to this ratio, the entire Main Camp must have only around 400 mountain bandits in ambush.
Moreover, have you noticed? The mountain bandits rushing out of these wooden houses are basically all the lowest-level Black Wind Mountain Minions and Black Wind Mountain Robbers."
We also took out the ones on the mountain path, all of which were these low-level monsters.
What about the high-level monsters? This is very abnormal."
The Black Wind Mountain’s monster forces comprise various types, with at least a dozen kinds, among which there are a total of six common types.
Black Wind Mountain Minions (level 14-15), Black Wind Mountain Robbers (level 15-17), Black Wind Mountain Hunters (level 16-18), Black Wind Mountain Raiders (level 19-20), Black Wind Mountain Assaulters (level 20-22) Black Wind Mountain Bandits (level 21-23).
Normally, these monsters would spawn mixed together, with each group typically containing one of every kind.
Now, there are only a few types of low-level monsters, which seems almost as if someone deliberately arranged it that way.
If it were truly an ambush, they would definitely arrange elite troops and strong leaders, but now setting up a bunch of trash monsters, it feels more like they are intentionally sending them to die.
Little White Dragon responded quite quickly, "Team leader, do you mean—these monsters are bait?"
"Exactly, bait, cannon fodder used to attract our attention, hiding in buildings, consuming our time, waiting until we spread out to deal with them, and the real killing move, must still be behind."
Everyone was shocked, although the intelligence of the monsters in this game is very high, being able to carry out such a complex plan was still surprising.
However, considering the characteristics of this game, it’s not impossible either.
The problem now is, what is the follow-up move?
"Could it be a fire attack?"
"Or perhaps underground tunnels?"
"Maybe teleportation magic?"
Everyone chimed in with various possibilities.
Xiao Jie said: "All of these are possible, but a fire attack is more likely."
Xiao Jie’s gaze swept over those buildings. The structures of the mountain stronghold were mostly wooden, and the roofs were thatched, all very flammable.
Furthermore, he had noticed that the arrangement of these buildings seemed to follow a certain pattern. Now that fire attack was mentioned, it became obvious that the buildings were interconnected from end to end, perfect for setting a fire.
The physics engine of this game is exceptional, once ignited, the entire stronghold could potentially become a sea of flames.
By then, just the damage from the illusion would be enough to defeat the players.
As long as chaos ensues, once the mountain bandits’ ambush rushes out, it would be time to harvest.
Luckily, the details revealed the truth, and now it’s possible to attempt a countermeasure.
"Team leader, what should we do?"
"Hehe, since they want to play with fire, let’s help them out. Take out all the materials we prepared earlier and spread them out."
There were some gaps between these wooden buildings, so if you lit a few random fires, they might not catch on, but if you fill these gaps with bundles of grass and bundles of wood, you could naturally set a connected fire.
Never mind whether it’s a real ambush or a fake one, let’s first burn it down cleanly with fire, and then move in after it turns into a heap of ruins.
At the leader’s command, everyone began tossing the prepared bundles of grass and wood toward the narrow spaces between the buildings.
"Light the fire! Everyone retreat to the hillside."
The rear squad retreated first, moving down the mountain road, while the front squad retreated while smashing kerosene pots and gunpowder jars wildly around the straw piles and wooden houses.
Dida La was even more unrestrained in casting fire spells.
In the blink of an eye, the stronghold was ablaze, and once the wooden structures sustained a certain degree of flame damage, they would catch fire. Although it would be somewhat difficult to quickly ignite the entire stronghold, with Dida La, a Five Elements Mage specializing in Fire Magic, the fire ignited four or five sources instantly.
No, it’s still not big enough; burning down the stronghold could take hours, and by then, the monsters we killed before might all respawn.
It’s time to lend a hand.
Xiao Jie raised his hand.
Sorcery—Call the Wind Skill!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh! A gale sprang up, fueling the fire, and the flames burned fiercely with crackling sounds.
"Haha, I’ll join in too!"
Strawberry Coke waved his Peach Wood Sword.
"Gale, come forth—swift as law and decree!"
The gale grew fiercer, and the entire stronghold burned more rapidly.
In a flash, it became a sea of flames, with Black Wind Mountain Minions and Black Wind Mountain Robbers hidden inside the buildings burning and screaming, collapsing amidst the flames.
The entire main camp of Black Wind Mountain was enveloped in a sea of fire.