He glanced at the silent and reticent Gron along the way.
Knowing he was worried about the child trapped in Black Water Town, he spoke up to comfort him.
"Don’t worry, the child should be fine."
Besides, one or two days won’t make a difference.
After all, the war in Black Water Town has been raging for several months.
The next day.
After some rest, Gauss and his group set off again with renewed vigor.
Some people remained at the camp, including Teben and the three dwarves.
In fact, even if not many are left behind, no one usually dares to provoke an adventure group. The weak cannot afford to provoke, and those with some background, unless confident of killing everyone at the camp, will surely face revenge from the adventure group.
Moreover, what Gauss left there were mostly heavy materials inconvenient to carry, occupying space yet not worth much money. Robbing them would be an action of risk and reward not matching up.
Crossing the border, Gauss sensed a difference in the air.
He intuitively stretched his body.
Being here felt akin to entering the Jade Forest, with a peculiar discomfort enveloping him.
A faint yet omnipresent sense of suppression fell upon him.
"Indeed, this area has become the land of demons."
He sighed.
Unless most creatures on this land can be eliminated, reversing this near-rule-like power would be extremely difficult.
The others sensed the shift in the atmosphere too.
Instinctively, they moved closer to Gauss.
Aura seemed to surround him, partially negating the discomfort.
"Whish!"
A group of goblins wrapped in ragged cloth swarmed from the woods ahead.
Just stepping into the monster territory, Gauss and his group received a warm welcome.
Gauss glanced at the incoming goblins, consisting of infantry and wolf riders, with seemingly reasonable configuration, yet he felt no urge to engage them.
This number was too small for him now, better to let his subordinates train in combat.
"Third squad, everyone, kill those goblins!"
He ordered.
The third squad members, initially somewhat panicked by the sudden situation, inexplicably calmed down.
Soon, they charged forward, and the two forces collided formally.
Under Gauss’s deliberate arrangement, not only did Aaliyah and others refrain from acting, but even Ivan’s two squad leaders and deputy squad leaders merely performed a bit of command, not going all out.
The main fighters were the group of bottom adventurers recruited by the group.
"Kill them all!"
"Go on!"
"For the captain!"
Blades sliced through flesh, horses and wolf riders charged at each other.
The bloody battle erupted instantly!
However, the battle commenced swiftly and ended swiftly.
In less than ten minutes, it officially concluded.
The members of the Red Dragon Team sat astride horses, panting heavily.
Some injured ones were being treated by the team doctor and Serdur.
Ivan looked uneasily at the expressionless Gauss.
Uncertain whether his group’s members met the captain’s expectations.
Knowing that although the task’s main responsibility rests on the squad leaders and deputy squad leaders, he, the third squad leader, has partaken in some training tasks as well.
"Not bad."
Gauss nodded.
His words weren’t too insincere.
The Professionals of the Red Dragon Team didn’t move, the main fighters were ordinary members.
Twenty-odd facing close to 60 goblins.
Though these twenty were veteran adventurers, equipped with refined iron armor, weapons, and mounts, the fact that only five were injured and none died, fully annihilating the goblin squad, was indeed a significant victory.
Not all adventurers can slaughter far more numerous goblins before even advancing to a Profession like him.
Hearing Gauss’s evaluation, Ivan and the squad leaders breathed a sigh of relief.
Where they couldn’t see him, Gauss looked at the prompt that popped up in the Adventurer’s Handbook, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
"Goblins killed *12"
This notification delighted Gauss.
Because neither he nor any of his partners, who can share kill counts, had personally slain any goblins just now.
Meaning his kills resulted from these ordinary members of the Red Dragon Team?
This discovery made Gauss quite happy.
Though looking at the numbers, the adventure group’s ordinary members’ kill sharing isn’t as synchronously efficient as Aaliyah and others, currently only a fraction.
Yet he was very satisfied.
No need for him to act personally, plus, as the adventure group grows, the support provided will surely increase bit by bit.
With hundreds or thousands of members, even partial kill sharing would become a terrifying number.
As the team members were killing, he himself could go hunt for creatures to kill too.
Currently, the sync rate is about 1/5?
Gauss rubbed his chin.
However, he wasn’t entirely sure of this rate, as the sample size was too small.
But why didn’t this adventure group’s sharing take effect previously?
Gauss pondered silently.
He analyzed that it might be related to this action being the Red Dragon Team’s first formal large-scale operation.
The previous adventures were essentially just his team fighting, at most with Toga’s team aiding, not using an adventure group as the combat unit.
"Rest for twenty minutes, proceed afterward."
Gauss issued the order.
He felt his adventure group might require more effort in management.
This world, despite frightening personal prowess, team strength should never be underestimated either.
For example, the difference between 1 caster and 10 casters of similar strength might not simply be tenfold, but in strategic combo usage, the difference could be dozens or hundreds of times.
"Pass on the order, recover physical strength quickly." Ivan hurried to relay Gauss’s command.
Over the next two days.
The Red Dragon Team advanced deeper into Black Water Town this way, killing along the way.
Gauss frequently tested, thereby gaining understanding of the adventure group’s shared mechanism.
Firstly, the sync rate indeed approximates one-fifth, of course, if the acting individuals are Aaliyah, Ying, or Hephaestus, it’s 100%.
Serdur and Albena’s sync rate is roughly about 50%.
"Total monsters killed: 28611"
Gauss believed that starting the "adventure group" mode sharing might be the major gain from this venture.
"Ivan, have people rest at this cleared abandoned village first."
"Before my return, don’t venture out randomly."
Gauss looked upon the village ahead.
Originally occupied by a group of Jackal-Wolf People, it had now become the Red Dragon Team’s temporary foothold.
The entire Black Water Town area had completely fallen under demon territory, with monsters occupying tracts of land in large and small clans.
Short term, no other monsters should arrive in this originally Jackal-Wolf People’s village.
"Captain, rest assured I’ll handle it." Ivan knew Gauss and others were about to undertake a special rescue mission.
Due to concerns about ordinary members panicking, aside from core members, Gauss kept few informed about his departure.
Accompanying Gauss were only Gron, Aaliyah, and Ying.
They currently were less than fifty kilometers in a straight line from Black Water Town.
With Hephaestus, it would only take the time of a meal to reach.
Unfortunately, in such monster territory, abruptly becoming an eye-catching flying unit would be a reckless act.
Even Gauss, confident in his abilities, preferred not to prematurely attract undue hostility.
Moreover, in Cold Jade Province, and neighboring areas, having adventurers with Red Dragon Beasts was nearly non-existent.
A Red Dragon Beast flying overhead would be an open declaration to the demons of their presence in Black Water Town region.
Gauss hadn’t forgotten the threat of the Dragon Worship Sect.
Compared to human territory, the monster country is where the Dragon Worship Sect actively operates, interlinked closely with numerous monster factions, and as a rising star among human adventurers, he surely drawn attention from some monster leaders.
Perhaps they’re even plotting against him right now.