“She really is the president of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance. It seems I underestimated her.” Zong Ge looked at Zi Di in a new light.
At the time, Zong Ge led his group in taking away crossbows by force. Of course, he did not act without justification and sensible reasons; the crossbows would lessen casualties while investigating the environment around the camp.
However, when Zhen Jin produced the map, a problem emerged.
Because Zong Ge and his group were benefiting from Zhen Jin’s map. Zong Ge’s group’s investigative results were completely covered by Zhen Jin.
Even more so, when the map appeared, it also ferociously shook the hearts of Tripleblade’s mercenaries, the map was a blow to their pride and enthusiasm.
From then on, the mercenaries thoroughly understood the significance of Zhen Jin’s identity, there were no more delirious utterances or contempt for Zhen Jin.
All of them realized one thing: even if Zhen Jin was impoverished on this island without his clan’s power to assist him, he still had a patron. This patron was comparable to heaven and earth; templar knights believe in Emperor Sheng Ming, a living god, and even quite possibly, the strongest living god!
Zong Ge’s group invested a huge price, did their utmost, left early and returned late every day, had two people die, and many others wounded, yet in the end, it was all inferior to Zhen Jin’s prayer.
This ice-cold fact exhibited itself now, it told everyone again the immense disparity between their identities.
After this lesson, Zong Ge’s group had Zhen Jin in the forefront of their minds, even if Zhen Jin was just standing there, it made them feel pressure from him.
Many of them even subconsciously slowed their breathing.
“Templar knight……” For a long while, Zong Ge gaze was lost in Zhen Jin, his voice seemed to become hoarse, “Then I can only believe your reputation.”
“Certainly. Zong Ge, I use the Bai Zhen Clan’s honor and my knightly name to guarantee this is fair!”
Zhen Jin’s speech was straightforward and vigorous.
“I ask you to believe me, sirs. We are not an army, nor are we a mercenary corps, this system will simply unify us closer together. Let everyone understand how much we can contribute to each other as a group. And each contribution should have positive feedback that corresponds to it. We should not allow any of our members that invest, fail to receive reciprocation. Regardless of who they are or what their identity is, they cannot bleed or sacrifice their life in vain.”
Zong Ge’s eyes flickered coldly, he always sensed that Zhen Jin’s words had deep meaning and contained hidden thorns.
The rest of the people’s eyes were concentrated on the blond youth, their doubtful appearances gradually waning.
Zi Di added on: “Sirs, the contents of this list of items are not unchanging, if you have any ideas or believe something is too unreasonable, we can discuss it properly.”
Everyone’s complexion eased somewhat.
Tripleblade still looked indifferent, he had dealt with merchants many times. Previous experiences told him: merchants usually had strong communication skills, their debates can help them survive and typically, it is the mercenaries who get the worst of it.
But at this time, Zong Ge gave him the list of items: “Tripleblade, do you see anything good to exchange for?”
Zong Ge’s words allowed Zhen Jin and Zi Di to relax.
Since Zong Ge already approved of this system, there was nothing Tripleblade could do.
He carefully looked at the list’s contents, his mercenary commander experience allowed him to immediately sense the list had valuable things: “We need crossbows and iron arrows. The stronger the crossbows, the less attrition our personnel will take.”
“Of course, it also depends on what your Lordship is hunting next.”
“If it’s still monkey tail brown bears, we shall exchange for the strongest waist crossbows. If it’s bat monkeys, flying squirrels, and so one, then we shall exchange for arm crossbows, so each person has as many as possible.”
“The crossbows we obtained before were terrible; most of them have already been scrapped.
Zong Ge nodded: “Then exchange for waist crossbows.”
This implied he still wanted to hunt monkey tail brown bears.
“We only have two waist crossbows, and it will take at least three days to finish a new waist crossbow.” Zi Di warned.
Tripleblade slightly frowned, only having two waist crossbows was not enough. He could only settle on the second best thing, foot lever crossbows.
But following his inquiries, Zi Di informed: Zhen Jin’s group had already exchanged for the foot lever crossbows.
After all, Zhen Jin returned to camp earlier.
Tripleblade was angered but found it laughable: “Are you saying, we can only exchange for arm crossbows? You might as well negotiate frankly.”
Zi Di smiled: “This list of items also has many potions that I believe are essential supplies. I did not calculate in the potions Lord Zhen Jin gave to you previously.”
That influential hold was Tripleblade’s weak point, causing him to choke his retorts and be at a loss.
Zi Di showed clear regret and her tone became more sincere: “Sires, all of know what situation we are in now. We have a small foothold here and have a thousand things to do. Our supplies are limited; we also don’t have a workshop or assembly line, therefore regardless of whether it is potions or crossbows, the output of them is small.”
“The goods on this list of items are in short supply, it is normal that this matter will continue for a long time. I hope you all can comprehend this.”
The surrounding people looked at each other, some of them subconsciously nodded and acknowledged Zi Di’s words.
Zhen Jin now looked at Zong Ge: “In fact, I still strongly suggest that you exchange for arm crossbows Zong Ge.”
“Today, we purged three bat monkey groups. We found that when most iron bat monkeys found themselves in an unfavorable situation, they would lead the retreat. The other bronze level and ordinary bat monkeys would also retreat too.”
“Bat monkeys can fly through the trees at an astonishing speed, we cannot pursue them.
“According to scholar Cang Xu’s deductions, the bat monkeys live together. When these bat monkeys flee, they can reassemble into a new beast group. It is possible that the new group will absorb most of the old bat monkey group.”
“Thus, the more bat monkey groups we purge, the greater the amount of leftover bat monkeys, this will make hunting more troublesome.”
“Zong Ge, this is my opinion, let us cooperate together and annihilate the biggest bat monkey group in the vicinity of the camp!”
Zong Ge thought of the information on the map.
The biggest bat monkey group had a silver level bat monkey leader.
It really was the most threatening beast group.
Zong Ge pondered for a moment then he nodded his consent.
According to the list’s contents, a silver level monkey tail brown bear could be exchanged for twenty arm crossbows. Zong Ge killed three, altogether he could exchange them for sixty arm crossbows.
However, there were only forty arm crossbows in camp.
After Zong Ge and Tripleblade discussed for a while, they first got all of the arm crossbows so every single one of their people had one. Soon after, they exchanged for potions, such as the pink road sign potion, the bat monkey smoke repellent potion, and more.
On the second day, Zhen Jin, Zong Ge, Tripleblade, Lan Zao, Hei Juan, Bai Ya, and others set off to purge the biggest silver level bat monkey group.
As before, the smoke potion tactics were employed.
A whistling arrow attracted most of the bat monkeys over.
First Bai Ya’s group half squatted on the group and fired their foot lever crossbows. After waiting until the bat monkeys rushed closer, Tripleblade’s group also fired their arm crossbows.
The more bat monkeys they shot dead, the angrier the entire beast group got. The silver level bat monkey quickly rose to the sky with over twenty iron level bat monkeys and closed in on Zhen Jin and the others.
Zhen Jin silently observed them, he found the silver level bat monkey leader was bigger than the iron level ones and had wider wings, if it were not squatting on the ground, it would be almost as tall as Zhen Jin!
“If I convert it, my bat monkey form can be upgraded to the silver level.”
Zhen Jin relying on himself to kill the silver level bat monkey leader was highly troublesome. After all, the bat monkey leader had many bat monkeys surrounding it.
But now with the strength of everyone, the common bat monkeys suffered disastrous casualties, with the bronze level bat monkeys losing many also.
In particular, the bat monkeys’ charge was forced back by the thick smoke and disrupted their formation.
At this close distance, Bai Ya’s group’s accuracy was greatly upgraded, causing the bat monkey group’s casualties to instantly build up.
The one with the most outstanding military success was of course Zhen Jin.
He had a rapid fire crossbow in each hand. A rapid fire crossbow needed two hands to control it, one to steady the crossbow arm and one to pull the trigger. However, Zhen Jin only held the triggers, causing his arms to constantly shake.
The constantly trembling rapid fire crossbows’ flying arrows nearly created a dashed line.
Wherever the dashed line went, every bat monkey in it would fall. Zhen Jin’s efficiency in slaughter was entirely worthy of being number one.
Even Zong Ge was shocked, his heart lamenting the Bai Zhen Clan’s bloodline. Although he had trained his archery skill for many years, he paled in comparison to Zhen Jin.
The purging of the silver level bat monkey group was a stage Zhen Jin used to demonstrate his archery skills.
The silver level bat monkey leader was finally angrily provoked, it then led all of the iron level bat monkeys to fly with it. Their target was Zhen Jin!
Zhen Jin’s iron arrows shot towards the silver level bat monkey, but it easily evaded them. Its flexibility was above an iron level bat monkey, it looked like a purple-black demon.
“Coordinate together.” Zong Ge suddenly shouted.
The silver level bat monkey ran into the thick smoke, Zhen Jin had been standing in place until he suddenly withdrew and allowed Zong Ge to step forward bravely.
The gigantic white hammer ruthlessly swung into the silver level bat monkey, swatting it like a ball.
The silver level bat monkey sharply screamed as it crashed into a tree trunk, its back breaking the large tree.
It spat a mouthful of blood as its gaze exposed its terror. It then immediately flew high into the air and no longer dived down.
When the iron level bat monkeys saw their leader do this, a portion of them flew up with it, while another portion still continued the assault, dying under the well prepared hands of Xi Suo, Lan Zao, Tripleblade, and the others.
Casualties also appeared in their ranks.
The iron level bat monkeys’ numerous sacrifices had some results.
Seeing eighty percent of its beast group gone, the silver level bat monkey leader sorrowfully roared.
Soon after, it deeply breathed and issued a soundwave attack.
More than a dozen iron level bat monkeys issued soundwaves with it. Even if all of the iron level bat monkeys’ soundwaves were added together, their power was inferior to the silver level bat monkey’s.
As the soundwave traveled, a translucent ripple appeared in the air.
The sound wave greatly disturbed the smoke and caused it to rapidly spread. According to this trend, the smoke would be quickly cleared away.
Bai Ya’s group did their best to cover their ears as they fell to the ground, howling in grief and pain. They already had things stuffed in their ears.
Lan Zao, Xi Suo, and a few others’ bodies shook, they were unable to stand firmly. The arrow rain stopped at once.
Only Zong Ge and Zhen Jin still remained standing straight.
Zhen Jin resisted the feeling of jitteriness and dizziness, he quickly ordered someone to replenish the powder while shooting his waist crossbow intermittently at the bat monkeys.
The waist crossbow was the heaviest crossbow, and it severely interfered with the bat monkeys’ preservation of the soundwaves.
Many iron level bat monkeys were shot dead by Zhen Jin, until finally, the silver level bat monkey was also disturbed by a flying arrow, causing its sound wave to stammer, preventing it from displaying its true might.
Zong Ge had already left the front and proceeded to wantonly slaughter the ordinary bat monkey group.
The huge white hammer had a vicious and impressive power, even if it was an iron level bat monkey, it would immediately die as long as it was hit.
Finally, the silver level bat monkey sorrowfully screeched and retreated to its home at its own accord. Under the cooperation of Zong Ge and Zhen Jin, the largest bat monkey group was nearly eliminated. The remaining iron level bat monkeys also dispersed and escaped, none of them followed the silver level bat monkey.
After resting and reorganizing in their current location, everyone cleaned up the battlefield and returned in triumph.
The camp was in jubilation, the unprecedented pile of bat monkey corpses was then temporarily placed in a corner as it was difficult to handle them in a timely manner.
On the basis of Zhen Jin’s opinion, Fei Sha was in charge of management. Everyone then held a simple and crude feat to celebrate heroic deeds. Even if food was short in supply, the feast’s atmosphere was warm from beginning to end because of the wine.
Everyone centered around Zhen Jin, greatly praising him for his heroism and unfailing archery skills.
The former mercenary corps members also looked at him with reverence.
It was because Zhen Jin’s interference forced the silver level bat monkey leader to retreat, Zhen Jin was absolutely a critical character in the battle.
Zhen Jin was the lead in the feast and the focus of everyone’s gaze. Zong Ge only had Tripleblade at his side, although the two were sitting in conspicuous spots, it gave the people the impression that they were sitting in the corner.
Notes
Rip Zong Ge, should have swung down instead of sideways, he could have killed the bat monkey leader that way. Unfortunately, without the death of said leader, kill count matters way more and since Zhen Jin can dual wield technically not guns and ignore recoil, he gets to have multiple killstreaks and snowballs the match. Later, Zong Ge complains on the forums about balancing issues he finds repugnant.