Helping each other with countless me.

Chapter 554 Hunting
A cold wind swept through the depths of the misty forest, carrying a biting, damp chill.

Karenina huddled in a corner of the makeshift prison van, the rough wooden bars digging into her back.

Heavy, magic-suppressing handcuffs and shackles bound her wrists and ankles, the cold metal pressed against her skin, a constant reminder of her dwindling power.

Her once-proud black flames, capable of burning gold and stone, are now firmly suppressed within her body by these specially made shackles, unable to ignite even a spark.

The prison van bumped along the rugged forest path, surrounded by soldiers escorting her "back home"—an elite squad dispatched by the Fifth Princess.

They were well-equipped, their expressions alert and weary, but deep in their gazes as they looked at her, there was always an undisguised fear and a hint of disgust.

It's like looking at a dangerous monster, or a valuable item that has to be moved.

Karenina was already numb.

From the day she was forcibly abducted from the fields by the Third Prince's men, her fate was no longer in her own hands.

She was imprisoned in a dark dungeon, where she was forced day after day to smelt ores with black flames to extract the precious mithril and copper.

Physical exhaustion is bearable, but mental torture and being treated like a tool are the real tortures.

She tried to resist, but all she got in return was harsher punishment and heavier shackles.

This time, the Third Prince suffered a setback at the front, and the Fifth Princess's elite squad took advantage of the chaos to raid the temporary mine where she was being held, "rescuing" her.

Karenina felt no joy.

She clearly saw that when the squad leader reported to the Fifth Princess's messenger, the other party's eyes gleamed with the same greed as the Third Prince's—a greed for the power of the black flames.

She simply went from being one tool to another.

The Fifth Princess needs her power to smelt more ores to power the war machine.

"rest!"

The captain's deep, hoarse voice came from ahead.

The group stopped in a relatively open clearing in the woods.

The soldiers quickly spread out to maintain order, lit a small bonfire, their movements efficient yet revealing deep exhaustion.

No one paid any attention to Karenina in the prison van. She was only allowed to relieve herself when she needed to, escorted by two indifferent soldiers, to do so behind the bushes nearby.

She leaned against the cold wooden railing, closed her eyes, and tried to shut herself out of the suffocating atmosphere.

My thoughts drifted back to the distant past, back to that poor but at least warm little village.

In my memory, it was the scorching summer sun that made the soil on the field ridges burn.

Young Karenina was barefoot, carrying a small, broken earthenware pot filled halfway with muddy stream water.

She walked carefully, afraid of spilling a single drop.

Not far away, a similarly thin figure was lying behind a small mound, intently staring at something.

That was the neighbor's boy, who was a year or two older than her. Wild Grass always protected her from being bullied by other naughty children.

"Wild Grass Bro!"

Karenina called softly and tiptoed over.

"Shh!"

The boy gestured for her to be quiet without turning his head, his eyes sparkling.

"Look, a rabbit burrow! There are several baby rabbits there!"

Karenina went closer and, sure enough, saw several fluffy, grayish-white rabbits huddled together, shivering, in a shallow burrow hidden by the grass.

"They look so pitiful, like they're hungry."

Karenina watched the little rabbit's pink nose twitch and whispered.

"Then let's keep it. I was originally planning to eat it."

The boy said nonchalantly, but seemed to have made a great decision.

After all, in this day and age, eating meat is still a luxury.

"Hehe, thanks, Wild Grass Bro~"

Karenina quickly handed over the broken earthenware pot.

The boy rolled a large leaf into a funnel and carefully dripped a little water onto the soil near the hole.

The two lay there, holding their breath, watching the little rabbits tentatively stick out their tiny tongues to lick the damp soil, until the setting sun cast their shadows long, long...

A drop of cold dew fell on Karenina's face, startling her from her reverie.

Outside the prison van, soldiers silently ate their rations, the crackling campfire illuminating their indifferent faces.

Where is that weed brother who used leaves to feed water to the little rabbits?
Perhaps they died long ago in some lord's summons, or like her, they sank into the quagmire of this chaotic world, unrecognizable.

A bitter feeling welled up in my heart.

She gripped the cold shackles tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Without strength, one cannot even protect oneself, let alone safeguard that warmth that has long since vanished.

Just then, a faint, extremely subtle scent, mixed with the damp forest air, was carried by the wind.

It wasn't the stench of wild animals, nor the smell of rotting plants, but rather a... faint, mixed scent of mold, rust, fresh earth, and a hint of... the salty, fishy smell of human blood? The smell was peculiar, and it seemed to come from more than one source, perhaps from a group of people?

Karenina sniffed unconsciously, then gave a self-deprecating twitch at the corner of her mouth.

After being silenced from magic, even their senses became dulled.

Perhaps they were friendly patrols? Or... pursuers? She didn't care.

No matter who she is, she is still just meat on the chopping board.

Hundreds of meters away from this forest clearing, upwind, behind a thicket of bushes.

Li Zhongren lowered his body, his sharp gaze like that of a hawk.

In his conscious view of war, fifty deep red dots representing enemy soldiers were clearly visible, distributed around several campfires.

In the center of the light spot, a specially marked purple light spot emitting a faint, strange energy fluctuation is particularly eye-catching.

Li Zhongren didn't know who it was, but he knew it must be an important person, someone the lord needed to find.

The newly acquired "wind whispering sense" ability is operating at full capacity.

The wind blew from the direction of the enemy, bringing an extremely rich stream of information, which his brain quickly analyzed:
The smell of campfire smoke: type of firewood and degree of burning.

The smell of soldiers: sweat, leather, metal polish, a faint smell of blood (someone is wounded), and the dry smell of food.

The smell of horses: body odor and the smell of hay.

He could even smell extraordinary power.

Yes, you can smell it.

It was indescribable, as if his nose had turned into eyes, able to 'see' something—a strange aura, extremely faint, isolated by metal and some kind of energy field, like burning embers.

Although this aura was suppressed, its essence was extremely powerful and unique, like a firefly in the dark, which could not hide from the wind's sense of smell.

With the aid of his sense of smell, much like a witcher's unique olfactory vision, he located the enemy's position in the dense jungle, and even "smelled" the team's fatigue and approximate equipment. This was an elite force, a full fifty men, fully armored and armed.

In a direct confrontation, it would only take one round to cut through his hundred-man team, because his attacks could not penetrate their defenses, while the enemy could kill everyone on his team with a single blow.

He turned his head slightly and looked at the hundred farmers prostrate on the ground behind him.

After the battle with the Shadow Claw Leopard and the precise guidance they received along the way, their eyes were no longer filled with confusion and fear, but instead with an almost fanatical trust and a fierce, eager look.

Loyalty is generally stable at 75 or higher, which means he can perform more precise and deadly crowd control in the upcoming battles!
this point is very important.

in the past.

In the real world, the term "micromanagement" is a derogatory term used to describe incompetent generals who like to command troops remotely.

However, in games, especially RTS games, it is definitely a positive term.

Historically, there have been countless instances where highly skilled and talented players have won matches that, in theory, were impossible to win, solely through their micro-management abilities.

Admittedly, it's a game with certain rules. For example, ground troops cannot attack airships in the sky. So, that player could use skill to repeatedly move his troops up and down the airship, thus pulling the enemy back and forth.

However, in the real world, if you lack ranged attacks, you really have no way to attack enemy air units, which is theoretically reasonable.

Therefore, this was his battle.

It's very important. If he wins, he can extract the attributes and skills of these fifty elites, which will make his abilities grow to a very powerful level. Even if each of these people only provides him with one attribute point, that's still a full fifty attribute points. Just that one point alone can turn him into a medieval superman.

"call"

Take a deep breath.

Li Zhongren's voice was transmitted to everyone's mind through his thoughts.

Or to be more precise, his thoughts extended to these people, and from this moment on, every thought of his would be carried out by these one hundred farmers without any discount or delay!

"Target confirmed, enemy elite squad, the woman in the cage should be our target."

Li Zhongren's voice entered everyone's minds directly through his thoughts, clear and calm. He paused, his gaze sweeping over the faces blackened by gunpowder and mud.

"Remember what I said? After this heist, money! Women! Land! It will no longer be a dream! And these people in front of us are our heroes! Take them down, and we'll turn things around! We'll be able to completely crush this lousy name of 'Weeds' under our feet!"

What is conveyed in the mind is not just words, but also a strong belief and a greedy desire.

The farmers' breathing became heavy, their eyes gleaming with a beastly light, as they gripped their worn-out, blood-stained weapons tightly.

The loyalty score has shown a subtle upward trend again, stimulated by desire.

"Now, obey my orders!"

Li Zhongren's consciousness instantly entered a state of high concentration, with the war perspective and time deceleration ready to be activated at any moment.

A chilling killing intent gathered in Li Zhongren's chest, and time seemed to stretch out infinitely.

From a wartime perspective, the fifty crimson dots of light are like chess pieces on a chessboard, and he can see every subtle movement.

Around the campfire, the soldiers sat or leaned against something. Although they were alert, they were not at their peak due to the warmth of the campfire and their exhaustion.

The prison van containing the purple dot of light was the sole target.

"Begin!" The thought, like an invisible signal flare, instantly ignited the nerves of the hundred farmers.

Li Zhongren divided his thoughts into dozens of streams and controlled them precisely.

Twenty of the most agile farmers sprang out from the edges of the dense forest on both sides like ghosts. They had no weapons, only stones and dirt in their hands!

"Left side! Enemy attack!"

Just as a soldier near the edge issued a warning, several fist-sized stones whistled and slammed precisely into his face, making a clanging sound.

These soldiers did not remove their armor.

These stones were of no use to them.

However, to the soldiers' disbelief, as they charged toward the farmers with stones on their heads, the farmers were actually retreating with perfect precision.

No, to be more precise, it was circling around the camp.

Every attack and every raid they launched was precisely dodged by these farmer-like fellows, who either evaded them or hid behind trees and vines.

For a moment, this left these elite soldiers somewhat incredulous.

Because these farmers seemed to know what they were going to do, they dodged their attacks in advance.

"Whoosh~~"

Just then, a cold arrow shot out from the darkness.

It pierced through the gaps in the armor and helmet, and shot into a soldier's brain.
"Puff~"

In the darkness, the muffled sound startled all the soldiers!
The soldier's body stiffened abruptly as a crossbow bolt pierced deep into the gap of his helmet, leaving only a tiny fletching. Without uttering a sound, he collapsed to the ground.

Of course, that alone is not enough to defeat this elite squad.

The problem was that, as time passed, these soldiers hadn't even touched the farmers once, yet every few seconds a cold arrow would shoot out from the darkness, precisely striking the only weak point in their armor—their eyes—and killing them instantly.
In just a few minutes, ten crossbow bolts, ten lives lost.
Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, instantly coiled around the hearts of every surviving soldier.

Their prized armor seemed to become nothing more than decoration in the face of those unpredictable crossbow bolts!

The fear of the unknown and the bizarre deaths of their comrades caused discipline to crumble, leading to desertion. In the era of cold weapons, a casualty rate of 20% was enough to break an army.
So even though the captain shouted desperately, he couldn't stop the remaining soldiers from retreating.
This is exactly the effect Li Zhongren wanted!
Li Zhongren, who emerged from the darkness, retrieved all ten arrows; in fact, he only had these ten arrows.

Unfortunately, the soldiers who fled were unaware of this.

"Chase"

Li Zhongren left ten men to guard the prison van, while the rest continued the pursuit under his control.
Helmet, arm armor.
Along the way, you can see all kinds of abandoned armor.

Clearly, the soldiers were terrified. Ten times in a row, they managed to shoot arrows into the only weak point—the observation window of their helmets. These already elite soldiers could only think of one possibility: a superhuman.
Then I thought of the farmers who were going around in circles with them.

These soldiers had completely lost the will to resist, precisely because they knew of the existence of superhumans and how terrifying they were.
"Unfortunately, you shouldn't have given up your armor and weapons."

In Li Zhongren's hands, the old, short-range crossbow was no longer in use, but instead a hard bow discarded by the soldiers.

He quickly climbed to the top of a large tree with arrows in hand. Even with the dense forest providing cover, from a wartime perspective, no point of light could be hidden.

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh~"

"Whoosh~"

Arrow after arrow.
Two jars, containing a total of forty arrows.

They took the remaining forty lives.
A deathly silence descended once more, heavier than before.

The air was thick with the stench of blood.
Fifty fully armed elite soldiers were wiped out, with no survivors, while Li Zhongren's hundred-man farmer team suffered only minor injuries to a dozen or so men, with not a single one killed in action!
Li Zhongren stood at the edge of the open space strewn with corpses and took a deep breath.

A strong stench of blood and death filled the nostrils, but with Feng Yu's keen sense of smell, what was even clearer was the life force of those fifty elite soldiers permeating the air.

Deep within him, an unprecedented power and desire surged, flowing through his entire body, warm and encompassing him. In that instant, he felt as if he were flying.
[Eliminate Elite Unit: Fifth Princess Elite Squad (50 members)]

[Gained attribute points: 30 Strength, 20 Constitution]

[Gained skills: Spear Mastery LV3 (Elite), Sword Mastery LV3 (Elite), Tactical Mastery LV3 (Elite), Archery Mastery LV3 (Elite)]

[Note: From a war perspective, the host automatically acquires these skills, and all of these skills can be exchanged for skill points, from which you can choose from four categories: Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Spirit.]

(End of this chapter)