Grasshopper Bandits

"You attempted to invade the Scorpion Tribe's territory and failed. You were attacked by the Flame Scorpion King!"

"You suffered a critical fireball hit and took 80 damage. Because your defense reached 9, you offset 27 damage and ultimately took 53 damage."

"You suffered 30 fire burn damage. Because you possessed 4 Fire Resistance, you offset 12 burn damage and ultimately took 18 burn damage."

"You fell from a height and took 9 damage. Because your defense reached 9, you ultimately took no damage."

After Wang Wu rolled across the ground several times, crushed the flames on his body, and scrambled up in a sorry state, several messages finally arrived belatedly.

Not bad. The total damage was only 71 points.

After all, that had been a leader-class Sprite.

While Wang Wu was shocked and secretly afraid, he was also smugly snickering to himself.

He admitted that what he had done just now had indeed been a little reckless, a little impulsive. But the facts had also proven his guess.

Yesterday, the Flame Scorpion King had still been able to launch fireballs the size of human heads. Today, they were only half that size, and their power had been cut in half. This showed that the spiritual energy stored inside the Scorpion King was also running low.

So, if he did not take this chance to run over and get hit by a weakened fireball to grind up his Fire Resistance, then after another dozen minutes or so, once Violet Gold Three Minutes ended, would anyone believe the Scorpion King's fireballs would be able to send him straight to the underworld in one shot?

There was only one chance. Unless he waited until the White-Haired Rats attacked again—but would the next time possibly offer such a good opportunity?

As Wang Wu pondered this, he endured the pain and waited. His Satiety was currently at zero, so level-four Self-Healing could not activate. But that was no big problem; food would soon be delivered right to his door.

His judgment was quite correct.

As daylight gradually brightened, the sky stretched clear for ten thousand miles, and rosy clouds rose along the eastern horizon. Today was another normal day for handing out benefits.

At this moment, every Sprite in the valley was craning its neck in anticipation.

The bushes rustled. All kinds of Sprites were itching to make a move. When Violet Gold Three Minutes ended and Golden Three Minutes began, they swarmed out in a rush, charging toward the foot of the mountain and beneath the cliff.

Among them, Wang Wu spotted the long-unseen Gray Rat Knights. However, their numbers had plummeted. There had been nearly two or three hundred of them a few days ago, but now only around fifty remained. They were no longer arrogant either, no longer carrying that pride of "beneath these bushes, who but I rules this land?"

They had gathered into a dense formation, keeping far from the cliff, with forty or fifty little rats protected in their midst.

What a sigh-inducing sight.

Naturally, Wang Wu would not go looking for trouble with the Gray Rat Knights. He preferred bullying those Wandering Mantis Swordsmen. Wait?

Why did there seem to be some familiar strangers among today's Sprites?

In the time it took to speak of it, before Wang Wu could even react, over a hundred grayish-green grasshoppers, each less than half the size of a fist, shot out from the bushes. Though they started later, they arrived first, landing halfway up the cliff at a height of eight meters.

Well, well. These grasshoppers actually wanted to get their hands on the golden hour too?

Damn impressive. Damn impressive!

Wang Wu narrowed his eyes without giving anything away. These grasshoppers were far fiercer, nimbler, and stronger than their grasshopper brethren from Earth. They also flew faster, making them difficult to catch.

But without question, the appearance of these Grasshopper Bandits was not good news for the bush ecosystem within the valley.

While Wang Wu was mulling things over, more than a dozen Wandering Mantis Swordsmen charged over. But they were not charging at him. Instead, they swiftly climbed the cliff and went straight for the Grasshopper Bandits. Truly valiant and fierce—no, it was more like they were blood enemies.

Did mantises have a grudge against grasshoppers?

Wang Wu was not sure.

But fighting had already broken out over there. Those dozen or so Mantis Swordsmen were genuinely vicious. Even on the cliff, they moved as if walking on level ground, weaving around, dodging, and launching fierce attacks. Their twin blades in particular could finish off a Grasshopper Bandit in just a few strikes.

But the Grasshopper Bandits refused to be outdone. After all, they held the numerical advantage, could fly, and possessed excellent jumping ability. Within only a few exchanges, they wiped out all those Mantis Swordsmen.

They had only lost six of their own.

Seizing the chance, Wang Wu rushed out. Whether it was a Mantis Swordsman's corpse or a Grasshopper Bandit's corpse, he spared none of them. He needed Satiety right now.

The Grasshopper Bandits did not care about this at all. They had wings, so by nature they felt superior to a big fellow like Wang Wu who could not fly.

At this time, the patch of sunlight kept moving downward. It was already the final minute of the golden period. The Grasshopper Bandits immediately spread their wings. Those originally drab gray-green wings unexpectedly took on a golden sheen, and they absorbed Golden Particles at quite an impressive speed!

Though they could not compare to Wang Wu's level-one Spiritual Essence, they were still far better than the other Sprites.

These fellows were plump!

Wang Wu silently watched beneath the cliff. While chewing rapidly to raise his Satiety, he also observed and simulated. He had climbed this cliff many times, after all. If he wanted to catch a few Grasshopper Bandits to eat, he had to ensure that he could complete the climb and pounce within three seconds.

Mm, no rush. He would simulate it a few more times first.

Time slowly passed. Just one minute later, it entered Silver Three Minutes.

By then, the Sprites below had basically finished fighting for positions and were waiting for the silver period.

At that moment, Wang Wu clumsily began climbing the cliff. Extremely clumsily, in fact, and he looked terribly afraid of heights.

The Grasshopper Bandits eight meters above him did not pay him any attention at all.

The other Sprites would not warn them either, nor did they think Wang Wu could do anything.

So Wang Wu continued absorbing Golden Particles while clumsily climbing upward. Occasionally, he even carelessly rolled back down, looking adorably foolish and utterly bewildered.

Just like that, one minute of Silver Three Minutes had passed, yet Wang Wu still had not climbed up. His best record was only four meters before he helplessly rolled all the way down again.

Finally, when the silver period entered its last minute, Wang Wu managed to clumsily climb to a height of five meters. There were still a full three meters between him and the Grasshopper Bandits, but above him was a sheer cliff with nothing to brace against.

He clung there pitifully, little claws digging into the cracks as he meowed, like a baby bear that had been scared witless and was waiting to be rescued.

It was an exceedingly funny sight.

Even when Silver Three Minutes ended, he had failed to advance another step, much less make any other move.

"Flap-flap-flap!"

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The Grasshopper Bandits cried out, looking thoroughly satisfied. Each crawled a few steps along the cliff before beating its wings and soaring into the sky. As for that dim-witted bear below them, hmph, who would care about him?

"Flap-flap-flap!"

A swarm of grasshoppers rose into the air, a truly magnificent sight.

But at that very moment, Wang Wu suddenly sprang up from the five-meter-high cliff like a coiled spring—agile, powerful, steady, and precise. He turned in midair, spread his claws like half a great net, and slammed this entire swarm of grasshoppers straight down!

The change came too suddenly. With the Grasshopper Bandits' flying ability, they had no time to turn and evade in midair. Moreover, Wang Wu had carefully chosen the angle, and they loved clustering together.

That single blow knocked down more than thirty Grasshopper Bandits.

Whether they were injured did not matter. What mattered was that they had fallen to the ground!

"Splat! Splat splat!"

It was like dumplings falling from the sky.

Then, with a boom, Wang Wu crashed down as well, even accidentally injuring several Sprites.

But that was not the point.

After those thirty-some Grasshopper Bandits fell, the surrounding Sprites swarmed them as one. By the time Wang Wu climbed back up, he had only managed to snatch five Grasshopper Bandits. All the rest had been killed by the other Sprites.

These Sprites reacted quickly, especially the Mantis Swordsmen. After killing one, they did not greedily take more. Each tore off a grasshopper leg, turned, and ran.

In the blink of an eye, they had left Wang Wu with nothing but a field of grasshopper remains.

Truly, truly savage!

But the matter was far from over, because Wang Wu's move had thoroughly enraged the remaining Grasshopper Bandits. They circled and danced in the air for a moment, then suddenly dove down like a formation, spraying dark green fluid from their sharp mouthparts.

How could Wang Wu indulge them? He leaped up and down, darted left and struck right, knocking down another dozen or so Grasshopper Bandits.

Only then did those fellows leave resentfully.

But this grudge had probably been forged.