Shadows in the Dark

"Furthermore, the opponent possesses extremely high intelligence and superior troop command and control capabilities honed on ancient battlefields, including troop movements and formations. It's not something we modern people, who haven't experienced war, can compare to."

Everyone's expression grew grave, feeling an intense sense of pressure.

"To put it in modern terms, a bird king like this could at least be a division commander in our country," someone grumbled.

"Exactly! Your Excellency, why would you deign to be a boss here, ruling a flock of crows and engaging in low-level mischief above people's heads?"

They were utterly shocked.

Who would understand this, family? It's just speechless.

It was like one day, you'd had enough and decided to attack the annoying monkeys at a scenic spot, only for the monkeys, who were usually just a nuisance, to suddenly have a monkey king who could march and deploy troops, comparable to Han Xin reborn, with more and more success, leaving you stunned!

You call these crows?

And besides, don't bosses usually show up after you've cleared the mobs, killed waves of crows, gathered materials, and developed for a few days?

Is the opponent taking us so seriously right from the start, blocking the entrance to our blacksmith beginner village?

This isn't a game. But it's very scientific!

They thought their side's blacksmiths had intellectually crushed the opponent, that they were just mere wild monsters.

But in the end, the opponent had thoroughly outsmarted them, and they had been played by wild monsters.

If this continued, with all the blind spots for attacks, the tower would be breached in less than ten minutes!

On the mountainside.

Ning Zheng, with a bow and arrows on his back, wearing a straw hat and a camouflage grass cloak, his body smeared with mud to conceal his scent, moved cautiously through the mountains like a rustic hunter.

"They really couldn't hold on. They underestimated the crow leader too much."

Ning Zheng shook his head, recognizing this youthful arrogance.

He had been like this in the past.

But reality had slapped him hard, with Steward Pang whipping him daily.

Back then, he learned to never overestimate himself and never underestimate his enemies.

He was intimately familiar with the terrain on this mountainside.

He had hidden here before to curse the demons on the mountain. He knew every nook, cave, and spot behind rocks where he could hide best.

He found a concealed spot, erected the temporary grass shed he carried on his back, and covered himself, forming a makeshift cave.

This way, even if crows flew overhead, they wouldn't find Ning Zheng's location.

As for shooting arrows from here?

For an archer on the mountain to shoot at the mountain villa below and hit an enemy was impossible, even for the most skilled archer.

After all, it required shooting upwards.

They couldn't see what was happening on the mountain, so were they just blindly shooting into the sky, gambling on luck?

Was it possible to hit the enemy with a single arrow shot from the sky?

But if ordinary people couldn't do it, it didn't mean Ning Zheng couldn't.

At this moment, [Queuing for Login] was very useful. He silently logged into the account Flower Blooming Rich, switching between the perspectives of 100 blacksmiths to continuously observe the terrain within the mountain villa and the fierce battle.

With the help of a hundred "eyes," he felt as if he possessed a real-time satellite map of the mountain villa.

Under these circumstances, he could achieve things that were theoretically impossible, like shooting at targets within the mountain villa using a parabolic trajectory.

"But it's still not enough. To hit the target, it requires not just skill and vision, but also sensing the wind's direction... I need a little bit of luck."

His mind was as calm as still water. He looked down and tapped on his luck value again.

+500

[Current Luck Value: 1000]

Ning Zheng felt a pang of pain. He had only earned two thousand today, and now he was about to spend half of his day's earnings in one go.

This extravagant expenditure made the frugal him feel a slight ache.

He drew his bow.

He nocked an arrow.

To be safe and avoid attracting the attention of the crow lords.

He was completely hidden within the grass pile, prioritizing stability. His eyes and head weren't exposed, only an almost invisible arrowhead emerged from the grass pile.

A blind shot.

Aiming at the sky.

His brain suddenly activated three windows, sensing heaven and earth, entering an overclocked state.

Thoughts collided wildly, calculating at lightning speed. This was an ability cultivators possessed after opening the bridge between their minds and the world, granting their brains an extraordinary power.

Swish!

He released the string, and the arrow flew up, shooting straight towards the sun in the sky.

It then completed a beautiful parabolic arc.

Flying over the mountains and forests, over the manor walls, it soared towards the cluster of buildings on the ground.

It didn't hit the flying crows, nor the ones digging at the walls. Instead, with uncanny precision, it struck a crow lying on the ground, injured and struggling with mournful cries.

This kind of extreme long-range, upward shot made it impossible to hit a fast-moving target.

Static targets, however, had a higher accuracy rate.

Of course, one had to pick on the easy targets.

The arrow instantly pierced the crow's body. The rough wooden shaft couldn't withstand the impact and exploded into splinters. The Magic Bronze arrowhead, carrying Ning Zheng's mana, embedded itself like a nail into the body, initiating mental elemental damage.

Because it precisely hit its toughened, unkillable wings, it didn't actually kill the crow.

"Second arrow."

Taking a deep breath, he shot again.

Again, it hit the wing. The second arrow finally caused the wing to explode, but the flesh quickly regenerated.

"Third arrow."

"Fourth arrow."

This crow was nearing its end, but he had to attack it ten times before that happened.

"Don't die."

Ning Zheng took a deep breath and continued to shoot from a distance at the crow struggling to survive on the ground within the manor.

"I've already minimized the arrow's lethality. The arrowheads are made of tiny bits of Magic Bronze, capable of carrying my Shadow Corrosion Mana to a minimal extent."

He silently drew his bow and finally shot the tenth arrow. "Last arrow."

Whoosh!

Without even looking, he donned his grass cloak, stood up, and quickly changed his position, vanishing silently into the dense mountain forest.

Below the tower.

A crow, struck by an arrow, finally reached the accumulation point with the tenth shot. The embryo in its soul violently broke free, splitting into a blurry human figure.

Composed entirely of a spiritual body, it carried a long bow on its back and suddenly punched its own father, the crow.

With a scream, the crow could no longer bear it and collapsed onto the ground, its consciousness hazy as it stared at the clear sky.

The blurry figure began to instinctively attack the other severely injured crows on the ground.

It was precisely because Ning Zheng had chosen such a good location, with many crows lying heavily wounded and unable to resist, that they allowed him to attack and accumulate new power.

One hit, two hits, three hits...

On the tenth hit by this phantom, a new human-like figure stood up, swayed, and also joined the attack.

Jiu Cai Rong watched the battle reports calmly from underground.

"This won't do. We haven't even lured out the boss, and they're already breaking through our defenses from afar. If our next offensive is exposed, it'll be hard to ambush them."

His expression suddenly shifted slightly, as if he had seen something incredible.

At this moment.

From within the shadows.

Seven or eight phantom figures, carrying bows and arrows, emerged like clouds and mist, surrounded by rolling, cloud-like patterns.

Their ink-black hair danced as if in flames, without any wind. Their pure black eyes, lacking irises, emitted a cold stillness. They stood there, and heaven and earth lost their color, as darkness absorbed all light.

Simultaneously, they drew their bows and shot their arrows.

Whoosh!

Ten spirit-constructed magic arrows simultaneously struck a crow.

The crow let out a shrill cry and fell. A newly born, bow-wielding phantom slowly rose from the crow.

"What... what is that?"

A bone-chilling coldness washed over them, causing everyone in the manor to shiver.

The deepest, wild instincts of the Money Boys were terrified of some unprecedented, high-level existence. The intense pressure in their bloodlines made them instinctively want to flee.

It was like ants seeing a primordial disaster, like mortals by the sea witnessing a legendary dragon.

"Humans?" Su Yu Niang swallowed.

"Where did they come from? NPCs? Or enemies? This is a suppression at the bloodline level. Their spiritual roots have a suppressive effect." Everyone stared blankly at the animated scene before them.