The Four Berserker Bears

Since at least 360 Eagle Feather Armor-Piercing Arrows needed to be crafted, the upgrade for the elite archers had to be postponed until tomorrow. However, the four Elite Sword and Shield Soldiers could be upgraded immediately.

BOOM!

As Song Dachui and the other three carried the Giant Wolf Tooth Club over, Zhang Yang had them stand at each corner. He then used the Village Building Order to fuse Demon Souls with them directly, enhancing their power.

In an instant, four white beams of light shot into the sky, then enveloped the bodies of the four soldiers and the Giant Wolf Tooth Club. At that moment, everyone heard a mountain monster's roar. Unexpectedly, the phantom image of a mountain monster appeared within the white light, roaring indignantly towards the sky.

This was an anomaly that had never occurred before, a good omen.

Then, Zhang Yang received a message.

A change occurred during the fusion of Demon Souls with the four soldiers. Their compatibility exceeds 50%. Would you like to add 5,000 energy points to ensure the most perfect fusion and enhancement within the upper limit?

Though surprised, Zhang Yang didn't hesitate. He immediately added the 5,000 energy points, secretly feeling fortunate that he had sold all the remnant souls earlier, otherwise he would have truly missed this opportunity.

In fact, he had already spent 15,000 energy points upgrading the Village Building Order and nurturing the village imps. Adding these 5,000 points, plus the 300 points per person for the enhancement, his pockets were once again empty.

If any other issues arose when upgrading the elite archers tomorrow, he would likely be penniless again.

As these thoughts ran through Zhang Yang's mind, further changes occurred within the white light. The mountain monster Demon Soul was somehow split into four parts by an unknown force and directly infused into the bodies of the four Elite Sword and Shield Soldiers. Even the heroic-grade weapon, the Giant Wolf Tooth Club, was similarly split into four. After that, an even more dazzling white light obscured everything.

However, there was no doubt that this enhancement would be incredibly exciting.

Five minutes later, the white light vanished, revealing four hulking figures like Berserker Bears to everyone's eyes!

Yes, they were truly hulking figures. Originally, Song Dachui and the other three were a standard 1.9 meters tall, but now, after being infused with the mountain monster Demon Soul, they had all grown to 2.4 meters. Their shoulders were broad enough for a horse to run on, and their chests were bulging like rocks. Their sheer intimidating presence alone was enough to awe.

But what truly drew attention was not their change in size, but the Mountain Monster Battle Tattoos on their bodies. Each person was covered for two-thirds, which clearly indicated how incredibly compatible they were.

The leather armor they had been wearing had long since burst, leaving only their successfully enhanced weapons and equipment.

However, their four sets of weapons and equipment were very different.

For example, Song Dachui's enhanced longsword was gone, and his shield was also gone. All that remained was a large iron hammer with a fine steel handle and a hammerhead as large as four basketballs, also covered in Mountain Monster Battle Tattoos. This guy had truly gotten what he wished for and had really become the Song Dachui.

As for Wang Mumu, only one weapon remained in his hand: a fine steel tower shield two meters high, 1.5 meters wide, and 30 centimeters thick. When placed on the ground, it directly created a crater dozens of centimeters deep.

Then there was Duan Kuan, the only one who maintained the essence of a Sword and Shield Soldier. His original 60-centimeter diameter reinforced wooden shield had become a 90-centimeter diameter reinforced steel round shield. His original one-meter long reinforced longsword had transformed into a 1.5-meter long captain-grade longsword. He could wield it with one hand or use both hands for Chop, whatever was more ferocious.

The last one was Zhou Datou. His shield also became a tower shield, but not as exaggerated as Wang Mumu's, with dimensions of 160x100x10. His weapon, however, had transformed into fine steel javelins, nine in total, carried imposingly on his back, giving him a bloodthirsty appearance.

Four people, four different development paths, yet they could perfectly coordinate with each other, combining offense and defense. This was simply a perfect mixed elite squad!

At this moment, not only was Zhang Yang overjoyed, but Wu Yuan beside him also gasped in envy.

Looking at their attributes, as expected, due to their extremely high compatibility, some key attributes were one level higher than normal captain-grade soldiers.

For Song Dachui, who focused on violent output, his Strength attribute was C-, with others at D+. His talent was Berserk, and his skill was Skull Crusher. His one-handed, two-handed, and block proficiencies were all 345.

For Wang Mumu, who focused entirely on defense, his Defense attribute was C-, with others at D+. His talent was Iron Wall, and his skill was Shield Bash. His one-handed and block proficiencies were 345.

For Duan Kuan, a swordsman type focused on offense with supplementary defense, his Agility attribute was C-, with others at D+. He had no talent but three skills: Chop, Chain Slash, and Wind Chasing Slash. His one-handed proficiency was 400, and two-handed proficiency was 400.

And for Zhou Datou, who focused on decent defense with medium to long-range fire support, his Strength was C-, with others at D+. His talent was Stability, and his skills were Life Pursuit, Shield Bash, and Throw. His block proficiency was 345.

Now, the Four Berserker Bears only lacked four sets of matching armor. Then, they would become the enemies' nightmare.

"From now on, you four will form a group. You will replace Wu Yuan and be responsible for the village's daily patrol and alert duties. Hmm, I'll find a way to get you all a set of leather armor as soon as possible."

Zhang Yang gave the order, then instructed Wu Yuan, "You need to quickly help Qin Yidao and the others cut arrow shafts and craft Eagle Feather Armor-Piercing Arrows. Once they are all upgraded, we need to consider village construction. Hmm, first build a castle, then a city wall. Defense will be the top priority for the village's future development!"

Everyone received their orders and left. Zhang Yang then hurried to the barracks. He hadn't forgotten that there were 50 new recruits there. Now, population had become a bottleneck limiting the village's development, so every soldier was a precious commodity. Especially in the upcoming construction craze, soldiers could also serve as construction workers!

What?

This doesn't conform to rules? Rules my foot! As the esteemed Village Chief, he was about to swear to become a craftsman himself. What was wrong with them chopping trees and mining stones?

After recruiting 50 new soldiers in the barracks, Zhang Yang led them directly to the training ground.

The training ground was located about 200 meters northwest of the Wood Demon Tower, at the bottom of a hill. It was very flat, 25 meters long and 20 meters wide, actually quite small, like a small courtyard.

In the northeast corner of the training ground was a simple small shack, where the junior instructor lived.

When Zhang Yang arrived, the junior instructor was sunbathing, looking very comfortable, with the carefree demeanor of Ge You.

However, upon seeing Zhang Yang, he still stood up, curiously sized him up, and then respectfully saluted.

"Village Chief, do you need me to train these new recruits?"

"Not yet, let me see what you can train?" Zhang Yang said, while also examining the sickly-looking young instructor, who was no older than twenty-five or twenty-six, with two small black mustaches. He looked more like a living person than the recruited soldiers.

"Village Chief, I can train new recruits into Spearmen/Archers/Sword and Shield Soldiers. I can also train hidden troop types, which are all the troop types that previous Village Chiefs, bound to this Village Building Order, have trained. However, this requires specific conditions to unlock," the junior instructor said unhurriedly, his expression relaxed.

"What specific conditions?" Zhang Yang asked.

"Upgrade the village to a town, upgrade the Level 1 training ground to a Level 5 training ground, upgrade me to a Level 5 instructor, and the town's population cannot be less than 1,000."

Hearing these conditions, Zhang Yang gave an awkward laugh. No chance. 1,000 people? Wasn't this just a scam?

"Forget it then. Train me 20 Sword and Shield Soldiers, 20 Spearmen, and 10 Archers."

"As you wish, Village Chief. All new recruits will be trained in three days."

Leaving all the new recruits at the training ground, Zhang Yang opened the village attributes and found the section for the training ground instructor. It displayed all the attributes and simple information about the young instructor.

Name: Qin Ge.

Age: 24.

"Profession: Training Instructor."

"Level: 1"

"Strength: E+"

"Agility: E+"

"Defense: E+"

"Archery: 200 (Proficiency)"

"Longblade: 200 (Proficiency)"

"Longspear: 200 (Proficiency)"

"Salary: 1 energy per day."

***

Could I have stumbled upon a special NPC? Salary, haha!