Village Imps Are Annoying

By the time Zhang Yang had used up his magic to craft ten Wolf Fang Arrows, Qin Yidao and the other ten elite archers had finally all been promoted to Captain-grade archers.

The affinity didn't trigger, so it seems Wu Yuan was wrong this time.

But that didn't matter, because the archers, who had always been merely cannon fodder in combat, truly exploded in power after being promoted to Captain-grade.

They truly lived up to their reputation as a more technical military unit.

At this moment, Qin Yidao and the others had all grown to two meters tall, their arms exceptionally muscular, long enough to hang above their knees—clearly the build of an archer.

As for their attributes, aside from their Soul being E-, all others were D+, very consistent.

Their archery proficiency had increased from the previous 245 to 355.

They had no innate talents, but two skills, both uncommon.

One was Wind-Chasing Arrow, not to describe its speed, but its ability to track fast-moving targets, hitting with 100% accuracy.

The other was Armor-Piercing Arrow, a skill specifically designed for breaking defenses.

As for their weapons, it was a bit awkward.

It's important to remember that each archer, when recruited, came with 35 feathered arrows, which couldn't be replenished once used up.

So, Qin Yidao and the other ten currently had no feathered arrows in hand, which naturally meant they had wasted this opportunity for enhancement, a Captain-grade enhancement at that.

However, the longbows in their hands were different. Initially, these were just ordinary longbows. After one enhancement, they became iron-bodied longbows. Now, after this third enhancement, they had become Captain-grade Great Bows.

Quite formidable.

This thing was 1.8 meters long, its bow limbs were very heavy, hard as steel, and the bowstring was thicker than a thumb. Just sitting there, it exuded a captivating aura.

Zhang Yang, with his current E- strength, stepped forward to try, but it was incredibly embarrassing—he couldn't even draw it. Qin Yidao, standing nearby, grinned and explained:

"Village Chief, this is a 300-jin strong bow; you can't draw it without 30,000 jin of strength. How about I test-fire an arrow for you?"

Clearly, he had his eyes on the Wolf Fang Arrows Zhang Yang had just crafted. In fact, it wasn't just him; everyone else's eyes were shining brightly. After all, as Captain-grade archers, they possessed the skill to shoot down eagles but lacked matching feathered arrows, which was truly pathetic.

"Stop spouting nonsense. For now, there are only ten matching Wolf Fang Arrows, one for each of you. From now on, you will hide in the small fort. Who knows when the enemy might appear? When they do, we'll see if you have the skill to shoot them down."

Zhang Yang snorted coldly, but in reality, he was very satisfied, and his heart finally settled. He could have promoted ten shield-soldiers or spearmen earlier; all would have been Captain-grade and their strength wouldn't be poor.

But he just felt that this time, the enemy was mysterious and unknown, and he didn't even know their tactics. Therefore, caution was paramount, and reckless fighting should be avoided. With ten Captain-grade archers, from a high vantage point and with a geographical advantage, they could at least remain invincible.

Next, Zhang Yang continued to activate his Soul Force Field, extracting Demonic Energy from the Wolf Demon's demonic blood. With the Azure Wolf Essence he now possessed, it was much easier to extract and capture Demonic Energy.

Unfortunately, the Azure Wolf was only a Level 1 demon, too low-level. The demonic blood contained too little Demonic Energy. If he had known this, he should have tried the Red Hawk's demonic blood from the start yesterday. After all, that was a Level 5 demon, and its demonic blood would contain more Demonic Energy.

Of course, the difficulty would also be much higher.

For a full three hours, even with the Azure Wolf Essence, Zhang Yang only extracted 0.03 units of magic power and successfully crafted 30 Wolf Fang Arrows. It was at this moment that the Village Imp frantically alerted him.

"Village Chief, this is bad, the enemy is here again! At least five imps, no, six! They want to kill me! They knew I was hiding here from the very beginning!"

Then, the Imp went silent, not because it was killed, but because it had directly hidden inside the Wood Demon Tower.

But at this moment, it was still very quiet outside. Within the village's range, it was like having a full Level 2 vision, yet no enemy appeared.

"Sound the gongs, tell Wu Yuan and the others to retreat!"

Zhang Yang first ordered the soldiers to beat their iron shields, and at the same time sent someone to the training ground, where there were still fifty new recruits. They needed to retreat here quickly.

Just as he gave the order, Zhang Yang saw Wu Yuan and his group running back in disarray. Clearly, they had already engaged the enemy, and some were even injured.

"What's going on?"

Suppressing the anxiety in his heart, Zhang Yang looked into the distance, but the ancient trees in the forest were towering, and he couldn't see anything.

"Village Chief, the enemy has archers, and they're Captain-grade! Song Dachui is injured, hit by five arrows, but it's not fatal yet." Liu Dali suddenly shouted. He had the best eyesight and could see clearly from a kilometer away.

At this moment, Zhang Yang looked closer, and sure enough, Wu Yuan's group was retreating, with Wu Yuan, Wang Mumu, and Duan Kuan covering the rear. Wu Yuan continuously swung his spear, parrying something, while Wang Mumu and Duan Kuan held shields, providing cover on both sides.

But the enemy's figures were still nowhere to be seen in the distance, which meant the enemy archers had a range of at least four hundred meters.

"Village Chief, should we go and meet them?"

Qin Yidao asked for permission to fight at this moment.

"No, you continue to hide. They won't die yet." Zhang Yang frowned deeply, but he kept a close eye on the status of Wu Yuan and the others on the Village Building Order. In this short time, four of them had been hit by arrows. Song Dachui's injuries were the most severe, but he could still survive and retreat into the range of the Wood Demon Tower.

Among the others hit by arrows was even Wu Yuan.

One arrow had taken away a fifth of his health bar.

This is the weakness of not having armor. Otherwise, the Four Berserker Bears could have charged in and counterattacked!

Zhang Yang gritted his teeth in anger. The Four Berserker Bears were very strong, but currently, aside from a deerskin apron, they were all bare-chested. Facing the enemy's Captain-grade archers like this was practically suicide.

Finally, Wu Yuan and his group retreated into the effective range of the Wood Demon Tower. Zhang Yang immediately activated the Fog of War. This thing was very expensive, consuming 100 energy per minute, but it reduced the enemy's vision by two-thirds.

Instantly, green mists billowed up, covering a hundred-meter area. And at this time, about four hundred meters away, eight figures emerged, but they didn't seem human.

"They have human-like limbs, wolf heads on their necks, and they wield great bows similar to ours. There are six archers in total, and two shield-bearers, but they all seem to be Captain-grade. Village Chief, only this many enemies have come? Something feels off."

At this moment, Liu Dali described it to Zhang Yang in detail.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Yang cursed, and his heart immediately understood.

"Either this is the enemy's vanguard, with the main force still behind them, but that's basically impossible. If this werewolf village could dispatch fifteen captain-grade soldiers all at once, what's the point of playing games? They'd just surround and attack us directly."

"If not, then there's only a second possibility: that mysterious enemy can't deploy a large force immediately, which is why they sent six captain-grade archers and two captain-grade infantry to blockade my village's development. They have sufficiently long range and powerful lethality, and I have no ranged units to suppress them. They can comfortably block my village until that mysterious enemy has time to deploy their main force."

As this thought crossed his mind, Zhang Yang's eyes gleamed fiercely.

"Charge out and engage them in a shootout!"

"Village Chief, shouldn't we use the Fog of War to flank and ambush them?" Qin Yidao asked. They currently had the advantage of timing, terrain, and human resources. A shootout would inevitably lead to casualties and make it difficult to wipe out the enemy completely.

"Flank them, my ass! They have Village Imps underground and are well-prepared. The Fog of War won't hide you either. Besides, if it's a trap, we can quickly retreat to the fortress."

Zhang Yang cursed, grabbed the last Imprisonment Spear, and charged out. He had a premonition that this mysterious enemy would be even more cautious and difficult to deal with than the Deer Demon. So, if he didn't catch them off guard now, he probably wouldn't get another chance.