Luring the Enemy

"Jackalmen?"

Zhang Yang instinctively thought this, but then immediately felt it was unlikely.

Although 27 days had passed since their last brief battle, it wouldn't be easy for the Jackalmen to recover their strength. In that last battle, they lost 61 Captain-grade soldiers and 37 elite soldiers.

Even if the Jackalmen could solve the problem of Demon Soul supply, what about their population source?

It couldn't be that Zhang Yang's Village Building Order had a recruitment limit of 500, while theirs was 5,000, could it?

"Can you confirm their identity?"

"Reporting, Village Chief, I cannot. The Abyssal Ghost Tribe's recruitment difficulty isn't high, so it's impossible to determine which faction they belong to. The only thing I can confirm right now is that the three Imps that just appeared were very cautious. They didn't dare approach within five kilometers of the village. If my Ghost Eye hadn't happened to spot them, I would have had a hard time detecting them."

"In fact, when I tried to capture them, they immediately fled without a trace."

The Ghost Priest didn't provide many clues, but Zhang Yang didn't blame it for not catching three Village Imps, even as a higher-ranking Ghost Tribe member. After all, the Ghost Priest's most important role was to accumulate Yin Energy and continuously restore the Wood Demon Tower's durability; it wasn't part of the combat sequence. If it had been a Ghost Assassin, the enemy Imps wouldn't have dared to approach within ten kilometers.

Of course, it was still good now. At least there was no need to worry about enemies using Imps to spy on the village's true strength. In a sense, this was also a warning bell from the enemy.

"Issue a notice: patrol teams are to heighten their alert. In areas not monitored by a Ghost Eye, use a Level 3 Vision Talisman every ten minutes."

"Continue with the construction of the fortress."

"The quarrying team will continue to quarry stone. Hmm, I will personally lead them."

After a brief thought, Zhang Yang issued his orders. He was only slightly surprised, without any worry or panic.

He even looked forward to enemies coming to his doorstep.

Since scaring away a Hero-grade flying monster half a month ago, Zhang Yang had ordered the archer team, led by Qin Yidao, Liu Dali, and Sun Goudan, to change their alert method: they were to hide.

A total of 12 Archer Captains and 10 Spearman Captains did nothing but hide in the fortress every day, ready to launch a concentrated attack on any flying monster that dared to approach the village.

Each Archer Captain carried 30 ordinary Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows or Wolf Fang Arrows, plus 5 Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows enhanced by Zhang Yang with Mana and Demonic Energy, giving them +3 sharpness and evil-vanquishing properties.

Counting the similarly enhanced Captain-grade Great Bows, their attack power could definitely be described as terrifying.

And the 10 Spearman Captains were also specially treated, each allowed to carry ten Imprisonment Spears.

Their presence could cover a three-dimensional space centered on the fortress, extending five hundred meters horizontally and three hundred meters vertically.

Within this area were the Barracks, Training Ground, Residential Houses, and Granary, all conveniently within the protected range.

Then, in the area from five hundred meters to one thousand meters out, which was primarily the village's Farmland, Zhang Yang arranged two daily patrol groups.

Each group consisted of five people, including an Archer Captain, two Shieldsman Captains, and two Spearman Captains.

Should anything unexpected happen, they would immediately move towards the fortress, sheltering the farmers and villagers into the fortress with the other 17 elite soldiers, and then fighting from within the fortress.

This was the village's inner defense line. Finally, there was the outer defense line: the five-kilometer patrol and alert circle, composed of the Four Berserker Bears, plus four Archer Captains and six Shieldsman Captains.

They would carry two Ghost Eyes, a large number of Level 3 Vision Talismans, and Protection Talismans, patrolling within the five-kilometer area.

If, five days ago, their patrol team's strength was still somewhat thin, after Zhang Yang enhanced all their weapons, it would be boasting to say they could directly confront one hundred Captain-grade soldiers. But if the enemy only had fifty Captain-grade soldiers, that would absolutely be courting death.

Because the Four Berserker Bears' equipment was currently the most luxurious in the village, and also what Zhang Yang had put the most effort into meticulously enhancing. Duan Kuan's blade, Wang Mumu's shield, Song Dachui's hammer, and Zhou Datou's Armor-Piercing Cone were all masterpieces.

Even if they encountered a Hero like the Black-Skinned Mountain Monster again, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they could instantly kill it.

Even if they encountered many Captain-grade archers on the opposing side, they could form a shield formation and charge forward in one breath, or retreat smoothly under the cover of the shield formation.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang Yang dared to leave the village with confidence. He felt that perhaps he could trick out the enemies lurking in the shadows, especially if they tried to swiftly annihilate this patrol squad.

As for the quarrying team led by Zhang Yang, its composition was equally luxurious: Wu Yuan, plus six Archer Captains, eleven Shieldsman Captains, two Spearman Captains, seven Artisans, and himself, totaling 28 people.

They were heading to a quarry eight kilometers away, which could also be a prime target for enemy sneak attacks.

"Heh, am I getting a bit too arrogant now? Daring to put myself in harm's way."

Before setting off, Zhang Yang thought this to himself, feeling somewhat strange.

But he still didn't hesitate at all, because he was very clear-headed.

First, the construction of the fortress was at a critical juncture and couldn't be stopped, and there was no reason to stop it just because three Imps appeared. A series of Zhang Yang's subsequent plans depended on this fortress.

Second, Wu Yuan and the Four Berserker Bears had already thoroughly investigated during this time and found no other stone mines within a radius of a dozen kilometers. They had to go to the quarry eight kilometers away. Again, the fortress construction absolutely couldn't stop.

Third, since the quarrying team had to go out daily, rather than Zhang Yang worrying while hiding in his base, it was better to go along personally. He wasn't a weakling anymore. If he had so many trump cards and still ended up being surrounded and killed by the enemy, then even if he kept hiding in the fortress, it wouldn't change the final outcome.

Then there was the last, and most important, reason: Zhang Yang didn't want to be a pure strategist, a lord who simply commanded from behind. His frantic village building during this time was entirely out of necessity.

Now that he had the chance, why should he hide in the village? Combat, facing life-and-death combat, was the best path to growth.

There was no escaping it.

In a while, he would also open the Hero's Trial. If he didn't seize the opportunity to hone himself now, what would he do when it was just him and Wu Yuan then?