"Jackalmen?"
Zhang Yang instinctively thought of them, but immediately felt that it was unlikely.
Although 27 days had passed since the last brief clash between the two sides, it would still be difficult for the Jackalmen to recover their strength. In the last battle, after all, they had lost 61 Captain-Level Soldiers and 37 elite soldiers.
Even if the Jackalmen could resolve the source of their Demonic Energy, what about their population?
It couldn't be that Zhang Yang's Village Building Order had a recruitment limit of 500 people, while the other side's recruitment limit was 5,000, could it?
"Can you confirm the other party's identity?"
"Reporting to the Village Chief, I can't. The recruitment difficulty of the Abyssal Ghost Tribe isn't high, so there's no way to determine which faction they belong to. The only thing I can confirm is that the three imps who just appeared were extremely cautious. They didn't dare approach within five kilometers of the village. If my Ghost Eye hadn't happened to discover their tracks, I would have had a hard time noticing them."
"Moreover, when I tried to capture them, they immediately fled without a trace."
The Ghost Priest hadn't provided many clues. Zhang Yang didn't blame it for failing to catch three Village Imps despite being a higher-level ghost. After all, the Ghost Priest's most important function was to gather yin energy and continuously restore the durability of the Wood Demon Tower; it wasn't part of the combat ranks. Otherwise, if it had been a Ghost Assassin, those imps wouldn't have been able to approach within ten kilometers.
Of course, this was already pretty good. At the very least, he no longer had to worry about the enemy spying on the village's true strength through the imps. Moreover, in a certain sense, this also counted as the enemy sounding a warning bell for him.
"Pass down the order. Raise the patrol teams' alert level. In places without Ghost Eye surveillance, use a Level 3 Vision Talisman once every ten minutes."
"Continue the castle's construction."
"Have the stone-mining team continue extracting stone. Hmm, I'll lead them personally."
After a brief moment of thought, Zhang Yang issued his orders. He was merely a little surprised, without the slightest trace of worry or panic.
He even looked forward to having an enemy come knocking.
Ever since he had scared off a hero-level flying monster half a month ago, Zhang Yang had ordered the Archer Captains led by Qin Yidao, Liu Dali, and Sun Goudan to change their method of keeping watch—to hide themselves.
A total of 12 Archer Captains and 10 Spearman Captains did nothing all day but hide inside the castle, ready to unleash concentrated fire on any flying monster that dared approach the village.
Each Archer Captain carried 30 ordinary Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows or Wolf Fang Arrows, as well as five Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows that Zhang Yang had reinforced with magic power and Demonic Energy. Their sharpness had been increased by 3, and they possessed the Evil-Slaying trait.
Combined with the similarly reinforced Captain-grade Great Bows, their attack power could absolutely be called terrifying.
The 10 Spearman Captains had also received special treatment, with each of them being allowed to carry ten Imprisonment Spears.
Their presence covered the three-dimensional space within 500 meters of the castle, as well as the 300 meters of air above it.
Within this area were the Barracks, the Training Ground, the Residential Houses, and the granary, all of which happened to fall within the protection range.
Then, beyond 500 meters and up to a range of 1,000 meters lay the village's Farmland. Zhang Yang had arranged two daily patrol groups there.
Each group had five people: one Archer Captain, two Shieldsmen Captains, and two Spearman Captains.
If anything unexpected happened, they would converge on the fortress immediately. Together with the other 17 elite soldiers, they would cover the farmers and villagers as they entered the fortress, then rely on the fortress to fight.
This was the village's inner defensive line. Finally, there was the outer defensive line: the five-kilometer patrol perimeter, made up of the Four Berserker Bears, four Archer Captains, and six Shieldsmen Captains.
They carried two Ghost Eyes, along with large numbers of Level 3 Vision Talismans and Protection Talismans, and patrolled within the five-kilometer area.
If their patrol team's strength had still seemed somewhat thin five days ago, then after Zhang Yang reinforced all their weapons, it would have been bragging to say they could directly fight a hundred Captain-Level Soldiers—but if the enemy had only 50 Captain-Level Soldiers, then they would absolutely be courting death.
That was because the Four Berserker Bears had equipment that could be called the most luxurious in the village. Zhang Yang had also poured the greatest effort into carefully reinforcing it. Duan Kuan's blade, Wang Mumu's shield, Song Dachui's hammer, and Zhou Datou's Armor-Piercing Cone were all top-grade items.
Even if they encountered another hero like the Black-Skinned Mountain Monster, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they could kill it in an instant.
Even if they encountered a large number of Captain-Level archers on the opposite side, they could form a shield formation and charge forward in one breath, or retreat safely under the shield formation's cover.
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Yang dared to leave the village without restraint. He felt that he might be able to lure out the enemy spying in secret. If the enemy wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to swiftly annihilate this patrol team, then—
As for the stone-mining team Zhang Yang was leading, its lineup was equally luxurious: Wu Yuan, six Archer Captains, 11 Shieldsmen Captains, two Spearman Captains, seven craftsmen, and Zhang Yang himself, for a total of 28 people.
They had to travel to the quarry eight kilometers away, which might likewise be a key target for an enemy ambush.
"Heh, have I gotten a little carried away? I actually dare to put myself in danger."
Before setting out, Zhang Yang thought this to himself, feeling rather strange.
But he still didn't hesitate in the slightest, because he was perfectly clear-headed.
First, the castle's construction was at a critical juncture and couldn't stop. There was even less reason to halt it because three imps had appeared. Zhang Yang's subsequent series of plans all depended on this castle.
Second, during this period, Wu Yuan and the Four Berserker Bears had already investigated thoroughly. There was no second stone mine within a dozen or so kilometers. They had to go to the quarry eight kilometers away. As the saying went, the castle's construction absolutely couldn't stop.
Third, since the stone-mining team had to set out every day, rather than hide in his lair and worry, Zhang Yang might as well accompany them personally. He wasn't a weakling anymore. If, despite possessing so many trump cards, he still ended up surrounded and killed by the enemy, then even hiding in the castle the whole time wouldn't change the final outcome.
Then there was one last reason, and it was also the most important: Zhang Yang didn't want to become a lord who merely strategized from behind the scenes and commanded from a seated position. During this period, he had driven himself mad building the village, but that had been entirely because he had no choice.
Now that he had the opportunity, why would he continue hiding in the village? Fighting—facing life-and-death battles—was the best path to growth.
There was no escaping them anyway.
After some more time, he would have to begin the Hero's Trial. If he didn't seize the chance to temper himself now, then when the time came and only he and Wu Yuan were left, what would he do?
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