Nearly a hundred decomposing corpses were piled beneath the city wall, black blood flowing and staining the earth into an eerie, dark red.
[First wave of offensive repelled] [Enemy morale -30] [Next wave of offensive will arrive in one hour]
The golden prompt box popped up.
"We won!" some Clones cheered.
"Don't celebrate too early!" Lin Mo shouted. "Count casualties, replenish ammunition, and repair defenses!"
Their own losses were negligible.
Only three militiamen had been hit by arrows during the enemy's sporadic counterattacks, and their injuries were not severe.
Not a single Clone was injured.
"How much poisonous blood is left?" Lin Mo asked.
"The bamboo-tube guns used about a third," First Clone reported. "The clay jars still have half their stock left. But..."
He pointed toward the corpses rotting beneath the city wall. "Can the blood inside those bodies also be recovered and reused?"
Lin Mo's eyes lit up.
That's right!
The Clones' poisonous blood was toxic, so the blood inside these enemy soldiers who died of poisoning should also be toxic!
Although the toxicity might be weakened, it was still better than nothing.
"Send ten Clones down to collect the black blood flowing from the corpses using containers!" Lin Mo immediately ordered.
Then ten Clones nimbly climbed down the city wall with wooden buckets, beginning to "harvest" the poisonous blood from the corpses.
"This guy has a lot of blood; I've collected half a bucket!"
"Use it sparingly, there's more over there!"
"I suggest we give this tactic a name in the future: 'sustainable toxic-blood recycling'."
"You motherfucker really are a genius."
The Clones bantered while working, and the atmosphere actually turned somewhat relaxed.
Watching this scene, Lin Mo's mouth twitched.
Sure enough, after his personality split into more than thirty parts, even his sense of humor grew exponentially.
An hour quickly passed.
[Enemy's second wave of offensive will arrive in a quarter of an hour] [Enemy count: 150] [Troop types: Infantry (120) + Archer (30)]
"They have ranged units now." Lin Mo frowned. "Archers are troublesome."
Leather Armor offered limited protection against arrows. If suppressed by archers, the spraying of the poisonous-blood guns would be affected.
"We need shields." First Clone suggested. "There are some wooden shields in the warehouse. Although tattered, they should be enough to block arrows."
"Distribute them immediately!" Lin Mo ordered. "Every Clone gets a shield, and so do the militiamen!"
Soon, everyone obtained crude wooden shields.
Some shields were even already cracked and barely held together with rope, but they were still better than nothing.
On the horizon, the figures of the second wave of enemy forces had already appeared.
This time, their formation was completely different from before.
Thirty archers lined up at the front of the formation, followed by one hundred and twenty infantrymen holding weapons, pressing forward with a murderous aura.
"The archers will lay down suppressing fire first." Lin Mo analyzed quickly. "Once we're suppressed, the infantry will charge."
Just as he finished speaking, the enemy forces indeed advanced to about eighty meters away. Thirty archers quickly formed three rows ten meters in front of the infantry, beginning to draw their bows and notch arrows.
"Catapults, aim at the archer formation." Lin Mo shouted loudly. "Fire!"
Five catapults responded to the sound, their mechanisms bursting with a dull rumble.
The next second, the poison jars tore through the sky and smashed accurately into the archers' formation!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Crisp shattering sounds burst one after another, and dark green poisonous blood splashed in all directions, causing those who were stained to instantly emit shrill screams.
In just the blink of an eye, the archers' formation plunged into total chaos. Some panicked and dropped their longbows, reaching out to wipe the poisonous blood from their faces, only for their palms to begin rotting at a speed visible to the naked eye the moment they touched the venom;
Some were scared out of their wits and, while retreating in a panic, knocked over the comrades behind them, causing their formation to completely collapse.
A single volley reduced the thirty archers by more than half right away.
"Infantry, charge!" came the frantic and exasperated voice of the enemy commander.
One hundred and twenty infantrymen shouted as they launched a charge.
Yet without the archers' suppressing firepower, what they faced head-on were the defenders who had long been standing by in full readiness, awaiting the exhausted enemy with ease.
[Clay jars in position -- throw!]
Rows of poisonous-blood clay jars pierced the sky and fiercely smashed into the charging crowd.
[Poisonous-blood guns aim -- spray!]
Dark green poisonous blood poured down like a torrential rain, instantly enveloping the entire area of the city wall.
The trajectory of this battle was practically a carbon copy of the first wave.
The only difference was that this time the enemy forces were not only more numerous, but also wore bright armor and fine equipment, clearly looking like elite troops from the army.
The momentum of their charge was also even more ferocious, with steady steps and tight formations, carrying a desperate and unyielding ruthlessness.
More than a dozen infantrymen, utterly fearless of death, actually managed to rush right to the base of the city wall, using the damaged parts of the structure to scramble upward hands and feet.
"Engage in close combat!"
Several Clones let out sharp roars and immediately pounced forward, the weapons in their hands, tempered with concentrated poisonous blood, flashing with cold light.
The moment the blades sliced through the Leather Armor, the dark green venom seeped into the flesh along the wounds.
Before the enemy soldiers who climbed onto the city wall could even issue screams, they tumbled down one after another.
This brutal tug-of-war lasted for a full quarter of an hour.
When the last enemy soldier fell, the outpost wall was already damaged in multiple places, three militiamen had died in battle, and seven were injured.
Two Clones also sustained minor injuries—both having been slashed by blades during close combat, but relying on their poisonous-blood constitutions, their wounds quickly stopped bleeding and healed on their own.
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