Intelligence from the Jackalmen Tribe

Da Qing and his four companions trailed behind the group of Jackalmen for over twenty minutes before the Jackalmen Tribe finally came into view.

What met their eyes was a Sky-Piercing Giant Tree with a trunk over five meters in diameter, standing a full forty to fifty meters tall, its crown like a massive canopy blotting out the sky and sun.

Grayish-white aerial roots hung down from the canopy, swaying gently in the wind.

"What a huge tree!"

Gazing at the awe-inspiring giant tree from afar, Da Qing and the others couldn't help but exclaim.

The Art Designer had absolutely outdone themselves!

Around the trunk were tents stitched from animal hides, with Jackalmen coming and going.

Da Qing and his group stopped over a hundred meters away, lying in the grass as they surveyed the distant Jackalmen Tribe.

A dozen or so Jackalmen carried a massive Sabertooth Tiger into the tribe, drawing cheers from within as Jackalmen poured out of their tents to gather around and watch.

Da Qing and his companions carefully counted the number of Jackalmen in sight.

"There are humans!"

Su Ziye spotted something and spoke in a low voice.

The tribe wasn't just home to Jackalmen; in view were also a few ragged humans, who, under the Jackalmen's direction, carried the Sabertooth Tiger's corpse aside and began processing it.

One human moved a bit too slowly, and a nearby Jackalman kicked him over, beating him viciously.

Clearly, these humans existed as something akin to slaves within the Jackalmen Tribe.

Besides humans, there were also several tall, thin creatures, evidently slaves of the Jackalmen as well.

These creatures stood an estimated three meters tall, but their waist was only half the width of a human's, making them look like slender bamboo poles.

Their legs and arms were similarly long and thin, with arms hanging down to their shins.

Their skin was wrinkled and rough, like dried tree bark.

"What are those creatures?"

Su Ziye's eyes widened as she asked curiously.

"No idea," Da Qing shook his head. "Maybe they're a race from the Savage World."

In the world background described on the official website, the Savage World teemed with Myriad Races, so some bizarre species appearing wasn't strange at all.

"Do you think those human slaves could be from our tribe?"

Shooting A Bit Like Kobe suddenly spoke.

"Very possible!"

Da Qing nodded.

The Tribe Leader had said the tribe was attacked by Jackalmen, forcing them to migrate to Gourd Valley.

Aside from the Tribe Leader and five children, everyone else had sacrificed themselves covering their escape.

Maybe some hadn't died but were captured by the Jackalmen and turned into slaves.

The five of them hid in the grass and observed for a long time, roughly determining the Jackalmen's numbers.

There were about sixty to seventy adult Jackalmen and over a dozen young ones.

Of course, some Jackalmen might have stayed in their tents without showing themselves, but not many.

Additionally, there were six human slaves and five Bamboo Pole People slaves.

"Let's go!"

With the intel on the Jackalmen Tribe, the five quietly withdrew and returned to their own tribe.

As evening approached, they successfully made it back to the valley and reported their reconnaissance findings to Lin Feng.

"At least sixty to seventy adult Jackalmen..."

Lin Feng frowned after hearing the report.

The number of Jackalmen far exceeded his expectations.

He had assumed this group, migrating from elsewhere, would be at most thirty to forty.

Generally, most races didn't casually leave their home territories to migrate.

Most migrations were forced by circumstance.

Maybe due to a shortage of food and water, or maybe because they encountered a powerful enemy...

Fangzhang Island was relatively resource-rich, dotted with freshwater lakes of all sizes, so food and water shortages were usually unlikely.

As for encountering a powerful enemy...

A tribe of sixty to seventy Jackalmen would be a formidable force anywhere on the island—what powerful enemy could force them to migrate?

The tribe currently only had thirty players. To wipe out the Jackalmen Tribe, each player would have to take on at least two Jackalmen!

That wouldn't be easy.

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Given the players' current strength, this was simply a pipe dream.

They would need at least the average player level to reach 3 or above before it became possible.

Take a Strength Class player as an example: at level 3, their Strength Value would be 13 points, with other attributes at 8 points.

In terms of stats, they would completely outclass the Jackalmen.

Of course, Intelligence Class players would be at a disadvantage.

For now, he still didn't know what the intelligence attribute actually did.

Made people a bit smarter?

"Tribe Leader, what are those Bamboo Pole People?"

Su Ziye's curious voice interrupted Lin Feng's thoughts.

"Bamboo Pole People..."

Lin Feng chuckled at the question.

"I know about that giant tree you mentioned. The race living beneath it, we call them the Wood Race—that's the Bamboo Pole People you saw."

"I didn't expect they'd also been attacked by the Jackalmen, and that the Jackalmen even turned their tribe into a stronghold."

Lin Feng said.

The Wood Race was a collective term.

On the Barbaric Continent, the Wood Race had many branches, with appearances ranging wildly.

But they shared one common trait: their bodies were made of wood, and most feared fire.

It was said that on the Barbaric Continent, the Wood Race held considerable power, carving out a place among the many strong races.

But this particular Wood Race tribe on the eastern part of the island was extremely weak.

The entire tribe had only twenty-some members, strong in power but slow in movement, making it hard to hit enemies.

An ordinary human could toy with them using agility alone.

Let alone the Jackalmen?

Most of their tribesmen had probably already been burned as firewood by the Jackalmen.

At dinner time, Lin Feng took advantage of the players gathering together to share information about the Jackalmen Tribe.

When the players heard about the existence of the Jackalmen Tribe, no one felt afraid; instead, they started cracking their knuckles one by one.

"Let's kick their asses!"

"Expedition against the Jackalmen!"

"Victory for the tribe!"

I Shoot You Innocent, who had been resurrected after having his throat torn out by a Jackalman attack, was shouting the loudest.

He had sworn to personally take down at least three Jackalmen to wash away the shame of being the first player to die on the server.

Lin Feng pressed his hands down, interrupting the impassioned players.

"Your spirit of facing strong enemies head-on makes me very gratified, but with the tribe's current strength, we're not yet able to contend with the Jackalmen."

"Over the next few days, I hope you'll work hard to improve your strength. Once we have enough power to defeat those Jackalmen, I will personally lead you to raze the Jackalmen Tribe and make those beasts pay blood for blood!"

Lin Feng raised his fist as he spoke.

The Jackalmen Tribe had to be eliminated as soon as possible!

Not just for the mission.

According to the intelligence brought back by Da Qing and his five-man team, there were still several living human captives in the Jackalmen Tribe.

Those human captives were likely the tribe's warriors who had covered their retreat!

He had lived in the tribe for three years, and every single member held deep bonds with him.

He had to rescue them from the Jackalmen's grasp as quickly as possible!

Over the next few days, the tribe began to develop steadily.

Some players went out hunting, some gathered wild fruit, some chopped wood to stockpile timber for the tribe...

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

The players' levels kept rising, with most reaching level 2, and top players like Da Qing even hitting level 3.

As players frantically promoted the game offline, the number of pre-registrations on the official website had reached 277. Players kept leaving messages on the forum, demanding more closed beta slots.

Although most of the registered players didn't believe there was really a virtual reality game with 100% realism, hearing their friends with beta access boast about how amazing it was, they were eager to log in and try it themselves.

Even if it wasn't 100% realistic, if it was even ten percent as fun as the beta players claimed, they'd be more than satisfied.

Just as everything was heading in a positive direction, an unexpected piece of news shattered the peace.

"Tribe Leader, a squad of Jackalmen has been spotted outside the valley—over a dozen of them!"

A player named "Chi Tao Tao Hao Liang Liang" rushed up to Lin Feng, panting as he reported.