As Liu Zhi's forces poured into the Golden Region, the Elephant-men there reacted as well. They quickly pulled their forces together and retreated to nearby cities.
After all, although the Elephant-men had three cities, they still lived mainly as nomads. They herded a goatlike creature that survived by feeding on the Ice Plain moss growing where it stood.
The creatures provided meat, wool, and milk, and were the Elephant-men's main source of supplies. The Elephant-men usually grazed their herds near their own Main City and Ancestral City, with their nomadic range covering about two-thirds of the Golden Region.
The last time Liu Zhi sent scouts in, they had gone in secretly, so they hadn't been spotted by the nomadic Elephant-men.
This time, though, it was different. The Elephant-men immediately noticed the large-scale attack and sprang into action. They sent the weaker Elephant-men to the Main City or Ancestral City, while those with some strength promptly joined the nearby forces.
In the game, all troops were arranged according to the game's rules. Whether or not they were officially organized, the standard of sixty people to a unit never changed. No matter what the Elephant-men wanted, they had no way to change that.
Before long, Liu Zhi's first troops encountered a group of Elephant-men nearby.
This group of Elephant-men had been hastily assembled and wasn't very large. They hadn't even formed a full unit, and the only weapons they had were icicles they'd found on the spot.
Facing them was one of Liu Zhi's ordinary heroes.
The hero commanded seven full units, but he wasn't a frontline fighter. His job was simply to transport these units to their assigned positions.
Heroes like him were common among Liu Zhi's subordinates. They usually had nothing to do beyond leading a force into battle once