Gathering

"A normal native gives me 3 to 5 experience points. What's with this extra 30 points? Campaign experience? Can't be used to learn normal skills? Do I have to play games with such fine distinctions?"

After watching the skeleton soldiers fight the natives from the side, Liu Zhi stepped forward to collect the spoils, all the while grumbling about his current gains.

These natives clearly looked like elites from the Serpent Attack Tribe, yet they only yielded 3 to 5 experience points for Liu Zhi, even less than a Fishman.

It was unclear if it was because Liu Zhi's strength was too overpowering now, or if the skeleton soldiers had taken most of the experience.

However, aside from the experience, these natives were good "transport captains." After they were all eliminated, the skeleton soldiers didn't go around dismembering them but stood guard, waiting for Liu Zhi to handle the cleanup.

Liu Zhi obtained two bronze Longswords from the natives. The style of these Longswords clearly wasn't South American, and he had no idea where they got them.

Perhaps the bronze Longswords were no longer very sharp, so they had also poisoned them.

In the end, these two Longswords were given to the Corpse Soul Naga to use, effectively equipping the Corpse Soul Naga with metal weapons.

At the same time, the leather armor from the natives was also stripped off and equipped onto the skeleton soldiers. The leather armor pieces were of various sizes, mostly made from animal hides. Although they had a strong odor, the skeleton soldiers didn't seem to mind. After putting on the leather armor, they did look a bit like warriors.

As for the spears, blowguns, and other items, they weren't even as good as what Liu Zhi could make himself. He simply threw the remaining useless items and the native corpses into the Mass Grave.

Unexpectedly, this action yielded something new.

It was a new unit that appeared in the recruitment options for the Mass Grave: skeleton soldiers wielding ordinary wooden bows.

[Skeleton Archer: A skeleton soldier possessing a longbow and shooting ability. Uses ordinary arrows. When without arrows, they have no combat capability.]

The recruitment rules for these skeleton archers were different from those of the regular skeleton soldiers. The number of skeleton soldiers recruited was calculated based on the number of suitable bones produced that week.

Skeleton archers, however, were different. The number of bows and arrows placed determined the upper limit for the total number of skeleton archers.

As for blowguns, sorry, undead beings who couldn't breathe couldn't use them.

With this discovery, Liu Zhi wanted to train with the flail as a fixed weapon as well, but it turned out to be useless; no new unit was produced at all.

In the end, Liu Zhi gave up on this plan prematurely and began mass-producing skeleton archer units first, focusing on building up his initial forces.

At this time, the Serpent Attack Tribe still had no idea that something was wrong. After all, they had agreed that the next day at the same time, they would lure away all the Giant Serpents again, allowing the warriors who entered the Golden City to come out.

Before that, their contact with the Golden City was interrupted.

However, they hadn't been idle today.

The nearby Deer Eater Tribe received a message from the Serpent Attack Tribe and finally brought their people to help.

Compared to the other tribes, the Deer Eater Tribe had a relatively good relationship with the Serpent Attack Tribe.

They were all part of the original tribes that hunted Giant Serpents. However, the Deer Eater Tribe had gradually shifted their hunting grounds later, abandoning the life of their ancestors.

Compared to the Serpent Attack Tribe, who used spears and bows, the Deer Eater Tribe had their own special weapon: a wooden fork that strongly resembled deer antlers. This wooden fork was considered a versatile treasure in their eyes, usable for picking fruit from trees, defending against snake constrictions, and catching fish underwater.

Most importantly, their tribesmen had a special combat technique for attacking with forks. Working together in groups of three to five, they could hunt a Giant Serpent.

Their arrival made the leader of the Serpent Attack Tribe extremely happy.

Parker, who had spoken with Lloyd earlier, even came out to greet them proactively.

"E Ji, I knew you would be the first to arrive. Your speed is faster than eagles."

However, E Ji of the Deer Eater Tribe was not as happy. He was tall and thin, his black skin painted a grayish hue, with large deer antlers drawn on his skin in fiery red pigment.

At the same time, he held his unique deer antler fork. It was evident that his deer antler fork was wood wrapped in copper. The tip was stained a dark green from too much blood, and the handle was worn smooth from extensive use, clearly an old item.

"Parker, I didn't expect you to be so reckless. Those snakes only just finished eating this year, and you dare to provoke them? Aren't you afraid of causing another serpent disaster?"

"No, E Ji, you've misunderstood. I'm not going to deal with the Giant Serpent. I've truly discovered that someone is unsealing a demon. This is our land, and we cannot let a demon escape."

"You expect me to believe that?" E Ji snorted. "We all have our own versions of how the Golden City came to be, but one thing is certain: it wasn't built for sealing anything."

"You don't believe it, but I do." Just then, a voice came from behind E Ji.

E Ji turned his head and saw another tribe approaching, led by a man covered head to toe in eagle feathers.

This man wore a bronze Longsword at his waist and carried a rhombus-shaped leather shield in his hand, on which a flying eagle was painted.

"Descendants of the Eagle Warriors, the Eagle Tribe has always remembered our mission. Even if it's just an ancient legend, there aren't many things that would cause the Maya, Inca, and us Aztec people to join forces to build a city. Not to mention that our ancestors have always passed down the command to guard this place, so being overly cautious is never a bad thing."

After the man from the Eagle Tribe spoke, E Ji snorted, "You are descendants of the Eagle Warrior order; we are not. We are just commoners, auxiliary troops of the Jaguar Warrior. We did not receive this command."

"That may be true, but this is our territory, our hunting ground. You don't want a demon to come out and destroy our hunting grounds, do you?" Parker also chimed in.

"Won't your hunting grounds be the first to suffer?"

Parker was somewhat speechless at E Ji's obstruction, but he understood that he needed the support of other tribes now.

At this, Parker gritted his teeth, "How about this, E Ji? As long as you agree to join, I can give you a portion of the hunting grounds."

Driven by the prospect of gain, E Ji finally nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then it's settled. Once the scouts I sent out return, we'll know what happened inside and whether the demon has truly been released."