Harassment Tactics

The sun hung high in the sky, casting light through the sparse leaves onto the ground.

In the clearing beside the woods, dozens of tents were pitched.

Several guards stood outside the tents, keeping watch under the scorching sun. It was clear they weren't taking their duties seriously; they stood crookedly, leaning against the tents to hide in the shade.

They yawned while chatting with their companions.

No one noticed something flickering in the small woods nearby.

Even if they had observed carefully, they might not have spotted it.

This was because Drew was moving while under the effects of an Excellent-quality Shadow Potion.

Furthermore, with the help of the system, Drew moved perfectly along the shadows in the woods, leaving no possibility of exposure.

Drew did not leave the woods; with the Scanning System, there was no need to enter enemy territory like a conventional scout.

He only needed to stay in the vicinity of the enemy and wait for the system's scan results. Beep. Scanning System activated. Scanning range: 300 meters directly ahead. Estimated time: 452 seconds, 451, 450...

When it comes to scouting enemy intelligence, Shadow Potion and Scanning System are a perfect match.

With zero risk, Drew obtained the enemy's intelligence eight minutes later.

The enemy had a total of 134 people: five intermediate professionals, thirty primary professionals, eighty-one apprentice-level professionals, and eighteen ordinary people.

Given this personnel structure, professionals made up the vast majority, while the ordinary people—only about ten percent—were merely support staff. These bandits were truly a force where everyone was a soldier.

Comparing this to the town's personnel—3 intermediate professionals, 9 primary professionals, and 34 apprentices—the gap between the two was immense.

Fortunately, Drew could basically ignore anyone below the primary professional level.

The gap was only in top-tier combat power, and in that regard, Drew was confident he could take them all on.

It seemed the key would be how to arrange the priority of engagements for their top-tier combatants.

After scouting the enemy's strength, Drew returned to study his next tactics.

What tactics could he use to circumvent the gap in lower-tier combat power?

Drew thought of a tactic—the guerrilla warfare of his ancestors—to fully utilize the mobility of high-end combat power.

Harass the enemy, strike them, and leave immediately. Don't let the enemy catch him, forcing their high-end combatants to come out and deal with him.

But as for mobility, it seemed the enemy was stronger than him.

As a mage, how could he outmaneuver other classes? It seemed he would have to rely on his old trade: alchemy.

He remembered there was a Basic Agility Potion that increased one's agility.

With his intermediate professional physique, even if he wasn't an agility-based class, he could still use basic potions.

Additionally, there was the Lightness Potion, which reduced body weight.

The enemy wouldn't arrive for a few more days, so he would strive to finish making the potions today and go harass them tomorrow.

In one day, Drew accumulated some Excellent-quality Basic Agility Potions and Lightness Potions, then set off after a night of meditation to recover.

These past few days, the leader of the Hurricane Bandit Group, Kuang Tu—the bald giant from before—had been on the verge of going berserk.

He was a Berserker, and "Berserk" was one of his combat stances. But now, he wasn't switching stances to fight; the rage in his heart was making him go truly mad.

Although they hadn't lost many men, their supplies and equipment had suffered heavy losses, especially the tents.

For days, he didn't know where this insidious thief had come from, hiding in the shadows and specifically looking for trouble.

The thief targeted them whenever everyone was resting, burning tents. In just a few days, they had lost many, and a few unlucky souls had even been burned to death.

It had reached the point where they no longer had tents to live in; only those with high status had spacious tents, those with lower status were crammed into crowded ones, and the ordinary people had to sleep in the open.

And this was even after splitting the group in half to keep watch so they didn't have to sleep.

This thief also ran incredibly fast, disappearing in a flash.

Yesterday, the entire group stayed awake to guard against this guy. As a result, the thief didn't show up all night. Everyone's eyes were bloodshot, yet the guy had stood them up.

In the end, Kuang Tu had to order everyone to rest today instead of moving.

That was when the thief appeared again. Because they hadn't slept all night, everyone was sleeping deeply, especially the guards.

They were almost wiped out in one go. After taking stock of the losses, there were basically no supplies left. As for personnel, the losses were heavy: only five intermediate professionals, ten primary professionals, and twenty-five apprentice-level professionals remained. Not a single ordinary person was left.

Kuang Tu couldn't help but curse the damned thief.

If Drew were here, he would certainly refute that; he was clearly a mage, just one who took potions to run faster.

He wasn't some thief, and his fire magic was just exceptionally skilled—he could burn a whole pile of tents at once.

Moreover, he was an alchemist. Combustion Potions, Sleeping Potions—he could make them all, and they were of super-high quality with excellent effects.

Look at all those people; they could finally get a good night's sleep today.

This Sleeping Potion was quite good, wasn't it? If you couldn't sleep at night, it was definitely a miracle cure.

Of course, if Kuang Tu heard him say that, he would probably vomit blood.

After venting, Kuang Tu calmed down. The current situation was very grim.

More than half of his men were lost, and even his core strength of primary professionals had suffered such heavy casualties.

It is easy enough to deal with low-level professionals; one move can wipe out a whole crowd.

However, cultivating a low-level professional is not an easy task.

Thinking of this, Kuang Tu felt a headache coming on.

On top of that, all their supplies had been completely lost.

In this situation, they could not take any action; they had to find a place to resupply.

He pondered what places nearby might offer supplies.

It seemed they were quite close to Lincoln Town now; they could reach it in a day.

Since their baggage train was completely lost, they could move at full speed and likely arrive in half a day.

Kuang Tu immediately gathered the remaining men.

"Alright, stop what you're doing. Everyone still alive, get over here."

"Boss, what are your orders?" His subordinates gathered obediently, though their expressions were grim. Each one of them looked disheveled and covered in dirt.

"Forget about the people and items on the ground. Little Wolf, tell me what you think we should do now." Kuang Tu swept his gaze over everyone and asked one of them.

"Boss, we have suffered heavy losses. In particular, our supplies are completely gone. If we cannot replenish our supplies, we won't be able to take a single step further. I believe our top priority right now is to resupply." Kuang Tu gave Little Wolf an appreciative look; he was indeed someone he valued. It was worth asking him first.

"Little Wolf is right. Our primary task right now is not to scavenge for supplies here and clean up the battlefield like some janitors. Who are we? We are bandits. What do we do when we lack things?"

"Rob, rob, rob!" The crowd finally understood; if they lacked things, they would just go and rob.

With morale so low, they needed a raid to boost their spirits.

"Good, listen up, everyone. We will now force-march for half a day to the outskirts of the nearest Lincoln Town. Find a forest to rest for the night. Tomorrow, we take Lincoln Town. Once we take it, there will be plenty of food, drink, and women to play with. Move out!"