Javelin Throwers (Seeking Collection and Recommendations)

Arriving near the Kobold village, Zhao Fu first had everyone prepare, ordering each person to cover their nose and mouth with a piece of cloth to avoid accidental self-injury.

To facilitate a surrender, Zhao Fu also ordered his men to capture a Kobold and subject it to harsh interrogation, forcibly breaking its will so it could serve as a translator.

Subsequently, the soldiers formed their ranks and marched toward the Kobold village.

Before Zhao Fu's party even appeared, the entire Kobold village was already on high alert, as their sensitive noses had already picked up the scent of a large number of approaching enemies.

A moment later!

Zhao Fu arrived in front of the Kobold village with 900 soldiers. All the Kobolds in the village had grabbed their weapons and gathered at the entrance, the two sides standing in a tense standoff.

On this side, Zhao Fu did not make a move, and the Kobolds dared not strike first either. Zhao Fu's force had reached 900, while the Kobold village had a population of barely 1,000. If Zhao Fu were to attack, the village would undoubtedly suffer countless casualties.

"I do not wish to commit unnecessary slaughter. Surrender, and I will treat you just as I treat my own people!" Zhao Fu shouted to the group of Kobolds while mounted on Little Black.

After shouting, Zhao Fu signaled for the captured Kobold beside him to translate loudly.

"Chirp-chatter-ooh-sha-ji-ooh-lo..."

The Kobold language sounded somewhat like the squeaking of mice. After the Kobold on Zhao Fu's side finished translating loudly, a Kobold who appeared to be the leader stepped forward and chirped a long string of words. Unable to understand, Zhao Fu turned his gaze toward the Kobold beside him.

The Kobold immediately translated, "The Kobold leader says, 'Humans, go back. We Kobolds will not easily submit to anyone.'"

Hearing this, Zhao Fu remained expressionless. Having anticipated this, he stood on no further ceremony and directly issued the order to use their secret weapon. The shield-bearers braced their shields, and the archers nocked their bows.

Every arrow was tied with a small cloth bag. These bags were loosely woven and filled to the brim with chili powder; the slightest shake caused the powder to leak out.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Arrows flew out, trailing clouds of red powder toward the Kobolds. Not a single arrow struck a target; instead, they soared high over the Kobolds' heads, raining down countless clouds of chili powder until the entire group was enveloped in red dust.

The Kobold leader had intended to order his Kobold Spearmen to attack upon seeing Zhao Fu's assault, but the next second, as they inhaled the chili powder, they felt a searing, fiery pain in their noses. It felt as if they were being burned alive. All the Kobolds began coughing violently, their tears streaming down like fountains.

With such a massive amount of chili powder, even an ordinary human would be choked to the point of death, which was why Zhao Fu had ordered all his soldiers to cover their noses and mouths—he hadn't even brought Little Gray along this time, let alone these Kobolds with their hyper-sensitive sense of smell.

Seeing the scene in the Kobold village, Zhao Fu did not stop. He ordered another volley of chili powder to be launched, and countless clouds of red dust swirled around the village like a thick fog.

Now, no one in the Kobold village could even stand. Everyone was clutching their noses and wailing on the ground, tears flowing incessantly. It was as if they had been hit by a chemical weapon—and for the Kobolds, the chili powder was indeed exactly that.

Seeing this, Zhao Fu revealed a faint smile and ordered his men to capture these now-defenseless Kobolds.

Finally, Bai Qi and Zhang Dahu dragged the Kobold leader before Zhao Fu. Only after several buckets of cold water were poured over his head did he feel slightly better, recovering from the agonizing, nose-stinging pain. He glared at Zhao Fu with fury, screeching and chirping wildly.

Mounted on Little Black, Zhao Fu looked down at the Kobold leader. Unable to understand him, he turned his gaze to the captured Kobold beside him.

The Kobold translated fearfully, "My Lord! The leader says you are too despicable to face him in a fair fight and that you used such shameless tactics. He feels nothing but contempt for you."

Hearing this, Zhao Fu couldn't help but chuckle.

"Your Highness! Let me teach him a lesson."

Although the others couldn't understand what the Kobold leader was saying, they could sense that the creature was insulting Zhao Fu. Liu Mei, who had a penchant for abusing others, rode over and requested permission from Zhao Fu.

Zhao Fu nodded in agreement, then rode Little Black toward the Kobold village.

Receiving Zhao Fu's order, Liu Mei flashed a charming smile, looked at the Kobold leader, and slowly drew her whip.

After entering the Kobold village, Zhao Fu went straight to the barracks and found two Class Transfer steles. He reached out to examine them.

[Kobold Warrior]: F-rank class. Description: A warrior among Kobolds. Class effect: Upon transfer, gain [Kobold Blade Technique].

[Kobold Spearman]: F+-rank class. Description: A spearman among Kobolds. Class effect: Upon transfer, gain [Throwing].

To Zhao Fu's surprise, the Kobold Spearman was not a special class; it had no limit on the number of transfers, meaning anyone could transfer into it.

After checking the barracks, Zhao Fu looked around the rest of the area but found no other unexpected gains. By this time, the Kobold leader, unable to endure the abuse from the somewhat sadistic Liu Mei, surrendered to Zhao Fu.

"Notification! The Kobold Duo Ke wishes to surrender. Do you accept?"

Zhao Fu chose to accept, then walked into the Village Chief Hall and chose to occupy it. He received a notification that he had gained 100 Military Merits. At this moment, Zhao Fu's status rose once again, from Citizen to Master Citizen. The next stage, upgrading from Master Citizen to Third-Class Baron, would require 1,000 Military Merits.

Zhao Fu also checked the attributes of this Kobold village.

Village Name: Duo Ke Village (Blue)
Level: Intermediate (400/30,000)
Village Area: 3 square kilometers
Village Territory: 15 square kilometers
Residents: 1,002/2,040 | Soldiers: 618/618
Public Order: 78
Special Attributes: Territory crop yield +8%, territory crop growth time -8%, population/soldier cap +2%.
Affiliated Villages Allowed: 2

In terms of attributes, it was much better than an average village, but it still couldn't compare to Great Qin Village. Zhao Fu chose to migrate it and gained 540 experience points. (To clarify, since an intermediate village requires 5,000 experience to upgrade, migrating and destroying an intermediate village provides this experience bonus; thus, Zhao Fu received 540 instead of 40.)

This time, the haul included over a thousand pieces of common equipment and more than 8,000 copper coins. In truth, these were not the most important things; the most vital gain was the 1,000 new residents.

Now that these 1,000 Kobolds had joined, Great Qin Village finally had the strength to protect itself against that 5,000-strong Orc Tribe. This was the most critical factor. From the 1,000 Kobolds, Zhao Fu first drafted 500—300 Kobold Warriors and 200 Kobold Spearmen.

Great Qin's total combat force had now reached 1,400, a significant increase in strength. This caused Zhao Fu to change his future combat strategy: he would rather spend more time to ensure the preservation of the population, as for any faction, population was always the most scarce resource.