Chapter 115 Leader of the Bandits

Chapter 115: The Bandit Chieftain

Unnoticeably, it was already late March in the year 180.

During this period, the system continuously broadcasted news of various villages upgrading. However, the numbers were small; fewer than a hundred villages across the entire game had achieved an upgrade. In the Liangzhou region, only three or four villages had completed their upgrades, including White Village [Wuwei Commandery], Liangyou Village [Zhangye Commandery], Jianding Village [Wuwei Commandery], and a few others.

The wooden palisade of White Village was about halfway complete, and the remainder would likely not be finished until the following month.

While Zhan Xiaobai was managing village affairs in the courtyard, A-Fei strode in excitedly to report on the recent developments.

Seeing A-Fei beaming with joy, Zhan Xiaobai smiled and asked, "A-Fei, what is there to be so happy about?"

A-Fei walked over and chuckled, "Big Brother, during this time, Shaoxia and I have led a bunch of the village brothers into several battles. We've successfully secured all the important territories bordering the neighboring villages. That crucial beast-spawning spot in Gray Wolf Valley is now completely monopolized by players from White Village; not a single player from outside villages can gather materials there anymore."

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and nodded. Level 15 Gray Wolf pelts were a decent material for crafting leather armor. Remembering that Sister-in-law Gu's primary leather-stitching skill was about to reach the intermediate level, they could use this batch of Gray Wolf pelts to craft Gray Wolf leather armor. This tier of armor should turn out quite well.

He asked, "How many Gray Wolf pelts roughly drop in Gray Wolf Valley each day?"

A-Fei scratched his head awkwardly. He usually didn't pay attention to such details, so he could only guess, "Thousands of Gray wolves spawn there every day. It probably takes about 200 to 300 gray wolves to drop a single intact gray wolf pelt, so we probably get around 30 complete wolf pelts a day. We try our best to collect all the dropped gray wolf pelts. Oh, right, 3 or 4 wolf kings frequently spawn there every day, dropping wolf king pelts, wolf king fangs, and wolf king tendons of very high quality. Big Brother, I might as well collect the wolf king materials and make you a full set of Wolf King armor!"

Zhan Xiaobai chuckled and said, "Where on earth are you going to find that many wolf kings to drop materials for you?! It takes 200 wolves just to drop one pelt, and making a full set of leather armor requires at least 3 to 4 pelts and several tendons. How many wolf kings can you possibly kill?"

A-Fei laughed heartily and said, "Big Brother doesn't know this, but I have a player over there who has learned the skinning skill. He can now skin pelts from fallen monsters with a success rate as high as 10%, so skinning a wolf king is a piece of cake. The only difficult part is the wolf king tendons. Since no players understand that technique, those must be dropped directly from the wolf kings."

Zhan Xiaobai shook his head with a smile, "If they're easy to get, then suit yourselves. Making a set of Wolf King armor would be nice too. Are there any other matters?"

A-Fei quickly replied, "Ah, yes. For a while now, Shaoxia and I have been leading a group of high-level players operating around Gray Sunshine Village at the foot of Tiger Head Mountain. This place yields money, drops a small amount of equipment, and offers fast leveling. Players above level 23 can only find suitable leveling spots there. Shaoxia and I have been taking turns maintaining order there and have never left."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded.

The higher the level, the higher the level of monsters that needed to be killed to gain experience. Gray Sunshine Village had long been occupied by hostile NPCs like level 19 ruffians, level 18 shrews, and level 17 hooligans, making it just right for high-level players to grind experience. The monsters spawned at Gray Sunshine Village were neither too strong nor too weak, perfectly suited for a segment of high-level players.

However, listening to A-Fei, it seemed there were some issues.

He frowned slightly. "Did you encounter any trouble over there?"

A-Fei said, beaming with pride, "As if! When have we ever taken a loss? Actually, the trouble over there wasn't a big deal, it's just that there are many villages around Tiger Head Mountain. Brilliant Village, Invincible Village, Passing By Village... quite a few of these villages are close to Gray Sunshine Village. At first, they claimed that the abandoned Gray Sunshine Village belonged to their territory and told us not to run all the way over there to compete with them for leveling spots. Hah, they didn't even look in the mirror to see how capable they were, actually coming up with such a lame excuse to try and dismiss us. Of course, Shaoxia and I wouldn't have it. Every day, we brought nearly a hundred experts to grind levels there, and now they don't even dare let out a peep."

"Oh, so did they take any action?"

"Of course they did. The village chief of Brilliant Village even wanted to fight us. As a result, we fought two small skirmishes with him over the past couple of days and beat him until he lost his spirit; now he doesn't dare actively cause us trouble. But our numbers are still a bit too small, and the distance from our village to Gray Sunshine Village is quite far, so there's no way to drive them out. Right now, besides our village's 200-plus players, there are still 200 to 300 players from three or four other villages leveling there."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded in satisfaction and said, "Mmm, you and Shaoxia should try your best to completely control Gray Sunshine Village in your hands. This is the path from our village leading to the Tiger Head Mountain stronghold spawning point. Once we control Gray Sunshine Village, our next target will be Tiger Head Mountain, as this area only has this one high-level spawning point."

A-Fei proudly said, "That's definitely not a problem. Big Brother, you don't know this, but Shaoxia and I have long been plotting to completely subjugate those villages. That's why we've been continuously poaching the elite players and skilled craftsmen from those villages. By now, almost all of the top-tier players from those few villages have been poached away by us. Relying on those second and third-rate characters, they are simply no match for us."

"Haha, good, that underlying strategy of pulling the firewood from under the cauldron is brilliant."

Zhan Xiaobai laughed. He paced around the courtyard, pondered for a moment, and said, "The strength of the villages near Tiger Head Mountain is mediocre; at most, they can only cause us a little trouble. You should expand your scouting as far to the periphery as possible. Send people to gather information on the important villages throughout the Longyou region."

A-Fei immediately responded, "Understood, Big Brother, rest assured, leave this matter to me. I've already arranged scouts in over thirty villages near our village; I'll just expand the coverage a bit more. Oh, right, Big Brother, when we level at Gray Sunshine Village, the consumption of health potions, light spears, wooden shields, and other equipment is very high. We'll probably need to increase supplies."

"You don't need to worry about logistics. I'll have Jianba ensure your demands are met as much as possible."

Having reported the situation of the past two days, A-Fei immediately left the village and led his men back toward Gray Sunshine Village.

Zhan Xiaobai fell into deep thought in the courtyard.

They did not yet have the strength to swallow Gray Sunshine Village in one gulp; they could only continue to build up their strength and wait for the right opportunity. By the end of this month, once mid-tier equipment such as leather armor was produced, the time would be nearly ripe.

Additionally, the special building, the Bandit Camp, could also spit out 1 to 2 fine weapons with +5 attack per day, as well as decent equipment like +3 defense grass armor. Although the quantity wasn't large, forming a small elite detachment was entirely feasible.

Qiushui hurried in from outside, looking somewhat panicked as she said, "Big Brother Bai, this is bad! Something has happened at the Bandit Camp!"

Zhan Xiaobai calmly asked, "What happened?"

With nearly a hundred players guarding the Bandit Camp to farm monsters every day, he didn't think any serious problem could arise there.

Qiushui anxiously said, "I don't know what's going on, but the Bandit Camp actually spawned two NPC bandits at once. Previously, it had always only spawned one."

"Two NPCs?" Zhan Xiaobai smiled. "Isn't two even better? You guys can kill more at once! Don't tell me that with so many of you, you can't handle these two monsters."

"No, it's not like that. The ones that spawned this time are different from ordinary monsters. One of them is a Bandit Chieftain glowing with a red light, and his level is very high—over level 40! He uses an iron-pewter bow, and a single arrow can drain a player's HP bar completely. He shoots so fast that more than ten of our brothers died in just a moment. The other is a blade-and-shield bandit who acts as cover for the chieftain, blocking our attacks and making it impossible for us to get close to the Bandit Chieftain. As a result, we are now caught in a dilemma."

"Oh, really? Quickly, let's go!"

Zhan Xiaobai felt no worry at all; instead, an inexplicable surge of pleasant surprise arose within him—a glowing red Bandit Chieftain, a mini-boss! He had killed plenty of ordinary foot soldiers, but he had never actually killed a mini-boss. He wondered if this Bandit Chieftain could give him some unexpected surprises in drop rates.

He and Qiushui hurriedly rushed to a secluded spot inside the village—the Bandit Camp.

By the time Zhan Xiaobai and Qiushui arrived, several hundred players had already gathered a hundred meters outside the perimeter of the Bandit Camp, not daring to approach.

In a blind corner of the Bandit Camp, an NPC Bandit Chieftain and a blade-and-shield bandit were pressed tightly together. While vigilantly staring at the distant players, they occasionally loosed an arrow toward a wooden house in the distance, chipping away a small amount of the house's durability.

Zhan Xiaobai observed the terrain. The narrowest point could only accommodate three to four players approaching them at once. Given the terrifying attack power of the Bandit Chieftain and the blade-and-shield bandit, those few players would likely be wiped out in just two or three hits.

No wonder none of the players had rushed in.

News of the Bandit Chieftain had spread throughout the entire village, and bigwigs from many player legions and guilds had rushed over, hoping to see if they could get a top-tier item to drop.

Hot-Blooded Passion, Loyalty to the Clouds, and others saw Zhan Xiaobai present and came over to greet him one after another.

Hot-Blooded Passion laughed heartily, "Ah, Boss Bai is here too, perfect, just perfect! Look at how to handle this Bandit Chieftain? I've never seen a BOSS like this before. I'm afraid he's going to drop some incredible stuff. How do you think the loot should be split?"

Loyalty to the Clouds couldn't help mocking him, "Old Blood, the items haven't even dropped yet, and you're already in such a rush to divide the spoils!"

Hot-Blooded Passion laughed, "Can a mere Bandit Chieftain really stump so many of us? Taking them down is just a matter of time. If you, Old Yun, can't handle it, then step aside and watch how the Hot-Blooded Army deals with them."

Loyalty to the Clouds let out a weird laugh, "There's nothing your Hot-Blooded Army can do that my Loyalty Army can't. Why don't we draw a line and see who can take them down first!"

"Alright, bring it on! Boss Bai can be the witness for both of us."

Singing in harmony, the two of them intended to swallow the Bandit Chieftain all to themselves. Once the items dropped, they would naturally belong to them.

How could Zhan Xiaobai fail to guess their little scheme? He smiled and said, "Fine. However, if the dropped item happens to be something I need, it belongs to me. If it's not something I need, then you guys can figure it out yourselves."

Hot-Blooded Passion immediately cursed with a smile, "Damn it, Boss Bai, you're too cunning! That won't do. If you want the item, you have to contribute your own men and effort. How can you squeeze our labor like this!"

Zhan Xiaobai was waiting for precisely those words. He immediately smiled and said, "Alright! Qiushui, gather our troops, have everyone switch to wooden shields, and charge in! I refuse to believe that Bandit Chieftain is that overpowered!"

Qiushui acknowledged the order and arranged for personnel to fetch a large quantity of wooden shields from the carpenter's workshop. Dozens of people each held a shield, with two more kept in their inventory as backups, while switching to sabers and swords. She personally led a team of men charging toward the corner where the Bandit Chieftain was hiding.

Hot-Blooded Passion and Loyalty to the Clouds were instantly dumbfounded. Too cunning, just like that— "Hey, wait, wait, we have a stake in killing this Bandit Chieftain too! Brothers, switch to wooden shields and charge!" They also organized dozens of men and followed the charge.

Seeing the players' charging maneuver, the Bandit Chieftain immediately became alert. With a "swish," an arrow was loosed from a distance of 100 meters straight toward the players.

The iron arrow struck a wooden shield, and the shield—which boasted a high durability of 50—actually shattered with a loud crack. The iron arrow pierced through and struck a player, even dealing a massive 20 HP of damage. Cold sweat broke out among the players, startled, but fortunately, they had shields.

That player hurriedly swapped in another wooden shield and continued charging alongside the main force.

The Bandit Chieftain shot with extreme speed: "Swish, swish, swish!"

Within a mere 100-meter distance, he shattered more than twenty players' wooden shields. Fortunately, there were backup wooden shields. The players quickly swapped them out.

Qiushui led the three foremost players charging into the corner, hacking at the blade-and-shield bandit. Because the blade-and-shield bandit was blocking the front, unless he was killed, it was impossible to reach the Bandit Chieftain behind him.

The Bandit Chieftain continued shooting arrows: "Swish! Swish!"

Before Qiushui and the others could land even three strikes on the blade-and-shield bandit, their carried backup wooden shields were completely depleted. Daring not to stay a single second longer, they hurriedly retreated, letting the players behind them step up to keep hacking.

A few players who didn't run away in time were struck by an arrow from the Bandit Chieftain, cried out "Ah," and dropped dead, spilling their own equipment.

No one cared to bother with those items; putting their all into it, they hacked away fiercely.

After more than ten players fell and over fifty wooden shields were consumed, the blade-and-shield bandit finally wailed and collapsed. A piece of equipment dropped, but not a single person bothered to check what it was.

Because his death had exposed the glowing red Bandit Chieftain behind him. That archery was as rapid as swishing rain, dazzling to the eye and leaving no room for distraction. The moment a player ran out of shields, they immediately flashed back and retreated.

Keep hacking; victory was still a long way off!

The Bandit Chieftain had thick skin and a sturdy build, wearing full grass armor, and his bones were rock-hard.

Zhan Xiaobai, the dozens of bigwigs, and others watching from afar had all tensed their nerves. This time, they had organized over 150 players to charge in. If they still couldn't take down this Bandit Chieftain, the losses would be massive—equipment costs, death compensation... and most importantly, it would be humiliating.

After taking dozens of slashes and causing another dozen player deaths, everyone felt he was on the verge of dropping loot. They were silently shouting: Drop it for me, drop a few good items!