13: Chapter 13 Return to Territory to Recruit

He took a deep breath, suppressing the lingering tremors in his heart, and announced loudly:

"Everyone, maintain formation and advance slowly! Moon Shadow Archers, keep Eagle Eye fully active and watch our surroundings! Today, we will let this jungle know who its new master is!"

The morning light filtered through the broken canopy, dappling the small, burgeoning squad.

They stepped over the bloody ruins and took the second step of their battle for survival toward the depths of the unknown jungle. The shadows of those three Rotting Skeleton Giant Bears hung over them like the Sword of Damocles, making every step forward feel heavy.

"Fortunately, those berserk monsters only gather at night to 'punch in for work' and attack the territory."

While commanding the team to advance cautiously, Lin Tian felt secretly lucky. "If those three 'gatekeepers' also loitered around during the day, it would be a 24-hour non-stop mental strain..."

The team had just left the bloody area ravaged by the Rotting Skeleton Giant Bears and entered barely a hundred meters into the jungle when dense rustling and low whimpers came from the bushes ahead. It was a wolf pack!

Moreover, the scale far exceeded yesterday's. Over twenty Mutated Wild Wolves with grayish-black fur, sturdy builds, and a crimson, fierce light glinting in their eyes were slowly closing in from three directions, forming a semi-encirclement.

The lead alpha wolf stood nearly 1.5 meters tall at the shoulder, its fangs exposed, with a tuft of flame-like dark red fur on its forehead. Its aura was clearly several times more ferocious than the other wild wolves.

"Hoh, so this is how the difficulty increases? Directly doubling the numbers and adding levels?" Lin Tian's eyebrows twitched as he quickly assessed the situation while simultaneously activating Inspect:

[Mutated Wild Wolf - Potential: Common]

[Level: black iron 4-Star]

...

[Mutated Wild Wolf - Potential: Common] [Level: black iron 2-Star]

The highest-level alpha wolf had reached black iron 4-Star, while the majority of the rest were black iron 2-Star, with a few at black iron 3-Star.

"Fortunately, the quality hasn't changed; they're still Common grade. It seems the system is increasing the quantity and base levels, not spawning elite monsters directly."

Lin Tian felt slightly relieved but dared not be careless. He immediately ordered: "Tighten the formation! Lin Yan, hold the front line! Lin Feng, prepare for a counter-charge! Lin Yin, free fire! Prioritize picking off those trying to flank us and the wounded ones!"

Almost the moment the command was given, the alpha wolf howled at the sky. As if receiving the signal for a general offensive, the wolf pack lunged from three directions! For a moment, a foul wind hit their faces as wolf shadows blurred!

"Rock Armor Soldiers, Rock Body, activate!" Lin Yan's voice was like muffled thunder as he was the first to activate a skill. Beside him, ten Rock Armor Soldiers roared in unison. A thick, earthy yellow glow surged over their rocky skin, instantly putting them into their strongest defensive state.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, forming an airtight rock defense line that firmly blocked the lunging wolves on the perimeter.

Wolf claws scraped against the rock armor, making an ear-piercing sound, while their fangs left only white marks. Only the few black iron 3-Star guard wolves could barely chip away some stone fragments. The black iron 4-Star wolf king did not strike immediately but observed from behind the pack.

"Heavy Armored Spearmen, prepare Spear Glow!" Lin Feng's gaze was sharp as a blade, calmly observing the rhythm of the wolf pack's impact. The moment several wolves faltered after crashing into the rock armor, he bellowed: "Thrust!"

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Eleven steel spears turned into silver serpents, thrusting out with precision! The cold light at the spear tips surged as foot-long, pale gold Spear Glows left the blades first, tearing through the air and slashing into the wolf pack! Immediately after, the physical spear tips followed, specifically targeting the wolves' soft bellies, throats, and other vital spots!

Puchi! Awooo!

Flesh was torn wherever the Spear Glows passed; blood splattered as the spears pierced through! In an instant, the ten wolves that had lunged first collapsed to the ground, howling in pain.

"Moon Shadow Archers, Triple Shot, fire!" Lin Yin, positioned at the core of the formation, spoke with a cold and steady voice.

She had already drawn her bow and nocked an arrow. The Eagle Eye skill allowed her to ignore the obstruction of branches and leaves, seeing the movement trajectory of every wolf clearly. Upon her command, the eleven Moon Shadow Archers (including herself) released their strings almost simultaneously!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

It wasn't a single arrow, but three arrows per bow! Thirty-three emerald-green arrows with faint moon-colored light trails on their feathers poured out like a torrential storm! These arrows weren't fired blindly; each had a target:

Some were accurately shot into the eye sockets and mouths of wolves attempting to leap over the Rock Armor Soldiers' defense line from the side; others focused fire on targets already wounded by the Spear Glows and moving slowly.

The wolf pack's charge was dismantled within a mere dozen seconds by this multi-dimensional and efficient defense-counterattack system. A ring of wolf corpses had already fallen around the perimeter of the formation.

"Good grief..." Lin Tian, standing in the safest position, watched this seamless coordination. Besides his admiration, he also rubbed his nose. "So it turns out I'm the most idle one? My role is comparable to a 'battlefield hype man'?"

But on second thought, he immediately found his self-worth: "No, no, I'm called the 'Strategic Commander and Battlefield Intelligence Officer'! My Inspect ability is the strongest early-warning system. If we can win, we annihilate; if not, we make a strategic transition (run away).

Besides, aren't I also responsible for cheering everyone on!"

The battle was a one-sided crush. Although the wolf pack was fierce, the slight attribute advantage brought by their levels was completely offset by the talents and skills of the fused units, whose quality reached Rare grade (Rock Armor Soldiers) and High-tier Excellence (Heavy Armored Spearmen, Moon Shadow Archers).

The Moon Shadow Archers' arrows, in particular, had extremely high penetration, often dealing fatal wounds to the black iron 3-Star wolves.

Seeing the situation turn sour, the alpha wolf let out an unwilling howl. The remaining seven or eight wolves tucked their tails and tried to flee into the depths of the jungle.

"Want to leave? Have you asked my Archer sisters?" Lin Tian wouldn't let these mobile experience points and resources escape. "Lin Yin, don't let a single one get away!"

"Yes!" Lin Yin drew her bow like a full moon, and Triple Shot was activated again! The other Moon Shadow Archers also tacitly aimed at their respective targets. The arrows broke through the air, accurately catching up with the fleeing wolves, entering from their backs and exiting through their chests!

The black iron 4-Star alpha wolf tried to dodge with a zigzag movement, but Lin Yin had already predicted its trajectory. Her three-arrow burst sealed off all its evasion space, and the final arrow hit its neck, ending its life.

The battle ended!

Clearing the battlefield, all twenty-six Mutated Wild Wolves were annihilated. Aside from the Rock Armor Soldiers having a few more claw and bite marks (which were slowly recovering) and some soldiers being exhausted, no one was seriously injured.

And the moment the battle ended, Lin Tian felt that familiar warm current surging within his body again!

[Notice: Congratulations! Your units 'Rock Armor Soldier: Lin Yan', 'Heavy Armored Spearman: Lin Feng', 'Moon Shadow Archer: Lin Yin', etc. (the first batch of 11) have been promoted to black iron 3-Star!]

[Notice: Congratulations! Your units (the second batch of 6 fused units) have been promoted to black iron 2-Star!]

[Notice: Congratulations! You have successfully increased your Lord Level to black iron 3-Star!]

"Haha! I leveled up!" Lin Tian's spirits lifted. "Sure enough, high risk (compared to yesterday) brings high rewards! At this pace, I must hunt as much as possible before the danger intensity skyrockets!"

After transporting the "spoils of war" from the twenty-plus Mutated Wild Wolves back to the territory, Lin Tian didn't even stop for a drink of water and immediately began the "harvest inventory" with great excitement.

Looking at the wolf corpses piled up like a small mountain, he rubbed his hands, his eyes shining with a shrewd light, looking just like a shopkeeper settling accounts at the end of the year.

"Come, come, let's calculate this morning's 'wages'!" Full of enthusiasm, his palm brushed over the wolf corpses one by one as the collection light effects flashed repeatedly.

[Obtained: Wolf Meat × 130]

[Obtained: Wolf Hide × 26]

[Obtained: Low-grade Spirit Crystal × 61]