49: The Birth of an Actor 2

Looking at Cheng Zhen, Old Xu quickly realized that "The Actor's Birth" was going to have a second season.

However, he was a bit confused. They had clearly captured Xiao Xi, so why wasn't Cheng Zhen directly ordering the Viper Tribe to surrender like before? Instead, he was beating around the bush and putting on an act?

Forget it, he wouldn't think about it. Anyway, he was just a placeholder now, so he'd do whatever his superiors told him to do.

"Alright, let's go take a look," Old Xu said, following Cheng Zhen's lead, preparing to have Xiao Xi guide the way.

As for those unrecruited NPCs...

Old Xu secretly glanced at Cheng Zhen, wondering what he planned to do.

As Cheng Zhen was pondering how to arrange things, another group of people was brought before him.

"Captain Xu... They are the survivors of the Mao Shu Tribe," Jin Yu said.

When Jin Yu took the NPCs to capture people earlier, she saw Xiao Xi throwing some people away like trash from a distance.

After spending several days together, Jin Yu immediately recognized them as her former subordinates. She was both angry and heartbroken, so she quickly had the NPCs take them in. Now, they had been untied and brought before Cheng Zhen.

"...Leader!" The Warriors, weakened from several days of hunger, lit up when they saw Jin Yu. However, when they saw the totem patterns on Jin Yu's hands, they all fell silent.

Apparently, the dungeon setting of 'changing totems = surrendering' was a consensus among all NPCs, which made these NPCs, who had escaped one danger only to lose their home, look very dejected.

However, Cheng Zhen seemed even more depressed than them.

Because of the numbers.

There were only thirty survivors from the Mao Shu Tribe, and with Jin Yu's original group, it was only a little over forty, which was not enough to meet the dungeon's recruitment requirements!

What should he do?

Cheng Zhen frowned in thought, his gaze sweeping back and forth among the NPCs.

Suddenly, as he looked at the Mao Shu Tribe members, an idea popped into his head.

If he could recruit members into his own tribe, then others could do the same.

Additionally, based on the different reactions of the NPCs, Cheng Zhen wanted to conduct an experiment.

"Mr. Xiao, considering the special nature of the dungeon, please separate from your Tribe Warriors for now."

Cheng Zhen politely had someone take Xiao Xi to lead the way, then arranged the Viper Tribe Warriors at the end of the line, preventing communication between the two sides.

Xiao Xi obediently walked away, seemingly unaffected by this action.

After he left, Cheng Zhen called Jin Yu over and said something to her.

"What?"

Jin Yu was shocked: "No, no, no, big brother, I really didn't mean that! I'm perfectly fine now, really!"

Should he choose to cry and win, or choose to smile and lose?

Anyway, after Jin Yu got her life back, she didn't want to throw it away again.

"I understand what you mean, and I'm not testing you."

Ever since Jin Yu tied the man up and brought him back, Cheng Zhen no longer suspected that they were acting in concert before.

He looked at the uneasy Jin Yu and smiled: "It's just a little cooperation, and who knows..."

"There might be some 'little surprises' later!"

...

"Slurp, slurp..."

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

Xiao Xi: "..."

The rumbling in his stomach made his face twist slightly.

Old Xu and Jin Yu, seeing beef noodles again after several days of hunger, were as excited as cats seeing dried fish. Xiao Xi, who had been gnawing on dried meat for days, couldn't stand the smell either.

But he couldn't say, 'Give me a bite to eat because I'm your opponent,' could he? He could only clench his back teeth and swallow his saliva in the corner.

The key was that a few people next to him were eating very loudly, maxing out his hatred. Xiao Xi was so angry he wished he could kill those smacking their lips.

"Calm down... Calm down!"

Xiao Xi didn't want to lose his mind over trivial matters and focused on his future actions.

That easily fooled young man, his skill was to obtain beef noodles. It was indeed very useful in this dungeon, but he seemed to have no combat experience and shouldn't be much of a threat in a direct confrontation.

On the other hand, the middle-aged man, with his expressionless (dazed) face (fishing), made it difficult to determine his thoughts; he was a troublesome opponent.

Moreover, Xiao Xi could also see that the NPC Warriors under them all held black double-bladed axes, which looked extremely sharp, far superior to the crudely polished stone spears.

Xiao Xi guessed that the middle-aged man's skill was to summon weapons. Industrial-era weapons against Stone Age handicrafts? Isn't that just bullying children?

Compared to others, the most difficult to deal with were the guy who hadn't shown his face and this Old Xu!

Then he would seize this opportunity to let them fight each other while he reaped the benefits! Slurp...

After lunch, although Xiao Xi was still hungry, he was very active with his new goal, helping everyone lead the way.

"Based on my combat experience with them, the enemy leader possesses a skill that enhances all NPC Warriors, which is very difficult to deal with."

Xiao Xi shared some of the more obvious intelligence.

On one hand, he wanted to build trust, and on the other hand, he didn't want a one-sided situation.

It would be best if both sides fought to a draw, both suffering heavy losses. That way, he would have a chance to take them both down.

Old Xu continued to look profound and silent, but in reality, he was waiting for Cheng Zhen to speak.

Cheng Zhen was not at all surprised that NPCs had a group buff skill. Rather, in this kind of dungeon, it would be strange if they didn't have such a skill.

"Captain Xu, we are not far from that Green Oasis now. How about sending a few fast scouts ahead to explore?"

Old Xu nodded, looking like a good, big brother who was good at listening to advice.

When the scouts returned from their reconnaissance, as expected, the tribe led by that NPC was also holed up in the Green Oasis and showed no intention of leaving.

After throwing Xiao Xi to the side, Cheng Zhen pondered the next course of action.

"Hmm, so they also have a large force stationed at the Green Oasis, with a small number of people going out to find food, right?"

Hearing this, Old Xu's mouth twitched, as if some dead memory was suddenly attacking him.

However, this time he was the one tricking others? It didn't seem impossible!

Looking at the suddenly agitated Old Xu, Cheng Zhen patted his shoulder: "Don't get excited, this time is different from last time."

"Huh? Why?"

Old Xu was clearly a little disappointed.

Cheng Zhen spread his hands: "Can we really show readers the same old routine? We definitely need to spice things up!"

"Besides, that method before took too much time, let's speed things up!"

A few hours later.

The Vulture Tribe Warriors guarding Green Oasis No. 2 discovered that someone had arrived.

Given that the other party only had thirty people, only a tenth of his own, the Vulture Chief didn't even bother to get up. He waved his hand and told his deputy to take people to deal with them.

The deputy took about a hundred people over, but he didn't expect the other party to directly perform a French military salute—

"We have long heard of the Vulture Chief's extraordinary bravery, which fills us with immense reverence! We wish to follow the strong, to follow the Vulture Chief!"

"To show our sincerity, I am willing to offer the Chief the most delicious food in this Desert!"