55: It turns out that I'm not a weakling?

“You, cough cough, you poisoned…”, the Vulture Chief tried to prop himself up, but his internal organs were throbbing with pain. The moment he opened his mouth, he nearly coughed up a lung.

The sensation was like being shaken into a pulp by a giant pendulum after riding a drop tower a dozen times, then drinking scalding hot oil that burned from the bronchi all the way to the duodenum. His entire body was dizzy, nauseous, and vomiting, all while constantly feeling the searing pain of his internal organs being punctured. He only wished he could smash his head against a pillar and die on the spot to escape the torment.

“Don’t gag yourself, this stuff is quite expensive, don’t waste it.”

Cheng Zhen waved his hand, and A Kun Duo and the others went up with ropes to tie him up.

The Vulture Chief stared intently at Cheng Zhen: “When exactly… Before, it was clearly…”

“That time, it was indeed just salt,” Cheng Zhen casually tossed away an empty small water pouch, “After all, even if hundreds of Woodpeckers died of exhaustion, they couldn’t contaminate such a large Green Oasis water source.”

The Desert Golden Scorpion’s venom output is about one milligram each time. Although Jin Yu had tried her best to ask a few scorpion elders to produce more, they only managed to accumulate a small amount, far from enough to poison two or three hundred people. So, Cheng Zhen never intended to target the Green Oasis water source from the beginning; he only focused on the Vulture Chief.

Cheng Zhen also guessed that the Vulture Chief might continue to make them taste the food in person, so poisoning the noodles would likely affect his own people and was not a suitable choice.

Thus, Cheng Zhen set his sights on the drinking water carried by the marching camels.

Drinking water concerned the entire tribe, so an outsider like Cheng Zhen naturally couldn’t approach it easily.

Unfortunately, the Vulture Chief only paid attention to protecting the drinking water but overlooked the drinking vessels.

Those delicate, clean porcelain bowls were indeed popular with everyone and had all been preserved.

And as the person who brought the vessels there, who would guard against Cheng Zhen stealing the white porcelain bowls?

“Damn it… despicable…” the Vulture Chief cursed. He desperately wanted to call the Warriors outside to chop Cheng Zhen into mincemeat, but he was too weak to shout.

The Vulture Warriors next to him were also twisting and rolling on the ground, painfully squirming and raising clouds of dust.

“Hurry up, don’t let the people outside notice anything unusual.”

Cheng Zhen had A Kun Duo and the others firmly tie up the group, then walked out of the makeshift tent.

The sight of the two messenger Warriors rushing in earlier had already been seen by many.

Now, the Warriors outside were also paying attention to this side. Seeing Cheng Zhen come out, they all looked at him.

“Chief said to split into two groups to deal with the Giant Camel Tribe and the enemies that suddenly appeared behind us!” Cheng Zhen loudly conveyed the ‘Vulture Chief’s’ order.

Cheng Zhen: This Vulture Tribe is about to fall under my command, so why can’t I be considered their Chief?

The Warriors were startled, a little confused.

Didn’t the Chief always give them such orders directly? Why was it this person from the Sand Fox Tribe now?

Because Cheng Zhen had just led people to rescue many Warriors from the sand pit, the Vulture Tribe Warriors had a rather high opinion of Cheng Zhen, so they politely expressed their confusion: “Ally of the Sand Fox, why has the Chief not come out to issue orders?”

Cheng Zhen pointed to the tent: “The Chief and the others are busy discussing tactics, so he asked me to inform everyone. If you don’t believe me, one person can come with me to ask the Chief.”

The Warriors looked at each other, then a Dwarf and Strong Warrior stepped forward, intending to follow Cheng Zhen to ask the Chief.

As soon as the Dwarf and Strong Warrior stepped into the tent, he was stunned by the scene before his eyes.

His respected Chief and the other tribal heroes were squirming like maggots, making ‘woo woo’ sounds, while people from the Sand Fox Tribe stood nearby, holding weapons pointed at the Chief.

The Dwarf and Strong Warrior realized something was wrong and was about to cry out, but a bone dagger was pressed against his neck.

“Friend, you wouldn’t want your beloved Chief to die, would you?”

Dwarf and Strong Warrior: “…”

Subsequently, like a puppet at Cheng Zhen’s mercy, he was led out of the tent by Cheng Zhen, forcing a tearful smile under the gaze of many Warriors: “Ch-Chief said to follow the Sand Fox Ally’s arrangements.”

Although the Warriors were still a bit confused, they ultimately trusted their own tribesman and split into two groups to meet the enemy in two directions.

The Dwarf and Strong Warrior watched his departing comrades with complex emotions, hoping that the Sand Fox Chief would release their Chief.

But he never expected that the hateful Sand Fox Chief would then ask him to bring over the important water-carrying camels!

No, that was precious drinking water! It was incredibly important to their tribe, and he absolutely could not agree to it!

Before he could refuse, Cheng Zhen once again whispered a devilish suggestion—

“Friend, you wouldn’t want others to know that you helped me deceive them, would you?”

“The Vulture Chief just watched you, and heard what you said. Do you think he’ll believe you betrayed him?”

Dwarf and Strong Warrior: “…………”

It was terrifying, this man was even more despicable than a hyena attacking in the dark, and more malicious than a scorpion lurking under the sand!

While Cheng Zhen was turning the enemy, Old Xu had already led his people up the sand dune.

With battle imminent, Old Xu gripped his axe, his palms sweating slightly.

He was a little nervous.

When they fought against Cheng Zhen before, they were led around like dogs the entire time, exhausted to death without even touching a single hair on their opponent.

So Old Xu had very little confidence in his own combat strength and that of the Giant Camel Tribe.

He only hoped that the Warriors could hold on a little longer, trying to stall until Cheng Zhen achieved his goal…

The hidden shrapnel weapons buried earlier had already been moved aside by the Vulture Tribe, so they didn’t have to worry about accidentally harming themselves.

Before entering the Vulture Tribe, Cheng Zhen had prepared a lot of food. Combined with their hunting gains, every well-fed Warrior maintained high morale.

The Vulture Tribe suffered dozens of casualties in the previous ambush, with fewer than two hundred remaining combatants. After splitting into two groups, about eighty or ninety people faced Old Xu.

Old Xu, leading the fully staffed Giant Camel Tribe, still had a slight numerical advantage.

“Charge!!!”

No need for further words, a single glance between the two sides ignited the spark. They roared and swung their weapons, charging towards the enemy.

Footsteps thundered, dust flew. Soon, the two forces met and clashed in battle.

Soon, the Vulture Tribe Warriors were startled to find that their stone spears were so… fragile when they clashed with the enemy’s black weapons!

The Giant Camel Tribe Warriors only needed a strong swing to easily cut through the wooden shafts of the stone spears. Even when hitting stone, the polished stone cones were no harder than high-density metal.

After only a few strikes, the weapons in the Vulture Tribe’s hands had become half-burnt sticks.

One side was hastily deployed without command or skills, while the other was well-equipped, high-spirited, and unstoppable. It was obvious who would win and who would lose.

Bodies were cut and hacked by black giant blades, blood stained the yellow sand, screams and wails were endless, and the air was filled with the unique metallic scent of blood.

In just one encounter, the scales of victory had already tipped.

Old Xu, holding his axe, was a bit bewildered.

When Cheng Zhen had led him around in battle before, he felt like a weakling.

So much so that when Cheng Zhen arranged for him to fight head-on, Old Xu was extremely panicked, fearing an early demise in his middle age.

He never expected that this time, he had just pulled out his axe and hadn’t even made a move, and the enemy had already been routed!

Could it be… I’m not a weakling?

The reason I couldn’t win before wasn’t because I was weak, but because the opponent was too strong?

While Old Xu was in a daze, his subordinates were almost chasing the enemy to their base.

“Hey?! Wait!”

“Don’t kill them, don’t kill them, leave a few alive!!!”

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