Chapter 129 - 125: Representatives of the Three Camps (Second Update)

The day and night cycles in the Spirit Realm aren’t very different from those on Earth.It’s now around two or three in the afternoon in the real world.

The goblin camp, lizardman camp, and kobold camp, composed of elite units, have only just managed to reach halfway up the mountain after a grueling journey, and they are all utterly exhausted.

Not only physically exhausted. Mentally exhausted too!

They had to stop for a break.

"How many people are left now?"

"Only sixty-three left!"

The three camp leaders all wore worried expressions.

They initially had seventy-two people, yet they’ve only reached halfway up the mountain and already suffered such significant losses!

Along the way, they encountered numerous dangerous traps and wild monsters, and also faced several ambushes by wild boarmen.

The appearance of a red wild boar warrior was terrifying for everyone. This beast had thick blood and high defense, which was maddeningly difficult to deal with. It took them a good half-hour to finally eliminate it.

They had no idea how many such wild boarmen there might be.

If their numbers are large, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Every time someone dies in the Spirit Realm, they lose at least half a level of Spiritual Qi, with some warriors dropping levels, which is a huge loss for them.

"The difficulty of attacking this mountaintop outpost is far greater than imagined."

Everyone was feeling at a loss when suddenly a serious voice rang out.

The speaker was a man around forty years old, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, a rugged and direct gaze that exuded natural authority without anger, "I think our preparations weren’t sufficient, so we should cut our losses in time and consider abandoning this operation!"

This man was named Xu Tianhua.

The leader of the kobold camp.

In the real world, he is an active military officer with quite a high rank.

At this moment, he was clad in a full set of metal armor, wielding a giant sword almost his height.

Xu Tianhua was already at level 4, fully equipped with top-grade gear, making him extremely formidable in terms of personal strength. If judged individually, Xu Tianhua was probably the strongest among the group, significantly stronger than Zhao Ming in solo combat.

"I disagree!"

"Precisely because we’ve paid a high price, we cannot retreat at the last minute!"

A female voice rang out; although her voice was pleasant to the ear, her speech rate was faster than usual, giving an impression of efficiency and toughness, in stark contrast to the gentleness and subtlety often associated with women.

She was a woman in her early thirties; though not young, she maintained her figure well. Her looks weren’t breathtakingly beautiful but were certainly above average. She held a gemstone staff, wore a mage’s robe, and was accompanied by a green-scaled monster resembling both a snake and a lizard.

This was Chen Yu, the leader of the lizardman camp.

Chen Yu came from the countryside, having led a challenging life. She got divorced at the age of twenty-three or twenty-four and built a design company on her own, making her strong-willed and decisive in her actions. She chose a magical profession as her talent.

She didn’t have Xu Tianhua’s high personal qualities.

Nor did she have a Great God like Zhang Xiaoqiang or Zhao Ming to carry her along.

Chen Yu rapidly rose to prominence thanks to luck. Not only did she have an extraordinary encounter, which allowed her rapid advancement early on, but she also unexpectedly acquired a very powerful Spirit Beast, which had already reached the strength of a Bronze Elite Monster.

Wisdom, luck, personal ability, and so on.

In this era, having any one of these could provide an opportunity to rise.

Zhao Ming, Xu Tianhua, and Chen Yu, representatives of the three camps, were all top experts.

Xu Tianhua said discontentedly, "Chen, I can understand your feelings, but leveling up isn’t easy for anyone. Given we’ve already sustained such serious losses midway, at this rate, even if we reach the mountaintop, it will be hard to capture the outpost successfully."

Chen Yu was still insistent, "I don’t want to give up!"

Xu Tianhua frowned tightly, clearly displeased with Chen Yu.

He looked towards the leader of another group, a man of a similar age, with a burly build, bronzed skin, decent looks, and a calm demeanor, "President Zhao, what do you think?"

Zhao Ming, the leader of the goblin camp team.

Zhao Ming was the chairman of a listed tech company in Peng City and was once a tech mogul worth billions. He didn’t have Chen Yu’s luck or Xu Tianhua’s combat qualifications, yet nobody dared to underestimate him.

Because the goblin camp, including Zhao Ming, had three level-4 individuals.

They were Zhao Ming, Zhang Xiaoqiang, and Jiang Nan.

This was something the other three camps couldn’t currently match.

Zhao Ming possessed high personal qualities, and his stable and thick-skinned nature combined with his wisdom and sensitivity made him seem less aggressive compared to Xu Tianhua and Chen Yu but more reliable.

Nobody could overlook Zhao Ming’s opinions.

But Zhao Ming was also in a dilemma.

Zhao Ming’s rational mind told him that Xu Tianhua was right, this operation was too careless, severely underestimating the difficulty of taking the mountaintop outpost, and also underestimating the wild boarmen’s strength. A forced assault uphill would inevitably lead to more casualties.

What is the state of the mountaintop outpost? No one could say for sure!

What if the outpost turns out to be larger than expected?

Can such a small number of people really take the outpost?

Wouldn’t failing to take it mean this whole trip was in vain, and was the sacrifice worth it?

On the other hand, Zhao Ming could understand Chen Yu’s unwillingness to give up, precisely because they’ve suffered considerable losses already, thus abandoning it carelessly would surely lead to a drop in his standing within the team.

"Uncle Zhao, I think it’s okay; Hang the Great God has already gone up the mountain alone, and he will be waiting for us up there. Since he’s willing to do that, he must be confident," Jiang Nan whispered to Zhao Ming, "Others may not believe it, we may not believe it, but you must trust Hang the Great God!"

Hearing this, Zhao Ming felt assured.

Hang Yu was indeed a trump card for the goblin camp.

If Hang Yu had gone up the mountain, what was there to worry about?

Zhao Ming, no longer hesitating, said, "Old Xu, Chen, the mountaintop outpost must be captured; it serves not only as a strategic position for attacking the wild boarmen camp but also boosts the morale of our respective camps."

"Everyone should understand that the scale of the wild boarmen camp is massive, and relying on our small teams alone won’t be enough to break it entirely; the only way is to unite all the elite forces from the three main camps."

"But if we retreat after failing to take a mere outpost, what will the others in the camps think of us? Heading back now would not only waste a lot of time and energy but also severely impact our ability to rally others!"

"I believe it’s still too early to give up now!"

"Perhaps the outpost is smaller than we imagine!"

"We can give it a try."

Zhao Ming supported the battle, and Chen Yu also supported continuing the fight. Although Xu Tianhua was dissatisfied with this decision, since the other two camps had already expressed their stance, he couldn’t just leave with his own people, could he?

Doing so would offend both camps simultaneously.

And his personal influence would also be significantly damaged.

This was the Spirit Realm, not a military setting, and Xu Tianhua had to relent.

Fine!

Let’s gamble!

Hope the size of the mountaintop outpost is indeed smaller than imagined!

The group rested for less than a quarter of an hour before continuing their venture up the mountain, deciding to risk it all.

They had no idea that while they were trudging through hardships and attracting the attention of the wild boarmen, they unwittingly provided cover for someone, allowing him to pass through the hidden path up the mountain smoothly and now appear at the rear of the outpost.