37: Elf: The forest is our territory! Player: Setting fire to the mountain will land you in jail for life!

"You! Hello!"

Li Qiang pointed at his own nose, then at Eirilla, who was bound tightly and tied to a totem pole, as he struggled to squeeze out what he thought was a friendly smile.

This was the first live, talking, and very good-looking humanoid mob the players had caught, and everyone was filled with curiosity.

Eirilla looked at him with a gaze reserved for bedbugs.

Her silver hair was stained with dirt, and her exquisite leather armor was torn, but the arrogance etched into her bones hadn't diminished in the slightest.

"Filthy half-orc!" Eirilla spat, cursing in crisp but furious Elvish.

Li Qiang was stunned, not having reacted yet.

On the player's screen next to him, the System thoughtfully popped up a translation.

[System Translation: She's calling you filthy.]

"I'm filthy?!" Li Qiang instantly bristled, pointing at the dried dark red stains on his body. "I just took a bath! This is Dragon Blood! All-natural! Do you know how expensive this SPA is?! You NPC, you don't know quality!"

A group of players surrounded Eirilla, pointing and staring as if they were visiting a zoo.

"This elf babe is really good-looking, but her temper is just too explosive."

"No kidding, you'd be explosive too if you were tied up here."

"Do you guys think she'll drop gear? I want that bow of hers; it looks like it's made of living wood."

Lin Xiaowan (ID: Rich Woman Hungry) sighed, pushed through the crowd of crude men, and walked up to Eirilla.

She took a piece of parchment out of her backpack, which featured a stick-figure drawing she had just sketched with her 'soulful' artist skills: a small person holding a bow, firing a glowing arrow.

Then, she took out several glittering gold coins she had just exchanged from Su Mu.

"Knowledge." Lin Xiaowan pointed at the skill light effect on the drawing.

"Money." She pointed at the gold coins in her hand again.

She tried her best to use her broken English to conduct a cross-species transaction.

"Knowledge, for Money. Understand?"

Eirilla looked at her, the disdain in her eyes growing even heavier. In her view, these creatures who measured everything with money were even more despicable than greedy Goblins.

Just as this disastrous "communication" hit a deadlock...

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The sharp sound of arrows cutting through the air suddenly came from the forest!

"Enemy attack!!"

"WTF! Where did the arrows come from?!"

A dozen sharp arrows, as if they had eyes, accurately pinned themselves into several players who were still watching the spectacle.

Although they didn't die thanks to the defensive power of their Dragon Leather Armor, the massive impact still sent them face-planting into the dirt.

The players instantly fell into chaos, scurrying away in a panic.

"Where are they?!"

"Can't see them! These long-ears can go invisible!"

The forest was the Elves' home turf.

With the cover of the trees, the Elf Rangers were like phantoms, every shot incredibly tricky. Far from being able to fight back, the players couldn't even catch a glimpse of the enemy's shadow and could only take a passive beating.

"Don't run around! Find cover!"

Amidst the chaos, a steady voice rang out in the guild channel.

Retired Soldier King, with the ID "Serve the People", logged on.

The Retired Soldier King only needed one glance at the battlefield to immediately assess the situation.

He typed quickly in the public channel, every instruction clear and precise:

"All fire mages (Note: referring to anyone with a flamethrower or who can conjure small flames), immediately collect wet wood and leaves! Don't light dry ones! What we want is smoke!"

"Earth mages (Note: referring to anyone with an entrenching shovel), in pairs, dig pits near the tree roots and use vines to make tripwires!"

"Everyone, stop shooting back! I repeat, stop shooting back! Trying to outshoot these jungle experts is a death wish!"

Retired Soldier King finally sent an instruction that lifted the spirits of all the players.

"Prepare to set the mountain on fire!"

The public channel was instantly flooded with "Copy that!" and "Got it!!"

With a professional in command, the players' rowdy bandit-like spirit instantly transformed into efficient execution.

"Smoke! We need thick smoke!"

"Quick! Move that pile of Dragon Dung over here! Old Wang said that stuff has a high ignition point, produces a lot of smoke, and is even toxic!"

The players sprang into action with excitement.

They piled up the oil-rich pine wood they had just scavenged from near the Dragon's corpse. Still feeling it wasn't enough, several people worked together to roll over a mountain-like pile of steaming Dragon Dung and threw it into the fire.

Whoosh—!

The flames flared up, followed by a billowing cloud of black smoke—a mixture of pine oil fragrance, the scent of green grass, and an indescribable stench—rising into the sky.

The wind direction was perfect.

The thick smoke spread toward the area where the Elves were ambushing like a bursting flood.

This smoke wasn't lethal.

However, it stung the eyes.

And it was incredibly stinky.

"Cough! Cough, cough, cough!"

"Achoo!!"

On the canopy, the Elf Rangers who had originally maintained elegant shooting postures instantly lost their composure.

Tears and snot flowed uncontrollably, the smoke making them so dizzy and lightheaded they couldn't even hold their bows steady.

"No... this smoke is toxic!"

"Get down quickly! We'll suffocate if we stay in the trees!"

One by one, the elegant Elves could no longer care about their poise and jumped down from the trees, which were over ten meters high, in a sorry state.

However, what awaited them on the ground was not soft grass.

Thud!

"Ah!"

As soon as one Elf landed, she fell into a perfectly camouflaged pit trap.

The pit wasn't deep, but the bottom was covered in slippery moss, making it impossible for her to climb out.

Immediately after, a huge gunny sack fell from the sky, bagging her up tight.

"Got her! Haha! This one's mine!" A strength-build hunk shouldered the sack, grinning from ear to ear.

The same scene played out all over the forest.

"Got another one over here! Don't fight me for it! This is my pit!"

"Holy crap! This one's a guy! Dammit! All that excitement for nothing!"

A player with the ID "Druid's Dream" eyes lit up and rushed over: "Give the guy to me! Give the guy to me! I want him to teach me the Druid's Bear Form! Hurry!"

Ten minutes later, the battle (or rather, the capture) ended.

Final result: Twelve new captives.

The players joyfully used vines to tie these Elves into a string, like binding hairy crabs, and escorted them back to the temporary camp.

Just as everyone was surrounding the new loot, discussing whether to strip their gear first or learn skills first...

Ding!

Su Mu's server-wide announcement arrived, late but inevitable.

[Server Announcement: Given that you have engaged in a 'warm and friendly' exchange with members of the Silvermoon Council, your current reputation with the Silvermoon Council has dropped to: Hated.]

The players glanced at it, completely unconcerned. Hated? Hated was good; it meant the mobs would come to them of their own accord.

[New Item Listed: Elementary Elf Translator (Price: 998 Contribution Points). Note: Comes with a complimentary profanity filter.]

"Holy crap! The dog dev finally did something decent!"

"998? This is robbery! The Materials I got from slaying the Dragon only sold for a little over a thousand points!"

While the players were grumbling, a third announcement popped up.

[GM Su Mu's Warm Tip: Soldiers, don't just focus on capturing people; remember to make them hand over their skill books willingly. We are civilized people; we must convince people with reason.]

"Convince people with reason?"

Li Qiang looked at the announcement, then at Eirilla, whose face was blackened by smoke and whose eyes were the only things left glaring at him in fury. He suddenly grinned, revealing a set of teeth that looked exceptionally white against his smoky makeup.

"Hear that? The instructor said we must convince people with reason."

As he spoke, he took out the massive Engineering Power Hammer from his backpack—the one he hadn't used during the Dragon slaying, now freshly decorated with a Dragon Tooth.

He brandished the hammer in front of Eirilla, the faint firelight from the hammer's enchantment reflecting off her despairing face.

"This... is called 'Reason'."