Chapter 77: Departure [Part 1]

Under the night sky, five cargo ships lay quietly moored at the dock of Yanhuang Village. Li Zhan ordered two of the ships to sail upstream toward the Windwalker Tribe. During the day, he had already used the friend feature to inform Windwalker to have him and Windbell prepare the villagers with intermediate or higher harvesting skills in advance, so that at night they could board the cargo ships with the soldiers to take advantage of the chaos and conduct a forceful gold harvest from the Sincere Tribe.

At the dock, Wobbly Radish had already brought his militia and villagers from his tribe aboard the cargo ships, now seated in the ship’s hold—twelve militia and twenty-five villagers. The moment this guy heard there was gold to be gathered, he leapt for joy; his tribe had been desperate for gold. Originally, only a dozen or so villagers with intermediate harvesting skills were in his tribe, so in a hurry they had also brought some with only basic skills, hoping to gather as much as possible.

Old Tang, Wang Hui, and Feng Gang had also returned from Danyang County. After a full day of continuous production, the three collectively produced six pieces of low-quality leather armor, just enough to outfit Zhang Feng, Zhao Ming, and three other swordsmen. Coupled with the greaves and bracers Feng Gang had previously made for them, as well as the special cotton clothing unique to Yanhuang Village, Zhao Ming and the others’ defense improved by 8 points compared to other tribes. Adding their innate defense of 6 points brought their total defense to 14. If not for the swordsmen’s job change granting them 5 points of attack, their offensive power wielding iron swords would not even surpass their defense, let alone the untrained militia of the Sincere Tribe. Each swordsman had over two hundred health points, making the forced 1-point health reduction per attack almost negligible, like a mere scratch.

The five foot archers had all been equipped and stood at the shooting range’s perimeter, holding wooden bows. Li Zhan appointed Zhang Feng as their squad leader to lead them in supporting the four tribal soldiers’ assault later. Because the archers were all level zero, their equipment was limited to the system’s default standard wooden bows (range 3) and unfeathered arrows (no +1 range bonus), leaving their attack and defense extremely low. Even ordinary militia posed a significant threat to them, so their only advantage was their range, allowing them to harass from the rear.

From the villagers, Zheng Jun recruited twenty-three with intermediate or higher harvesting skills. Li Zhan inspected them once before having them board the cargo ships. Soon after, Windwalker and Windbell arrived, each leading ten militia and twenty villagers, traveling on two fishing boats and one cargo ship. The Windwalker Tribe left five militia behind for night patrol.

Since the Wobbly Tribe, one of the six internal tribes, had no dock and thus could not build fishing boats, the twelve militia they brought had to ride on Yanhuang Village’s fishing boats. The remaining fishing boat carried Zhang Feng, Zhao Ming, and eleven other soldiers, with Zhang Chong—who was determined to rescue Zhou Min—at the helm. Li Zhan had originally thought Zhang Chong should rest longer to recover from his injuries, but he could not resist Zhang Chong’s tearful pleas and made an exception.

The five cargo ship owners trembled with fear the moment they saw this preparation, immediately realizing a battle was imminent. Li Zhan had already doubted their capability to handle the upcoming forced gold harvesting operation. Now, using this as an excuse, he left them behind in the village and asked Ruoyan to arrange accommodations for them. Meanwhile, he found five villagers with intermediate fishing skills to take over as captains of the cargo ships.

Seeing everyone ready, Li Zhan issued the order: “Target—Jiujiang County. Set sail immediately!”

…

Heavy clouds blanketed the sky, occasionally obscuring the crescent moon, making the night’s visibility hazy. Everyone sat quietly inside the ship’s cabin, the only sound the gentle lapping of water against the hull as the fishermen rowed. The soldiers’ faces were resolute and determined, fully prepared for the upcoming battle. The villagers, though somewhat nervous, huddled tightly together, clutching each other’s hands for reassurance.

Li Zhan sat at the bow of the cargo ship, his silhouette flickering in the moonlight. All the villagers of Yanhuang Village stared silently at their leader. Though their hearts were anxious like those of the other three tribes, the memory of past attacks on their village had stirred a deep resentment that overshadowed any fleeting fear.

At the bow, Li Zhan reopened the friend feature. Earlier that day, he had “chatted” several times with the Sincere Lover, expressing his outrage at their despicable deeds and demanding the unconditional release of the captured missionaries and four female villagers. The Sincere Lover responded with smug sarcasm, no longer showing the familiarity he had once feigned when trying to befriend Li Zhan. Li Zhan deliberately fired back with angry words to fuel the Sincere Lover’s arrogance. In truth, Li Zhan was silently mocking the hostile words the other sent.

Li Zhan was gambling on the fact that the Sincere Lover did not understand one of the war application rules—that allied tribes could join ongoing wars at any time by paying a gold fee. He had discovered this rule only after clicking through dozens of submenus. He had Wobbly Radish, as clan chief, submit the war declaration against the Sincere Tribe, while he himself continued “chatting” with the Sincere Lover to lull him into a false sense of security. Once a war is declared, the friend feature becomes disabled, so their ongoing “conversation” was proof that no war application had yet been made.

Furthermore, during the day, the Deaf Madman had also leaked Yanhuang Village’s status to the Sincere Lover—that the village was currently unable to mount a counterattack after the recent battle upgrades. Thus, the Sincere Lover was confidently toying with Li Zhan in the friend channel, occasionally sending provocative messages, while laughing wildly at Li Zhan’s “angry” replies.

After a final exchange demanding the unconditional release of the captives, Li Zhan was satisfied with the Sincere Lover’s “performance” and closed the friend feature. Suddenly, torches flared on the river ahead, illuminating a fishing boat that blocked their path.

Li Zhan was taken aback. He refused to believe the Sincere Lover was such a master of deception—casually “chatting” while secretly setting an ambush. If so, Li Zhan realized his counterattack plan would require careful reconsideration.

Soldiers aboard the four fishing boats raised their weapons; Zhang Feng and his archers nocked arrows, all aiming at the torch-lit vessel. Then, from that boat came a voice familiar to Li Zhan:

“Alliance Leader Li, let Thunder Dragon wait a moment, hahaha…”