Chapter 18: An Unpleasant Surprise

I paused everything, then gave instructions to each of my colonists. As soon as I got things up and running again, they scattered. Seb hides with Leva in a bush. The red-haired girl snorted when she saw Seb just curled up with a trembling body.

Well, it's your job to protect Seb, Leva. Your attack stat is the highest among the others.

I ordered Kat to go around with her stealth abilities, looking for the archer and later attacking them if possible with arrows. And lastly, Manu hid behind a big tree, already alert with his ax.

I'm not standing still either. My eyes looked in all directions for the attacker. However, I haven't found anyone yet.

The only sound that could be heard was the crickets. This quiet atmosphere gives off an eerie sensation that makes me uncomfortable. If in the real world, my heart would have been beating fast, and my cold sweat was flowing.

"Manu, watch out! Behind you!" Suddenly Leva shouted.

Manu looked back and immediately blocked a wooden club swing with his ax.

The assailant, a man in primitive attire like Manu's, swung his club again.

This time Manu couldn't block the attack. The assailant managed to hit him in the face, knocking him down.

Shit, I should have paused this game to find enemies!

I gave orders to Leva to help Manu, who was now only curled up on the ground. The man was unable to do anything as the assailant continued to beat his body with the club.

As Leva came out of the bush, an arrow pierced her thigh, forcing her to fall. The woman screamed in pain.

"Come on, Leva! You can still stand up, right!?" Actually, I didn't want to say that, but Manu was really helpless.

With a grimace in pain and a savage look in her eyes, the woman struggled to her feet, then limped over to the attacker holding the club.

"Argghhh!"

I flinched at that sound from far away.

Is that Kat?

I had to press the pause button, looking at Leva, who was about to tackle the attacker.

[???? (Tribe member, Raider)]

STATS

Ranged attack: 31/100

Melee attack: 64/100

Leva, you can handle that assailant, right?

I chose to go to the source of the voice. Maybe it was Kat's scream. Perhaps it wasn't. The uncertainty made me even more nervous.

Instead of finding Kat, I ran into the bow-wielding assailant ducking behind a boulder the size of half an adult. Since the man's body was small and thin, he could hide in such a place.

I breathed a sigh of relief. An arrow pierced the man's shoulder. That means what I heard earlier wasn't Kat's scream of pain.

[???? (Tribe member, Raider)]

STATS

Ranged attack: 21/100

Melee attack: 1/100

Huh? With only that much ranged attack stat, he can still shoot Leva from afar? Or maybe it was just luck?

I looked around and found several arrows scattered around the attacker. They were all Manu's arrows. It seemed the archery battle was fierce.

It was easy enough for me to find Kat. In addition to my eyes that can see more clearly in the dark, I also just need to find another spot where there are many arrows. It turned out that Kat wasn't hiding behind rocks or trees or bushes. The girl was crawling on the grass.

The girl was aiming at the rock where the arrow attacker was hiding. Looks like she's playing the long game. She waited for her enemy to appear, then she would shoot him.

However, we can't wait long, Kat. I have to recheck my colony. The melee fight there is still going on.

Therefore, I gave the girl a plan. As soon as I pressed the start button, Kat began to creep out of her spot.

With Kat only wearing her bra and panties, I could see the girl's contortion on the ground. Kat's butt and hips rose and fell and moved left and right, which should trigger my male instincts.

However, now I focused on saving my colony and didn't think much of it.

Kat continued to creep, taking a detour to approach her foe. The dart assailant peeked out for a moment to check the situation while wincing in pain.

Perhaps surprised that no arrows were fired at him, the assailant peeked out again, this time with a longer duration.

And finally, he came out of hiding, staying alert with his bow.

Little did he know, Kat was already behind the man, ready to shoot his arrow at the man's head.

[Characters who raid your colony can be caught and persuaded to join. Command the colonists with the best communication skills to convince the prisoners. With poor treatment, he will be more difficult to persuade. And vice versa. The level of difficulty in recruiting them also depends on each individual]

Ah, apparently, there is also another way to recruit the colonists.

"Just shoot him so he can't attack and run." I whispered to Kat. "Then take him to the colony. Tell the others that he will be recruited."

Kat turned to aim at the bow-wielding attacker's left hand.

Zap!

"Argggghhh!!!" The assailant screamed in pain and dropped his bow as Kat's arrow pierced his arm.

Kat fired another arrow, this time into the enemy's right thigh. The assailant immediately knelt down, screaming in pain again.

The girl then wrapped her arms around the attacker's neck, then pointed the sharp part of one arrow at her enemy's face.

"Don't fight back, or I'll stab your eye with this arrow." Kat hissed into the man's ear.

Even in that condition, Kat's expression was still blank.

The enemy raised his hand with a trembling body. "Please, don't kill me. I was only ordered to attack your tribe to steal supplies."

Without responding to that word, Kat began pulling the man. I pressed the pause button for the umpteenth time, then went to my colony, hoping that Leva had already defeated the assailant.

Oh, shit.

Arriving there, I saw Leva, who was holding the ax up high. The woman's face looked so fierce.

Near Leva's feet, there was someone's body lying down. I could only see his feet because his body was covered in trees.

I froze for a moment before finally looking behind the tree.