Murphy and Maxim, the current military commander of his territory, worked together to plan the next steps for eradicating the gnolls. He had previously received support from the reserve knights of the Blood Pact Knights regiment, but in his and Maxim’s calculations, these forces were still far from enough to directly engage the gnolls in battle.
Therefore, they could only choose to deal with the warlord Kenport through surprise attacks.
Currently, the high-level forces of the Crimson Citadel have gathered, however, Murphy still needs some elite troops who can shoulder the main responsibilities in the upcoming stealth warfare.
The 500 new recruits from the first recruitment of the Kadman People’s Army under Maxim’s command are still in training. Murphy plans to give them another 10 days to complete their formal preparation.
Apart from these professional soldiers, he has another important force under his command that cannot be ignored.
Witch Hunter!
To be precise, the Adventurer’s Guild.
When Guildmaster Natalie, who was busy selecting talented youths to join the Adventurer’s Guild and building the framework of the new organization, received Murphy’s summons, she had already guessed the task they would be shouldering next.
Therefore, when she saw Murphy strolling along the ruined walls patched with Astral Realm shadows to the camp, Natalie submitted a form she had just finished compiling.
Murphy took it in hand and glanced at it, immediately raising his eyebrows.
“600 people, that’s a lot? When you attacked the Circle Tower before, you could only mobilize 500 people.”
He asked puzzledly:
“I know you want to show your sense of responsibility towards Transia, to better integrate into this place you now call ‘holy land’. But considering you only have about 1,000 people in total now, isn’t such a large-scale corvée a bit too much?
I don’t want to see the Witch Hunters who have submitted to me being forced to rebel again.”
“You’re thinking a bit too negatively, Lord Murphy. We Witch Hunters are all soldiers,” explained Natalie, who had been jokingly called “Black-Hearted Witch Hunter” by players due to her harsh pricing of Computation Bead plugins.
“It’s certainly not feasible to send our old, weak, sick, and disabled to deal with Spirit Knights and Spirit Mages, but if the opponents are just gnolls, even those teenage new recruits in Morland Village now won’t be afraid.
In fact, in the old church system, the most common enemies faced by a reserve Witch Hunter were pests like gnolls and kobolds that plague the continent. Occasionally, they also had to deal with more troublesome foes like the wave fish people on the coast and goatman sorcerers hiding in dark areas.
My people certainly can’t lead the charge, that’s not our way of fighting.
But if it’s just reconnaissance and hunting, we absolutely have no problems.
The gnoll plague on this land is indeed quite serious. If eliminating them can allow my people to enjoy a peaceful life and prepare for the arrival of the Black Disaster, we definitely won’t hold back!
More importantly, even if you pity us now and refuse to let us participate in the battle, once the Black Disaster truly takes shape, we still can’t escape the fate we must bear. So we might as well prepare for battle starting now.”
“Hmm, that does make sense. I’m increasingly feeling that bringing you into Transia was a genius idea. You’re just as martial and fearless as the Spartans of Transia,” Murphy nodded, handing the list back to Natalie, saying:
“Then select 300 people as elites to form a fast-moving hunter reconnaissance team.
The rest will serve as instructors, distributed to forward camps and our collective farms, to help Miriam train the militias in various places, as well as those subjects who have already arrived at the collective farms ready to start their new lives.
If things don’t go smoothly, they might also have to take up arms to defend their homes.
I’ve already spoken with Miriam, forming a militia will become one of Transia’s new regulations. In the future, every village will have to spend a certain amount of time each year on militia training.
I plan to permanently entrust this task to you, after all, for militias, the most threatening things they usually have to deal with won’t exceed ghouls and wraiths, which is precisely your area of expertise.”
“We have no problem with that,” Guildmaster Natalie nodded solemnly.
She clearly doesn’t see combat as a burden.
The Witch Hunters who have survived until now and followed her to migrate to Transia also wouldn’t view sleeping with weapons as an unfamiliar experience.
Over the years, they’ve had enough of the kind of life where they couldn’t survive without fighting, and they don’t mind taking up arms again when necessary to protect their new home that has finally accepted them.
Then, Natalie brought up another matter.
She pointed to several newly erected tents on the outskirts of the Adventurer’s Guild camp, saying:
“Old Eugene and his disciples went back to Morland Village a few days ago and sorted through the supplies we brought back from the Pioneer Fortress. As you previously instructed, several hundred sets of gear and weapons specifically for Witch Hunters and Oak Apprentices have now been organized.
You can take them back to your quartermaster now.
These past few days, your warriors have been coming to ask us when we’ll open the ‘equipment exchange’. Although I still can’t understand their extreme desire for equipment, perhaps this can settle one of their concerns.”
Natalie seemed to recall some interesting interactions between herself and some of the little players who had joined the Avalon Church. She smiled and continued:
“These leather armors and robes have been specially treated by our alchemists, providing some enhancement to nature spirit energy. Of course, you can’t expect us, being poor as we are, to make them too good.
But for beginners, they should be more than sufficient.”
“Let me see,” Murphy became interested.
He followed Natalie into the tent and opened a box first, taking out a piece of Witch Hunter armor to examine.
The quality and craftsmanship were undeniable. After all, the old church was an ancient religion with over 500 years of heritage, and it had its own system of simple yet distinctive aesthetic design in terms of armor style.
Murphy was very satisfied with what he saw.
This nature-friendly style could perfectly distinguish itself from the gloomy crimson style of the vampires, allowing the current two profession systems to achieve a clear distinction in appearance.
He put the armor back in the equipment box and picked up a classic-looking hunting knife, playing with it in his hand as he said to Natalie beside him:
“You have your own quartermasters, so there’s no need to put these weapons and equipment in my place for them to exchange. The Blood Vulture Halls already have a clear system for equipment exchange and recovery. Just have your quartermasters spend some time learning from us, and they can officially start work.
However, you need to find a way to get some of Avalon Church’s elite equipment, as well as high-level equipment to be exchanged for them in the future.”
Murphy reminded her:
“My warriors upgrade their equipment at a speed beyond your imagination, and they also have a certain hoarding tendency and collection addiction. If there isn’t a complete equipment system, it will cause you to fall behind the Blood Vulture Clan in terms of power, and even the newly established Blood Rat Gang.
The little players being directed were very unhappy.
They had been called over by this guy earlier, saying they were going to shoot a CG movie, which seemed interesting at first. But after several retakes, they became impatient.
They were all complaining.
The player named “Medical Insurance Warrior Great Sion” who was directing from a distance also had something to say.
He put his hands on his hips and retorted:
“This isn’t an unreasonable request. I’m just asking you to act normal, don’t be so exaggerated. I need to choose some impressive scenes for editing. Just tell me, don’t you want more brothers to play with? Once we finish this blockbuster, hey, I’ll upload it to a certain website.
Won’t that attract a lot of attention?
Besides, everyone needs something to remember when playing games. After I’m done, I’ll send it to everyone. When we’re old, won’t it be nice to dig it out and watch it to reminisce about our youth when we have nothing else to do?”
“I don’t even have time to finish watching all the Japanese teachers’ films every day, where would I find time to watch this crap of yours?”
The little player carrying a war spear grinned and said:
“We’ll play along with you for two or three more times at most. If it doesn’t work out, we’re quitting. We haven’t cleared our daily dungeons yet. I’m just two parts away from completing the veteran set. After that, I need to go to the Fight Club to pass the Black Iron Trial.”
“Alright, alright, let’s finish this quickly. How about we go clear dungeons together later?”
Great Sion looked helpless, coaxing his four team members like children.
They were all casual players who hadn’t joined any guilds but chose to play on their own. Their personalities matched, so they formed a fixed small team, clearing dungeons and doing quests every day, without much calculation or desire.
But the joy they gained was no less than that of Meow King and Brother Stick.
It can only be said that everyone’s understanding of happiness is really different.
“By the way...”
The guy who had just complained to Great Sion, with the ID “One Punch to Destroy the Galaxy,” carried his war spear and returned to the charge point with the other three brothers.
While preparing, he grumbled to the three people beside him:
“Since entering the game a week ago, I haven’t rewarded myself at all. My heart is completely on this damn game, and I can’t even think about that other stuff.
I haven’t even had time to watch the recent well-reviewed movies I downloaded. Every day at work, all I think about is how to get equipment and how to kill gnolls. And the most absurd thing is that because of going to bed and waking up early every day, my body and mind have actually gotten much better.
I feel like I’m both energetic and obsessed now.
Are you guys the same?”
“Huh?”
Another shorter but stocky brother named “Ruthless Horseshoe Crab” responded with a bitter face:
“I’m not like you. Although I also go to bed and wake up early, I’ve been preparing for pregnancy lately... you know? Ah! My legs are about to go soft.”
“Brother, you’ve had it tough!”
The other two guys showed mischievous expressions and teased:
“But I think you don’t know how lucky you are. Us single guys are so envious.”
“Bullshit!”
The flirtatious brother waved his fist fiercely and cursed:
“When you guys get to this age, you’ll understand. Sigh, even the most wonderful things can drive you crazy when they become work. Let’s not talk about it anymore, let’s finish this quickly and go clear dungeons.
I need to log off early today to go to the gym and work out a bit. If I don’t go soon, that membership card will expire. What a waste.”
“666”
“Brother, I think you’re showing off. Don’t expect us to save you later when you get kicked around by gnolls.”
“Are you all ready? Prepare to start shooting!”
Great Sion adjusted his angle from a distance and shouted:
“This time, take care of those few gnolls in front as well. Once you’re done, charge!”
“Charge!”
The flirtatious brother roared, swinging his one-handed hammer and shield as he charged out, as fierce as a mad tiger, as if wanting to vent all the depression and fatigue of recent times in one go.
Seeing him so brave, the other three brothers also howled and pounced out.
This momentum made Great Sion very satisfied, and he started running behind them.
But just a few minutes later...
“F**k! How did an elite monster spawn in this small den? Retreat, retreat! Regroup!”
“Regroup my ass, you guys spread out, don’t let the minions get close. Even though I haven’t got all my equipment, I’m going all out today, I’ll ascend right here! Ahhhh! My scorching left hand is burning hot, it’s roaring for me to grasp victory!
Breaking through the Black Iron Trial is now!
Brothers, cover me!”
“Molotov cocktails! Don’t forget the Molotov cocktails we bought earlier! Gnolls have fur, and fur is weak to fire! Get it! Flirty brother, kill it and show off your manly prowess!”