Volume 2 Spread Wings Chapter 140: The Dragon Prince is Wounded
After the Lightforged said goodbye and left, Levi continued to lead his men to exterminate the Jackals. Unfortunately, perhaps because they had lost two important troop points one after another, the frequency of their encounters with the Jackals had obviously dropped a lot.
Even later on, the number of encounters with the chosen heroes of God became more frequent than the number of encounters with the gnolls.
After exchanging information with each other, Levi found that the other party was in almost the same situation, which immediately made him feel a little confused.
According to the information he currently has, there is definitely more than one Yeenoghu Fang, and the demons definitely have more than one evil cave. Logically speaking, even if he kills these two groups of enemies, the impact should not be so great.
Or has Yeenoghu learned his lesson and issued new orders to its believers and people, deliberately allowing them to grow in a wretched manner?
But no matter what the reason was, when it got dark, even though Levi had not found Hogg's shadow yet, he had no choice but to retreat and wait until tomorrow to see if the high elves would send a large army to encircle and suppress him, and then he would look for some opportunities.
On the way, he also took Janet back to the beeman's nest, which made Janet very excited. Although the time they were away was not too long, you have to know that she has never been away for such a long time since she was a child.
But after actually seeing the old witch, she quickly calmed down. Although she had chosen to follow Levi for the sake of the Bee Tribe, the old witch, whom she once regarded as her mother, really disappointed her.
After not seeing them for a few days, the beehive had moved to the territory originally occupied by the fallen tree people. Moreover, after a period of rest and recuperation, the number of bees seemed to have increased significantly. From a distance, they could see many bees flying up and down in the woods, probably busy collecting honey or something.
With the presence of the little queen Janet, communication between the two sides was relatively smooth. The old witch quickly took the initiative to come out and greeted Levi with a smile on her face.
After asking a few questions casually and not getting any useful information, Levi was too lazy to talk to the other party anymore. He directly started to trade with the other party and wanted to recruit more guards for Janet.
Although the strength of the bees was not strong among the same level, the fact that they were flying troops determined their value. Moreover, they had just experienced a battle with the werewolves and suffered some casualties, so they had some leadership available.
Probably because they had a relatively stable rear and food source, the old witch didn't waste any words this time and quickly allowed Levi to successfully recruit 5 soldier bees and 10 drones.
Of course, the price she asked for was as expensive as ever, but for Levi now, it was just a small amount of money.
After completing the recruitment, Levi led the troops directly back to the village. Not long after walking, he noticed Janet's expression. Her pretty little face was almost wrinkled into a ball, and she looked very aggrieved and sad. Even though her good friend Cindy had been comforting her, she couldn't completely change this.
"What's wrong, Janet, are you homesick?"
"No, sir. I just vaguely sensed many unfamiliar auras in the hive, and several of them seemed to have similar identities to me."
Levi burst out laughing. The special structure of the bee tribe meant that they would not place all their hopes on a certain bee. Did Janet feel that she was being replaced?
"Don't be sad, Janet. In the final analysis, this world values strength. As long as you keep following everyone and fighting side by side, I believe that your growth rate will be much faster than all the bee people. It may even be possible to surpass that old witch."
In fact, he had really thought about it. Although the old witch was always smiling, she didn't look like a good person. It would be great if Janet could replace her.
Janet's eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, how could she forget this? If one day she could defeat her, would she be able to lead the future of the tribe again?
My Lord has said before that the bee people’s tribe will eventually be commanded by the bee people themselves!
Janet's sadness came quickly, but after she figured it out, it went away just as quickly. Soon she was full of energy again, which made Levi want to laugh. She was indeed a child.
But speaking of it, bees are completely different from humans and elves in terms of both their average lifespan and growth rate. After all, they lay eggs. Although they look similar to big Lolita, Janet's age is probably not even a fraction of Cindy's...
After this little episode, they continued their return journey. They didn't know if it was because the number of jackals outside the Rocky Highlands had decreased a lot, so they lost their care. They found several recruitment buildings for coyotes and hyenas along the way, and there were still some recruitment quotas left.
Levi was fine, but the beast tamer was overjoyed. He had lost many beasts in the previous battle, and the upgraded Royal War Goose was also given to Sam, and he was short of subordinates.
So Levi directly let him recruit and supplement some beasts on his own. Although they were from different factions, the camps of most beasts were relatively neutral, which had little impact on morale. Besides, he was a level 2 beast tamer after all, so it was not a problem for him to deal with some level 0 and level 1 beasts.
Just like that, they arrived at the entrance of the village before it got completely dark. But before he could catch his breath, a system announcement that was completely beyond his expectations but would definitely have a huge impact rang out.
"After many days of hard fighting, the legendary High Elf Lord, Imrik, the Dragon Prince of Caledor, successfully led his dragon guards to sink the Dark Elves' black ark, the Torment of Pain and Death."
"But at the critical moment, the legendary dark elf lord Malus Blackblade called upon the former abyss demon god Zhakan to possess him and successfully attacked the Dragon Prince. At the same time, he was counterattacked by the dragon fire of the Dragon Prince's mount, the legendary dragon Minatnir, and Zhakan took the opportunity to counterattack."
"Currently, both legendary lords have been seriously injured and forced to return to their homeland to recuperate. At the same time, due to this war, the strength of both armies has been extremely severely damaged, and both sides have temporarily entered a truce."
Levi has always known that the High Elves were at war with the surrounding Dark Elves, Greenskins, etc., but he didn't expect that the two sides would play such a big game, and that legendary lords would appear and seem to be seriously injured.
According to what Donna said before, the quality of heroes and equipment are similar, starting from the lowest level gray, then white ordinary, green excellent, blue rare, purple epic, gold legendary, red legendary to the final colorful mythical.
As good as Donna is, she is just a rare-level hero now, and there is still a huge gap between her and a legendary hero. Before seeing it with his own eyes, he really couldn't imagine how powerful the other party would be.
As for the Black Ark, it is said to be the strongest sea fortress in the entire world, without a doubt, because it was made by the Dark Elves using certain continental fragments as materials. They themselves can be regarded as huge islands, and they are also the kind that have been strengthened by magic.
It was with this that they roamed the seas, captured slaves at will, and then transported them back to their homeland. It was said that except for the high elves' island of Ulthuan, which was protected by powerful magic, almost all countries and regions with coastal territories had been plundered by them, even the Far East's Cathay Empire and the island nation of Nibon were no exception.
Moreover, it has been proven many times that these black arks may be sunk temporarily, but once the dark elves mobilize a strong enough army and enough wizards, they can still repair them and continue to plunder the world.
But now that both sides have fought like this, it is obvious that they are really angry.
However, at this critical moment, the High Elves' army suffered serious losses. Will they still send out a large army as promised tomorrow to launch a siege operation on the Stoney Highlands? I'm afraid not.
But this may not be entirely bad for the chosen heroes, because they can have more time to attack the werewolves.
The only problem is that the time it takes them to leave the Novice Village may be further extended.
However, the novice village of this game is very different from many games, and its boundaries are more blurred.
In just a few days, Levi has received intelligence about the evil and powerful Snake Cult, demons, alien indigenous heroes, the black dragon trying to become a god, and the stingy Abyss Demon God, or simply had conflicts with them. Most of them are not something a novice can challenge...
All the way into the village, other God-chosen heroes kept greeting Levi on the road. At the same time, most of them were discussing the previous system announcement, and their opinions were similar to Levi's. They all thought that this was actually an opportunity. It extended the time for everyone to gain military merit points by hunting werewolves, which was a good thing.
However, combined with the previous intelligence, Levi felt more and more strange. Behind the gnolls was the Abyss Demon, and behind the legendary dark elf lord was the Abyss Demon. Although the Abyss Demons were hostile to each other and it was almost impossible for them to unite and fight, dozens of Abyss Ghouls appeared in Yenogu Fang's army...
What if this wasn't pure coincidence, but part of some vast conspiracy?
Thinking of this, Levi asked Donna to take his subordinates to rest first, and he went directly to find the old village chief, wanting to contact the Silver Helmet Knight Captain Reiner through him, and inquire about the old wizard's movements.
Since we separated yesterday, no one seems to have seen him, and no one knows where he has been.
When he saw the old village chief, Levi found that he had a sad and worried look on his face. Levi wondered if he also knew about the Dragon Prince.
Although the natives do not have such things as system announcements, in addition to messengers and carrier pigeons, they can also use various magic to communicate, and the speed may not be much slower than the system.
After some brief pleasantries, and after completing a few quests related to werewolves and receiving some basic gold coins and experience points as rewards, Levi went straight to the point and asked the other party about the old wizard.
The old village chief couldn't help but sigh heavily. "This is exactly what I'm worried about. He came to me last night and said that he found that the gnolls might be colluding with the devil, so he asked me to send some people, including some heroes chosen by God, but they haven't come back yet."
Levi immediately realized that things were a bit serious. Although the old wizard's overall personal strength was good, he didn't seem to be a combat type. Moreover, there were not only gnolls in the rocky highlands, but also so many real demons.
Apart from anything else, as long as a few more Abyss Badgers come, it will be difficult for the old wizard to deal with them. His ordinary summoned creatures are actually somewhat untenable in front of the opponent. Isn't he like a sheep walking into the tiger's mouth?
As for those God-chosen heroes, they are even weaker. They can probably only play supporting roles and be cannon fodder.
But a night has passed and they still haven't returned, which means they are most likely not dead. Could it be that the reason why Hogg didn't show up today is because he was dealing with them?
"Will the regular army take action?"
The old village chief shook his head repeatedly: "The garrison sent by the town and the troops from the quartermaster are not under my control. They will only follow the orders given before and guard the village until they die in battle or are recruited by other God-chosen heroes."
"Can you contact Reiner?"
"Lord Reiner has already set out for the border a few days ago to fight the green-skinned orcs of the Red Cloud Tribe. Even if we contact him, I'm afraid he won't be able to help us."
"So what are you going to do? The current situation is extremely serious, and you probably don't know that in addition to the fact that the gnolls are indeed colluding with the demons, there are God-given building quarries, gnoll dragon priests, dragon warriors, and poisonous lizardmen in the kobold camp, and it is connected to the Underdark below. You should know what this means."
This was the first time that Levi revealed the truth to the other party so clearly.
The old village chief's face suddenly changed: "Underdark? Is it a real dragon?"
Levi nodded: "Yes, I suspect they are all followers of a powerful black dragon, so the situation may be more serious. We need to resolve the riot in the Stone Highlands as soon as possible and rescue the surviving guards."
The old village chief was suddenly a little desperate: "Why? Why at this time? I just received a magical message that the Dragon Prince and the dark elves were both defeated. It is almost impossible for us to get reinforcements in the short term. After all, this is just our overseas colony."
Levi looked at the other person quietly and said no more, but he already had the answer in his heart.
What else could be the reason for such a coincidence? It's probably a server launch event, right?
If all the natives live in harmony and everything is peaceful, how can these new God-chosen heroes with no foundation develop quickly?
Heroes emerge in troubled times, and the same is true for games. Only through constant disputes and battles can the gods' chosen heroes take the opportunity to quickly become stronger.
Of course, just like the great waves washing away the sand, as a price, a considerable number of God-chosen heroes will be sunk to the bottom of the sea, never to be able to recover.
But in fact, the problem is not particularly big. Even without troops, a single God-chosen hero who grows up will definitely not be too weak. This is also a direction that can be chosen, just like the combat hero that Donna mentioned.
However, he did not expect that this time the game seemed to be a bit too big. If everything continued to develop as he guessed, when it came to the most unfavorable situation, not to mention the God-chosen heroes, the novice villages of the surrounding indigenous people would be at great risk.
"Is there really no way?"
Levi felt that his hint was already very obvious. You are telling me this now, obviously you want to give the task to me, but why didn't you mention the most crucial part of the reward?
After thinking for a while, the old village chief gave an answer that Levi did not expect: "Those guards are all affiliated with the military system. If their military ranks are high enough, they can be transferred a little."
"Recruit - Veteran - Sergeant - NCO - Lieutenant - Marshal - General. This is the general rank system of our high elves. Regular troops all start at level 2 and are responsible for guarding missions, so they must at least have the rank of NCO to be able to command a small part."
Levi couldn't help but squint his eyes. He always felt something was weird. Could it be that he was trying to covet my military merit points?
After days of continuous fighting, even though some of them had been used up, there were still several thousand left, enough to exchange for a village heart and recruit another hero unit.
But I am just a veteran soldier now. If I am really promoted to non-commissioned officer all at once, I will have to start from scratch.
Unless the rewards of military rank are generous enough, so generous that they even exceed those two items.
He immediately asked tentatively: "If it is a non-commissioned officer rank, how many troops can be temporarily mobilized?"
The old village chief thought for a moment and answered very cautiously, "There should be about a squadron of elite troops, including 20 level 2 shield spearmen, 25 level 2 archers, 10 level 3 Lothern Ocean Guards, and 5 level 3 cavalry Arion Cavalry."
"This is the basic configuration of the squadron. Others may be changed according to the habits of high-level commanders in each region. For example, adding rangers and white lions, or replacing the Elion cavalry with Elion raiders who use bows and arrows, etc."
"But I can't be completely sure, because the town only sent a squadron to the village as a garrison, and the rest were the village's own half-elf hunters, soldiers, and the like."
Levi raised his eyebrows. It could be seen that the native high elves also highly respected bows and arrows. More than half of the normal teams could shoot with a bow. However, this so-called elite team was actually just so-so in strength, far inferior to his current strength.
This rank can be promoted, but there is no need to do so now.
"How about this, I will set out at dawn tomorrow and try my best to save them."
The old village chief gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, then I'll leave it to you, sir. Please do your best to rescue them. Once you succeed, I will definitely commend you in front of the acting lord!"
"Okay, it's a deal!"
A system prompt popped up immediately, saying that he had received a rescue mission. The specific reward would depend on the number of people he rescued and their strength, but the most important person was undoubtedly the old wizard Tess. If he died in battle, the mission would be half failed. It seemed that the old village chief really attached great importance to him.
After discussing some details, Levi reminded them again that this information must be passed on to Reiner. Although he could not come, he had the status and background and would definitely have a say.
The old village chief did not refuse. Seeing that Levi was about to leave, he suddenly reminded him, "By the way, Lord Levi, recently the village has been filled with adventurers from all over the surrounding areas. Someone reported to me that two very special ."
"One of the human women looked extremely ordinary, but in fact, she was most likely a Level 3 Witch Hunter, and she seemed to have a deep hatred for the Snake Cult."
"The other one is an extremely rare elephant man. Adult elephant men generally have the strength of level 3 and are loyal and reliable. Once they pledge allegiance, they will almost never betray. Although they are also very picky about the camp and strength of their employers, if it is Lord Levi, he should be convinced."
"Oh, by the way, the elephant man likes fresh and juicy plants. Coincidentally, the village recently purchased some rare magic sugar canes."
Levi didn't expect such a pleasant surprise.
As the wallets of many God-chosen heroes become fatter and their strength grows stronger, ordinary soldiers in the tavern are becoming less and less common, because once they appear, they will quickly be recruited by other God-chosen heroes.
However, higher-level, rare, and elite soldiers tend to stay longer because they either have certain requirements, or need to complete tasks, or provide some special equipment, skills, and the like.
Moreover, many indigenous peoples are not good at expressing themselves, or they simply want to test their future employers, so they will not even tell the other party their real needs in one breath, which further increases the difficulty of recruiting them.
But now the old village chief's two sentences almost gave a general idea of the other party's intelligence, which greatly increased Levi's success rate in recruiting. He really had to accept this favor from the other party.
"I see, thank you very much, I'll go check it out right away!"
