Chapter 370 Hunting
"First Brigade, obey orders, depart!"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
A big Barbarian man at the front of the Team stepped forward and replied. It was Ku Te, who I fought in the Arena last time. With a wave of his Large Hand, the First Brigade's fifteen Squads, one hundred and five Adventure Teams, turned and left mightily behind him.
"Second Brigade, obey orders, depart!"
"Yes, Leader."
Stepping forward was a heroic and valiant Amazon named Narani. Every time I saw her Rare Item long hair tied into a Ponytail and her tall Figure, it would make me think of Sister Sharna. She should still be in Lut Gholein now, I wonder how she's doing. Calculating it, we've been separated for almost a year now. After the Optimized Magic Array is researched, the opportunities to meet should become more frequent. Actually, I was considering whether to invite Sister Sharna after Sarah and Velas's Levels increase, but I think with Sister Sharna's Nature, even if she loves and misses me, her Younger Brother, dearly, this should also be an impossible Matter.
Before I knew it, a while had passed. The Adventurers of the First and Second Brigades had disappeared into the Dense Forest behind me. Only the Third Brigade and the 79 Mercenary Squads Responsible for errand work were still standing behind me, quietly waiting for my instructions, without a single word regarding my sudden silence. Composing myself, I waved my Large Hand.
"Third Brigade, obey orders, depart!"
"Obeying your instructions, Lord!"
A middle-aged and steady Paladin walked out from the front row of the Second Brigade. His name was Okmar, and he was a Level 40 Paladin. I heard his Squad was about to prepare to issue a challenge to Mephisto on the third level of the Durance of Hate. He held his Sword in one hand, the tip pointing up, the hilt resting at his waist, and performed a Standard ancient Knight's Courtesy. Speaking of which, the Paladin's Rules are quite numerous. For example, there are no less than dozens of types of Knight's Courtesy. But I've never seen that guy Lars use any one. In my heart, I was even more certain with contempt that he was just a "Wine and Meat" Knight.
Next, the 79 Mercenary Squads behind me also each entered their Post under my command. They are mainly Responsible for the contact between the various Brigades and Squads and Report the situation to me. In this Support Operation to rescue the Elf Race, I first put the Adventurers' Life in the first place, so no mistakes are allowed. I also know that in a large Operation like this, no Casualties is an impossible Matter. Casualties below double digits, this is the maximum Stat Value I allow. Otherwise, even if Akara and the others don't blame me, I also have no Face to face those Adventurers who lost their Comrades.
As for this Support Operation, speaking of which, there's not much technical content. Because we have a biggest irreparable flaw, which is insufficient manpower. Don't look at the two thousand Adventurers marching mightily, with the momentum of slaying Gods and Demons. But put against the million-strong Dwarf Army gathered by the Dark Wanderer, whose Quantity is unknown, it's simply not even enough to make a single ripple. So the Protagonist of this War is still the Elf Race. We are just here to provide some Friendship-based assistance, just for show, to let the Elf Race higher-ups use this as an excuse to persuade the populace. And the form of assistance, speaking of which, is a bit rogue-like. No Method. After all, we are few in number.
In this boundless Forest, live almost 90% of the Elf Race in the First Act. However, the Elf Race's pure and indifferent Nature is destined that they cannot live together with Excitement, but are scattered within this Forest in the form of one Village after another. Each Village has a Quantity of roughly 1000-10000 Elf Race, and their Royal City might have hundreds of thousands.
Speaking of which, the Dark Wanderer's Intelligence really isn't that high. As expected of a mere extra character. After investigation, we found that after they gathered thousands of Little People, they didn't all gather together and then combine the momentum of a million-strong army to directly impact the Elf Territory. Instead, they used the Dark Wanderer as a unit, each leading their thousands of Teams to launch attacks against the Elf Race. The Elf Race higher-ups probably also understood this situation long ago, so they didn't recall all the Elf Race to the Royal City. Instead, they also defended using Tribes as units. Judging by the Dark Wanderer's marching Speed, a Tribe would face at most 1-2 Teams of Dark Wanderer attacks simultaneously. If it's an Elf Race Tribe with a Quantity of over five thousand, relying on home field Advantage, defending is not considered difficult. Actually, to defeat the Dwarf Army led by the second-tier brain-damaged Dark Wanderer, the Elf Race should have better Methods. But they probably also wanted to train their army, just like our Alliance Organization's defense against the Monster Siege. The Elf Race higher-ups resolutely chose this kind of head-on Battle with no technical content. Among them, there was inevitably also the Idea of competing with the Adventurer Alliance. But precisely because of this, our Operation found an opportunity. That is, while the Little People are attacking the Tribe, secretly lure the Dark Wanderer away and then eliminate it. This way, the leaderless Little People, after losing the Intimidate of the "evidence of Strength" in the Dark Wanderer's hands, I believe they will scatter or even start infighting. This is also why when I divided the groups, it was based on the Strength to "defeat the Dark Wanderer without loss" as the division Criteria. Of course, if the Elf Race Tribe's Strength is strong enough, they don't need our Support Operation at all, then so be it. Because that would slightly resemble stealing Monsters. After all, we are here this time to show Friendship to the Elf Race, so try not to make things awkward if possible.
I stood quietly on the Cliff for a long time. Only until those 79 errand Squads also entered the boundless Forest below my feet did I withdraw my Gaze. I hugged the Three-No Princess into my arms. As for Dead Dog, I just let it continue to stay in the Little Ghost's Necklace. Although it's clear it really dislikes staying inside, now is not the time for it to be willful.
I sighed. I rode Little Snow and followed. The Team that was just full of Excitement, now only myself and the Three-No Princess are left. I really feel a bit Solitary. In this Operation, as the Commander-in-Chief, I do not Plan to participate, but monitor from the rear, listening to the Information from each Team to make timely responses. To put it simply, it's a one-person Headquarters in the far rear.
As for my worries, besides fearing that these Unruly Adventurers will cause conflicts with the equally arrogant Elf Race, there is also one Single Point that makes me most uneasy. That is the planning of this Little People attack incident. Ever since I learned that the Dark Wanderer is just a cannon fodder character, I've been thinking, who is the mastermind behind this? What Plan do they have? To be able to organize a Battle of such a large Scale, their Intelligence should not be low. Then they should also know that although a million Little People seem Powerful, they absolutely cannot defeat the Powerful Elf Race. Could it be the Idea of Weaken the Elf Race's Strength? That's also impossible. After this Battle, the Elf Race will indeed suffer a large number of Casualties, but just like the Result when Monsters attacked the Camp, after being tempered by War, for the Elf Race, it's actually more of a blessing than a curse.
Thinking about it repeatedly, I also don't understand what that mastermind is thinking In One's Head. But no matter what, this Mysterious Black Shadow is the biggest variable in this Operation. It, which can make the Dark Wanderer obey orders, is definitely not a simple character. At least it has Demon Lord Level Strength or higher. Even if an Adventurer from a Squad encounters it, they may not be able to escape, let alone win.
"Really, I really don't know what Akara and the others are thinking." Thinking this and that, I couldn't help but start complaining about those guys who instigated me to be the Operation Leader for this Operation. Indeed, my Strength is indeed very strong, but it's only relative to Adventurers of the Same Tier/Rank. Compared to High-Level Experts like Old Drunkard and Stingy Guy, it's simply no different from a Rookie. And now they actually let me be Responsible for such an important Operation. Based on the Strength of the mastermind I'm guessing, let alone preserving these Adventurers, if I really encounter the opponent, whether I can even protect myself is still an unknown number. An Operation like this clearly should have a High-Level Expert like Old Drunkard in charge.
Could it be that they think there are too many Adventurers in the Alliance and want to use this opportunity to get rid of some, and also make the Elf Race owe more Favor? I couldn't help but guess this with Malice.
The three Brigades were divided into three Teams: left, middle, and right. And I am now following behind the Second Brigade in the middle. After walking for a while, I thought that those guys should also start taking action. As expected, not long after, the Ghost Wolf patrolling nearby brought a Mercenary to Report to me that the third Squad of the first Squad has discovered a Dark Wanderer unit and are secretly following behind, until this Dark Wanderer unit starts fighting with the Elf Village, hmph hmph--
Not long after, several more errand Mercenaries returned one after another to Report the situation to me. All were similar to the Information from the first Mercenary. In just one afternoon's Effort, they have already discovered over a dozen Dark Wanderer units. Since they are currently still on the outskirts of the Elf Race and haven't encountered Elf Race Villages, they all chose to secretly follow behind. Of course, those with agile movements can also find opportunities to eliminate a few lagging Little People Teams and get a few kills. Anyway, the Dark Wanderer won't discover it either.
I didn't expect that one-third of the Squads would lock onto their Target so quickly. But this also explains a Fact: there are more Dark Wanderer than I imagined. Just those currently leading are more than a dozen. If calculated based on one Dark Wanderer leading 3000 Little People, then at least 50,000 Little People have entered here.
Thinking of this, I patted Little Snow beneath me, signaling it to hurry. Although I am the mobile Headquarters and cannot participate in this Hunting Operation, but if I encounter one, I still don't mind putting in some Effort. Most importantly, I can't wait to see the handsome guys and Beauties of the Elf Race. I've seen them a lot in Novels and anime, but Reality is the first time. How can I not be excited?