Chapter 113: Section 114: Clearing Out the Silver Bat Monkey Group


    “Indeed, she is the current Chairman of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce. It seems I had underestimated her before,” Zong Ge looked at Zi Di with a completely new perspective.


    Initially, Zong Ge had led a group of people and almost forcibly took the crossbows away. Of course, they needed a valid reason to avoid accusations, and it was a legitimate one: for scouting the area near the camp, having crossbows at hand could reduce casualties.


    However, the issue surfaced after Zhenjin brought out the map.


    Even Zong Ge and his companions benefited from Zhenjin’s map; the achievements from Zong Ge’s group’s reconnaissance were completely overshadowed by Zhenjin.


    What’s more, the appearance of the map had severely shaken the pride and motivation of the former mercenaries, making them fully recognize the significance of Zhenjin’s identity, and no one dared to make light of Zhenjin anymore.


    People realized one thing: Even though Zhenjin had fallen to the island and lacked the support of his family’s power, he still had a backer. This backer was comparable to heaven and earth — the Holy Emperor worshipped by the Holy Temple Knights might be the strongest living god in the world!


    ...


    Zong Ge and others had paid such a high price, fighting desperately day in and day out, losing two men, with many injured, only to find their efforts paled in comparison to a single prayer from Zhenjin.


    The cold, hard truth was laid out in front of everyone’s eyes once more, reaffirming the vast disparities in social status among people.


    After being taught a lesson, now the sight of Zhenjin standing there, even if he was just standing simply, brought an unprecedented pressure that people had never felt before.


    Many even subconsciously slowed their breathing.


    “Holy Temple Knight…” After a long while, Zong Ge looked at Zhenjin, his voice slightly husky, “then I can only trust your reputation.”


    “Of course. Zong Ge, I guarantee fairness in this matter with the honor of my Hundred Needle Family’s name and on my honor as a Knight.”


    Zhenjin’s words were crisp and forceful.


    “Please trust me, everyone. We are not an army; nor are we a Mercenary Group; this system simply binds us more closely together. Let each one of us understand how much we have contributed to our collective. And every single contribution should receive its proper positive feedback. We should not let any member of us bleed in vain or sacrifice without reward. No matter who he is, no matter his status, he cannot shed blood for nothing, cannot sacrifice in vain.”


    Zong Ge’s eyes glinted coldly, sensing that Zhenjin’s words had deeper implications, containing hidden barbs.


    The others, looking at the golden-haired youth in front of them, saw their suspicions gradually fade away.


    Zi Di added, “Gentlemen, the content on the list is not set in stone. If you have any objections or think something is unreasonable, we can discuss it.”


    Faces relaxed again among the crowd.


    Sanda remained indifferent. He had dealt with merchants many times before. His past experiences told him: merchants usually had a strong ability to persuade, turning the dead into the living, and quibbling with them often left mercenaries at a disadvantage.


    But by then, Zong Ge had already handed the list to him: “Sanda, what do you think would be a better exchange?”


    Zong Ge’s remark eased the hearts of both Zhenjin and Zi Di.


    Since Zong Ge had already recognized this system, there was not much for Sanda to say.


    He examined the contents of the list carefully. His life experience as a mercenary squad leader made him quickly realize the most valuable items on the list: “We need crossbows and iron arrows. The stronger the crossbows, the fewer our casualties will be.”


    “Of course, it also depends on what your hunting target is, my Lord.”


    “If it’s still the Monkey-tailed Brown Bear, then we need the strongest waist-fired crossbows. If it’s creatures like bat monkeys or Flying Squirrels, then we need to exchange for Arm-crossbows for everyone.”


    “Our previously obtained crossbows were already in bad shape, and most of them are broken now.”


    Zong Ge nodded, “Then let’s exchange for the waist-fired crossbows.”


    Implicit in his words, he still wanted to hunt the Monkey-tailed Brown Bears.


    “We only have two waist-fired crossbows, and new ones will take at least three days to make,” Zi Di reminded.


    Sanda frowned slightly. Only having two waist-fired crossbows was too few. They would have to settle for the next best thing, exchanging for knee-fired crossbows.


    But upon further inquiry, Zi Di informed him that the knee-fired crossbows had already been exchanged by Zhenjin and the others.


    After all, Zhenjin had returned to camp ahead of others.


    Sanda laughed out of frustration: “So, you mean to say we can only exchange for Arm-crossbows? You might as well have made that clear from the start.”


    Zi Di smiled, “There are also many Healing Potions on the list, which I believe are essential supplies. I haven’t included those Healing Potions that Lord Zhenjin had previously provided you.”


    Being beholden meant Sanda found it difficult to argue back.


    Zi Di then expressed a clear apology, her tone even more sincere: “Gentlemen, we all know what our current situation is like. We’ve only just started to stabilize our footing here; there’s so much to rebuild. Our supplies are very limited, and we don’t have mature workshops or production lines, so the output of potions and crossbows is not high.”


    “It’s quite normal for the items on the list to be in short supply, and this will continue for a long time. I hope you can understand.”


    People around glanced at each other, with some instinctively nodding in agreement, basically accepting Zi Di’s words.


    At this point, Zhenjin looked at Zong Ge: “Actually, I would suggest that you exchange for Arm-crossbows instead.”


    “Today, we cleared out three bat monkey troops. We found that the Black Iron Bat Monkeys tend to flee first when the situation is unfavorable. The other Bronze Bat Monkeys and ordinary bat monkeys also exhibit fleeing behavior when defeated.”


    “Bat monkeys can fly, and they move incredibly fast in the forest; we can’t catch up.”


    “According to Scholar Cang Xu’s deduction, bat monkeys are gregarious animals. These fleeing bat monkeys will regroup and form new troops together. And most likely, a large portion of them will be absorbed into existing bat monkey troops.”


    “In this way, the more bat monkey troops we clear out, the larger the remaining ones tend to be, making hunting them even more difficult.” Sear?h the N??eFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    “Zong Ge, my idea is that we should cooperate and first eliminate the largest bat monkey troop near our camp!”


    Zong Ge immediately thought of the information on the map.


    The largest bat monkey troop had a Silver Level bat monkey leader.


    It was indeed the most threatening Magic Beast troop.


    Zong Ge thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement.


    According to the list, one Silver Magical Beast Monkey-tailed Brown Bear could exchange for twenty Arm-crossbows. Having hunted three, Zong Ge could exchange for sixty Arm-crossbows in total.


    “`


    However, there were only a little over forty arm-crossbows in the camp.


    Zong Ge and Sanda discussed and decided to swap out all the arm-crossbows first, ensuring that everyone had a good crossbow. Then, they exchanged for healing potions, pink route-marking medicine powder, smoke potions to drive away the bat monkeys, and so on.


    On the second day, Zhenjin, Zong Ge, Sanda, Lan Zao, Hei Juan, Bai Ya, and others set out together, aiming to clear out the largest group of Silver Magical Beast bat monkeys.


    They used the same tactic involving the smoke potion as before.


    The signal arrows attracted a large number of bat monkeys.


    First, Bai Ya and some others crouched and launched their repeating crossbows. As the bat monkeys charged even closer, it was time for Sanda and the others with their arm-crossbows to shine.


    With arrows slaying the bat monkeys, the fury of the entire swarm was further ignited. Soon after, the Silver Bat Monkey leader took to the sky, accompanied by over twenty Black Iron Bat Monkeys, pressing towards Zhenjin and the others.


    Zhenjin observed quietly and realized that the Silver Bat Monkey leader was larger than the Black Iron Bat Monkeys, with broader bat wings. Standing on the ground, if it did not crouch, it was almost as tall as Zhenjin himself!


    “Once I transform it, my bat monkey form will be able to reach the Silver Level,” he thought to himself.


    For Zhenjin to hunt down the Silver Bat Monkey leader alone would be very difficult. After all, there were a large number of bat monkeys guarding the leader.


    However, with the help of everyone, common bat monkeys suffered heavy casualties, and a substantial number of Bronze Bat Monkeys were also lost.


    Especially when the bat monkey swarm almost reached the front lines but was driven back by the thick smoke, their formation became disorganized.


    At such close range, the accuracy of Bai Ya and the others greatly improved, and the casualties in the bat monkey swarm surged in an instant.


    The most outstanding feat belonged to Zhenjin, of course.


    He was wielding a repeating crossbow in each hand. One should hold a repeating crossbow with both hands, one steady on the crossbow arm and the other pulling the trigger. But Zhenjin just held onto the triggers and continually shook his arms and wrists.


    With both repeating crossbows trembling, arrows after arrows flew out, nearly forming two dotted lines.


    Where the dotted lines went, not a single bat monkey was left standing. Zhenjin’s killing efficiency was undoubtedly the best.


    Even Zong Ge couldn’t help but take notice, silently admiring that this was indeed the bloodline of the Hundred Needle Family. Although his own archery had been laboriously practiced over many years, next to Zhenjin, he felt insignificant.


    Clearing the Silver Bat Monkey swarm had almost become a stage for Zhenjin to showcase his archery skills.


    Finally, the Silver Bat Monkey leader, enraged, led all the Black Iron Bat Monkeys and dived down together. They aimed straight for Zhenjin!


    Zhenjin’s steel-head arrows shot towards the Silver Bat Monkey, but it easily dodged them. It was more agile than the Black Iron Bat Monkeys, like a purple-black ghost.


    “Coordinate with me,” Zong Ge suddenly barked.


    The Silver Bat Monkey plunged into the thick smoke, Zhenjin held his ground, then suddenly pulled back, as Zong Ge stepped forward at just that moment.


    The white bone giant hammer swept fiercely, hitting the Silver Bat Monkey and sending it flying like a batted ball.


    The Silver Bat Monkey let out a sharp scream, crashing into a tree trunk and breaking the tree behind it.


    Spitting out a mouthful of blood and displaying a look of fear in its eyes, it immediately soared high into the air, no longer daring to dive down.


    Seeing their leader behave this way, some of the Black Iron Bat Monkeys followed back into the high air, while others continued their charge, only to die at the hands of Xi Suo, Lan Zao, Sanda, and others who had long been prepared.


    Casualties within the team also occurred.


    With many Black Iron Bat Monkeys sacrificed, they had achieved some degree of victory.


    Watching its swarm reduced by eighty percent, the Silver Bat Monkey leader let out a mournful cry.


    Then, it took a deep breath and unleashed a sonorous attack.


    Around a dozen Black Iron Bat Monkeys joined in with their sonic waves, yet even combined, their sonority fell far short of that of the Silver Bat Monkey leader alone.


    The sonic waves enveloped the area, causing the air itself to stir into semi-transparent ripples.


    Affected by the sonic waves, the dense smoke spread rapidly. At this rate, the smoke would soon be cleared away.


    Bai Ya and others desperately covered their ears, collapsing to the ground, wailing and howling in pain, even though they had already stuffed something into their ears beforehand.


    Even Lan Zao, Xi Suo, and others were swaying, struggling to stand firm. The rain of arrows ceased in an instant.


    Only Zong Ge and Zhenjin still stood erect.


    Zhenjin, struggling to ignore the irritation and dizziness, hurriedly ordered more medicine powder to be supplied, while using a waist-held crossbow to shoot the bat monkeys in the sky.


    The waist-held crossbow had the highest draw weight; its steel arrows severely disrupted the bat monkeys’ maintenance of their sonic waves.


    Zhenjin shot down many Black Iron Bat Monkeys, and finally, even the Silver Bat Monkey leader, with its sonic waves now intermittent, failed to demonstrate its full power due to the flurry of flying arrows.


    Meanwhile, Zong Ge had already charged out of the formation and into the ordinary bat monkey swarm, wreaking havoc.


    His white bone giant hammer was incredibly fearsome, and even the Black Iron Bat Monkeys that were hit met immediate death on the spot.


    In the end, the Silver Bat Monkey leader let out a pitiful shriek and voluntarily left its homeland. Almost entirely decimated by the joint efforts of Zhenjin, Zong Ge, and the others, this largest bat monkey group scattered in every direction, failing to follow their leader.


    After resting for a while on the spot, everyone cleaned up the battlefield and then triumphantly returned.


    The camp was in high spirits; the unprecedented number of bat monkey corpses piled up in the corners, difficult to process promptly.


    Following Zhenjin’s wishes, with Fatt Tongue overseeing, a modest victory feast was held. Despite the scarcity of food, the atmosphere was kept lively by the distribution of alcohol.


    People crowded around Zhenjin, praising his bravery and his impeccable archery skills.


    Those former members of the Mercenary Group also looked at him with admiration.


    It was Zhenjin’s interference that had driven back the Silver Bat Monkey leader, making him the key figure of the battle.


    Zhenjin became the protagonist of the banquet, the focus of all eyes. Meanwhile, Zong Ge sat with only Sanda by his side, both prominently seated yet somehow giving off the impression of being in a corner.


    “`