Chapter 38: Structures in the Forest

He was considering the image of the Western dragon, which had an affinity for shiny objects, abducted princesses from human kingdoms, had a strong fondness for money, and was highly lustful. It was also known for creating various new species. 

As someone who frequently visited Western Fantasy worlds, dragons were always a standard for measuring combat power. 

To the natives and Kobolds, dragons were considered immensely powerful beings.

From the looks of it, those Kobolds might really contain a trace of dragon bloodline.

After all, in many worlds, the Kobolds were one of the famous races created by dragons.

Ji Chen wondered how the dragon got in there…

However, was there really a dragon on this island? Was this its territory?

Ji Chen asked worriedly.

"Have you seen it with your own eyes?"

The native shook his head, "I haven't seen it, and according to the records passed down by the tribe, the last time it was seen was over 9,000 suns ago."

In the eyes of the native tribes, a day was equivalent to one solar hour, and more than 9,000 solar hours were equivalent to more than 20 years.

It seemed that the dragon had left this place for a long time. There was a high chance that it would not return.

This made him heave a sigh of relief.

Ji Chen realized that a dragon was beyond his current level of combat capability. 

The army would suffer major losses from just one breath attack, making it an unpredictable and dangerous situation. 

If the dragon was still around, it would be best to avoid it. 

After some consideration, he had someone take the native away to be entertained while he focused on planning his strategy against the Kobold tribe.

The number of Kobold tribes is numerous, even a hunting team has dozens of people, and they should not be underestimated even if they are only at Tier 2 and 3 stars.

To counter this, he decided to gather all the pirates under his command. 

With 80 elite pirates at tier 2-4 stars, he had a considerable force at his disposal. 

Currently, his army consisted of 35 Level 4 River Murlocs, 28 Level 3 Naga Warriors, and 80 Level 8 elite pirates, totaling 143. 

However, in terms of level, they still did not have much of an advantage over the Level 6 Kobolds. 

Therefore, before engaging in the battle, he planned to first level up his troops to gain a strategic advantage.

"Let's go to the left side of the territory's jungle which hasn't been thoroughly explored yet and explore while leveling up."

"Come to think of it, the ruined structures we saw before seem to be deep in the left jungle. Let's explore that last place too." 

Once the direction was determined, Ji Chen prepared enough supplies and set out with his army. 

The ruined structures were located some distance above the Mithril mine and were similarly surrounded by dense vegetation. 

It took him two hours to clear a path and finally reach the ruined structures.

In the dense forest, a group of buildings covered by countless vines and plants appeared in front of them.

Although the entire stone building complex was already in ruins, the faint outline of the building hidden in the leaves still made Ji Chen stop and sigh.

He found a spot with sparse vegetation and entered.

This stone building complex was in the southwest of the main island, coincidentally at the junction of many rivers.

Therefore, there were many streams of water around them. They weaved through the entire building complex, giving the place the feeling of Venice. Under the silence of the surrounding birds, the scenery was not bad.

However, Ji Chen didn't let his guard down. He looked at the Omniscient map as he advanced.

Soon, he found a group of red dots near the core area.

There were a lot of them, about seventy to eighty of them.

He walked a little closer.

At the center of the complex was a building that looked like a temple.

Beside the temple, on the trees that were growing wildly, on the broken stone pillars.

There was a large group of extremely strong chimpanzees, and this seemed to be their territory.

[Blackback Gorilla]

[Level: 8]

[Tier: 2, 8 stars]

[Skill: Muscle Strength (blue skill, Blackback Gorilla has extremely strong strength)]

Hard Fist (Blue skill, fist bone is extremely hard, able to resist sharp swords)

Berserk (Green skill. Once injured, the player will enter a berserk state, greatly increasing all attributes)

[Military characteristic: Bear grudges (once attacked, it will remember the attacker until the attacker is killed)]

[We don't have Mount Tai here.]

Tier 2 8-star, level 8, and almost 80 in number.

Their strength surpassed any of his soldiers, and even with the combined efforts of the Murlocs, Naga warriors, and pirates, victory was not guaranteed.

Of course, this was under the assumption that Alice did not take part in the battle.

At this moment, the chimpanzee also discovered their group of intruders and rushed over with its teeth bared.

"Ding ~ You have entered combat mode. Morale assessment in progress…"

"Our overall morale is at 51 points. We've entered an advantageous state."

Ji Chen's expression changed slightly. The morale was only at 51 points?

However, without any hesitation, he raised his arm and shouted. All the troops rushed forward, giving full play to their numerical advantage.

The two sides soon collided.

The initial confrontation was far from successful. 

The Black Gorillas were incredibly strong with bulging muscles and powerful fists. 

Despite lacking any tactics, their sheer strength alone was enough to suppress the pirates, who quickly became injured and retreated while vomiting blood. 

The Murlocs nearly lost half its life with just one punch, and only the Naga Warriors were barely able to resist with their bone blades, but even they struggled. 

Ji Chen didn't need to say anything further before Alice stepped in, singing a war song and joining the battle.

The impassioned song sounded, raising the morale of their troops, and their combat strength instantly increased by a large margin.

It greatly narrowed the gap in strength between the two sides. With the advantage in numbers, they gradually maintained the front line and caused a lot of damage to the Black Gorillas.

However, the injured Black Gorillas immediately entered a berserk state. Unlike the soldiers they had seen in the past, they had a certain level of intelligence.

Soon, he saw Ji Chen and Alice standing at the back.

Immediately, a group of over ten Black Gorillas leaped onto a nearby tree and started following the trunk and vines to swing over to their side, baring their teeth as they approached. 

Ji Chen's eyebrows twitched, fearing the danger of the decapitation tactic.

The Black Gorillas were attacking from the side, leaping over the front line with the help of vines. 

Without hesitation, he ordered Alice to launch another attack.

This time, it was the Song of Temptation.

The sound of Alice's song filled the air, causing the swinging gorillas to lose their focus and fall to the ground like dumplings dropping into a boiling pot. They landed on the ground with a loud thud.

A few Naga warriors who rushed back raised their swords and quickly killed them all.

Alice's singing boosted the morale of their troops and weakened the mental state of the Black Gorillas. 

This allowed Ji Chen's army to attack without any hesitation, causing severe injuries to the Black Gorillas and leading to their quick defeat. 

The tide of the battle changed dramatically in favor of Ji Chen's troops.

However, Ji Chen also noticed a problem.

The strength of Alice's song was weakened against higher-level monsters.

For instance, the tier 2 3-star Kobold was easily affected by it, but the tier 2 8-star Black Gorilla only became dazed, and the effect was greatly reduced.

If they faced tier 3 or tier 4 enemies in the future, the impact of her singing would be further reduced.

"Alice's singing is not invincible. To maximize Alice's ability and gain the advantage in battle, her blue skill needs to be upgraded to purple or even higher."

With this thought, the battle came to an end.