novelhk Chapter 105 The Hunting Feast and the Reencounter with Goblins
Chapter 105 The Hunting Feast and the Reencounter with Goblins
Chapter 105 The Hunting Feast and the Reencounter with Goblins
Midnight.
The stench of blood in the air seemed to solidify as time went by.
Jiang Ming sat in a private room on the second floor of the training building, with a system panel floating in front of him that only he could see.
Daily survival settlement complete.
[Survivor: Jiang Ming]
[Today's performance evaluation:]
[1. Leader's Will: You suppressed the internal rebellion with iron-fisted methods, establishing absolute dominance.]
[Score significantly improved]
[2. Otherworldly Traveler: You used the terrain and tactics to evade the Fallen Elf Sentinels' attack and subsequently scared them away. (Score greatly increased)]
[3. The Wall Builder: You led the construction of the first basic defensive fortification, providing shelter for the survivors.]
(Slight improvement in rating)
Overall Rating: S
[Reward: 5 chances to spin the Lucky Roulette.]
It's an S-class again.
Jiang Ming opened the lottery wheel with a blank expression.
For him now, ordinary equipment is hardly enough to cause him any reaction.
He only desires things that can permanently alter bodily functions.
The roulette wheel spun rapidly.
Five beams of light flashed in succession.
This time, perhaps it was the system's "compensation mechanism," or perhaps it was Jiang Ming's intense desire for power that influenced the probability.
Five draws yielded no equipment or any other items.
All of them were glass test tubes.
Two blue, three green.
[Intermediate Strength Potion (Blue): Permanently increases Strength by 5 points upon consumption.]
[Intermediate Agility Potion (Blue): Permanently increases Agility by 5 points upon consumption.]
[Basic Constitution Potion (Green) x3: Permanently increases Constitution by 2 points upon consumption.]
They're all attribute potions!
Jiang Ming's pupils contracted slightly, and his breathing became heavier.
In this data-driven world, equipment will break and skills will cool down; only the attributes ingrained in your bones are your eternal assets.
Without hesitation, he uncorked the test tube and gulped down all five vials of medicine.
The liquid entered my throat like lava rolling down.
"Well----"
Jiang Ming gripped the corner of the table tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand, the steel corner twisting and deforming under his fingertips.
Muscles are tearing, bones are remodeling.
The cells seemed to cheer, greedily devouring this enormous energy.
This excruciating pain lasted for a full three minutes.
When the pain recedes like the tide, it is replaced by an unprecedented sense of fullness.
Jiang Ming clenched his fist.
The air was crushed in the palm of the hand, making a crisp sound.
He glanced at the current panel.
Strength: 25 points
Agility: 17 points
[Constitution: 16 points]
[Perception: 13 points]
Even without considering equipment, his raw strength alone is about five times that of an average adult.
If he were to wear full armor and combine it with Su Xiaoxiao's [Combat Power Enhancement], his burst power could even break through the 30-point mark.
What does that mean?
This means he can flip a car over with one hand.
This means he could punch through a concrete wall.
This means that he can now do whatever he wants in most situations.
"call----"
Jiang Ming exhaled a breath of stale air, pushed open the door, and walked out of the room.
In the lobby, Wang Yang, Li Bin, and others had just finished settling their accounts and were excitedly gesturing with their names.
"Holy crap! Look, Lao Wang! I got the skill book [Shadow Step]!"
Holding a black stone in his hand, Li Bin's face flushed with excitement, "Now I'm really an assassin!"
Wang Yang brandished a green-glowing belt and laughed loudly, "I'm not bad either! [Giant Bear Belt], adds 2 points to Constitution, and comes with the active skill 'Brute Force Charge'! From now on, anyone who dares to block my way, I'll run them over!"
Even Zhao Yanzhi drew a pot of [Exploding Arrows (Fine)], and was counting them with great delight.
Seeing everyone's excited expressions, Jiang Ming remained calm.
This is the gap.
While they were basking in the glory of a piece of equipment or a skill, Jiang Ming had already completed another leap in his life level.
"Stop laughing, everyone."
After Jiang Ming and the others had finished celebrating, he finally spoke up, "Let's get some rest. If I'm not mistaken, the school bus will be departing again tomorrow morning."
Everyone felt a chill and immediately stopped smiling, each finding a place to lie down.
The next morning.
Just as dawn was breaking, a familiar vibration struck precisely on time.
Rumble—
The entire faculty and staff dormitory building began to shake violently, and the view outside the windows seemed to be fast-forwarded, desolate—
The highlands and plains, and the majestic snow-capped mountains in the distance, are all rapidly blurring and stretching.
Five minutes later.
The vibration stopped.
Jiang Ming immediately went to the firing port and looked out.
The once dry and barren plains have disappeared.
Instead, there are lush, towering trees and the damp, earthy scent that fills the air.
Those familiar purple berry bushes, those oddly shaped limestone rocks.
"I'm back—"
Jiang Ming narrowed his eyes.
It was the place they first traversed—[the outer edge of the tranquil forest—the shimmering woodland].
Compared to the vast, undefended plains of the highlands, this place is simply paradise.
There are trees to shelter from the wind, berries to fill your stomach, and most importantly—there are plenty of low-level wild beasts here.
"Everyone, assemble!"
Jiang Ming turned around, his voice echoing throughout the entire hall.
Two minutes later.
More than seventy survivors lined up in the center of the hall.
After two days of baptism, these students, who were originally pampered, had lost their naivety and replaced it with a numbness and ruthlessness born of the need to survive.
Especially the "patrol team" standing at the very front.
They were wearing the simple hardwood armor that Jiang Ming had synthesized, aluminum alloy wooden helmets, and carrying steel pipe spears and homemade shields, giving them a surprisingly menacing aura.
"Zhao Yanzhi".
Jiang Ming called roll.
"exist!"
Zhao Yanzhi immediately stepped forward, holding a megaphone in his hand.
"Tell them what we're going to do."
After Jiang Ming finished speaking, he stepped aside, hugged the Zhanma Sword, and closed his eyes to rest.
He is a leader, a totem; he doesn't need to do everything himself.
This dirty work of mobilization is best left to Zhao Yanzhi.
Zhao Yanzhi took a deep breath, raised the megaphone, faced the crowd, and shouted with fervent eyes, "Students!"
"Look outside! That's a forest! The kind of forest we see everywhere on Earth!"
"But what does it mean here?"
"It means meat! It means water! It means we won't starve to death in this building!"
The crowd began to stir, and countless eyes gleamed with a green light.
Hunger is the best driving force.
"Brother Jiang has already given us weapons and armor!"
Zhao Yanzhi brandished his war bow and roared, "Now, it's our turn to prove we're not trash!"
"Our objective is to hunt! If you encounter a lone wild animal, beat it to a pulp! It's our lunch!"
"If you encounter a ferocious wild animal, don't be reckless; call for help immediately!"
Zhao Yanzhi whirled around, pointing to the silver figure standing behind him like an iron tower: "Brother Jiang will make a move!"
"As long as Brother Jiang is around, even if the sky falls, someone will hold it up!"
"Now, let's set off to survive!"
"roar!!"
The crowd erupted in a long-suppressed roar.
The door burst open.
This "refugee army" composed of students, led by Jiang Ming's team, charged into the shimmering woodland like a pack of hungry wolves.
In the early morning, a thin mist hangs over the shimmering woodland.
But this tranquility was soon shattered.
"Surround it! Don't let it get away!"
"Poke its ass! Quick!"
"Damn! This sheep is incredibly strong!"
In the woods, a dozen students dressed in wooden armor were surrounding a huge, mutated sheep.
The sheep had bloodshot eyes and sharp horns, but under the indiscriminate stabbing of more than a dozen steel pipe spears, it quickly let out a mournful scream and fell into a pool of blood.
"Dead! Dead!"
A boy excitedly wiped the sheep's blood from his face and burst into laughter, "We'll have mutton soup tonight!"
Similar scenes are playing out repeatedly on the edge of the forest.
Humans are a species with an incredibly strong ability to adapt.
Once they overcome their initial fears and have weapons and organization, their predatory instincts will be fully unleashed.
In just one hour.
A dozen mutated sheep and several giant wild rabbits had already piled up on the open ground.
Jiang Ming has not made a move yet.
He was like an overseer, inspecting the battlefield.
The experience points provided by these low-level beasts were negligible to him; it would be better to leave them for Wang Yang and Li Bin to train the newcomers.
"Brother Jiang! We've spotted something big up ahead!"
Zhao Yanzhi's urgent voice came through the walkie-talkie, "It's thick-skinned bulls! Eight of them! They're drinking water by the riverbank!"
Thick-skinned bull.
Jiang Ming's eyes lit up.
This is good stuff.
Not only is their flesh firm, but more importantly, their hides are excellent materials for making leather armor, and their horns can be used to craft powerful weapons.
"Everyone step back, do not disturb them."
Jiang Ming turned his horse around and said in a deep voice, "You can't handle this thing."
Riverbank.
Eight thick-skinned bulls, each the size of a small truck, are leisurely drinking water.
Their grayish-white keratinous skin is impervious to ordinary swords and knives, making them truly tank-like creatures.
The students around them hid behind the trees, watching these enormous creatures, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Someone tried to stab it with a spear before, but the spear broke, and the person was headbutted by the bull and sent flying five meters.
Yuan had three broken ribs.
Just then.
The tranquility of the riverbank was broken by the heavy thud of horses' hooves.
Da da da—
The herd of bulls raised their heads alertly.
A streak of silver light burst forth from the forest with extreme ferocity.
Jiang Ming rode on his horse, the black iron sword in his hand dragging on the ground, drawing a series of dazzling sparks on the pebble beach.
"Moo—!!"
Sensing the provocation, the lead bull roared, lowered its head, pointed its two sharp, curved horns at Jiang Ming, and charged.
The earth trembled as the two-ton beast charged.
The students watching were so frightened that they covered their mouths.
"Well done!"
A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Ming's eyes.
Without dodging or avoiding, he squeezed the horse's belly with both legs just before the collision.
The warhorse leaped to the side as if guided by a divine power.
At the same time, Jiang Ming used the momentum of his warhorse to exert force from his waist, and his strength of up to 25 points was released in an instant.
The sword that cut through the air drew a black crescent.
puff!
A sickeningly loud sound of flesh and bone separating rang out.
That enormous bull's head, along with its incredibly hard cervical spine, was as fragile as tofu under Jiang Ming's giant sword, and flew straight into the air.
The cow carcass, propelled by inertia, flew another ten meters before crashing to the ground.
Blood gushed out like a fountain, staining the riverbank red.
One sword!
Instantly kills a Lv.5 Thick-skinned Bull!
The remaining seven bulls were stunned.
Their simple minds couldn't comprehend why that seemingly small two-legged creature could instantly kill their companion.
But Jiang Ming didn't give them time to think.
"kill!"
He charged back into the herd.
This was nothing short of a massacre.
The overwhelming power attribute, combined with the sharpness of the [Black Iron Horse-Slaying Sword], transformed Jiang Ming into the most efficient harvester.
With each swing of the sword, a wild bull falls.
Less than three minutes.
Eight headless cow carcasses were found on the riverbank.
Jiang Ming reined in the horse, and the horse snorted, exhaling a puff of white vapor.
Silver armor stained with blood, black sword dripping red.
This scene was deeply imprinted in the eyes of all the students present, becoming an indelible mark of the gods and demons in their hearts.
"What are you still standing there for?"
Jiang Ming wiped the blood off his sword, opened his mask, and looked at the group of students who were dumbfounded.
"Peel the skin and cut the meat."
"There will be meat for everyone tonight."
"Ohhh!!"
The students, as if waking from a dream, erupted in deafening cheers and rushed forward.
Two hours later.
The riverbank was transformed into a massive open-air slaughterhouse.
Busy figures could be seen everywhere.
Some people are cleaning cowhides, some are butchering beef, and others are collecting cow blood.
The joy of the harvest dispelled the gloom of the end times.
"Brother Jiang, we've struck it rich this time."
Zhao Yanzhi ran over with his hands covered in oil, so excited he was almost incoherent, "There's so much beef! Even if we make it into smoked meat, it'll be enough for us to eat for half a month!"
Jiang Ming sat on a large rock by the river, polishing his armor.
Upon hearing this, he did not smile; instead, he frowned slightly.
"Where are the water-carrying teams?"
He suddenly asked.
Zhao Yanzhi paused for a moment, then glanced at his watch: "They should have been back by now. Old Wang took ten men upstream to fetch water, saying the water there is clearer—"
Before he could finish speaking...
Beep beep beep—
Suddenly, a piercing electrical buzzing sound came from the walkie-talkie on Zhao Yanzhi's waist.
Immediately afterwards, Wang Yang's voice, filled with extreme terror and gasps for breath, rang out: "Old Zhao! Quickly call Brother Jiang to come and save us!!"
"Goblins! Lots of goblins!!"
"ah--!!"
A piercing scream tore through the communication channel, followed by a burst of cacophony and eerie laughter.
"Gagaga!"
It was a sharp, wicked language, like scratching a blackboard with fingernails.
Although I couldn't understand it, the greed and cruelty that permeated their very bones sent chills down my spine.
Jiang Ming suddenly stood up on the big rock.
The once bustling riverbank instantly fell silent.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Jiang Ming in horror.
"A goblin? —"
A savage glint flashed in Jiang Ming's eyes.
"Zhao Yanzhi! Take all combat personnel and come with me!"
Jiang Ming pointed the black iron sword straight upstream.
"The rest, take the meat and get back to school immediately!"
"Those who fall behind will bear the consequences!"