Chapter 653: Behind Enemy Lines
Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!
Rare gusts of wind blew in from a distant pass, carrying cool and refreshing air.
The adventurers hiding in the shadowy corners cautiously observed the distant sentry post.
The sharp-nosed gnoll slaves patrolled the sentry post tirelessly.
Their minds were filled only with the commands to patrol and kill the enemy.
Though slightly robotic, they still posed a significant threat.
For example, if the adventurers couldn't take out the gnoll warriors first, getting close to the city walls would be tough.
Fortunately, the adventurers were well prepared. For this rare combat opportunity, they all purchased sniper crossbows produced in Bay Territory!
The sniper crossbow is an improved version of the large enchanted crossbow. While maintaining its powerful lethality, it further enhances range and accuracy.
The attack range was increased from the original 500–600 meters to 800–1000 meters.
Of course, such upgrades inevitably came with trade-offs—the sniper crossbow is larger and slower to reload.
But for adventurers who excel at small-scale combat, this modification was perfect.
Chris, fully focused, carefully aimed at his target, adjusted his breathing rhythmically, then pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A powerful thrust instantly propelled the blackish-blue bolt.
The spinning bolt emitted faint glowing magical runes.
Multiple enchantments such as "Float," "Precision," "Penetration," and "Correction" activated simultaneously.
The speeding bolt became even faster.
A flash of black light streaked by—Chris saw it through his magical telescope.
The strongest gnoll warrior on the sentry post was instantly pierced by the bolt.
The terrifying force tore open a massive hole in its chest, sending it flying back like a sack of mud, splattering against the wall.
The bolt, still unstoppable, shot into the interior of the sentry post, followed by a series of loud crashes.
Chris's shot was a direct hit—and it marked the start of the assault.
A barrage of bolts screamed toward the distant city wall.
The adventurer archers, trained in sniping, used their powerful crossbows to eliminate the stiff gnoll slave soldiers with near-perfect accuracy.
In just a few breaths, thirty to forty gnoll slave warriors were killed atop the wall.
The loud commotion immediately alerted the slave generals.
Looking at the corpses on the wall and the continuous bolts flying from afar, they followed the mind flayers' combat orders.
They immediately dispatched a strike force of about 500 troops to charge in the direction the bolts were coming from.
The adventurers, well aware of their tactics, looked on with some regret at the charging gnoll slaves.
The enemy was too easy to bait—it didn't feel satisfying!
There were too few of them—hardly enough to share!
The 500-plus charging gnoll slave warriors actually reached Chris's position, not having been completely covered by the bolt fire.
However, these average-level slaves didn't break through the defense line of the Alice Adventurer Party.
The defense line, composed of over fifty shield-bearing gray dwarf elites, easily held off the assault.
Ashes stopped the gray dwarves from launching a counterattack and shouted loudly:
"This meat is too thin, it's tasteless!"
"Let's draw out more slave warriors before attacking."
Naturally, the gray dwarves had no objections. With their broad, heavy shields, they easily blocked the incoming attacks.
The attacking gnoll slaves lacked the strength to break their defensive formation, even in large numbers.
On both flanks, powerful ogre warriors stood ready as reserves, their eyes showing pity as they watched the manipulated slaves.
Though ogres aren't the brightest, with the Bay Territory's training and education, they gradually began to grasp deeper meanings of life.
They couldn't help but feel compassion for the slaves' fate, and hatred for the mind flayers.
Morak, who didn't join the fight, scratched the bulge on his neck—feeling like a second brain was about to grow there.
But Morak wasn't in a rush anymore.
He'd been honored with a personal meeting with the Lord, who told him solemnly:
"The potential of your second head depends on your current strength and accumulation."
"The stronger you are now, the stronger your second head will be."
Smarter than the average ogre, Morak understood the implication and refrained from starting the ancient awakening ritual. He began training diligently instead.
At first, Morak was troubled by how to improve his strength.
After all, for traditional ogres, there are usually only two ways to grow.
The first: eat constantly.
The more ogres eat, the stronger they become. They can even absorb special powers from what they consume.
Matthew was highly optimistic about this trait.
However, this ability was quite "stealthy"—it didn't form into a distinct talent, feat, or skill.
But Matthew didn't give up. The deeper his understanding of feats, skills, and talents, the more he realized their intricacies.
Every effective ability evolves based on usage and development.
Generally speaking: use it, or lose it.
Since ogres don't produce anything, most of them survive by hunting.
Despite their large appetites, they're often left hungry.
Moreover, ogre heritage is fragmented. Unlike humans, they haven't established a structured path for Professionals.
So most ogres never even think about developing their abilities that way.
After noticing this, Matthew selected a few ogres with great potential to focus on improving their capabilities.
Simply put—he arranged for them to keep eating.
Overall, it worked decently.
But the resulting feats and skills were low-level, with little potential for further growth, which didn't meet Matthew's expectations.
So he gave Morak a new task—to consciously "train" while growing.
In short, feed him gourmet meals made from all kinds of magical creatures.
Have him evaluate the food and its effects, and record everything.
This constant accumulation of micro-data could effectively supplement Matthew's macro-level observations.
With all this nutrition, Morak quickly broke through his previous limits and entered a phase of rapid improvement.
Bay Territory further enhanced this method, controlling ogres' appetites and taming them into obedience.
The second way: constant combat.
Ogres have exceptional physical talents.
Tall, strong bodies, outstanding strength and physique, high resistance to both physical and magical attacks—they're born for battle.
But training through combat, like eating, has its limitations.
Ogre tribes and traditions lack comprehensive experience.
Most rely on brute strength, even wielding weapons clumsily.
Without systematic training, there's no foundation for improvement.
As a result, powerful ogres are rare and appear only through sheer numbers—not through cultivation.
That's not to say no smart ogres have tried to change this flaw.
But with low intelligence and poor learning ability—
Not to mention the constant hunger problem—
It's been a huge obstacle to their development.
This often leads to unfortunate outcomes.
An ogre who trains hard in combat techniques—
Ends up weak due to poor nutrition.
And with low intellect, they learn slowly, failing to master advanced techniques.
Eventually, they get flattened by a brute-force ogre.
When effort yields no reward, why would any ogre keep going?
Even Morak himself only began training in combat skills after his physique hit a plateau.
Captured by the drow and unable to escape, he had no choice but to practice.
The result?
Not very impressive!
Fortunately, the Bay Territory's training camp gave him hope to change everything.
Bay Territory offered exquisite techniques, special training methods, all very "compatible" with ogres.
Dull, stubborn, and single-minded—ogres turned out to be perfect for repetitive drills. They trained tirelessly and improved steadily.
With Bay Territory providing ample food, the "managed" ogres shed their former ignorance and laziness, and their strength soared.
Even if many ogre warriors still didn't meet the standard to join Bay Territory's army—
Morak was willing to take them on adventures, toughening them through battles and speeding up their growth.
Matthew was very pleased with Morak's awakening, encouraging him to study more and help integrate more ogres into Bay Territory's fast-paced development.
Bay Territory's growth requires the efforts of all races!
As for the current wave of gnoll slaves, Morak had no intention of joining the fray—he was waiting for bigger fish.
Still, Morak was curious about the gray dwarves' strategy of not fighting back.
"Just standing there will lure more of them out?"
Although Morak had studied culture recently, Bay Territory's flexible tactics still left him puzzled.
Beside him, Chris set down the telescope, smirked as he watched more and more slaves gathering on the wall, and said:
"Be patient. As long as the bait is big enough, the fish will bite sooner or later."
As Morak hesitated, angry roars erupted from the distant sentry post.
Thousands of gnoll slave warriors surged toward them.
Clearly, the mind flayers had seen through Chris and the others' baiting tactics.
Facing such provocation, they didn't hesitate to deploy a large army.
Sure, mind flayers fear death—
But they're also incredibly proud!
After all, they've honed their power over millennia—instantly crushing former enemies and nearly wiping out the gray dwarf kingdom.
If not for shortages of supplies, transport difficulties, and the need to process and transform many slaves—
The Mind Flayer Empire would've launched a full war on the entire Underdark long ago. No need to wait till now.
Now that the army had just left—
Their own sentry post was ambushed, and by a small enemy force no less—the newly arrived mind flayers couldn't stand it.
And so, this scene unfolded.
As the wave of gnoll slaves surged forward, the long-prepared Morak rolled his shoulders, drew two massive bone-cleaving blades, and shouted excitedly:
"Haha! The enemy's here to die!"
Hearing his shout, Chris let out a slight breath of relief and immediately issued new orders:
"Mount the crossbows! Counterattack!"
The long-waiting gray dwarf warriors slammed their shields forward, shoving back the attacking gnoll slaves.
Thunder-charged warhammers flew from their hands, smashing into the knees of the gnolls with a resounding crash.
Crack!
The sharp sound of bones breaking echoed across the battlefield.
The unprepared gnoll slaves suddenly lost their footing and tumbled to the ground.
Though they could ignore pain, they couldn't instantly mend broken bones.
Before they could get up, thunder-charged hammers slammed into their skulls.
Blood sprayed. Bones snapped.
The slaves died on the spot. But more rushed in behind them.
The gray dwarf shield warriors abandoned their defensive stance and charged forward, howling.
Under Bay Territory's training, they could no longer drink or smith whenever they pleased.
All they hoped for was to finish missions and earn time off.
Otherwise, their commander Ashes would never let them go wild.
So now was the perfect time to unleash all their pent-up frustration on these gnoll slaves!
"Kill!!"
"Charge!"
"Crush them!"
"Aim for the knees first!!"
"Big guy over there—smash his head!"
"Can't reach it!"
"Then jump!"
"Still can't reach it!"
"..."
Watching their chaotic charge, Ashes—who'd just been smiling—rolled his eyes and yelled into his magic wristwatch:
"Did you all forget the charge formation we drilled?!
"Idiots—use your gear!"
"..."
With Ashes's guidance and reminders, the disorganized gray dwarf warriors barely kept their formation and plunged into the gnoll ranks.
Though the gnoll slaves wore iron armor and carried decent metal scimitars—
Their blades only sparked when striking the enchanted shields of the gray dwarves.
But when the dwarves swung their thunder-charged warhammers, they crushed the gnolls' bones with overwhelming strength.
Some gray dwarves, responding to Ashes's orders, activated the flame jetpacks on their backs and blasted forward like cannonballs, smashing into the enemy ranks.
The gathered slave warriors were instantly shattered.
The opportunistic gray dwarf adventurers charged in with glee and tore open a massive breach.
Though the slaves fought hard, they couldn't match the superior equipment and strength of the gray dwarf adventurers.
Their heads were pounded off one by one by the heavy hammers.