Chapter 50: Chapter 50: The Dragon’s Gall’s First Kill
A surge of rage burned in Fang Zhen’s chest, and he needed to unleash it on these evil Kobolds.
It was a decision driven by passion, but a man isn’t a machine. Seeing one’s own kind hard sparks a certain empathy. When you witness injustice, it’s hard to just let it go.
Without a little hot-bloodedness, you couldn’t call yourself a man.
In an instant, Fang Zhen made a firm decision. ’To hell with it. I’m doing this!’
Intense emotions raged in Fang Zhen’s chest as anger surged through him, yet it didn’t cloud his judgnt. In fact, his mind felt sharper than ever.
He quickly began to assess the combat strengths of both sides and formulate a battle plan.
’There are twelve Kobolds. In terms of raw power, they’re stronger than . A reckless charge is out of the question.’
But he had his own advantages.
’The Kobolds are out in the open, while I’m hidden. I can launch a surprise attack and catch them completely off guard.’
’The terrain is also to my advantage. The mine tunnel is narrow, offering little room to maneuver, but that’s a double-edged sword. This is the kind of chokepoint where one man can hold off a thousand.’
’I have other advantages, too. If I play my cards right, this fight isn’t impossible.’
Fang Zhen was filled with emotion, but it didn’t cloud his thinking. Very quickly, he devised a battle plan.
’This group of Kobolds is just over forty ters away, putting them perfectly within the effective range of my Dragon Gallbladder Two-in-One Bow.’
’With the Dragon Gallbladder Two-in-One Bow loaded with an 8008 arrow, it functions as a crossbow. With the 4x optical scope, I can launch a surprise attack and take out one of the stronger Dogman Warriors or a Scout right off the bat.’
’When hit with a sudden attack, the Kobolds will likely panic for a few seconds. For them to spot
and charge over a distance of more than forty, almost fifty ters... with those short legs, it’ll take them at least eight to ten seconds. All told, that gives
a window of twelve to sixteen seconds to attack.’
’After I fire the Crossbow Arrow, I can imdiately switch to the rapid-fire steel ball mode. Even with just twelve seconds, I can get off at least four more shots. If my aim is true, I can drop another three to four Kobolds.’
’Plus, I have my high-intensity flashlight. If I use it right, I can buy myself a few more seconds—enough for one more shot before I switch to my long spear.’
’It’s basically a math problem. My window of opportunity—the no-contact kill window—totals at least sixteen to twenty seconds. If I’m one hundred percent efficient, taking down one Kobold every two and a half seconds, even accounting for a little error, I can eliminate a maximum of eight, or a minimum of six Kobolds before they reach .’
’And even if I only take out six, that leaves just six more. The tunnel here is narrow. Whether I make a stand at the entrance or execute a fighting retreat, I won’t have to face them all at once. At most, I’ll be up against two or three at a ti.’
’My long spear gives
a reach advantage, and I have my skills. Facing two or three Kobolds at once in this terrain... My chances of victory are over eighty percent.’
Fang Zhen quickly ran the plan through his mind.
’Execution in reality might differ from my projections, but the overall plan is solid.’
Passion burned within Fang Zhen, but his head remained clear.
If the fight were truly unwinnable, Fang Zhen wouldn’t just throw his life away.
But now, having run the numbers, Fang Zhen realized not only could he take this fight, but his odds of winning were actually quite high.
’This is definitely worth a try.’
Fang Zhen started to feel a thrill of excitent.
’Besides, Kobolds have one glaring weakness: they’re afraid of the dark.’
’If I extinguish all the candles, the Kobolds will likely descend into chaos.’
Fang Zhen also considered the worst-case scenario. At worst, he could extinguish all the candles to sow chaos among the Kobolds, and if things went south, he’d just be forced out of the mine.
’At that point, I’d just have to ditch my gear, grab the flashlight, and run.’
’If it really cos to that, the worst outco is losing my gear and having to flee the mine. I’ve got longer legs; the Kobolds aren’t likely to catch . I can definitely get away.’
Even if he had to flee, he could still kill a few Kobolds, weakening the Dogman Tribe’s overall fighting strength.
’Even in the worst-case scenario, it’s just a matter of so lost equipnt. I’ll just think of it as paying for a few Kobold lives.’
With that, Fang Zhen felt assured.
He wasn’t short on money. For Fang Zhen, being able to spend it to lower the mission’s difficulty was a worthy trade-off.
Suddenly, Fang Zhen had an epiphany.
’That’s right... Killing those goblins went so smoothly that I got fixated on the idea of total annihilation.’
’But why does it have to be total annihilation?’
’In this operation, even if I don’t wipe them all out, just killing or crippling a few of these Kobolds ans their tribe will have wounded mbers.’
’I don’t know how the Dogman Tribe deals with its wounded. If they just abandon them, or worse, kill their own injured, it would surely tank their morale. After all, Kobolds aren’t mindless beasts; they have so intelligence.’
’But if they keep the wounded alive, it would drag down the Kobolds’ combat effectiveness and strain their logistics. A single injured mber is a significant drain on resources.’
’So, while total annihilation is the best outco, failing that, just crippling a few might be even more beneficial for
in the long run.’
Fang Zhen reviewed his plan and was surprised to realize that even if he set aside his anger toward the Kobolds and made a purely cold calculation, the potential rewards of a fight right now still far outweighed the risks.
If he played his cards right, his odds of winning were very high.
’High reward, low risk, and a high probability of success.’
Fang Zhen thought it through, and suddenly, everything clicked into place.
’Do it. I have to do it!’ A sharp glint shone in Fang Zhen’s eyes.
He reviewed the plan one last ti. Seeing no obvious flaws, he imdiately sprang into action.
Fang Zhen unclipped the high-intensity flashlight from his waist and gently placed it on the ground to his right. He set his long spear down beside it, both now within easy arm’s reach.
Next, Fang Zhen flipped a small tal lever on his Dragon Gallbladder Two-in-One Bow, switching it to Crossbow Arrow mode.
He took an 8008 arrow from his belt and slid it into the crossbow’s flight groove.
His preparations complete, Fang Zhen took a deep breath to center himself. The light in his eyes grew sharp.
Fang Zhen raised the Dragon Gallbladder Two-in-One Bow with both hands and took aim through the 4x optical scope.
He had two priority targets.
One was the Dogman Scout; the other, the candle-holding Armored Dogman Warrior.
The Scout was ard with a crossbow, and Fang Zhen’s riot gear offered no protection against Crossbow Arrows. This made the Dogman Scout a major threat.
The other target was the Armored Dogman Warrior. Fang Zhen identified it as the leader of this group. The principle of ’to catch the thief, first catch the king’ also made it a priority target.
Within a second, Fang Zhen made his decision.
’Kill the Scout first.’
The threat posed by the Dogman Scout’s Crossbow Arrow was still greater.
’Besides, the Dogman Scout was closer, only about thirty-sothing ters away, making it an easier kill. The Armored Dogman Warrior was nearly forty-six ters out and clad in iron armor, a much harder target.’
Looking through his 4x optical scope, Fang Zhen locked onto the Dogman Scout.
He recalled the feeling he’d had when killing the goblins by the river—that state of single-minded focus, of sharpened intuition.
’Combat Intuition!’
’Combat Focus!’
Fang Zhen activated two of his ingrained skills.
The mont he recalled that sensation, Fang Zhen’s mind beca perfectly clear and tranquil. It was empty of stray thoughts, a perfect mirror reflecting reality as it was.
In this state of absolute focus, Fang Zhen felt an impulse.
He had a curious premonition; his intuition scread that this was the perfect mont to take the shot!
Fang Zhen squeezed the trigger!
"SWOOSH!"
The 8008 arrow flew from the string, transforming into a dark green shadow as it streaked toward the Dogman Scout.
In less than a second.
The Dogman Scout seed to sense sothing. It stopped in its tracks and glanced sideways in Fang Zhen’s direction.
"BAM!"
The green shadow slamd directly into the Dogman Scout’s throat!
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