Chapter 169
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Chapter 169: Tracking and Locking On
The thunderstorm came and went quickly.
Before long, the rainfall had already noticeably lessened.
This was undoubtedly good news for Luo Ji and his group.
For them, whose main living areas were concentrated in flatlands, the difficult mountain terrain had significantly impacted them.
If the rain could stop, it would truly be a huge help.
Following the map, after walking a distance, Luo Ji quickly found a large number of footprints left by the opponent.
After walking a bit further, the footprints began to clearly scatter, or rather, they had been intentionally messed up, leading in various different directions.
“Creating a diversion?”
Luo Ji rubbed his chin, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.
He could easily imagine that the invader, upon learning that Ye Qingxuan had called for reinforcements, had likely become aware of the danger, which led to this tactic.
It seemed he wasn’t completely irredeemable.
However, even deceptive footprints wouldn’t last too long.
But Luo Ji had no intention of trying each path since that would be too troublesome and a waste of time.
“In a mountain forest area after a heavy rain, the paths are muddy, and it’s impossible not to leave footprints.”
“Given this, and the fact that the target he wants to deal with has called for reinforcements, meaning his troop advantage might be lost, what would that invader do in such a situation?” Luo Ji began to seriously ponder, putting himself in the opponent’s shoes, while quickly pulling the fixed map closer to his eyes.
“The opponent should be someone with some intelligence, although irrational in his actions, he isn’t completely stupid.”
“Most importantly, he’s a veteran, and relatively experienced.”
Luo Ji continuously integrated the information in his mind, and his thinking became clearer and clearer.
“Since he can’t hide or escape, he should move to a terrain more advantageous for a battle or ambush.”
And according to the intelligence provided by Senior Sister earlier, the opponent seems to have brought many archers…”
He unhurriedly dragged the map before him.
In a mountain forest area filled with trees, there were very few terrains that could utilize the archers’ advantage, but they weren’t non-existent.
“I remember Senior Sister mentioned before that there’s a mountain spring near her camp…”
Thinking of this, Luo Ji decisively sent a message to Ye Qingxuan, intending to confirm the specific situation.
“Senior Sister, what’s the specific terrain like around the mountain spring near your camp? And how large is the area?”
“If you ask me like that, I can’t explain it all at once. However, following the mountain spring downstream, it forms a fairly large lake, surrounded by a gravel beach.”
Upon seeing this reply, Luo Ji’s eyes immediately showed understanding.
“Pay attention to the cursor position on my map. I’m going to change my route and head downstream to that lake.”
Ye Qingxuan’s mind also worked quite fast.
Through simple message exchanges, she quickly grasped the change in the situation.
“That Cao Peng escaped towards the lake?”
“Most likely, if he has any sense. If he’s foolish enough not to have thought of this, then I’d be truly helpless. But thinking about these things now is useless. Nothing is 100% certain in this world, and battlefield situations change instantly. Even if some unexpected situation arises, I can only adapt accordingly.”
Closing the message window, Luo Ji, having changed his route, began to slightly speed up his movement.
Only after confirming that they were not far from the downstream lake did he have everyone slow down again and approach cautiously.
The footprints discovered along the way undoubtedly verified Luo Ji’s previous guess.
Using the dense bushes and branches as cover to conceal their presence was something Luo Ji and his people, who had a large forest on the outskirts of their tribe, were quite adept at.
His gaze quickly peered through the gaps in the bushes.
The footprints basically ended here because, as Ye Qingxuan said, beyond this patch of bushes was a large gravel beach.
Coupled with the recent rain, trying to discern anything from it with the naked eye was simply wishful thinking.
And on this gravel beach, within his line of sight, there wasn’t a single person!
Luo Ji wasn’t flustered.
He gestured with his hands.
The 15 shield-axe soldiers and 5 archers he brought on this trip were all veterans, experienced and able to easily understand Luo Ji’s intentions with simple hand gestures.
10 of the Shield-axe soldiers quietly left the main group.
After retreating about 20 meters, they headed in another direction, with Zhou Yue leading the team.
Once they were far enough from Luo Ji’s group, Zhou Yue motioned with his hand.
The group of 10, maintaining their shield holding stance, directly passed through the bushes and walked towards the gravel beach outside.
Their actions, though not exactly blatant, still made Cao Peng’s pupils shrink as he ambushed somewhere on this river beach.
His gaze immediately swept to the weapons in their hands.
The brass battle-axes, which still gleamed with metallic luster even under the overcast sky, made his heart pound with fear.
“Damn it! That b*tch actually has a Bronze rank player covering her…”
A desire to retreat involuntarily rose in his heart.
The reason he dared to stubbornly remain before was because he knew the opponent was a rookie newcomer who, once caught, would be at his mercy.
But this one in front of him was clearly not the type he could bully.
Compared to him, who was still using stone weapons, that big shot outside had clearly surpassed him by an era!
There was no way to fight.
Retreat was the best plan!
However, just as he was halfway through his movement, he realized something was wrong.
There were so many branches and bushes around, and with so many of them, any movement would surely make noise.
If the opponent pursued them then, wouldn’t he still be facing a dead end?
But if he continued to ambush here, it was only a matter of time before the opponent found him.
This dilemma made Cao Peng’s mood irritable.
In this situation, perhaps out of desperation, he suddenly had a bold idea, looking at the 10 Shield-axe soldiers led by Zhou Yue outside.
The opponent clearly knew this was a mountain forest area, so they didn’t bring any archer units, which would be restricted by the terrain.
This was a wise choice, but in certain special environments, the lack of ranged units became their biggest disadvantage and weakness!
For example, this wide-open gravel beach with few obstacles…
“First, use a few volleys to kill four to five of them.”
“As for the remaining few, with my numerical advantage, our chances of winning should be very high.”
“And this way, I’ll definitely gain a large amount of points by defeating a strong enemy across ranks.”
“At the final system evaluation, not only will I be able to seize a batch of weapons and equipment, but I’ll also surely get a golden treasure chest?!”
At this thought, Cao Peng’s heart began to pound faster, and his entire expression became excited.
