The developers still haven't forgiven the players.

A prominent figure in the construction industry, surnamed Gao, once said, "The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish."

After personally testing it, Fat Tiger confirmed that this was absolutely true.

The two men sailed back home, their small boat laden with cargo.

Manbai seemed to think that transferring the fish to other containers would be too much trouble, and since the downpour hadn't stopped, he simply grabbed the bow of the boat and dragged it ashore, then hoisted it onto his shoulder.

"Let's go back to the house first."

Manbai gestured with his chin toward Fatty Tiger, indicating that he should follow him.

Gian naturally had no other reaction.

After spending so much time together, he has given up on the idea of ​​secretly running away.

After all, he had tried several times, but each time he would be dragged back by Manbai before he could run very far.

When the area was unattended, he suspected that Manbo was setting a trap for law enforcement.

Back in Qinghe Tribe, Fatty Tiger keenly noticed that another batch of tribal warriors had disappeared, and even the patrolling squads of warriors had become much more lax.

Compared to when he first arrived in Qinghe tribe, the number of soldiers has probably decreased by more than half.

He didn't know what had happened.

But this wasn't because Manbai was deliberately hiding it from him.

To be precise, Manbai had mentioned this matter to him several times during this period, but he just couldn't understand it.

In fact, the Qinghe tribe received a summons from the Shanyun Military Department.

Not only the Qinghe tribe, but all the tribes within the Shanyun Military Department's jurisdiction, including the severely weakened Gaoshi tribe, received this summons.

It's important to know that tribes like the Qinghe tribe are actually a minority.

Most tribes did not possess enough strength to support their independent survival on this land. They mostly continued their tribes under the protection of the higher-level military department. Therefore, the military department nominally still had command authority over the tribes under its jurisdiction.

Although the Ministry of War generally does not interfere with the development of its subordinate tribes, there will still be situations where it needs to seek help from the subordinate tribes.

Of course, this is not a mandatory command.

In a sense, the summons issued by the Shanyun Military Department was actually a request for help from the tribes within its jurisdiction.

As mentioned before, the Shan Yun Military Department is suppressing a passage to a foreign race, which connects to the small world where the Hou race resides.

Recently, the Ministry of War discovered unusual activity among the Hou tribe within the passage, with a large-scale gathering of Hou warriors.

If a large number of Hou tribe warriors were to break through the passage, the losses would be incalculable.

Out of caution, the Shan Yun Military Department issued a summons to prepare to gather the human forces within its jurisdiction to deal with the situation.

After all, if the Shanyun Military Department were destroyed by the alien race, the tribes in this area would not have a good life either.

Even if it's not a forced conscription, a strong tribe like Qinghe would naturally go to provide support if they had the resources.

Fat Tiger might think that there were too few soldiers in the tribe, but the higher-ups of the Qinghe tribe would know that their tribe had sent out a full five thousand soldiers this time, almost emptying the tribe's defenses.

"Manzheng, here, this is yours."

At the stove, Manbai handed a grilled fish to Panghu, which was still steaming.

Fat Tiger didn't stand on ceremony and casually took it and stuffed it into his mouth.

During his time in the Qinghe tribe, he had become accustomed to being fed by NPCs.

Actually, it's not just Manbai.

Perhaps the fact that he was exceptionally gifted had already spread throughout the entire tribe.

In the Qinghe tribe, most of the tribespeople were very friendly to him, and they would give him dried fish or something to eat when they saw him on the road.

Many of his clansmen knew him, which probably meant he had no chance to sneak away.

"What about the other NPC?"

Fat Tiger looked around and found that Manli wasn't in the house.

Looking back, it seems like I haven't seen anyone since yesterday.

Manbo repeated the three syllables "NPC" to himself. He had heard Panghu say these three syllables quite often.

He guessed that the strange title was referring to him and Manli, and then explained, "You mean Manli? He should have told you that he went to support the Ministry of War with the commander of the Manlian Thousand-Man Corps."

Fat Tiger nodded blankly, ate a few more grilled fish, and then sat back down on the bed.

It was raining heavily outside, so he didn't bother trying to sneak away again and stayed inside to level up.

……

The rain was violent and unpredictable in the dense forest.

Rainwater gathers and flows among the branches and leaves, then pours down from countless unexpected corners, forming an all-pervasive network of water.

This Hou tribe warrior force consisted of only a little over a thousand men. The troops struggled to move through the mud, the path beneath their feet having long since turned into a quagmire after the vanguard had passed by.

With each step, it took a great deal of effort to pull his feet out of the knee-deep mud.

The harsh marching conditions caused the column to stretch out very long.

However, the Hou tribe warriors remained silent, and no one expressed any dissatisfaction.

The atmosphere was somber, yet it carried a sense of suppressed excitement.

By this time, the entire Hou tribe's warriors, from top to bottom, knew that their target was not the ravaged Gaoshi tribe, but Qinghe.

Normally, this thousand-strong Hou tribe warrior would never dare to provoke a tribe of Qinghe's caliber.

But now they have received news that the main force of the Qinghe tribe has been transferred to the Ministry of War, leaving only some human soldiers to guard the area, which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Compared to the dilapidated tribes like Gaoshi, who barely manage to survive, if they could conquer Qinghe, the harvest would be so abundant that every Hou warrior could be well-fed.

The Hou tribe's centurion brushed aside the rain-washed leaves in front of him, his tone icy: "Tell the Cloud Hou to be careful; I don't want to see any soldiers fall behind."

……

The flash flood receded, leaving only a scene of devastation.

The mountains and forests before us looked as if they had been brutally torn apart by a giant hand, with ravines crisscrossing them and a scene of utter devastation.

"Hey Dog Bro, pinch me, am I still alive?"

Cheng Lu touched his arm, then touched his thigh.

They were lucky to survive the flash flood, and none of them lost any limbs.

Dog Brother looked on with relief, as if he had survived a disaster. He looked at everything in front of him: the trees were leaning to one side, and the exposed yellow soil and rocks looked particularly glaring after being washed by the rain.

After regaining his composure, Dog's first thought was, "Brother Chenglu, shouldn't we get extra pay this time?"

Before Cheng Lu could reply, Ah Shui interjected, "Adding money is no problem, but Brother Gou, you have to help us carry back more of this cinnabar ore."

He was lost in thought, contemplating the vast deposits of cinnabar ore washed away by the flash flood.

"Let's get out of here quickly, who knows if this flash flood will only be a single wave."

The meat pouch hung from a giant tree, looking terrified.

"20 points."

Ah Shui glanced at his account balance of 9 points, but it wasn't a big problem: "I'll offer 20 points of 'spirit essence,' what does Brother Gou say?"

Dog Bro gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll take this job. Meatball and you guys come and help too."