Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

Even without looking back, Dai Lian could feel the footsteps of his pursuer drawing ever closer behind him.

Above the wilderness, there was not the slightest space to hide.

This was also the core reason why humans were almost unwilling to stray too far from city life, for even without the protection of those steel walls, just leaning back would immediately bring the coverage of steel cannons and gun towers, causing the foreign tribes to steer clear.

Only when absolutely necessary would one venture out, and then it was just a gamble on not being discovered by the foreign tribes.

And at this moment, luck clearly was not on the side of the players.

"Damn it!"

Dai Lian's gaze rapidly swept over the terrain beside him. While running, he projected several small objects with a flick of his wrist, swiftly setting up a few simple traps in an instant.

As his proficiency with trap-setting grew, not only did the time it took Dai Lian to set up traps drastically decrease, but more importantly, he obtained the ability to make portable trap devices.

It might seem only slightly better than nothing, but this was the best preparation Dai Lian could manage.

The distance Dai Lian had initially created and his not-so-slow running speed weren't inferior to most orcs, with only the orc chieftain in pursuit managing to close the gap swiftly.

And in the chase that ensued, the main force of orcs behind them fell farther and farther away.

This sort of isolation was a fleeting opportunity.

If he could only severely wound that orc, the rest would probably not be able to catch up with him.

His contemplation stopped there as Dai Lian, fully focusing on the battle itself, began to rehearse in his mind all the possible battle scenarios that could arise, making advance preparations accordingly.

The trap should at least buy him a few seconds...

The remaining Spiritual Energy was enough for him to shoot his strongest shot yet...

The previous arrow, due to the distance, hadn't reached the orc chieftain, but if the latter were to be hit dead-on without dodging, even the leader among orcs would likely not withstand such a sophisticated arrow technique coming from his boss.

While setting the traps, Dai Lian once again took down the longbow strapped to his back.

Appearing to flee in panic, he suddenly turned around and shot an arrow at his pursuer.

The very nature of a trap lies in its concealment and the element of surprise.

His previous subtle moves might have escaped his opponent's eyes, but to prevent a close-range observation from spotting any flaws, he needed to distract his adversary head-on.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow tore through the air, striking iron armor.

With a "ding," the iron arrow, full of force, was instantly bent out of shape, and fell powerlessly to the ground.

[Your attack hit the target, but failed to penetrate the armor.]

"..."

No reaction.

Seeing this, Dai Lian's eyes narrowed slightly.

The orc's armor didn't seem very thick, and was even comically crude, which they had been able to tell during their previous observation.

But now... his full-force shot under normal conditions disappeared without a trace, not even a hint of feedback.

Could there be some trick to the orcs' equipment?

But all that was irrelevant now.

The objective had been achieved, as the orc chieftain, struck in the chest by his arrow, appeared not to have noticed the traps set in advance.

The robust green figure rushing forward was instantly captured and restrained by the web that spewed out; the exceedingly tough silk threads were both strong and slightly elastic, making it difficult for the orc chieftain to break free immediately.

This was the opportunity!

Dai Lian's gaze was frosty as he stood on a rock jutting about half a meter out of the ground, pulling back the bowstring once more. The familiar whistling of the wind again began to arise around the arrow. Explore stories at My Virtual Library Empire

The orc chieftain, sensing the familiar aura, felt his eyes bulge with feral excitement.

A mix of past fear and the desire to challenge a strong opponent coalesced, bringing him both anticipation and dread.

For some reason, including this encounter, the intimidation of the arrow was far less than during their first meeting.

After his last panicked escape, he had been eager to confirm his suspicions with the protagonist.

And now... the chance had come!

With experience, charging up a powerful shot didn't take long, just a noticeable pause compared to the normal speed of drawing and shooting, followed by a sudden strike.

"Woo!"

The wind howled, and the arrow shot forth like a dragon.

"Thump!"

The sound, like a great bell or drum, echoed by Dai Lian's ears.

Dai Lian loosed an arrow and looked in disbelief at the direction he had aimed, as the target orc's chest, the impact area, remained intact. The only damage was to the iron armor, which seemed not very thick, now sporting a clearly chiseled semi-circular groove and was miserably cracked.

A belated notification slowly slid across the panel––

[Your attack has hit the target but failed to pierce the target's armor.]

No... no harm done.

How could this be!?

This was the first time he had encountered a being that could withstand his arrow without injury.

The last orc he had encountered was merely "undying," using its regenerative power to rampage, but this orc leader was truly a terrifying enemy!

If even their strongest attack they could muster at the moment could not breach the defense, then Dai Lian could no longer imagine a strategy to defeat the enemy.

"Damn it!"

Is it time to wait three days for the respawn?

Death in the game didn't cause players to genuinely fear, but without playing Galaxy Online, I would really die QAQ

"Is this all?" With a wave of his hand, Dao Mianlao patted his chest, his eyes somewhat puzzled.

Apart from a slight dullness, he felt no lethal threat.

The dangerous sensation he had felt in the first two encounters, like the blade skimming his neck, was no longer there.

Has the opponent weakened?

Or have I become stronger?

Or... is it not just one person?

Humans are keen on passing on their knowledge to others who may not even know each other; similar techniques could probably be targets for learning.

But even in Dao Mianlao's experience, archery skills were an exceptionally unique existence, rarely found among humans.

Even if this was not the same person, the human before him must know the initial powerful human!

"Da da da da da da~"

Not far away, a lively sound echoed; the rattling gunfire was a distant support.

However, the bullets with their erratic trajectory could hardly inflict any substantial harm.

Dai Lian looked toward the direction of the sound and saw a group of players, dressed in all sorts of costumes, giggling and running over quickly from afar.

"Sheng Yan has sent us to help you."

"Da da da da da da~"

"Let's take down these beasts!"

"Da da da da da da~"

The sound of gunfire accompanied the shouts, and the voices of the players were exceptionally excited amid the roar of the weapons.

Having grown up in Grey Iron City, they hadn't seen much of the world, seldom experiencing such lavish battles.

Finding themselves in one at last, they were too excited to contain themselves.

And actually, Dai Lian's suggestion was not unfeasible.

Some audacious players wanted to try their luck against the orcs, just when the large group's maneuver needed time.

Sacrificing a few for the survival of many was undoubtedly the wisest choice.

"Focus fire on this big guy, we'll kill him!"@@novelbin@@

"You can tell he's a mini boss, he must drop a lot of experience."

The quickly approaching group of twenty or thirty players mostly focused on "sniping" the approaching orc troop, while nearly all of them concentrated fire on Dao Mianlao.

The team had brought nearly all their firearms, heeding the official advice stating that firepower was king in the early stages of the game.

Among the clinks of ejected casings, the "ding ding dong dong" sounds were incessant.

"So noisy!" Dao Mianlao frowned and pulled a stiletto blade from his waist.

To humans, it seemed like quite a large knife, but for the orc, it was as handy as a dagger. With a flick of his wrist, the arriving players were skewered like a string of gourds.

"Pur pur pur pur!"

The leading player, his face filled with excitement, stared down blankly as he noticed the huge hole torn through his chest.

[Player "Ma Xiaohou" has died...]

[Player "Ye Gaocen" has died...]

[Player "Han Yuan" has died...]