A new day arrived, at least, they could say that as a new day since the sun was ready to go up from the horizon.
Captain Cao was standing in front of the gate, stabilizing his slightly ragged breath. The bizarre phenomenon once again happened, all the ogre' corpses vanished after they had defended against the horde.
However, he knew what caused the disappearance, it was his new Boss. The Leader of the Tang Empire, Tang Shaoyang. Just like the name, his friend, Wei Xi told him that faction was thriving to build a real empire. That was his Boss' ideal, but for now, he had to call him Boss. Fortunate he could say since he did not have to call him Your Majesty or sort of. It would be too cringe to call someone like that in the 20th century.
Of course, he did not regret his decision to join the empire. Building an empire meant the group had a clear goal, a goal to provide a new environment to live in this disaster. That was what he wanted, a good environment for his daughter to grow up. His goal of joining the empire.
He became part of the empire and fought for them. And today was his first official battle under the banner of the empire. The horde was surely getting stronger, but he and the others had grown a lot stronger too. Especially his new Boss, he alone took around 30% of the ogres that had reached roughly ten thousand.
Cao Yuntai looked at his new Boss, he was extending his palm to corpses, and the corpses puffed into black smoke. He was curious what the Boss was doing, was that his skill? Was there any purpose behind his action? He wanted to ask, but he did not dare to.
He just joined and they barely conversed. On top of that, his Boss was giving off an unapproachable and reliable kind of aura. However, if you met the Boss, eyes to eyes, he could not help wanting to prostrate to the man. It was as if the natural thing he should do, though he managed to hold back the urge.
With this, he couldn't ask what his Boss was doing. They were not that close to asking him, completely different from what his friend described the Boss. Wei Xi described Boss as approachable, friendly, and dependable. His friend warned him though to not challenge Boss's patience or he would regret it.
Of course, Cao Yuntai was not that stupid to challenge the leader in any way, but he should know the reverse scale about his new Boss. Again, his friend was not that helpful in this regard.
—Follow the rule, and don't ever dream to take what belongs to him.
That was not helpful, at all. He wanted to know more specifically about his Boss. Just in case he crossed the line without him realizing it. While he was in the trance, someone tapped his shoulder.
"What are you doing, Captain? Stop dazing around and get prepared for the attack!" Fan Rui, his subordinate when he was in the military, had become his subordinate once again even after he joined the empire.
As the young man has predicted, he was chosen to be a temporary Captain once more to lead his previous subordinate until the fifth portal was over. He had to be responsible for eighty-nine lives since all soldiers who participated in the fifth portal decided to join the empire.
"Alright," Cao Yuntai nodded his head. He was told that today, they would end the fifth portal by attacking the northern forest. He did not know how they were going to end the portal, but he did not ask since he would know soon.
Captain Cao arranged for his subordinates, "Take off your armor and shield," he remembered the instruction was telling him to fight without armor and shield. Making sure his people mobilize as fast as possible.
"Why? I thought we were going to attack the northern forest?" An ex-soldier asked doubtfully. Armor and shield was their lifeline, taking them off meant they would be naked on the battlefield.
"They told us that what we need is mobility, not a high defense," some of them were hesitating, but Cao Yuntai did not hesitate. He took off his armor and shield to the side, "Pile your armor and shield here!"
Fan Rui followed his captain by taking off the armor and the shield, "If they want to kill us, they could kill us before. Why would they want to kill us after we join them?" The young man found his comrades' hesitation was illogical.
With Captain Cao and Fan Rui taking the initiative to take off their armors, the others followed suit. Especially after what Fan Rui told them made sense. Yeah, if the empire wanted to kill them, why now?
After they took off the armor, they joined Tarriors. Soon they realized the Tarriors also took off the armor. They did not even hold a weapon in their hands. Captain Cao confused, why mobility? They were going to battle, not going to race against the ogre, right?
But soon he found the answer to why mobility was what they needed. Right after they destroyed the Level 1 Ogre Village.
[You have destroyed Level 1 Ogre Village]
[You acquired 1 Skill Point]
As soon as the notification rang, Wei Xi yelled at them to follow his lead. They did not have time to rest after the battle, though the rest was not needed since it was just a one-sided slaughter. They rushed toward the second Level 1 Ogre Village.
[You have destroyed Level 1 Ogre Village]
[You acquired 1 Skill Point]
From the moment they entered the village until the notification rang in his head was not even a minute. As soon as they destroyed the village, they were forced to move again to the next village.
Cao Yuntai did not know why the rush, he did not understand the point of rushing like this. From what he knew, this only would tire the people. However, he realized why the empire instructed them to take off the armor.
The first ten villages were still bearable for them, but it was stamina taxing afterward. They were not given time to rest for even a few seconds. What they were doing was bulldozing the village.
In the twentieth village, Captain Cao noticed a few of his men were out of breath. Sure, they got the Skill Point which was still unknown what the use of it for. However, if this continued, it would not be good for his men.
"Bear it if you want to get the skill point. I am telling you Skill Point is very important for your future growth, especially after you choose a class just like us! Bear it until the fortieth village. We are doing this not because we want to torture you guys, but assisting by sharing the Skill Point from destroying the village!"
To Captain Cao's surprise, his friend went hard to him for the first time. At the end of his words, he smiled while tapping his shoulder assuringly, "In fact, we are slowing down because all of you, without you guys, we would move even faster,"
Cao Yuntai then noticed the Tarriors were fine even after the long rush. They indeed could move faster without the new recruits following the group.
"Bear it! If you have time to complain, use that to catch your breath!" That was Wei Xi's advice for him. Once again, Cao Yuntai realized the gap between them was too wide for them to catch in the span of a few days.