Chapter 30: A New Way of Hunting

Hunting, hiring more kobold miners, hiring more kobold warriors! For three consecutive days, Jia Zhengjin led Tina and his kobold team through the same relentless routine.

The team grew larger and larger. There were now thirty kobold miners—ten logging, ten gathering iron ore, and ten collecting copper ore. The kobold warriors had increased to eight, and the kobold slingers to twelve.

Altogether, forty kobolds made the base bustling with activity.

The kobold nest had successfully been upgraded to Level 3, and a new unit was introduced: the Kobold Patrol. The patrollers were not strong in combat, but their agility was exceptional—they ran quickly and had a far-reaching vision. Their sole purpose was to scout and patrol, capable of raising an alarm with their howls.

When the giant serpent attacked the kobold nest before, the warning howl Jia Zhengjin heard had come from the kobold patrollers.

Because of this, Jia Zhengjin hired three kobold patrollers. Two were stationed near the base to patrol and alert the inhabitants of any intruders, ensuring everyone had time to retaliate or hide. The third accompanied him during hunts—the patrollers excelled at finding prey and could spot dangerous large beasts or even magical creatures in advance, allowing the team to alter their course and avoid them.

In short, with this new unit, their safety increased considerably.

Tina had mastered simple daily phrases: good morning, good afternoon, good evening, eating, hunting, tired, sleeping, I love you, and so on. She could now exchange basic greetings with Jia Zhengjin. More complex expressions were still being learned, but her progress was promising. With such diligence, Tina would surely become fluent in Chinese one day.

"Shh~~" Today was another hunting day, and he aimed to reach Level 7! Three days of relentless monster killing had pushed Jia Zhengjin’s experience close to the next level—Level 7 was within reach!

Their target this time was a herd of three-legged deer discovered by the kobold patroller.

This species resembled spotted deer but had only three legs, yet could run with incredible speed—a bizarre creature.

Having seen many strange beings in this other world, Jia Zhengjin had grown somewhat numb. Their odd appearances no longer piqued his curiosity; to him, they were simply moving sources of meat and hide.

The hunting team was now so large that inefficient solo hunting methods were abandoned. Jia Zhengjin had kobold miners dig numerous traps in a canyon, and their new hunting strategy was simple: drive the animals into the traps and slaughter them all at once!

This method was far faster and more effective than before.

The three-legged deer, once caught in the traps, had no hope of escape, becoming instant experience points and raw materials for Jia Zhengjin.

However, these deer were alert creatures, and a reckless approach would scatter them, making it impossible to pursue any particular one. Considering their speed, catching up would be unlikely, so no mistakes could be tolerated.

Hidden on the high ground, Jia Zhengjin watched the herd closely, observing their every move.

"Slingers!" He suddenly pointed to a spot ten meters behind the herd.

With swift precision, several kobold slingers hurled their stones at the designated clearing.

Startled by the sound, the deer reflexively moved away, then glanced back. Seeing nothing amiss, the scattered herd gradually regrouped and resumed grazing.

"Good... very good..." Jia Zhengjin nodded, waiting until the herd clustered together once again before directing the slingers to another spot.

Stones flew again, prompting the deer to shift their position once more before resuming their feast.

Using this method, Jia Zhengjin patiently drove the entire herd toward the canyon, watching as they followed its path deeper inside. At last, he gave the order: "All units, attack!"

Eight kobold warriors sprang forth from the bushes, bone spears raised, shrieking as they charged the herd.

The slingers joined in, pelting stones to control the direction of the deer’s flight, forcing them ever closer to the traps.

Panicked and disoriented, the herd had no choice but to follow the path left by the kobolds, soon stumbling onto the trap pits hidden by twigs and leaves.

With a series of heavy thuds, the deer fell into the pits en masse—a spectacular sight. Some lucky ones leapt atop their companions to escape, only to be quickly surrounded and beaten by the warriors or knocked unconscious by the slingers.

Jia Zhengjin and Tina watched from the sidelines, letting the kobolds execute the plan perfectly with simple commands.

"Release the young deer and the pregnant does!" Once the outcome was certain, Jia Zhengjin brought Tina to the trap area, directing the kobold warriors as they harvested their catch.

The young deer yielded little meat, and killing pregnant does was wasteful. Yet the beast pen hadn’t been upgraded, so they couldn’t keep them. The only option was to release them, hoping the fawns would grow and the mothers would bear more offspring, thus maintaining the herd’s numbers.

After freeing the young and pregnant deer, Jia Zhengjin ordered the kobolds to slaughter the rest without hesitation.

Tina disliked the bloody spectacle, but understanding the dangers of this world and Jia Zhengjin’s reasoning, she forced herself to use fireball spells to kill some trapped deer. If she learned to fight, she could use magic to protect herself in the future.

Jia Zhengjin could not guarantee he’d always be by Tina’s side. Even a brief separation could mean danger, and the more battle experience she had, the better her chances of returning safely.

Tina understood, so despite her distaste, she obediently cast fireballs at the deer trapped in the pits.

With all the deer slain, Jia Zhengjin indeed leveled up to seven!

He unlocked the crossbow craft without hesitation, then descended to loot the corpses, collecting meat, organs, and hides.

Such herbivorous alien creatures rarely dropped valuable items. Usually, the best loot came from far more dangerous beasts. For several days now, aside from some miscellaneous junk materials, Jia Zhengjin had found little of worth.