Chapter Thirty-Six: The Night of the Full Moon

"Finally, level five!" As the full moon night approached, the kobold lair was at last successfully upgraded, filling Jia Zhengjin with immense excitement.

With the lair at max level and enough raw meat in storage, all he had to do was wait for the full moon to arrive to recruit a werewolf! Next, he needed to focus on storing more resources and expanding the number of kobold crossbowmen. He could already imagine that when his army of crossbowmen was large enough, even that fire-breathing red python he’d seen before could be taken down. Then, he’d be the unchallenged master of the entire forest—now that would be exhilarating!

The new creature unlocked at level five was the Kobold Artisan, a being seemingly adept at construction and repairs. But for now, this was of no use to Jia Zhengjin.

He set aside enough raw meat to recruit the werewolf, then expanded his ranks of kobold soldiers to thirty-five, all equipped with crossbows and leather armor. He also forged a full suit of iron armor for the new kobold chief, making it a more suitable tank—though admittedly, the chief was actually a mage...

Mining, hunting, teaching Tina the common tongue—every day became a repeat of these tasks.

Finally, the night of the full moon arrived.

His kobold army had reached fifty, all under the unified command of a fully armed kobold chief. There were now fifty kobold miners, drastically increasing mining speed. Jia Zhengjin also recruited ten ordinary kobolds to fish in a nearby river and gather wild fruits in the woods, stockpiling extra food. Though kobolds could survive on raw meat alone, both he and Tina needed a richer diet.

He waited anxiously for nightfall. As the sun set and the sky grew heavy, the werewolf option in the lair’s recruitment menu finally lit up, with a quantity indicator showing one available. Jia Zhengjin clicked without hesitation.

[Message] Spend 1000 raw meat to recruit a werewolf?

[Confirm]! He pressed the virtual prompt before him without a second thought.

A deafening wolf howl rang out as his raw meat vanished from his inventory. In the next instant, a shadow flashed from the lair and landed steadily before him.

“Huh?” Looking closely, Jia Zhengjin saw a muscular middle-aged man standing before him—a man with long silver hair and a striking beard. “I was expecting a werewolf, not a silver-haired middle-aged guy!”

“I am your loyal servant, the werewolf Wolf!” The man lifted his head, his eyes glowing with an eerie green light, his voice deep and resonant.

“You’re really a werewolf?” Jia Zhengjin eyed him with suspicion.

Wolf threw back his head and let out another thunderous howl. In moments, his body rapidly transformed—fur sprouted all over, his face elongated, nose sharpened, and vicious fangs protruded from his jaws. In just a few seconds, the muscular man had become a wild, terrifying werewolf.

Jia Zhengjin finally relaxed; at least he hadn’t hired a fraud. “How powerful are you?”

“My lord, I believe you’ll have the chance to find out very soon,” Wolf replied in a low growl.

Only then did Jia Zhengjin realize, “Wait! Are you speaking the common tongue?”

Wolf was silent for a moment, surprised by his master’s dullness.

“Do you understand the local language of this world?” Jia Zhengjin’s eyes brightened. “If you do, you could act as my interpreter!”

“I do not belong to this world, so I do not speak its language,” Wolf replied.

Jia Zhengjin thought it over—of course! He had summoned Wolf through his game abilities and the kobold lair. Clearly, Wolf wasn’t a native of this world; in fact, like himself, Wolf came from Earth, or at least from the game world on Earth.

“What a pity! I was hoping for a personal translator.” Jia Zhengjin sighed.

“Jin! Jin!” Just then, Tina leaned out the second-floor window, waving frantically and calling out to him, her face full of anxiety. “Fumoro shuka lin!”

“What?” Jia Zhengjin didn’t understand her, “Do you want me to come inside? Wait, let me finish talking to the werewolf.”

“Fumoro shuka lin! Fumoro shuka lin!” Tina called out again, more urgently.

“What’s going on?” Jia Zhengjin had never seen her so agitated.

“Blood-red moonlight bathes the land, and dreadful beings return to the world of the living…” Wolf suddenly spoke, lifting his head with a look of rapture. “I can feel it—an immense, overwhelming power…”

“What are you talking about? Are you reciting poetry now?” Jia Zhengjin couldn’t help but poke fun at him.

“Master, prepare for battle!” Wolf raised his arms, razor-sharp claws snapping forth as his eyes blazed with bloodlust.

“What the hell! I never heard of a hired werewolf betraying its master!” Jia Zhengjin was startled, hurriedly drawing his crossbow and aiming at Wolf’s head.

“Hey! The enemy isn’t me!” Wolf replied, exasperated, then pointed into the distance.

“Huh?” Jia Zhengjin followed Wolf’s gesture and saw several staggering figures emerging from the forest. At the same time, a familiar clacking sound reached his ears.

Under the blood-red moonlight, several ghastly pale skeletons appeared, shambling toward them. Suddenly, inspiration struck Jia Zhengjin: “I get it! The full moon night is when skeletons spawn! That’s why they appeared last time—it was a full moon then! No wonder they haven’t shown up since. So, that’s the condition!”

“Now is not the time to be pleased with yourself!” Wolf was already preparing for battle.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Last time I was caught off guard and still managed to take down a dozen skeletons!” Jia Zhengjin said confidently. “Now I’m better equipped and have plenty of allies. What’s there to fear? Kobold crossbowmen, assemble!”

“Awoooo!” At his command, the armored kobold soldiers rushed out of the lair, forming a neat battle line before Jia Zhengjin.

“This won’t be easy!” Wolf cast a wary glance toward the depths of the forest. “This will be a hard fight!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! They’re just a few little skeletons…” Jia Zhengjin laughed, turning to point at the advancing figures—only to be stunned by the scene that followed.

In an instant, the dark earth trembled violently. Countless bleached bones burst from the ground—many of them creatures he recognized as animals whose remains he’d buried after hunting! He never imagined that on the night of the full moon, all these skeletons would claw their way out and come to life. If he’d known this, he’d never have buried them near his base!

Most terrifying of all, a colossal animal skeleton appeared in the distance. From its outline, Jia Zhengjin could just make out that it had once been a triceratops. “What the—how did I not know there was a triceratops skeleton buried nearby…”