Chapter 149: Practical Combat Training
Upon hearing Matthew's orders, Old John didn't act immediately; instead, he sought out the training master, Arnold.
After the two discussed the situation for a while, they concluded that the lord's idea had significant potential and practical value.
However, before taking action, Old John gathered all 1,000 soldiers at one city gate.
Even if something unexpected happened, like the murlocs rushing in, they could easily hold their ground.
Then, Old John dispatched a squad of heavily armored soldiers, who charged through the gate's narrow opening.
These heavily armored soldiers, mostly made up of barbarians, possessed strength and defense far beyond what the murlocs could handle.
With shields raised, they pushed forward, while their blades effortlessly cut down wave after wave of murlocs.
The murlocs charged forward, shrieking, but their pitiful combat power didn't match their bravery.
Their shabby weapons couldn't penetrate the defenses of the heavily armored soldiers; at most, they only splattered the soldiers with blood.
After confirming the murlocs' weak combat capabilities, Old John finally relaxed and sent out a second unit composed of veterans and new recruits.
The large number of murlocs initially imposed psychological pressure on the soldiers.
But this pressure was far from life-threatening.
After a brief adjustment, the veterans became confident, and the new recruits overcame their nervousness, gaining valuable experience in real combat.
Seeing that the training was effective, Old John and Arnold were reassured.
However, they didn't rush to send more soldiers out. Instead, they carefully monitored the time.
Each training team was only allowed to fight for half an hour before being rotated out, and they ensured that the veterans outnumbered the new recruits.
As a result, even though the fighting was intense and some soldiers were injured, not a single soldier died.
After roughly three hours, every soldier had undergone a rotation, and a new round of training began.
From initial tension to eventual desensitization, most of the recruits quickly developed a "steel-hearted" attitude.
On the other hand, the piles of murloc corpses outside the walls steadily grew, forming a small hill.
For safety reasons, Old John and Arnold changed the battlefield location, moving to another gate to continue the training.
Starting with simple formations, the soldiers' military skills quickly improved as they progressed to more complex maneuvers.
The effectiveness of the training attracted many onlookers.
Seeing the soldiers fighting so valiantly, slaying so many murlocs without suffering significant injuries, the previously anxious citizens relaxed.
Ralph, seizing the opportunity, promptly announced:
"Everyone can take a half-day off; wages will still be paid, and all goods are 20% off!"
With the assurance that the murlocs posed no major threat, people immediately took advantage of the opportunity to explore and see how Bay City had grown and changed.
As the constant kill notifications rang in Matthew's ears, he chose to mute them temporarily, leaving only a summary report while he focused on his task.
Before him sat a common adventurer's paralysis potion!
But don't misunderstand—he wasn't planning to use it against the murlocs.
A potion costing nearly 20 gold coins per bottle could only paralyze a few dozen murlocs.
Using it to deal with the tens of thousands of murlocs would cost tens of thousands of gold coins—an astronomical expense.
Besides, it would be pointless.
The murloc Tidewalker, a high-tier enemy, had significant influence over the murloc horde.
Even if all the low-tier murlocs were killed, the Tidewalker could simply retreat upstream or downstream of the Silvermoon River and return with even more murlocs.
After a few cycles of this, Matthew would be bankrupt!
This paralysis potion was reserved specifically for the murloc Tidewalker!
Alongside the paralysis potion were several interesting ingredients.
Murloc scales.
The heart's blood of a Sahwa murloc.
High-concentration nutrient liquid.
Phantom fruit, a low-tier magical plant. When eaten raw, it induces powerful hallucinations. It can be used to make "hallucinogenic potions" and costs 20 silver coins per fruit.
Devil's vine petals, a mid-tier magical plant. They emit a strange fragrance that intensifies when mixed with blood. Consuming them leads to addiction, and they are used to make "concealment potions" and cost 5 gold coins per pound.
These ingredients had limited uses on their own, but combined, they could produce remarkable effects.
Matthew began by grinding the murloc scales into powder and mixing them thoroughly into the high-concentration nutrient liquid.
He cut open the fragrant phantom fruit, dripped in the heart's blood of a Sahwa murloc, and let it sit for half an hour.
Then he mixed it all into the paralysis potion and continued stirring.
Finally, he filtered the mixture and added powdered devil's vine petals before mixing it vigorously once more.
The process was simple, but when Matthew finished, he had failed.
Could he really invent a new potion with just one try?
Impossible!
Unfazed, Matthew discarded the failed batch and began again.
After three consecutive failures, Matthew memorized every step and decisively opened his status screen:
"Ding! Do you want to spend 1,000 experience points to perfect the new potion recipe?"
Without hesitation, Matthew confirmed!
That afternoon, Matthew busied himself in the lab, preparing a special surprise for the murlocs.
It wasn't until late at night that Matthew emerged from the lab, breathing in the cool night air under the blood-red moon.
In his hand was a bottle of colorful liquid.
"Delicacy Potion (Murloc Edition)," one of the many potions created by players. When consumed, it makes the drinker more "delicious."
That's right—it makes the user more "tasty!"
Angela, who had been waiting outside the lab, looked on expectantly.
Seeing Matthew nod, she let out a sigh of relief.
Angela realized that, at some point, she had developed unwavering faith in her lord.
"The lord can solve any problem!"
"This time will be no different!"
Matthew, oblivious to Angela's thoughts, would have probably advised her with a serious tone:
"Blind personal worship is a dangerous thing!"
Now, though, Matthew wasn't in a rush. He enjoyed a leisurely dinner and patiently reviewed Liana's assignments.
Afterward, he returned to his study.
Two minutes later, his phantom projection walked out, accompanying Angela back to the city walls.
As they neared the wall, they were greeted by the clamor of thousands of murlocs and the shouts of soldiers.
Matthew spotted a squad of blood-soaked soldiers returning from the gates.
Each soldier's armor was stained with murloc blood and grime, and they looked quite battered.
However, their spirits were high—despite their fatigue, their eyes burned with determination.
Angela quickly spoke:
"This is the fourth rotation. The battle just ended."
Matthew glanced at the soldiers' accomplishments for the day.
They had slain a total of 14,000 murlocs. On average, each soldier had killed over 10 murlocs, earning Matthew a total of 20,000 experience points.
"What a pity. To seize this development opportunity for Bay Territory, these murlocs will have to be eliminated."