Chapter 150: On the Importance of Intelligence
Matthew didn't act rashly; he simply observed the murlocs below, who were feasting on the corpses of their companions.
Just as Matthew remembered.
The murlocs before him, easily controlled, weak in strength, and vast in number.
They had no qualms about devouring their own dead.
Matthew even suspected that these periodic murloc uprisings were partly intended to reduce their own population.
After all, leaving the safety of the water and charging onto land to attack far stronger opponents was suicidal.
With no psychological burden, Matthew stood on the edge of the city wall.
He uncorked the pink potion and poured it down onto the murlocs crowded around the corpses below.
Seeing Matthew's action, Elio's eyes revealed a hint of curiosity:
"Is the lord doing this to deal with the murlocs?"
"What kind of potion is it? Can it really take out so many murlocs at once?"
After a full day of combat training, Elio had learned to cooperate with her soldier comrades.
Her powerful individual strength earned her the trust of the soldiers, and as a squad leader, Giffen was full of praise for her!
Not only was Elio curious, but the other soldiers were also watching their lord with curiosity.
At that moment, Angela, standing beside Matthew, keenly noticed something.
The murlocs that consumed the corpses tainted with the "Delicacy Potion" began to collapse one by one.
Additionally, they started to emit a faint stench, which Angela could smell even from several meters away.
"Is it some kind of poison?"
Before Angela could form a hypothesis, the surrounding murlocs, as if driven mad, rushed toward their fallen comrades.
They opened their mouths wide and bit down without hesitation!
These savage murlocs, devouring their own, didn't realize.
As they consumed their companions' flesh, the stench began to emanate from their own bodies.
With an average intelligence of less than 3, the murlocs naturally didn't notice this oddity.
They only felt that the food had become even more delicious and irresistible, causing their appetites to grow.
However, the more they ate, the weaker they became.
Eventually, they froze in place, gradually losing control of their bodies, collapsing limply.
They didn't die; they remained fully conscious of their surroundings but had no strength to move.
They vaguely sensed their greedy murloc companions swarming over.
Pressing down, biting into their flesh, more and more murlocs joined in!
The soldiers on the wall witnessed everything clearly.
The murlocs below, now cannibalizing each other, seemed cursed by some horrifying spell.
Greedily devouring their companions, they soon fell powerless, becoming food themselves.
The affected murlocs grew in number as the stench spread.
At this point, all the soldiers understood.
They watched in disbelief as the murlocs tore each other apart, cannibalizing one another.
The murloc population was rapidly decreasing at an astonishing rate.
None of them understood fully, but they all knew this had something to do with their lord.
Seeing the lord's smiling face, the soldiers felt they had once again witnessed his mysterious and awe-inspiring power.
They suppressed the urge to cheer and followed Angela's orders to rotate and rest.
The murlocs fell in droves, while more rushed in like mad, tearing into the flesh.
The number of devoured murlocs began to grow exponentially.
100...
500...
2,000...
8,000...
...
Matthew calmly watched the chaos among the murlocs below, with the data recording the situation in detail.
Name: Uwa Uwa.
Race: Murloc.
Class: Level 2 Warrior.
Challenge Rating: 1.
Status: Confused, Paralyzed, Infected with Devil's Vine Pollen.
The murlocs infected by the "Delicacy Potion" fell into a paralyzed state, collapsing and losing consciousness.
The infection from the Devil's Vine Pollen caused their flesh to emit an irresistible fragrance to other murlocs.
Essentially, it was a targeted infection using the fast-reproducing Devil's Vine Pollen.
The murlocs had no resistance!
Driven by their lack of restraint!
With willpower generally below 5, the murlocs couldn't resist this fatal temptation.
So, one by one, they fell prey, became infected, and turned into new sources of infection.
This wasn't Matthew's first time seeing the Delicacy Potion in action, but none of the previous instances had been this spectacular.
"Unfortunately, this method only works on creatures as brainless as murlocs…"
"If it could be modified to work on dim-witted beasts like orcs, that would be great."
"After all, give them a bit of temptation, and they lose their minds; self-slaughter is just basic behavior, much like certain people in the real world…"
As more and more murlocs died or collapsed, Matthew didn't hesitate and loudly commanded:
"Special Task Force, assemble, prepare to leave the city with me!"
Angela drew her longsword, the hulking Beelzebub stepped forward, Old John gripped his broadsword, and the one-armed Hall coated his dagger with poison with Giffen's help.
Except for Leon, who was guarding the Troll Valley, the most capable warriors in Bay Territory had gathered.
Elio was a bit stunned, but Giffen, just finishing up, quickly nudged her:
"Follow me! Hurry!"
The gate opened once more, revealing a scene of carnage.
The thick stench of blood was nauseating, yet none of those present flinched.
Staring at the chaos among the distant murlocs, Matthew pointed to the Silvermoon River and calmly said:
"We must take out the murloc leader before the rest return!"
After speaking, Matthew tore open a scroll.
A concealed power quickly spread, enveloping every soldier around him.
Fifth-Circle Spell - Mass Invisibility!
Matthew moved unhesitatingly through the battlefield littered with corpses, unnoticed by the remaining murlocs.
The others followed, feeling a chill as they passed the field of mutilated bodies.
Matthew's guess was right; the "Delicacy Potion" hadn't affected the stronger, more determined murlocs much.
"Indeed, the Delicacy Potion is the perfect tool for cleaning up murloc minions!"
"It's just that murlocs are so unintelligent; otherwise, it wouldn't be this effective."
"It's a shame, though—if I could control them, they'd make great workers…"
With his mind full of ideas about potential tools, Matthew mused...