It's so painful! So hard! So difficult!

Andel nodded, walked over to Bai Lin, and explained, "Of course. We were incredibly lucky on this trip. We hardly encountered any troublesome situations, and everything went smoothly along the way."

"Of course, your strength is also part of the reason for our success. And now, the mission is about to officially begin. Please rest well and prepare yourself."

Grayer rubbed his head, then curled his lips and said, "No need to be so serious. We all know each other a little bit. So, tonight's sentry..."

"It's Fei'er and I, you just need to get some rest." Bai Lin immediately responded. Although Grell smiled a little embarrassedly, he still accepted it. After all, the two of them were indeed quite special in the team. Grell had witnessed enough miracles in the past two days.

There were things like a one-on-many battle against a purple venomous giant lizard, a single-knife dissection, and two people swindling a flaming fruit beast away. Honestly, if he hadn't been paving the way, he'd have felt like a freeloader. His initial underestimation of these two girls was a huge mistake; they truly had their strengths.

But even though he was wrong, Grell would not reflect on his mistakes. He and Norman crawled into the same tent and fell asleep.

After setting up the tent, Andel suddenly called Bai Lin at the door of the tent and asked softly,

"What are your plans for tomorrow?"

Bai Lin touched his chin, sat down in the tent, and replied, "As for tactics, let's discuss it with the team members tomorrow. In my opinion, we still have to rely on detection first, and you'll have to put in some effort in this area."

Andel nodded as if thinking for a moment, then asked, "What do you think of this team?"

"In my eyes, she's pretty perfect. Even though Fei'er doesn't like to communicate with others and isn't the type who appears cold on the outside but warm on the inside... she's quite strong individually and can cooperate with her teammates."

After Bai Lin affirmed the magician on the team, he truly analyzed the team's strengths and weaknesses like a captain. "Archer Grell is a bit straightforward, but he doesn't seem to clash with people he approves of. Moreover, as an archer alone, he has fulfilled his duties perfectly."

Grell has never made a mistake in long-range support, detection, special operations, etc. A person who can keep a cool head in the mountains where danger may arise at any time is simply the most suitable person to be an adventurer.

"As for Nowen, he hasn't shown any outstanding performances yet, but one thing is for sure: he's much more of an adventurer than the priest in your previous team," Bai Lin said bluntly. "If possible, I don't want the priest to stand out too much, because a priest healing people also means someone in the team will get hurt. It's better to avoid mistakes when taking risks."

Of course, the priest couldn't just sit idle forever. If they were to engage that position tomorrow, they'd inevitably suffer some casualties. After all, this was their territory, and they'd only just arrived, so the terrain might put them at a disadvantage. But Bai Lin would also try to devise the most perfect tactics to avoid team casualties.

"Indeed, she and I don't get along very well. I wonder how the magicians are doing now, but they should have survived."

"Well, I think so." Bai Lin agreed. Even if a person does not meet the requirements of an adventurer, as long as she still has the most basic moral bottom line as a human being, Bai Lin will not curse her to death, let alone someone who has cooperated with him.

At this point, Bai Lin suddenly thought of something and raised a finger, "The last point is our assassin, Andel. You really work hard. Although I don't know much about assassins, I can see Andel's seriousness."

"Without any special reconnaissance methods, you used your own eyes to scout, running back and forth to bring back news for your teammates. You used props to divide the battlefield, saving your teammates' energy. You're amazing."

Bai Lin gave a thumbs up. Andel looked at Bai Lin's expression and seemed to be stunned for a while, then finally laughed. Her cheeks were slightly red, but she still smiled and replied,

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. The way you suddenly praised me so seriously really made me look like someone from my grandfather's generation who had traveled through time."

Bai Lin also looked at Andel, who seemed quite happy, with a playful smile, then pretended to be stunned and touched his head, "If you call me grandpa, I don't mind having you as my granddaughter..."

"Get out of here!" Bai Lin stood up mid-sentence and was kicked by Andel, but of course the kick failed. Bai Lin chuckled, then lowered his body again and poked his head at the tent door. "Even when you're giving a serious speech, you still look like a captain. Very handsome."

Bai Lin walked towards his and Fei'er's tent. Apparently, Fei'er hadn't gone to bed yet after just a few words. But as soon as she came back, Fei'er suddenly sat up from her bed and stared at Bai Lin.

Chapter 220 Reconnaissance and Preparation

"What's wrong?" Bai Lin asked, feeling that Fei'er's eyes were a little too eager. Fei'er shook her head slightly and said,

"You stayed there a little too long."

Bai Lin scratched her head in confusion. She didn't quite understand what Fei'er meant. "I just had a brief chat with Andel. She's much more experienced in adventuring than I am. Before I can polish this team, I still have to rely on her more."

Something seemed off about Fei'er tonight. Bai Lin was having trouble understanding the underlying emotion in Fei'er's words, a rare occurrence. Normally, she could generally grasp the underlying meaning. What had changed? Bai Lin felt he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Fei'er pondered for a moment, nodded, and said, "Let's do the same thing today as last night." Then she turned over and sat at the door of the tent. Seeing this, Bai Lin also agreed calmly and lay down.

Judging from her expression, it shouldn't be anything that would have a major impact on her. After the mission is over, I can slowly talk to her about it. With this thought in mind, Bai Lin closed his eyes.

"Bai Lin?"

Before Bai Lin fell asleep, she heard Fei'er's voice again. She was too lazy to get up again, so she just lay there and asked softly, "What's the matter?"

She rarely used a soft voice. Although she didn't know why she suddenly spoke like that, if she wanted to sleep, it would definitely be a good excuse to act like a spoiled child. Fei'er didn't seem to react much, and replied calmly as usual.

"If you have any questions about your next adventure, you can ask me."

Ah, why did you say this suddenly? It seems that it’s because I chatted with Andel for a while... Wait, does this mean that Fei'er started to care about me and became enthusiastic?

Bai Lin suddenly opened her eyes. She was both delighted and terrified by this situation. She was naturally delighted that an autistic person had actually opened up in such a short time. This was a great thing, as it allowed mages to plan the strategic deployment. The convenience and versatility of magic meant that a strategy based on mages was bound to be much better than one based on Bai Lin. After all, Bai Lin was a Holy Light Knight who couldn't cast spells.

The reason for her fear was simple. The process, from being closed off to opening up, was too fast. Furthermore, she only opened up to Bai Lin, which meant a possibility, a possibility that gave Bai Lin a headache.

Don't think about it anymore, go to sleep! At worst, I can distance myself and find a suitable time to talk things out. Fortunately, I have a girlfriend, a girlfriend who can take the blame. My girlfriend is a god, it's really a good thing. Bai Lin closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

After a night, Bai Lin woke everyone up again, then sat down by the tent and closed her eyes to relax and ease her mental state. Although she didn't need much sleep, sitting alone for several hours was still a bit exhausting.

Bai Lin took the breakfast Fei'er brought and began to eat it listlessly, just like when she used to get up at six o'clock to eat breakfast before school. Grayer seemed to understand her situation very well and took the initiative to chat a little, and Bai Lin also became active in her little head.

Not long after, Andel came out of the forest again. She was in good condition and it seemed that there was no problem with the investigation.

"The investigation is complete. Bai Lin, shall we discuss the mission plan?"

Hearing this, Bai Lin also cheered up. After chatting with her teammates for a while, she felt that her condition had improved a lot. She stood up and said, "Well, thank you for your hard work. Everyone come over."

Since there were no tables or chairs, and it was impossible to cut a stump in such a place, Norman pulled a small mat and placed it on the ground. Andel placed the map on it. Five people sat or stood casually around. When Andel saw that everyone was settled, he began to speak.

"First, let me tell you the conclusions of the investigation. The mission status is very clear. The intelligence is correct. The Cat Spirit Tribe does exist."

As he spoke, Andel glanced at Bai Lin. Bai Lin nodded, but did not interrupt, motioning Andel to continue.

"First of all, the intelligence I've obtained so far can completely infer that the Cat Spirits have been enslaved. All the Cat Spirits I've witnessed were wearing collars, and their clothing was tattered to a certain degree."

"And the ones who enslaved them were a group of orcs. There were quite a lot of them. They must be our enemy this time."

"Huh? Orcs?" Grell seemed a little surprised.

What the hell, the cat girl was enslaved by orcs? However, Bai Lin was still a little unsure whether the orcs she heard about were the orcs she remembered, so she asked.

"Could you please briefly introduce the Orcs? I'm a little confused..."

Grayer seemed to be used to Bai Lin asking these questions. He said, before Andel could explain,

"Strictly speaking, this is a rather broad term for a group of creatures. Humanoid lions, tigers, leopards, wolves, and some feathered bird-like creatures—all hybrids of human and animal—are collectively referred to as orcs. They generally start at two meters tall, with some reaching around five or six meters tall. Their strength has never been matched by any species of their size."

"While the orcs haven't explicitly opposed humans, when they appear before humans, they generally act as bandits. Because they're naturally much stronger than humans, and most of them possess some form of magic, they're still quite annoying."

Bai Lin stroked his chin thoughtfully, "So they've set their sights on the Cat Spirit Clan this time?"

Grell nodded uncertainly when he heard Bai Lin ask this, then continued, "While that's probably true, orcs have a habit of almost never attacking any species other than humans..."

What kind of strange habit is this... Do humans seem easy to bully now? Bai Lin was a little confused.

"But the facts are right in front of me, and I have to believe it. I even saw cat-spirit women being used as sex slaves... How should I put it, the size of them made me feel that the woman was in a miserable state..."

Andel's words became more and more strange. Bai Lin coughed quickly, signaling her to stop. There was no need to describe it in such detail. Andel stopped and continued.

"The orcs' equipment and weapons are quite sophisticated. It's obvious that they are on a different level from the cat spirits. If you still have doubts, Grayer can conduct another scouting operation himself. After all, my scouting method is mainly based on naked eye observation, which may not be accurate enough."

Chapter 221: Battle at the Bottom

Grayer was slightly startled, then shook his head firmly, picked up the weapon with his hands, and said,

"Now that you've said that, I don't think there will be any problems with your reconnaissance. Let's begin the tactical deployment, Captain."

Bai Lin glanced at Andel, then at Grell, and nodded. Honestly, although Bai Lin wasn't entirely clear on the situation, leaving it to these veteran adventurers to judge, it shouldn't go wrong. Besides...

Catgirls being sex slaves is really visually appealing and impactful. Damn, there are such things, they must be crushed!

Due to the environment and conditions, the five people squatted beside the map in an unsightly posture. First, Andel introduced the terrain.

"The valley terrain is quite easy to attack, but there are still cat spirits in it. We need to avoid accidentally injuring them, so we can't just set fire directly. My idea is to use the sentry posts to draw out their forces and fight them in batches, just like we did with the purple poisonous giant lizards."

Bai Linsi glanced at the map and said, "There's a problem. The valley terrain is different from the mountain forest. We originally relied on the vast terrain to implement that tactic, but if we do that here, we have nowhere to hide."

Bai Lin's words were very practical. On that slightly bare valley, it was clear whether there were any people there. Not everyone had the ability to hide, so hiding in the event of a real fight would obviously be unrealistic.

Grayer nodded. "Captain, you're right. Furthermore, the orcs are diverse and intelligent. They might change their strategy after suffering a certain amount of casualties. This is inappropriate."

"And this time we can't leave you and Nowen alone to support from a distance, right? The risk is too great. Although you are both very strong, it is still too dangerous to do so." Bai Lin added.

If the orcs were intelligent, they would probably be able to determine Grell's location and find him. Furthermore, they would certainly have reconnaissance units and long-range attack units, so leaving the priest alone would be a very risky decision.

What a difficult group of opponents... Although I am not completely ignorant of them, there is a large area of ​​information blindness. Such opponents can be very troublesome. Bai Lin touched his chin, and suddenly a light bulb went off in his head, and then he asked,

"Andel, do they understand human language?"

"I'm not sure among the orcs, but there must be someone who understands among the cat spirits. Do you have any ideas?"

Andel seemed to have noticed Bai Lin's flash of inspiration, and spoke in a more cheerful tone. Bai Lin chuckled and said,

"It's simple. We just need to intimidate and guide with words. The material of the gate and the wall must not be very strong. At first glance, it looked like mud or something. If Andel and Fei'er cooperate, it should be possible, right?"

Andel smiled slightly. "Although it's definitely not ordinary mud, Fei'er and I will definitely be able to handle it. However, my blasting will come at a cost, and I will be somewhat weak. We still need to make arrangements for the follow-up plan."

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nowen seemed to have finally gotten his chance to interject, saying, "If I remember correctly, it was blood loss, right? Don't worry, just leave it to me."

"Huh? I remember that priests don't have any treatment for blood loss. Nowen, do you have this trick up your sleeve?" Bai Lin said in surprise.

"The ritual of return is certainly beyond the reach of ordinary priests, but it's only natural that a beautiful young man like Nowen, who is worshipped among a bunch of women, would know more, right?"

Andel looked at Nowen with a meaningful look, but Nowen just smiled awkwardly and agreed with Andel.

"Well, I want to know, how does the captain want to guide them? Things that happen next seem to be more complicated than just deterring them, right?" Grell interrupted the slightly relaxed atmosphere and asked.

Bai Lin tapped his head with his finger. "After explaining that I'm here for the Cat Spirit Tribe, even though there's no word on support from inside, there's bound to be chaos. Then, Fei'er will use her own magic to blend in with the crowd. As for whether the fighting force is reduced or the chaos spreads, that's up to you to decide."

"Noven, Grayer, and I will act together. Andel will try to hide herself as much as possible. If anything unexpected happens, she will make a timely assessment and either rescue Fei'er or come to us for support."

With Bai Lin's strength, carrying these two men one at a time wouldn't be a problem at all. At the same time, she didn't need to worry about being approached by the enemy's small advance team and suffering casualties. She could handle all of this, so—

"Grayer, feel free to use your archery skills. There's no need to hide your tracks too deliberately. If the enemy sends troops to look for us, we can make a decision based on the situation. This will also help relieve some of Fei'er's pressure."

With this arrangement, as long as the other party takes action because of Bai Lin's words, then the plan will be perfect. Fei'er gave Bai Lin a firm look and said,

"If things go wrong, I will retreat. But that will never happen."

Bai Lin naturally responded positively, "Well, I believe in your ability. If we arrange it this way, we will have enough space to retreat even if something goes wrong."

The battle begins!

First, Aundair set up the scene. Due to the enemy's sentries, despite being a skilled assassin, Aundair only set a few important traps. Afterward, she returned to the group and took Fei'er with her, giving her pointers on blasting spots and other matters, and discussing the timing of the monster attack.

Then, Fei'er set off. As invisible and inconspicuous as a ghost, she effortlessly blended into the settlement. When the appointed time arrived, Andel gestured to the three people hiding a little further away. Grell, receiving the message, immediately set his bow, while Norwin prepared to provide support at any moment. Bai Lin was left alone to wait and see what would happen next.

"Listen up, Orcs inside! We are here to save the Cat Spirits. Please lay down your weapons and surrender immediately, and release them, otherwise we will begin a military assault!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud explosion echoed from the doorway, and the mud gate, which was not very high or solid to begin with, collapsed. Then, there was a commotion inside, and the sentries immediately set out. Norwen also immediately cast a healing spell on Andel, who immediately moved to avoid being exposed.

Chapter 222: Change of Situation

Next, it was time to wait for the battle to break out. Bai Lin clenched his sword, ready to respond to any emergency. Grayer's bow and arrow were already aimed into the valley, waiting for the perfect moment.

However, the battle was delayed, and Bai Lin gradually felt a sense of strangeness. Why did they still not react after waiting for so long? Didn't Fei'er make a move yet? She wanted to ask Grayer what was going on inside, but she was a little afraid of delaying his opportunity. While she was thinking about this, Grayer slowly loosened the string he had pulled. He turned around and asked Bai Lin,

"Captain, something seems amiss in there."

"Something's wrong? What's wrong? Could it be that Fei'er has been discovered?!" Bai Lin asked with great concern, as if he wanted to start planning directly.

Grayer shook his head. "It's not that bad yet. Fei'er didn't do anything. Inside their settlement, the cat spirits and the orcs suddenly gathered together, seemingly discussing something."

"Ah? Are they planning to directly incite rebellion? That's a bit difficult..." Just as Bai Lin was thinking about how to change his tactics, a voice suddenly came from the settlement of the Cat Spirit Clan.

"Ahem. Hey everyone from the human race, I think there might be a misunderstanding between us. We cat spirits live very comfortably, so why would we need to be saved? However, we did come here to talk with humans, so please come to the settlement first."

The old voice was somewhat peaceful, probably the leader of the settlement. He seemed to be very proficient in human language, without any strange intonations. Bai Lin felt a little confused. She saw Andel hiding on the opposite side, gesturing frantically, but...

I don't understand what you are saying! Bai Lin didn't know how to respond, so he just shook his head. Grell and Nowen put away their weapons, then stared at Bai Lin.

"What should we do, Captain? Negotiate or something? If they're just trying to seduce us with words, then we're in a trap, right?"

Nowen seemed anxious, his mind clearly confused, and his voice was a bit hurried, unlike his usual Yasashi. Bai Lin also frantically put her hand to her forehead, but because of the helmet, she couldn't even reach her hair. Then, she lowered her head slightly, thinking.

All in all, now wasn't the right time to attack. Fei'er was still within the enemy lines. The best option was to wait for her to return and report, but there was also the possibility that she wouldn't be able to act. Worst case scenario, she might have already been captured, but Bai Lin certainly didn't want to believe that option.

Aundair was far away at the moment, so it was difficult to convey the news to her, and Grayer also couldn't get any specific information about the settlement. Bai Lin took a deep breath, glanced at Yueguang Tan not far away, and then replied,

"I'll go negotiate, you guys wait here for support."

Grayer frowned. "Captain, although you are indeed very powerful, I will never allow you to put yourself in danger alone. I have also seen your fighting style. Facing such a large number of orcs, you have no way of winning."

"I understand. I'm not going there to fight." Bai Lin replied immediately, "Even if it's not a negotiation, I have my own way to come back. Just trust me."

"..." Seeing Bai Lin say this, Grell didn't know what to say and could only let Bai Lin go. Soon, Bai Lin's body flew out of the mountains and forests. She landed heavily on the hard rock ground with her fists and kneeling on one knee, leaving a large dent and making a loud noise.

Bai Lin, armed, walked toward the settlement's entrance. Two large tigers stood erect beside the explosion-damaged gate, each holding a spear. They bared their teeth at Bai Lin, seemingly furious. Although uncertain of their strength, Bai Lin approached them calmly. After all, her Fiery Iron Forging technique was deeply rooted in her own mind.

Just as tensions seemed to be building, a group of people emerged from the village. A slightly shorter, older man with dark brown hair slightly tinged with gray emerged, leaning on a cane. He had cat ears, evidently a member of the so-called cat spirit tribe.

The old man's clothing was indeed rather shabby. His clothes seemed to be made of straw cloth, and they were connected all the way down to his lower body, barely covering his body. He also had a black collar around his neck, with two small iron chains dangling from it, but no leash. Bai Lin frowned slightly and glanced at the crowd.

Hmm… the Cat Spirits were mixed in with the Orcs, and the Orcs generally blocked the way for the Cat Spirits. It seemed the situation was still unclear. Bai Lin spotted quite a few cat girls in the crowd, some with white fur, some with orange fur, some with dark blue fur, and some with chestnut fur. While they were quite pleasing to the eye, their attire was a bit pitiful.

Bai Lin didn't care to see how pretty the catgirl was. The situation wasn't clear at the moment, and Fei'er was still mingling with the group. Just as she was thinking about what to say, the old man waved his hands, causing the orcs to relax their battle stances, and walked directly in front of the humans.

"Are you the Dark Knight? I didn't expect that even after being driven out by humans, you still have a heart to save others... That's really impressive."