For the first time, Hogg and his own brutes had the audacity to approach the swampy town in front of them, but they hadn't just discovered it.

In fact, two days after Murphy asked Hogg to send scouts into the swamp, Chief Bloodclaw had already received a debriefing about the town.

It sits near a mudmire in the Filthy Swamp near a mudmire in Translasia, just off the road to the Dark Barony, and to the east of it is the only col leading to the dreaded "Forbidden Land" deep in the Filthy Swamp, a terrain that perfectly chokes the way from Translancia through the swamp to the Dark Mountains.

It was enough to wonder if these gnolls had planned it all a long time ago.

And the "Plague Town" is not a small stronghold, just from the outside, this gloomy place is one-fifth the size of Cadman City.

Most of the town's buildings are made of wooden tents built on stone pedestals, making it look like stilted buildings or bamboo huts, and vines derived from low bog trees twisted by psionic energy serve as bridges between buildings, like a badly designed three-dimensional swamp labyrinth.

In addition, the Plague Warlocks have cast a curse spell on some filthy psionic energy here, causing gray-black smoke to envelop the town and the sky, creating a layer of "war fog" that prevents prying eyes and detection.

The shadows make the town look like a mess of weird and sick things from a distance.

If there is a young player here, he will definitely cry out, isn't this a dark swamp version of "Treasure Bay"?

It's hard to imagine how much it took the gnolls to come up with such an unthinkable structure in this hellish place, but considering the confession of the necro witch Bella, the swamp town existed when he was awakened three years ago.

This means that the gnolls of the Dark Mountains have been in the filthy swamp for much longer than they seem.

They have been searching for the secret treasure of the Biting Bone King for years, and are even desperate to venture into the lair of the most dangerous legendary creature in the Filthy Swamp.

From this point of view, these gnolls are actually bitter workers, who have been given an impossible task by their shameless superiors.

What's worse is that if you don't work well in another world, you will get paid at most, but you won't find that lost treasure here, and even if these gnolls can escape back to the Dark Mountains, they won't end well with the overly "wild" culture of the gnolls.

For these reasons, when Hogg approached the town of Plague with a few of his trusted brutes, he saw a large number of skeleton armies and walking corpses reinforced by evil voodoo guarding the town.

The defense was so tight that Hogg didn't even get close to the first guard post before he was spotted by a corpse witch.

In the cold concussions of psionic energy, hundreds of skeletons burst out of their hiding places in the dark barrier, enveloping Hogg and his guards almost instantly.

In the face of the cold bone spear and bone knife around him, as well as the corrosive rays and bright bone arrows in the hands of the corpse witch in front of him, the great chief who can bend and stretch does not intend to show his bravery.

Almost immediately, it raised its paws and shouted "surrender" in the Dark Mountain accent of the Jackal vernacular, and Nash beside him did the same.

This guy also kicked the gnoll brute who was holding a weapon and preparing to defend himself, so that these suffocating fellows knew each other, and quickly dropped their weapons so as not to anger these arrogant compatriots who were too powerful in front of them.

As a result, Hogg's "crisp and neat" response made the corpse witch on the other side untidy.

The gnoll that will surrender it has seen.

But it is indeed the first time to see such a silky and cowardly guy who surrendered, look at its embarrassed appearance with its hands raised and its eyebrows

Hey, are you really a gnoll and not a kobold?

"I surrender! We have no ill will! We are loyal subordinates of Lord Kempot, bringing the report of Trancia to the local Venom Warlocks!

You guys!

Let's get over. ”

Hogg shouted, his ugly face full of fear and anxiety, vividly portraying the image of a dogleg in trouble and in desperate need of help.

But the Corpse Witch is not as rich in mood swings.

It just stared indifferently at the gnolls in front of it, and didn't let the vicious skeletons that surrounded them back down.

However, the blue aura that danced beneath its hood meant that it was relaying what had happened here to the gnolls of the town.

Hogg was relieved to see that the other party didn't attack immediately, but it also confirmed one of his guesses, that the gnolls here must have something to do with Kenpott.

At least they know each other.

Calling out Kenpot's name just now is equivalent to saying a "safe word" that can keep you from being attacked.

The Witch was slow to move, and the besieged Hogg didn't dare to move lest it cause some bad consequences, but it still looked around with its eyes, trying to better understand the defense of the plague town in this way.

In order not to reveal his "identity", Hogg and his lieutenant Nash hid the Arithmetic Orb before coming.

It was a psionic item, and it probably couldn't fool the Gnoll Warlock's keen sense.

And if Hogg had learned any lesson from the defeat of Kenpot, it must have been to be cautious and cautious in such a matter of life.

In the words of Master Murphy, this is not cowardice!

It's just a one-time responsibility for one's own life, and only a fool would choose to gamble on luck when it comes to life.

In the midst of the long wait, Hogg barely managed to jot down the routes of the several patrolling skeletons in front of the town, their unique construction allowing them to walk flat in the swamps, and the size of each patrol of up to fifty men made them strong enough to withstand any kind of raid.

There were also a lot of corpse witches in command, and Hogg also found that the skeleton army was led by some tall knights of the underworld wearing black heavy armor and riding skeleton horses.

The defenses of this swampy town were evident from the visible parts alone, and Hogg was certain that the Gnoll Warlocks must have some means in place that it could not see.

These guys have almost built a "hidden kingdom" in the swamp, where they can harness corpses and camp in filthy swamps that have endured countless bitter battles in past history, which means that they have an almost endless supply of perfect manpower at their disposal that won't complain.

"It's not easy to fight."

Hogg was secretly terrified in his heart.

Even if there was no doubt about the belligerence and bravery of Lord Murphy's warriors, these seemed to be a little too tricky for the undead warriors.

What do you need to do if you are in command of this raid yourself?

The Bloodclaw Chieftain's mind raced through the question, as if it were a brainstorm while waiting out of boredom.

Professor Malcolm, who taught it history, said that the brain must be used often, and the more you use it, the better it gets, otherwise even the best initial wisdom will quickly regress due to too much fatigue.

Hogg was very calm.

But the few brute guards beside it were a little impatient.

Especially after the waiting time had been extended to twenty minutes, several grumpy fellows had begun to whisper and stare at the wood-like corpse witch in front of them with unkind eyes, as if they were thinking about where to cut the knife to make this disgusting creature die a painful death?

No, that's not right.

Witches can't die again when they're dead, and even if they do, it's just a boring pastime for them.

While Hogg wandered the world, his lieutenant Nash was also looking around.

But unlike Hogg's arrogant thinking about how to take the town with his own people, Nash's questions are realistic.

If their true identities are discovered by the gnolls warlocks, which way will they escape the fastest? And if that happens, will they really be able to escape?

Although Nash knew that his chief must have some secret relationship with the newly promoted King of Transansia, it did not have an intuitive understanding of the player's combat effectiveness, and it did not feel that the vampires of Translansia had any advantage in front of the fortress-like swampy town in front of him.

"Chief, there's someone ahead!"

After waiting for a few more minutes, Nash cautiously nudged Hogg, awakening him from his thoughts.

The chief looked up to see a gnoll guard mounted on a wolf at a gallop out of the town.

It wears a full set of chain mail that is very luxurious by the standards of a gnoll, and also wears a battle helmet on its head that can protect its eyes, and carries a majestic decapitating broadsword, which looks like an elite at first glance.

Hogg was keenly aware that the bones and leather armor on this guy's wolf were exactly the same as Kenpot's wolf decorations, and he realized that this was also a pioneer from the Biting Bone Clan, and when the guy approached, Hogg rolled his eyes and decided to take a gamble.

It swooped down and startled the gnoll's mount on the other side, who also subconsciously grasped the flail in the pocket of the mount.

Then it saw the thin gnoll in front of it fall to the ground, screaming in a broken voice:

"Your Excellency! King Kenpott died a terrible death, his head still hanging from the gates of the Crimson Keep, and the savage vampires regarded it as a mighty trophy.

You must avenge the wise and powerful King Kenpot! ”

"You get up first! Shame on the guy. ”

How has the Captain of the Pioneer of the Gnoll, who is riding on a throne wolf, ever seen such a formation? They don't do that in the Dark Mountains, but such a humiliating gesture looks like a coward of Translasia!

Sure enough, the rumors in the clan are true!

The great King of the Biting Bone brought the blood of the Gnolls to all parts of the continent, but the other Gnolls were far from being able to match the orthodox Gnolls of the Dark Mountains, both physically and mentally.

Look at this humiliating gesture!

Behold this wailing of weakness!

Phew, I'm ashamed to be in the company of such guys, their presence simply tarnishes the name of the Gnoll, which is supposed to be full of power.

Well, though, this guy isn't without merit.

The Captain of the Bone Larcer stared condescendingly at Hogg with disdain, and thought to himself:

"Dare to risk being torn apart by the skeleton army to come and come to report and ask for help, it seems that this weak guy still has loyalty, Kenpott's arrogant fool did a good job in Transnesia, although he was defeated and died because of the carelessness of the enemy, but he was able to train such a loyal servant

I used to underestimate that bastard. ”

"Get up!"

The vanguard captain scolded in a hoarse tone of the jackal:

"Come in with me, Your Excellency wants to see you and ask you something. You must tell the truth, Lord Ripper is a close friend of the Overseers of Kempot, and you must tell him all the details of Kempot's death. ”

"Oh, okay! I'm ready to tell Rip Meat all the stories of that night. ”

As soon as he heard that he could enter the town, Hogg was overjoyed.

It hurriedly got to its feet and hunched over after the gnoll vanguard leader, who allowed it to bring a servant with him, and the clever Nash was chosen to follow.

Hogg motioned with his eyes to see and listen as much as he could, and Nash nodded hurriedly and shrunk his head.

They followed the vanguard leader into the town, and after passing through the strange gray-black fog, Hogg was completely exposed to Hogg, who was shocked to discover that there were two "mage towers" hidden in the mist.

It was a classic human building, five stories tall, and the façade was covered with moss and creeper-like plants, giving the faded tower a sense of time.

But this kind of thing was certainly not built by the Gnoll Warlocks, which means that the two towers were originally here, and the Gnolls found them and founded the town with two abandoned mage towers as the core.

Hogg looked left and right, and soon noticed that the tower on the left hand side was constantly being filled with corpses wrapped in mud, and there were "new factory" moving bones lining up to emerge from it, and a layer of dark green phosphorous fire shimmer enveloped the tower, filling it with a cold and strange ominous power.

"That's the Construct Tower, where Warlocks and Priests used to create the Skeleton Army and resurrect the dead, and our barracks here."

The gnoll vanguard who led the way noticed Hogg and Nash's curious eyes, and with a sense of banter and cruelty, it intimidated the two "dirt buns":

"If you dare to steal or break the rules in town, that's where you're going to go."

"Don't dare, don't dare, how dare we Transian have that guts."

Hogg laughed back, but the Vanguard Captain only snorted and didn't respond, that arrogant gesture and Kenpot's were carved out of the same mold.

The Bloodclaw Chief felt that the creature in front of him had a way to die, but instead of acting recklessly, he chose to secretly write down the feud, and at the same time kept the location of the tower in mind, and followed it into another tower at the urging of the vanguard.

This is where the gnolls and warlocks live.

They dressed up in a "clan style", using skull-embellished magic weapons to divide areas into areas for different gnolls to use.

This was also the first time Hogg had seen a true "Gnoll Warlock", and their dress was not much different from those of the human cultists, and they all used full-length black hoods to cover their entire bodies, revealing only a grim face.

But even if Hogg is not proficient in psionic energy, he can feel very obvious psionic fluctuations in these taciturn guys, and most importantly, because most of the psionic energy used by the jackals is classified into the realm of "evil magic", so the long-term use of such wild spells will always leave these warlocks with injuries of one kind or another.

Hogg even saw a guy with only a third of his face left, and the rest was all dried corpse faces.

The dog was still smiling at it, obviously trying to scare it.

Hogg wasn't intimidated.

But Nash was so frightened that his tail straightened, and his mane exploded quite comically.

There were a lot of warlocks here, and Hogg climbed all the way to the top, and saw at least forty gnolin warlocks and twice as many servants as there were corpses on the way, but at the top of this mage tower, the area where the leader of the warlock clan was located, Lord Meat, was very spacious.

The large top floor is inhabited by only one person, and its laboratory, dissecting table, prayer room, and monitoring orb are all housed here. Wait a minute! Monitoring the orb?

Hogg was shocked!

How do you know the monitoring orb? I've never seen or even heard of anything like this! What's going on with your own brain?

Could it be that I have awakened some incredible ability?

In other words, I seem to be really weird today, and I haven't found it just now, but this will recall that since I entered the swamp, my mind has been very active, as if I have lost my old brain from the past and regrown a new brain that is better to use?

"Didn't you find out until now? You're such a sluggish guy. ”

Murphy's voice sounded faintly in Hogg's mind in the next second, and it almost jumped in shock, but it was hard to suppress the horror with its own mind that had seen the wind and waves.

Then Murphy was heard saying to it:

"Don't be afraid, this 'Eye of Scouting' technique is maintained by Grand Duke Triss himself, as long as the gnolly warlock in front of you is not a psionic master, you don't have to worry about being exposed.

Your eyes are my eyes, Hogg.

Now, go ahead and finish this reconnaissance, my Excellency the Eye of Insight, and I will reward you! ”

(End of chapter)