Chapter 533: If You Run Now, You'll Still Have Time…
A significant number of Thunder Warriors gazed at the trembling drakes in astonishment.
Only when they felt the surging power within their bodies did they realize:
They were completely different from before.
Not only had they regained their limbs, but their strength had also undergone a massive breakthrough.
At the same time, they were secretly thankful that they had trained so diligently; only then did they earn a chance to join this mission.
Otherwise, they would have ended up like those less fortunate comrades, continuing extra drills in the training camp.
Some of the injured Thunder Warriors followed the training protocol for swift treatment.
First, they rinsed the corrosive acid solution off their exoskeletons.
Then they removed the necrotic tissue.
They poured half a bottle of nutrient solution onto their wounds and drank the other half.
Using specialized healing bandages, they wrapped the injuries tightly.
The entire process, tinged with blood and pain, left many Thunder Warriors drenched in sweat.
Yet, as they noticed their injuries healing rapidly, an indescribable excitement filled each of their hearts.
It turned out that the battlefield matched their training results.
The pain they endured during surgery was all worth it.
Of course, even with their formidable recovery capabilities,
their commanders—Arnold, Sera, and Gater—still made it their top priority to avoid injuries.
After all, it's hard not to get wet when walking by the river.
"Control its mouth, treat its wounds, and tie its body securely with extra safeguards."
"During transport, keep at least four people on watch. Make sure this gift for our lord doesn't escape!"
Sera commanded the Thunder Warriors to quickly secure the drakes and load them into hastily constructed iron cages.
Beneath the iron cages was the structure of a metal fishing boat.
As the massive propellers at the rear turned, the craft moved forward, heading toward the Thunder Squad's camp.
This swamp boat, specially crafted by the machinery factory for capturing draconic swamp creatures, was engineered precisely for the task.
It could run 400 kilometers in five hours.
With this swamp boat as their means of transport, the Thunder Warriors could venture deep into the swamp,
using its excellent maneuverability to hunt and eliminate draconic swamp creatures.
For more than two months now, a legend about the "Mad Dragon's Maze" had been circulating within the Bay Territory.
Interestingly, unlike usual rumors, the guards didn't suppress this particular tale.
Most of the citizens and adventurers quickly realized:
The territory was extremely wary of the Mad Dragon's Maze.
Various bounty tasks and rewards also indirectly confirmed this belief.
As a result, everyone grew more vigilant about the arrival of the Mad Dragon's Maze.
After all, the territory never acted without reason.
Feeling the wind brush against his cheeks,
Gater studied the captured drakes.
He could clearly sense the tremendous energy within these creatures.
If that energy were fully unleashed, they might not be able to defeat the Thunder Warriors, but at least they could attempt to escape.
However, these ferocious beasts seemed to lack combat experience and didn't possess a strong will to fight.
This realization left Gater pensive.
In the Catachan dimension, it wasn't just the Catachans who lived a hard life; all other creatures seemed to endure similar struggles.
Gently gripping the hilt of his blade, he could feel a tangible, intimidating force, as though it was on the verge of bursting forth.
Sera worked to suppress this aura, but even the faintest trace caused the nearby drakes to shiver uncontrollably, paralyzed with fear.
As sunlight warmed her skin, an overwhelming sense of joy welled up within Sera.
She never realized how soothing it could be to walk freely under the sun.
Reflecting on her past captivity, Sera couldn't help but mock her former self.
Entrapped by rigid thinking, institutional norms, and chaotic orders, she now saw them as more terrifying than any blade or poison.
But now, all of that was behind her.
There was no need to kill out of fear, or to die by some assassination attempt, as the drow elf assassin clans might.
She had a new life now, a new purpose:
To convince more drow elves to return to the light, contributing their strength to the territory's growth.
"This is a weapon made from Yaya's shed tooth, infused with a trace of time power."
"As long as you inflict a wound—no matter how minor—on your enemy, you can activate the time power to cause massive blood loss instantly."
"I hope you will use it well and bring greater contributions to the territory's progress."
The lord's trust only strengthened Sera's resolve.
Cheers erupted from the nearby camp.
Everyone stared at the battered, humiliated drakes, eagerly discussing among themselves:
"Wow, such a huge drake. How many heads does it have?"
"Looks like two. It's beaten up pretty badly—there's not a single unscathed spot."
"Idiot, don't count the heads you see now. Check how many necks are connected."
"Don't let its current sorry state fool you. With good care and feeding, it'll recover fully in three or four days."
"The vitality of draconic blood creatures is insane. They can bounce back from even the heaviest injuries with just a bit of rest."
"Hah, draconic blood creatures aren't so special. Even we can regenerate faster."
"What? You mean we can regrow our heads if they're chopped off?"
"…If you have nothing smart to say, just say less…"
"Hahaha, you're too funny…"
"Joking aside, capturing a six-headed drake should net us a 160,000 gold bounty, right?"
"High-tier draconic blood creatures are always valuable—rarely under 100,000 gold."
"This big guy's pretty strong. 160,000 gold should be the minimum. It might even be more since its injuries aren't too severe."
"Team Three and Team Four did well this time. Next up, it's our turn, Team One and Two. Don't mess this up, or else…"
"Wouldn't dare…"
"…."
As they had guessed,
after a quick rest, Sera and Gater led Teams One and Two out once again.
In the vast misty swamp,
there was more than just one drake.
Following Matthew's orders,
they needed to capture at least ten drakes within two weeks.
The Thunder Warriors, privy to more inside information, continued hunting these dangerous creatures while acclimating to their newfound strength.
Real combat data had to be tested on the battlefield.
With their impressive combat abilities and tactics,
despite facing certain dangers and difficulties, the Thunder Warriors managed to take down one drake after another.
Not only did they complete the mission, but they also exceeded the target, capturing a total of sixteen drakes.
Soon, the Thunder Warriors' combat reports, along with the final three captured drakes, were sent back to the Bay Territory.
Matthew reviewed the detailed information about the Thunder Warriors, carefully analyzing and calculating, ultimately identifying some flaws in their design.
Typically, unless there were structural issues, Matthew refrained from making surgical adjustments.
Data needed to reach a certain threshold before it could yield decisive results.
Moreover, specialized training could help the Thunder Warriors better harness their enhanced bodies.
Matthew assigned this task to Sera and Gater.
These frontline commanders knew best what was needed.
Beyond the Thunder Warriors' significant achievements,
others in the Bay Territory also reaped considerable gains.
Hunter teams composed of adventurers managed to capture a large number of draconic blood creatures.
Residents of Bay Town marveled at the various draconic beasts on display:
Flying creatures in the skies, running beasts on the ground, and swimmers in the water.
Massive rock dragons the size of mountains.
Flying drakes with wingspans of 20 to 30 meters.
Tiny dragon sparrows.
And so on…
The spectacle was a real eye-opener.
At the same time, seeing these formidable, cold-blooded creatures subdued by the Bay Territory,
increased everyone's recognition of the territory's strength.
Naturally, this also deepened their sense of belonging to the territory.
However, many remained curious about the fate of these draconic blood creatures.
Could the lord's laboratory even accommodate so many cold-blooded beasts?
As they suspected,
for these larger draconic blood creatures, even the spacious Bay City wasn't sufficient to house them comfortably.
So Matthew didn't keep them there. This was just a "cover," and another form of "advertisement."
In just over a month, the Bay Territory paid out over 8 million gold coins in rewards.
To inspire everyone's "fighting spirit," the Bay Territory prominently displayed bounty information outside the adventurer's guild.
Unlike the more cautious solo adventurers,
adventuring teams preferred to be publicly recognized.
It demonstrated their strength and boosted their reputation.
The Alice Adventurer Group, ranked number one, displayed exceptional prowess.
They surpassed many well-known adventurer groups, taking the top spot on the entire hunting leaderboard with a total prize of 1.65 million gold.
That's 400,000 more gold than the second-place Iron Adventurer Group.
What other adventurer groups envied most wasn't just the substantial bounty.
They also received a special first-place reward from the Bay Territory—five high-level magical items.
According to the Alice Adventurer Group, these high-level magical items were crafted from draconic blood creature materials.
Their value alone exceeded 200,000 gold.
This impressive haul naturally drew interest from other adventurer teams.
Including many from outside the eastern provinces.
On December 15th, the Arcane Gazette
"informed" the entire Netheril Empire of the Bay Territory's bounty for hunting draconic blood creatures.
Adventurers, did you see that?
Come to the Bay Territory.
Join the fight and capture draconic blood creatures.
You'll earn numerous bounties.
Many high-ranking adventurer teams across the Netheril Empire showed significant interest.
Unlike some lords, they wouldn't refuse to cooperate with the Bay Territory or maintain a blockade for various reasons.
As long as the rewards were generous, these adventurer teams didn't mind changing their hunting grounds.
In no time,
thousands of adventurers were pouring into the Bay Territory every day.
The influx of adventurers gave the Bay Territory's "adventure industry" a new level of development.
As soon as adventurers arrived, they found many benefits awaiting them in the Bay Territory.
Low expenses, numerous adventure zones, lucrative rewards—
these were objective advantages.
Unlike other territories that were wary of adventurers,
the Bay Territory's support and benefits for adventurers earned widespread praise.
No delayed payments.
Clear safety guidelines for outdoor exploration.
A competitive yet fair environment for adventurers.
These made the often underappreciated adventurers feel genuinely welcomed.
Thus, following its nickname as the "Refugee Territory,"
the Bay Territory earned another moniker: the "Adventurer's Territory."
At the same time, many lords across the Netheril Empire became aware of the Bay Territory's existence.
They recognized it as a distinctive and unconventional land.
Alongside that recognition came stereotyped portrayals:
Upstart, remote, savage.
The figures pulling the strings behind the Bay Territory's rise in fame were both astonished by its financial reserves and quick to escalate the influx of refugees.
"You need refugees, right? We'll leave these burdens for you!"
The Bay Territory, of course, happily accepted this unexpected windfall.
Compared to managing thousands of adventurers, handling these "obedient" refugees was straightforward.
And naturally, food was essential.
The Bay Territory openly signaled a willingness to buy grain, but internally it remained unconcerned about its growing population.
Its stored provisions were sufficient to feed four million people for two years.
Not to mention, Matthew had purchased two million tons of grain from the Silverleaf Family.
Two million tons of grain would sustain four million people for an additional year.
The purchase cost 2.5 million gold, nearly depleting the Bay Territory's available funds.
With no worries about food, Matthew was glad to play along with the others' "performances," putting on a show of dire need.
"Please sell us some grain! The people of the Bay Territory are barely scraping by…"
Old Village Chief Field: We're eating too much meat; some porridge will settle our stomachs.
"We'll take whatever you have—100,000 tons isn't much, 5,000 tons isn't too little. Our people are running out of rice porridge…"
Old John: It's true. We've been overwhelmed by choices—noodles, rice, buns, fritters, mung bean porridge, red bean porridge…
"If you're willing to sell us grain, we're even prepared to trade rare high-level potions. Our people are chewing on grass…"
Yaya: Wow, this sugarcane is so delicious—crunchy and sweet! Everyone's eating too much of it. I need to stockpile some more…
Thanks to the Lynch Caravan, Thorn Caravan, and a few select outlets like Bloodmoon City,
rumors spread that the Bay Territory was facing a dire food shortage.