Risa felt happy that Ethan had returned so quickly. She never expected him to arrive this soon. She didn't know whether his business in the city had been settled or not.

She ordered the other villagers to remove the three corpses lying on the ground.

Risa did that only to prevent forest monsters from coming to eat the bodies. Forest monsters loved human flesh.

"Where's Leon? I thought you came with him," Risa said.

"Leon is in the city, helping my friend deal with a problem there," Ethan answered.

"Then why did you choose not to help them?"

Ethan went silent for a moment, then turned his face away from Risa while watching the villagers carry the pieces of the outsiders' bodies into the forest, far from their village.

Risa saw Ethan's silence and thought maybe something had happened between him and his friends, something that made him unwilling to talk about it. She didn't want to force him to explain.

Nok stepped up beside Risa and smiled when she greeted Ethan. Ethan did the same. He was glad Nok and the others were safe.

"Are you going to continue your exploration again?" Nok asked.

"Looks like it, but I need to stay here for one night just in case."

"Just in case? Do you think those outsiders will come back to attack us?" Nok asked.

"My gut tells me yes. They'll come in bigger numbers than today," Ethan replied.

"What should we do?"

Ethan paused. His mind went back to how they defended themselves against the players' attack before. That method was poison smoke.

"You have a stronger defense system than the blood dome that drains energy," Ethan said.

Risa looked confused, and so did Nok. They exchanged looks, wondering what Ethan meant.

"What do you mean?" Risa asked. Ethan turned to her.

"Poison smoke."

Nok finally understood. The Blood-Cursed Tribe was skilled at creating poison smoke made from natural leaf extract and other herbs.

The short-term effect was shortness of breath and weakness. The long-term effect was stroke and death.

"You're right," Nok said.

"Since they lost this afternoon, there's a chance the ones who escaped will gather more people and attack again at midnight," Ethan said.

"Why midnight?"

"Because they'll think the village is poorly guarded while everyone is resting. They'll use that moment."

"Not only strong, you're also sharp at analyzing enemy strategy," said one of the elders as he walked toward Ethan.

"That's just basic strategy analysis, taking conclusions from what happened in the past. My people learned from past references," Ethan replied.

Risa nodded firmly. She ordered all male village guards to equip themselves with spears and poison balls.

She also told them to gather before sunset to listen to Ethan's briefing.

All of them nodded obediently. Risa was their clan chief, and Ethan was the village hero and the reincarnation of Lord Gor.

They all worked in order. Risa invited Ethan to rest for a moment in the Clan Chief's stilt house. Ethan didn't refuse.

Time passed while Ethan rested in Risa's house, sitting on a long wooden chair with a cup of tea in his hand.

Risa wasn't in the room. After bringing Ethan inside, she had gone back out and started practicing magic.

Many people were amazed by Risa's growth in power, including Nok and the village elders.

From what they remembered, Risa used to be weaker than Nok. But during their recent sparring session, she was clearly equal to him, even stronger.

They never expected that, and it was good news.

With the clan chief becoming stronger, the villagers felt more confident.

They became more eager to protect the village because they knew Risa would support them in the village's defense.

Ethan stood up while holding his cup of tea. He stepped outside the house and saw many people gathered in front of the stilt house. Risa and Nok were giving instructions to them.

"That's Ethan," one man said, making everyone turn their heads at the same time.

Risa also turned and smiled. Ethan walked down the stairs with his cup of tea, sipping it from time to time even though he didn't like the taste compared to beer or wine.

Maybe it was because Ethan had never been used to drinking tea.

"Ethan, we're getting ready in case there's an attack on the village tonight," Risa said.

"That's good. You all need to work together to protect this village."

Ethan stopped walking when he reached the yard. Risa and Nok stepped aside and let Ethan stand between them.

"I'll explain the strategy. You need to listen to me," Ethan said firmly.

Everyone's faces turned serious. They nodded, ready to listen to Ethan's instructions.

Since there was no map and Ethan's digital map was too small, he drew it on the ground.

There was only one road leading in and out of the village. That alone was an advantage.

Ethan divided everyone into small teams of three. They were placed in different spots to stop the players' advance.

They couldn't hide in bushes because their red cursors would be easy for outsiders to detect. Ethan preferred placing them on tree branches.

Ethan held a poison ball and saw there were around twenty of them, each the size of a golf ball.

When the ball broke, the magic mechanism would turn the liquid inside into poison smoke.

One important thing for them was communication. With communication, other teams could know what was happening elsewhere.

"Can you imitate animal sounds?"

"What kind of animal?"

"I don't know, maybe a bird," Ethan said.

"How about using that?" Nok asked one of the men.

"Yes, that tool sounds like a bird when you blow it."

One man went to his house and returned with three small wooden tools. When he blew one, it made a distinct birdlike sound even though Ethan didn't know what kind of bird it was.

But this was a fantasy world. Animals here were different from the real world. Ethan thought outsiders wouldn't find the bird sound strange.

"We still have about eight hours until midnight. Can you make more?"

"How many?"

"There are 27 teams, so I need 24 more whistles."

"What are these for?"

Ethan took a whistle and blew it once, then twice, then three times in a row.

He explained that one blow meant the team was safe, while three blows meant a team had spotted an enemy.

"If you hear three blows over and over, the team closest to that spot must go help," Ethan said.

Slowly, they started to understand the communication system. Some men left to begin mass-producing the whistles, while others headed to their assigned positions to wait there.

"Then what's our job?" Risa asked.

"You, Nok, and the elders stay here. If things get bad, I'll come help you," Ethan said.

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