Night had completely shrouded the wilderness. Black Wolf Den resembled a giant beast crouching in the shadows of the river bend, its silhouette appearing exceptionally sinister under the sparse starlight.

Lin Feng and his group were lying in wait at a vantage point to the northeast—the edge of a valley concealed by jagged rocks and a dense forest of withered trees.

The terrain here was about twenty meters higher than Black Wolf Den, providing an excellent field of vision.

Through a cleverly camouflaged observation slit they had cleared, they could see most of the side walls of Black Wolf Den, the rear area, and even some of the activity near the west gate.

A Wang's intelligence was accurate. The defenses of Black Wolf Den were far more formal than the simple wooden fences of Black Wind Camp.

The perimeter walls were made of thick logs driven deep into the ground, their tops sharpened, with an estimated height of over five meters.

The width of the top of the wall had clearly been modified, measuring about one to one and a half meters—enough for a soldier to stand with a spear for defense or for two people to patrol side-by-side.

At intervals along the wall stood simple but sturdy wooden watchtowers, where figures and the glint of bows and crossbows were faintly visible.

Even more alarming was the moat dug outside the wall. Although not wide—about three meters—the drawbridge had been raised, cutting off the only path inside.

At this moment, the lights inside Black Wolf Den were noticeably denser than usual, especially in the direction facing the western wilderness.

Figures moved about, and shouts and the clashing of metal drifted faintly on the night wind; the tense atmosphere could be felt even from this distance.

Just as A Wang had scouted and everyone had speculated, the main force of Black Wolf Den was clearly concentrated at the west gate for defense, while the guards on the sides and rear were relatively sparse.

"Looking at this setup, the Nightmare Tide basically always hits the west gate."

Zhao Hu lowered his voice, leaning close to Lin Feng's ear.

Lin Feng nodded, his gaze calmly scanning the "fortress" below. The defenses were indeed sturdier than he had anticipated; a frontal assault would be difficult if the Nightmare Tide didn't exhaust the enemy's strength first.

If his forty-five men were thrown in now, they would likely struggle to make a dent. This further confirmed the necessity of his "reaping the rewards" plan—they had to wait until both sides were mutually exhausted.

Time trickled by in the oppressive silence. The dark red glow in the night sky grew thicker, and the unsettling energy fluctuations in the air became more violent, like the low pressure before a storm, weighing heavily on everyone's hearts.

Ten o'clock sharp.

A sudden change occurred!

Without warning, in the wilderness about five hundred meters outside the west gate, space seemed to be violently torn open by an invisible giant hand!

Dense, almost tangible gray-black necromantic energy gushed out like a tide, spreading instantly!

Immediately following, pale skeletons began to "walk" out of the gray-black mist.

These weren't scattered Rotten Wolves or Hard-Shelled Beasts, but organized—though slightly loose—rows of Skeleton Soldiers!

They held rusted swords and broken wooden shields, with pale yellow soul fire flickering in their hollow eye sockets as they marched silently and resolutely toward the west gate of Black Wolf Den.

There were so many that a rough glance suggested no fewer than a hundred! Moreover, mixed among them were Skeleton Warriors (Lv7-Lv9), who were noticeably taller with thicker bones and armed with long halberds or battleaxes.

"Skeletons... they're all Skeleton Soldiers?"

Tie Dun lay behind a rock, his eyes wide as he whispered in a muffled voice, his tone filled with disbelief.

This was completely different from the Nightmare Tide they had expected, which they thought would be a mixture of various wilderness monsters!

What was even more bone-chilling was yet to come!

The gray mist churned as two exceptionally tall figures stepped out, clad in tattered bronze armor and wielding heavy halberds, the soul fire in their eyes a striking dark red!

【Skeleton Centurion (Lv11)】!

Everyone's hearts tightened. A single Centurion had nearly cost them their lives in the ancient tomb, and now two had appeared here!

However, it wasn't over yet. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

From the thickest part of the gray mist, a skeleton warhorse composed entirely of bone, its eyes burning with ethereal blue flames, slowly stepped out.

Seated upon the horse's back was a skeleton with an even more imposing frame and dark silver bones.

It wore a damaged bronze helmet and tattered chainmail, holding a Bronze Lance nearly three meters long that pointed diagonally toward the ground.

An aura of death, far more ferocious and concentrated than that of the Centurions, began to spread.

【Skeleton Five Hundred Lord (Lv15)】

"A Commander of Five Hundred... and it's mounted..." Jian Yan's voice was dry, and his knuckles were white as he gripped his bow.

This was no longer the scale of a {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} "normal" Nightmare Tide that Black Wolf Den might have dealt with in the past!

On the walls of Black Wolf Den below, they had clearly also noticed the abnormal strength of the tide.

The originally orderly defensive formation fell into a period of obvious commotion, and even faint cries of alarm could be heard.

"This... this isn't right!" Zhao Hu's eyes were fixed on the sea of skeletons still pouring out of the gray mist, as well as the two Centurions and that fearsome Commander of Five Hundred cavalryman. His voice carried suppressed shock and a hint of bewilderment.

"This intensity... damn it, this is close to the edge of a Level 2 Nightmare Tide that Qingmu Town faced back then!

No matter how strong Black Wolf Den is, what they dealt with before should never have been an organized undead army like this!"

The hiding spot fell into a dead silence, save for the heavy, suppressed breathing of the group. A massive, unknown variable had appeared in their plan.

If Black Wolf Den was crushed in a single wave by a tide of this intensity, then their plan to "reap the rewards" would become a joke. They might even be discovered by the spreading sea of skeletons and find themselves in a desperate situation.

Amidst this extremely tense and even slightly panicked atmosphere, Zhao Hu seemed to suddenly remember something.

He abruptly turned his head to look at Lin Feng, his eyes filled with disbelief and a wild suspicion. His voice was kept very low, but it trembled:

"Lin Feng... I, I think I heard a theory before, though I just treated it as a rumor... they say that for Bandit Camps like ours that have no roots and just carve out our own territory, because we aren't recognized by the National Fortune Cauldron..."

"...we have no clear 'belonging' or 'boundaries'... and when the Nightmare World calculates 'civilization traces' to trigger a Nightmare Tide..."

"...it might vaguely count bandit forces within a certain range with similar auras... as being part of the same group?"

He swallowed hard, pointing at the skeleton army below that far exceeded expectations, and then pointing toward their own hiding spot:

"Do you think... could it be because we aren't far from Black Wolf Den right now, that this Nightmare Tide... has counted us as part of the 'civilization traces' in the 'Black Wolf Den' bucket?"

"So the one that came this time isn't a 'regular tide' targeting just Black Wolf Den, but it calculated both our groups together... and that's why it's so fierce?"

These words were like a thunderclap exploding in everyone's minds.

Black Wind Camp and Black Wolf Den... counted as one group? So the intensity of the Nightmare Tide stacked?!

This rumor was too absurd, too unbelievable, yet the skeleton army before them, which defied all common sense, seemed to be the most direct and terrifying evidence!

However, just as everyone was paralyzed with fear by this theory, their hearts pounding like drums and unsure of what to do—

"Pfft... Hahaha..."