[Last Emperor] Chapter 18 - The Start of Plans (Patreon)

Waking up to another session of the most disgusting black sludge known to man was not something Tao Zi looked forward to. Even when it was part of the process of growing stronger. The sheer stink, stickiness, and vomit inducing-ness of it all was something that made it a struggle to wake up from a breakthrough.

Tao Zi gagged as he ran to his shower area. Tiger was already on the opposite side of the cave with its paws covering its face and nose. Whining and the horrible smell. He didn't know how long it had been this way or when the sludge started to become an issue during his sleep, but the little rascal had watched the entire process from the beginning until this moment now.

A feeling of remorse filled his chest for the orange cat.

Regardless of how much a trouble maker it usually was, it remained as his only source of companionship.

The scrubbing process was long and equally as difficult as the first time. Even if there was less of it in total, it felt difficult just to get off the parts that clung to his skin, hair, and between his limbs. Secreting from every body part, including between the legs. That had been the hardest area to clean every time.

Not because it was difficult, but rather due to the risk of damaging important goods.

More so because he felt much stronger, faster, and more intuitive with his actions and movements. All of which he needed some time to get used to.

He pushed past it all in his haste. Tao Zi wanted to get his plan moving along already. The thought of what type of reward he would get in this situation drove him to hurry in the process. Finishing a few moments later, throwing the filthy clothes in his ring pocket and putting on new clothes. Almost leaving the cave only to stop.

Tiger chirped at him.

Tao Zi stopped in his tracks, turning towards the orange rascal.

Fuck! I almost left without the cat test!

"Come here, Tiger! Who's a good boy? You're a good boy. Yes, you are." Tao Zi said in a baby voice as he approached Tiger. The cat backed up after sniffing the air. It bolting away when he got too close was enough of a sign for him to know that he was not ready yet.

So he went back into cleaning mode. Going through the process three more times before he finally got the pass from Tiger. It accepted scratches behind its ears as payment for its work. Enjoying every moment of it. Their connection had begun to grow lately. It no longer fought him off whenever he tried to pet it. Accepting the attention without pause.

He then took a moment to think his plan through. How was he supposed to get the clothes into the camp without getting the smell on him? The answer was simple to him, he pulled out the black sludge clothing and wrapped them around a spear. He would launch it into the camp and sprint out of the area, waiting for either screams of terror and battle or the first notification.

More like the notification. He wasn't planning on being close enough to hear them scream.

Tao Zi stepped out of the cave, returning the boulder to its spot. He had the sludge covered clothes tied to the spear ready in his bag as the perfect item to instantly grab the HellHounds attention. He doubted it could stop itself from bolting towards it the second he pulled it out.

His hope was that it was stinky enough that it would attract a few orcs too. Make the process easier for him to kill off a ton of chimps and clear out the camp without the risk of them surviving through this entire ordeal.

All the while he would wait at a small distance away.

Sniping any stragglers or small groups that tried to escape the mayhem. Earning him a few kills in the process, added onto the generous amounts he would get from this plan's murdering of hundreds of chimps indirectly.

More experience could be gained from doing it himself, but that would not only be a waste of time, but almost impossible until he was so far above the chimps, it might actually be worthless for him to hunt them. He had seen them get together to kill the Qi Gathering Initiate buck. Working as a team to defeat a stronger enemy using intelligent tactics.

Tao Zi refused to put himself in that position.

He pushed through the forest carefully towards the camp. Taking a looping path and hoping to come out with a vantage point near the top of the large hill that their cave was located at. He would let gravity do the work instead of causing a ruckus to throw it with all his strengths.

It would also make escape easier. Tao Zi hadn't seen any chimps over the top when he was studying their layout and numbers last time.

Tao Zi took his time.

He refused to fight anything except one small group of three that had been carrying a small doe on a sled. Not skinned and untainted by their filthy, motor oil like blood. He had attacked that group with a bit of ferociousness he had not expected from himself. Mostly due to the fact that hadn't had a piece of food other than wild vegetables ever since he arrived.

Most of what he had before he came had been given to Tiger as treats.

Tao Zi was not expecting that hunting would turn out impossible due to a literal army of chimp-like monsters overhunting everything that moved.

He eventually found the right area and broke through the brush just slightly to see. Finding the camp below him. Teeming with the goblin-oids. It was larger from this perspective than it had been when he was down there. Tao Zi could see the full scope of the area now. It extended into the forest some, they did not care for creating a barrier so other monsters could not pick them off.

Considering they literally ate each other, he didn't doubt that they really did care to keep each other safe either—

Tao Zi stared as a massive goblin-oid stepped out of the cave. Trailed by two old chimps with backs hunched and using staffs to keep standing. Skulls of animals dangled on said staffs, feathers, jewelry, and more as well.

Must be some sort of Qi or magic users.

His system pinged him a moment later with a quick detail of what he was seeing.

System Analysis -

Goblin-oid Variant - Hobgoblin Chief

Qi Gathering Initiate 1

Body Tempering Initiate Stage 4

Warning -

Faster, stronger, bigger, maybe even smarter than you. Oh, and it has a couple Qi attacks too…

System Analysis -

2x Goblin-oid Variant - Shamans

Qi Gathering Initiate 4

Warning -

Specialized in long distance attacks, weak to melee.

Both notifications complicated the issue. Would the HellHound be able to take out the camp with those three in the area. That wasn't considering the larger than average chimps like their butcher either and then the massive numbers as well.

Maybe he needed to do something about them before the fight?

Would he even survive an encounter if two of the three locked on to him? That would not be an ideal situation. He needed a moment to think his plan through. Consider his options before he made a hasty decision over all. His life was on the line if he made a mistake.

Could he hit them from his current position?

Or was this all pointless? The goal was always to take out one or the other. It really didn't matter to Tao Zi whether it was the HellHound or the chimp camp being eliminated as long as they were killing each other instead of him.

Hopefully pushing him past the edge and finally breaking past the Qi Gathering Initiate Stage and officially into the Journeyman Stage.

Tao Zi wasn't sure what type of difference it would be, but considering he actually felt a large change in him from breaking through minor realms and stages, he doubted it would be anything small. Hopefully enough to take out the rest of the enemies in the area and get some natural animals back in play for him to hunt for food.