"Starting today, I'll proudly be a wild monster. One day, I'll usurp the throne of the most powerful BOSS, defeat the system, and drive the players out of this world." After Zhou Tian set a goal for himself, he headed towards the battlefield.
Even though Zhou Tian occupied the body of a beast slave, his appearance did not differ from any average beast slave. At least, the group of NPCs could not discern any difference between Zhou Tian and an ordinary beast slave, thus, no one noticed his presence after he had infiltrated the group of beast slaves.
Just like a drop of rain slipping into a lake, compared to the tens of thousands of beast slaves and the massive NPC army, Zhou Tian seemed insignificant.
However, unnoticed by all, Zhou Tian silently joined the fight.
Before entering the fray, Zhou Tian had gathered quite a bit of intelligence. Based on his observations, while they held an absolute numerical advantage as wild monsters, the beast slaves paled in strength compared to the NPC group.
Given the current state of affairs, if the battle carried on as it was, the group of NPCs would likely emerge victorious. However, the true power balance between the two sides was fairly even, and a twist in the fight could still bring victory to the wild monsters.
Of course, Zhou Tian was neither capable nor willing to be the one to shift the tides of battle. Instead, after infiltrating the beast slaves, he chose to simply go with the flow.
Perhaps influenced by the natural propensity for violence, or the characteristics imposed upon the beast slave identity by the system, Zhou Tian had impulsively joined the battle. Having joined, however, he had to act accordingly.
In fact, if Zhou Tian dared remain inactive at that moment, he would likely have been killed by the NPCs rather quickly.
With that said, Zhou Tian would never engage in a head-on battle with the NPCs. Compared to ordinary beast slaves, Zhou Tian's greatest advantage lay in his wisdom, something the beast slaves lacked. Unlike the beast slaves who only knew how to fight the NPCs with a handful of simple strategies, Zhou Tian knew how to act in order to maximize his accomplishments in battle without sacrificing himself.
"Attack!" An NPC soldier shouted just before running his long spear through a beast slave in front of him. Before he even had a chance to retrieve his weapon, he was immediately besieged by a few other beast slaves.
However, the NPC soldier kept his cool amidst the chaos. After trading a few minor injuries, he managed to successfully retrieve his long spear. And when both sides were all wounded, Zhou Tian, who had been paying attention to the situation, suddenly burst from the group of beast slaves, charging straight at the NPC soldier without uttering a word.
"Murder!" The NPC soldier shouted upon seeing Zhou Tian charge. Tightening his grip on the long spear, he thrust his weapon forward.
But, just as the NPC soldier thought his attack would certainly hit, Zhou Tian suddenly rolled away like a donkey. Consequently, the soldier's once absolute attack was now nothing but a swing at thin air.
Naturally, Zhou Tian wouldn't let such an opportunity slip away. Seeing that the soldier's attack had missed, he swiftly kicked the soldier in a vulnerable spot immediately after rolling to his side.
"Uh~" Clutching his lower body, the soldier collapsed. Zhou Tian quickly stepped on him and then beat him to death with his weapon.
After killing the NPC soldier, Zhou Tian immediately felt a rush of hot energy enter his body.
Normally, Zhou Tian would keep track of the source and effect of this energy. However, due to the throes of war that had enveloped him, Zhou Tian had no time to take stock of these small changes.
Eventually, Zhou Tian noticed a shift within his body but did not pay it much mind. He paused for a moment before employing the previous tactics, once again successfully killing several NPCs in what was almost a sneak attack.
By the time the battle was coming to a close, a surge of information flooded Zhou Tian's brain after he had killed a few more NPCs.
"So I have the ability to level up too!" The new information brought Zhou Tian tremendous excitement. Just like the players, they, the wild monsters, also had the opportunity to level up. After killing NPCs or players, they could earn corresponding experience points. Once these points reached a certain number, they could then evolve.
But the information in Zhou Tian's head indicated that he currently had two different evolution choices.
The first was him using his current experience to evolve into a Beastman. If Zhou Tian chose this, he would immediately be transported to the Beastman's inhabited area, and this evolution could help Zhou Tian avoid the threats from the NPCs.
Aside from the first choice, Zhou Tian also had a second one: to evolve into an elite while retaining his current species.
That is to say, if Zhou Tian chose to become an elite, he would still be a beast slave but his strength would improve - according to the game's terminology, he would become an elite beast slave.
Without a second thought, Zhou Tian instinctively planned to choose to evolve into a Beastman. After all, the NPC army had largely maintained the upper hand towards the end of the battle. If Zhou Tian stayed put, he would soon face the encirclement and attack by the NPC army. Thus, under such circumstances, leaving this dangerous zone through evolution appeared to be a wise choice no matter how it was seen.
However, just as Zhou Tian was preparing to finalize his decision, he suddenly changed his mind, recalling his previous experiences.
Although evolving into a Beastman was a good choice, this battle was also an opportunity Zhou Tian could not afford to miss.
Zhou Tian only managed to evolve due to this current battle, and he wasn't certain whether it was common to fight against huge NPC armies. Thus, if he left now, Zhou Tian was unsure if he would ever stumble upon such a golden opportunity again.
Now that he knew he could evolve, Zhou Tian gradually let go of his original nonchalant attitude. Even though he was in a game world, he hoped he could accomplish the goal he had set for himself. Otherwise, he wasn't sure if he had the courage to carry on living in such a foreign environment without any pursuit.
In accordance with the current state of the world, in order to achieve the ambitions he had set, Zhou Tian didn't seem to have much of a chance from any perspective. Under such circumstances, to fulfill his ambition, Zhou Tian naturally couldn't give up any opportunity to improve his strength.
As such, almost as if compelled by unknown forces, Zhou Tian made a decision never expected of his normal character.