Reject Humanity, Return to Monke

It's been an hour since the meeting concluded. All around me, I could see various monsters and humans going about with hurried steps, all of them either bringing some crates with weapons, armor, arrows, and other things related to war and sieges.

On the wall, the primates were arming the ballistae I had installed by using DP to buy them. For each tower in the defensive wall, a ballista sat atop of it, manned by goblins and orcs. Orcs to aim the thing and goblins to help reload. There were also boiling oil cauldrons being prepped on the wall.

Now, I could've just mounted turret guns or automatic gun turrets, which would've been better than these medieval implements, but here's the problem.

I don't have enough DP.

The only gun turrets I could see in the Dungeon Market were either manned or unmanned. Now, that wouldn't be much of a problem when factoring in the DP. The problem is that all turrets have infinite ammo and don't need to be reloaded, and they won't overheat. Because of this feature, a single piece of modern gun-turret cost me 50,000 DP for an unmanned one.

Because of that, I was only able to buy one, and I was going to have the sharpshooter in my dungeon to man that turret. Right now, Mariona was screaming from the top of her lungs about the wanton destruction she was causing to the innocent forest residing in my Dungeon, bullet holes marring their barks and trunks as empty bullet cartridges fell on the stone rampart.

Her manic laughter aside, as she laid bullet upon bullet on the innocent tree, I also had the mages practice their spells, most of which consisted of humans and demi-humans.

It seems that Drake did a good job of convincing the humans with his words.

I also saw Nicholas strategizing with the monster leaders as a giant map of the first-floor area was laid on top of a table with various figures placed atop it at strategic locations.

Namely, the entrance chokepoint. Because the entrance was a narrow passageway, only a handful of humans could enter my Dungeon at a time, which they would capitalize on with a group of primates waiting at the exit.

That said, a bunch of other primates, accompanied by other monsters whose stealth was on equal footing with theirs, I commanded to scout the area outside my Dungeon and once again lay traps.

Xek was also overseeing the trap making by adding incredibly fatal effects to each trap they had placed, although only inside a boundary I set so that he wouldn't push out too far.

"Ready to kick ass, Jionni?" I tilted my gaze to the side, seeing Drake approaching me with his gauntlets in full view. "I swear, these fanatics are on a whole 'nother level."

He grinned and I chuckled, grabbing a bottle of alcohol from within my inventory before taking a swig.

"You drink?" Drake asked with a raised eyebrow due to my action. Well, I wouldn't blame him. This was the first time I drank in front of him, or in my whole life, for that matter.

"Just today… Damn raids are getting on my nerves… It's been what? A little over a month, and I've already been raided twice by damned soldiers of the country." Taking another swig, I felt my vision wobble slightly. "Woah… I better not drink too much…"

"You fucking lightweight." Drake devolved into laughter as he snatched the bottle from my hand before gulping the entire bottle's contents down with one swig. "Ahhh… Nothing like a good kick to start the day."

"Oi! I paid good shit for that!" I proclaimed, and Drake snorted.

"And risk having you drunk on the battlefield? Nope." Drake tossed the empty bottle back into my hands with a grin. "As much as I would like to see you fighting drunk against the soldiers, I'd rather not risk your life because you couldn't hold your drink."

I opened my mouth to counter his arguments, but closed it back once I saw his expression, daring me to talk back.

"Yep, thought so." Drake sighed before sniggering. "Anyway, you got a plan?"

"Yeah. Make those who are proficient in planning do all the work." I pointed at the group of leaders strategizing on how my Dungeon would retaliate against the incoming invaders.

"Aren't you the leader?"

"And as the leader, I have the power to delegate matters I am not proficient with to those who are." I countered before roaring into laughter, Drake laughing along as well. We got some looks from the surrounding people, but once they saw me and Drake, they went back on their way to do their current jobs. "Anyway, I'd better get going. Even if I had given them the job of strategizing our battle plan, I would still have the final say."

"Eh, true that." Drake and I stood up, before sharing a fist bump. "If you need me, I'll be at the ramparts overlooking the construction of my secret weapon."

"… Wait, secret weapon?" When I looked back, Drake was already gone. "… When I get my hands on that man…"

Sighing, I forgot Drake for the moment and made a beeline towards the impromptu planning table that was situated near the ramparts. I also noticed Drake standing next to Mariona, who was still laughing like a maniac as she let loose on the trees outside.

"Sheesh… Trigger happy much?" I muttered with my hand over my mouth. Moving through the busy street, the various monsters, humans, and demi-humans making way for my advance, I arrived at the planning table in record time, all of the members present noticing me and looking at me with serious faces.

"Ah, Jionni. Came at the right time." Nicholas stood straight and approached me before patting me on the shoulder. "We've come up with a plan that would make it possible that the only casualties we would incur are the primates and not a single one from the monsters, humans, or demi-humans' side."

"Oh? Do tell." Approaching the table, I saw the war map that was a genuine copy of the first area of my Dungeon. Various figures were scattered all around, but one thing I noticed was that each of them was placed strategically at some points.

Like a figure of a sniper on top of a hill nearby, and a figure of a horse inside the forest that was a little bit further away from the main road, where the invaders would most likely pass, seeing that moving through the forest would give them a disadvantage.

"First off, your primates. Each of them will be serving as the front-line and, no offense to you or them, sacrificial pawns to weaken the enemy." Nicholas explained a bit anxiously. I couldn't blame the man, not when he directly insulted me and my summons, but that was alright. If the primates weren't able to respawn when they died, then I would've quickly disagreed with the notion.

"None taken." I nodded, and all of the members around the table heaved a sigh of relief.

"Mhm… Anywho, once the primates are done with their first wave of attack and eliminate a good number of enemy soldiers, those being the ones posted right next to the entrance where only a handful of them can pass through at a time, they will retreat, giving way to the next attackers."

"The snipers?" I asked, and Nicholas nodded. I had bought some sniper rifles, nothing too advanced, just standard rifles since even the weakest one could pierce through medieval armor.

We tested them with the armor that the last raid soldiers wore, and it easily pierced them.

I was only able to buy about five of them because they were hella expensive. At least they didn't consume any ammo.

I gave them to the primates, who were right now practicing with them to get a good feel for the gun. I have full faith in Chip's teachings. After all, he's the damn ape that learned how to use a bow proficiently without any help in just a matter of days.

He's still my deadliest sniper as of now, and with a gun in hand, you can bet that he will be taking names.

Still, I don't like the names he suggested. Why the hell would a normal person name their best subordinate 'The Black Angel of Death from the Depths of the Almighty'?

Until I find a good title for him, his codename will stay as Chip.

"Yes, the snipers. While the primates retreat, the snipers will cover their rear from a nearby hill. When the soldiers notice where the shooting is coming from, the snipers will quickly relocate to this spot while the primates once again attack with full force, giving enough time for the primates to move." Nicholas said, and I had to give him props for fully utilizing the fact that my primates are willing to die because they just can't permanently die, unless they die outside of my Dungeon, of course. "That cycle will continue until either A. The primates lose a significant number of their troops, or B. They reach this line right here. Once either of those two happen, the cavalry, still made up of primates, will rush them down from the side. Assuming that the soldiers are all weary and panicked from the harassment, this will deal a huge blow to the enemy forces."

"Not a bad plan, although where do the other monsters, humans, and demi-humans come into play here?" I pointed that out, and Nicholas grinned.

"That's the best part; they don't. Unless the enemy forces reach the walls, the residents won't need to lift a finger. Except for those in charge of the ballistae and Merethyl on the... Gun she's currently using…" Nicholas gulped as he eyed the now near-insane elf. "I still don't believe that's a gun."

"It is a gun." I deadpanned for the nth time.

"Anyway." Coughing into his hand, Nicholas continued. "If all goes right, the residents won't lift a finger, and all the casualties we'll have accrued will only be from the primates, who will all revive in a few hours."

"And if it doesn't?"

Nicholas' eyes narrowed, the rest of the monster leaders doing the same.

"Then we probably need to hope that the casualty count won't go up too high…"