Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Stop fighting

“Continue,”

Chen Lun was intrigued.

“Usually, bandits like them, upon seeing a convoy not carrying goods, would not bother too much, since it’s a thankless task…

But just now, these men were very aggressive, insisting on searching the carriage to see who was inside.”

At this moment, Walsh leaned over and whispered:

“Actually, in big cities like Amber City, it’s common for noble ladies and madams to go missing, only to be auctioned later in the black market or other small circles…

Even if they aren’t women, some handsome young men are also very popular.”

Realizing something as he spoke, Walsh hastily added:

“Lord Jack is elegant and as dazzling as the Constellation, and Miss Floey is stunningly beautiful, more mesmerizing and radiant than the Moonlight…

I fear these disgusting fellows might harbor ill intentions.”

Chen Lun raised an eyebrow.

I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person, Walsh!

You really don’t know how to speak!

Picking such blatant truths to say, it’s embarrassingly frank. Although I am thin-skinned, you could speak a bit more to toughen up my fragile heart.

“Big cities are indeed chaotic… So the bandits would not kidnap those who are less attractive or older men? Are these bandits discriminating!”

Chen Lun complained indignantly.

“Well, not exactly. If someone looks wealthy and of high status, they would also directly kidnap for ransom,”

Walsh explained.

Chen Lun shook his head; nowadays, even bandits choose their targets based on benefits. Without a solid backing, it’s tough to survive.

Just then, when everyone thought the battle’s outcome was sealed, the situation suddenly changed.

The leader of the bandits pulled out two Iron Gloves and slipped them on, each knuckle embedded with sharp steel spikes. The man caught a guard’s slashing attack bare-handed, producing a crisp sound, then clenched his fist and hammered the guard’s abdomen.

Bang!

As the Iron Gloves collided with the armor, Chen Lun noticed small holes at the edge of the gloves opening, ejecting a stream of air.

The guard cried out in pain and was thrown backward.

All onlookers were shocked; how did these refugee-like bandits suddenly become so powerful? And what kind of black technology was in those black Iron Gloves? One punch could dent the armor and render a guard incapacitated!

After defeating his opponent, the bandit leader, with a face full of excitement, rushed towards the next guard.

The initially routed bandits were suddenly reinvigorated, while the guards became hesitant and chose to avoid this man.

Just as the bandit leader thought he could wreak havoc, a blast suddenly rang out–

Bang!!

The next second, pain struck.

His raised fist had not yet fallen when he noticed a blood hole in his left chest.

He staggered back a few steps, then thudded to the ground.

Blood began spreading from under him.

[You have killed the bandit leader, gaining 10 Experience Points]

The onlookers turned their heads and saw a young man in a white shirt, trousers, and leather shoes, with slightly curly black hair, standing straight in front of the carriage, holding a Flintlock Gun aimed their way, with wisps of smoke rising from the gun’s muzzle.

“Stop fighting,”

Chen Lun twirled the gun, blew on the muzzle, and holstered it…

Thanks to the brother Investigator from the Shelter, he too had enjoyed the thrill of dispatching someone instantly.

With the death of the bandit leader, coupled with the deterrent of the firearm, the bandits scattered like birds and beasts. At Walsh’s shout, the guards did not pursue but instead turned to attend to the injured.

At that moment, Chen Lun received a notification.

[Trigger D-level Task: Pursue the Defeated Bandits]

Task Description: You encountered an ambush by bandits, but they crumbled before your formidable strength. Being provoked, will you choose to pursue them?

This group of bandits blocks the road, kidnaps hostages, and there seems to be some earth-shattering secret hidden behind them…

Task Reward: 300 Experience Points and 500 Copper Kro.

Chen Lun had grown accustomed to the cheeky prompt box. In his previous life, when he first started playing “Era of Mystery,” he often got lectured by the prompts.

At that time, many players cursed and complained on the forums.

One of them mentioned receiving a task that supposedly involved a peerless Mysterious Object, only to struggle through the task and end up with a [D-grade] self-refilling coffee pot.

If that were all, it would have been fine, at least providing a constant supply of drink on the go.

Until one day, the player poured a mysterious yellow-brown liquid from the coffee pot…

The catch with this [Mysterious Object] was that you had to finish drinking it, or you would forcibly enter a state of thirst, reducing all Attributes for ten days.

A ten-day debuff of weakness was almost worse than being killed. With no choice left, the player had to steel himself and gulp it down.

Not to mention, this coffee pot was mostly likely irritating.

The task prompt was not wrong, this pot was indeed peerless. Oddly enough, later on, many curious wealthy individuals sought to buy it from him, turning the affair quite magical.

Chen Lun originally did not want to accept this task, as the rewards were too meager. But he soon realized, he should not get arrogant just because he had become wealthy.

Experience Points and money could never be too much!

The journey to strengthen oneself must never stop!

So after accepting the task, he had Walsh and his group stay put at the original location. Meanwhile, he had them securely store the suspicious Iron Gloves for him to examine upon his return.

He then nodded to Floey, and turned to chase in the direction the bandits had fled.

…

Chen Lun followed the footprints of the bandits, leaving the main road and entering a dense forest.

The place was somewhat eerie, with very tall trees and lush branches and leaves blocking the sunlight.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, which crunched underfoot, and every now and then, various strange sounds could be heard from around.

Caw– Caw–

A crow flew through the woods, dropping feathers of black.

It flapped its wings, slowly landing on Chen Lun’s arm. The crow turned its head, its intelligent little eyes looked at him, and then it cawed a few times.

Chen Lun handed over several beetles he had casually caught along the way, and the crow swallowed them one by one after tilting its head back, then cawed two more times before flapping its wings and flying away.

Chen Lun had obtained the information he wanted and continued onward in one direction.

“There’s a camp, isn’t there, with roughly a dozen people…”

About ten more minutes of walking, Chen Lun faintly saw some firelight.

He slowed his pace and parted a few bush leaves to clearly see the scene in a clearing up ahead.

It was a bandit camp about the size of a small basketball court, with a large fire burning in the center, next to which hung large animal thighs, and a few scruffily dressed men were boiling a pot of unknown soup.

A few other men were sharpening weapons–axes, sickles, daggers, kitchen knives, a whole mess of things.

In a corner, the stolen goods were stacked up neatly in crates. A slit that looked like it had been cut open revealed some Metal Ingots and coal.

Next to this pile of goods were several large iron cages, containing exclusively men, who were all without exception both old and ugly.

“How is this different from what Walsh described?”

Chen Lun was puzzled. What did these bandits capture these men for–could there really be buyers with such strange tastes?

A burly man sat legs akimbo on a chair, toying with a short sword in his hand. Beside him stood the bandits who had earlier blocked the road, now looking dejected like grade-schoolers being scolded for failing an exam.

“What a bunch of rubbish!”

the burly man cursed.

“That hyena bastard is even worse! Messing up is one thing, but he also lost the ‘Mad Hand’ sent by the higher-ups!”