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Chapter 55: The News
Chapter 55: The News
September 25, 2017
With gratitude to 'Mysterious Bookworm' for their generous support.
...
The spoils of battle were decent, but the real prize lay with the scholar.
Lu HaiKong approached the scholar with a playful look, sheathing his long sword and donning a naturally amiable smile.
However, Lu HaiKong's group had just achieved an impressive feat, defeating five hundred with only eleven people, especially when Lu HaiKong and his 'Avengers' group eliminated three hundred refugees with just nine people. This was a solid, unexaggerated accomplishment, and Lu HaiKong's violent combat style had left a deep psychological shadow on the scholar.
As Lu HaiKong approached, the scholar trembled in fear, clearly terrified.
In this situation, Lu HaiKong offered surrender, and the scholar dared not refuse. He knelt before Lu HaiKong, becoming the second scholar under Lu HaiKong's command.
Li Feng
Occupation: Scholar
Lord: Lu HaiKong
Loyalty: 60
Abilities:
Strength: 5, Politics: 10, Strategy: 10, Leadership: 20
Skills: Morale Boost
Lu HaiKong was a bit surprised to find that Li Feng's highest attribute was Leadership, but recalling his previous performance, it made sense. The key was his Morale Boost skill.
When Lu HaiKong examined this skill, he found that it only increased attributes by twenty percent, which was strong, but he was puzzled as to why the refugees' strength had doubled. The explanation given was that the refugees were initially very weak.
Lu HaiKong reluctantly accepted this explanation, but after doing so, a devilish smile appeared on his face.
Although Li Feng was now his subordinate, Lu HaiKong, adhering to his principles as a bandit, insisted on collecting the scholar's possessions.
When Lu HaiKong made this demand, Li Feng dared not refuse. He obediently handed over all his valuables, though his loyalty decreased by 5 points in the process.
From Li Feng, Lu HaiKong acquired 50 gold, a village construction document, and a copy of 'Fundamental Inner Strength'. Unfortunately, Lu HaiKong did not obtain the mysterious scroll he had hoped for, leaving him somewhat disappointed.
After dealing with Li Feng, Lu HaiKong, seeing that it was still early, led Wang Chao and Ma Han to continue their bandit camp raids. They stuck to their routine, only targeting bandits outside the camps and not venturing inside. If any bandits from within pursued them, Lu HaiKong would not hesitate to eliminate them.
After raiding several bandit camps, Lu HaiKong's 'Avengers' group finally reached the fifth level of Bandit Chief. Within a day, eight bandit chiefs under his command had also reached the fifth level, an astonishingly rapid pace.
Having achieved their goal, Lu HaiKong immediately returned to the bandit camp with Wang Chao and Ma Han. Upon their arrival, they sought out Old Man Wang and purchased eight Bandit Leader Certificates and four copies each of 'Thunderbolt Gunsmanship' and 'Gale Blade Technique', enabling the 'Avengers' to advance their skills.
This expenditure totaled 1,200 gold, and although Lu HaiKong had anticipated it, seeing the sly look on Old Man Wang's face as he paid the money left him feeling annoyed and pained.
Lu HaiKong had just arranged for eight of his men to advance, and just as he did, Li Yi, whom he had sent to gather intelligence in Shanwu County, returned with a sullen expression, as if he had learned something unpleasant.
Indeed, the two pieces of news Li Yi brought were not good at all. The first was that the Zhang Family had publicly announced their intention to wipe out Niujia Village in three days, and the second was that Shanwu County was preparing to suppress the surrounding bandits, raiders, and other nefarious forces in five days.
Lu HaiKong's initially good mood, which had been boosted by the cultivation of eight bandit chiefs, was instantly ruined by this news. He hurriedly asked Li Yi for more details.
Li Yi was just an outsider in Shanwu County, with no connections or influence. The information he could gather was limited to what people were willing to share. However, Lu HaiKong, with his keen insight, discerned something more from these messages.
He noticed that, apart from the two pieces of news Li Yi brought back, there was another piece of information that Li Yi had missed. It was that the Dark Wind Fort and the Zhang Family had reached an agreement, otherwise, the Dark Wind Fort would never dare to step into Shanwu County. This made things more intriguing.
Lu HaiKong had witnessed the Zhang Family's response to his recent robbery, and he knew that they had been very arrogant and domineering towards the Dark Wind Fort. For them to reach an agreement, there was only one possibility: the Dark Wind Fort had backed down. According to Lu HaiKong's understanding, the Zhang Family had demanded a compensation of ten thousand gold coins from the Dark Wind Fort before they would agree to a settlement.
A whole ten thousand gold coins, and the Dark Wind Fort could actually come up with that amount. What kind of business were these raiders involved in?
Lu HaiKong wasn't interested in this for now. His current interest was singular: had the Dark Wind Fort and the Zhang Family truly reached an agreement, and had the Dark Wind Fort paid the ten thousand gold coins, or were they preparing to do so?
Lu HaiKong had just discovered the allure of money. Ten thousand gold coins, if he could rob it all, would allow him to directly build a legion of over six hundred bandit chiefs. Imagine a force of six hundred individuals with Strength values above 30—what a formidable power that would be! With such a force, Lu HaiKong could roam freely throughout Shanwu County, or even the entire Yanmen Prefecture.
It was clear that a successful robbery had opened a door to evil for this man. If it had been the old Lu HaiKong hearing Li Yi's news, his focus would have been on how to protect Niujia Village and deal with the county's suppression.
But now, Lu HaiKong's mind was occupied with how to intercept the money the Dark Wind Fort was sending as a peace offering.
As for Niujia Village, Lu HaiKong didn't think that if he took action, the Dark Wind Fort would survive to seek revenge. He had a rough understanding of their strength, which was equivalent to that of a bandit chief.
In the past, Lu HaiKong might have been wary, but now, with eleven bandit chiefs under his command, all with Strength values above 30, he had no fear of the Dark Wind Fort.
(End of Chapter)
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