Chapter 24: Trouble
Although humanity had managed to carve out a domain for themselves after relentless fighting against other enemies and mana beasts, even then this territory was not completely safe.
Sitting in one corner of this territory was the Divine Brilliance Empire, occupying roughly six percent of human territory. Although, with the joint effort of the Divine Brilliance Family and other warring ancient families like the Saint Family and others, most of the threats had been gotten rid of, there still existed small pockets of space that were beyond their control.
One of these special pockets of space was the Thunder Domain, roughly five hundred kilometers away from Blessed Moon City. This place was like a double-edged sword. On one hand, it supported cities like Blessed Moon City with its flourishing resources, while at the same time it could also spell disaster for them.
By the first rays of morning dawn, Cole, along with the Summers siblings Ethan and Jessica, headed out, riding a steel chariot pulled by fire-breathing wolves.
The forest outside Blessed Moon City was eerily quiet. As the chariot was still in the inner area of Blessed Moon City, it was not that difficult to find traces of other human warriors. From time to time, they would even encounter patrolling imperial guards trying to maintain order.
Cole was busy meditating when suddenly he felt the chariot slowing down. Opening his eyes, he saw a couple of guards dressed in the official Divine Brilliance Empire uniform stopping them.
It was a group of five heavily built men, armed with sharp weapons. From just one look, he realized four of them were warriors of the physical path, while one casually looking guy was a mage.
Just one look made a frown appear on his face. Even without the A.I. chip telling him, Cole realized there was something wrong.
The five stood with grim expressions on their faces as the chariot approached closer, their posture showing not a single shred of discipline, even though there was less than a hundred meters’ distance between them.
It was at this time that Cole’s nose twitched instinctively, noticing a familiar scent.
Such a strong smell of blood...
Cole muttered inwardly, with a trace of solemnity filling his head. As someone who dealt with all sorts of herbs, he was especially sensitive to different kinds of scents. As such, his nose could easily distinguish the smell of blood.
Right now, from all five of these men, a strong smell of blood oozed out.
Suddenly, Cole’s expression tightened, and a possibility appeared in his head.
These are impostors dressed in the imperial guard uniform.
He hurriedly got up to warn the Summers siblings, but it was already too late.
...
Meanwhile, the bandits dressed in imperial guard uniforms exchanged glances and saw the thrilled expressions in each other’s eyes. The only one who did not show much reaction was the scrawny mage hidden behind the four warriors.
Just before their emotions got too out of control, his lips did not part, but his deep and raspy voice echoed in the minds of each and every one of them.
"Focus, you bunch of idiots. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. For them to afford fire-breathing wolves, they are not ordinary individuals but definitely someone from an influential family."
Then he looked at one of the skinny young warriors and said in a cautious tone,
"Little Ricky, you are talented in the arts of sensing. Take a look and find out if there are any secret protectors hiding in the shadows."
Young Ricky also had a slightly silly smile on his face, but his demeanor changed completely when he heard the boss speak. Although he wanted to say it was just their lucky day, he could not refute the boss’s concern. After all, it was because of him that they had managed to survive for so long.
Without wasting any time, young Ricky used his special technique to find out if there were any experts hiding in the dark. His jaws opened and a large ball of spit flew out of his mouth, landing on his open palm. Ricky sneered and slapped the ball with his other hand. The ball exploded, and a shockwave spread in every direction. Once it hit something hard, it returned, providing Ricky with feedback.
When the others noticed what Ricky was doing, they also became alert. It was only when they saw Ricky shake his head that they once again became relaxed.
The bandit boss saw Ricky’s reaction and knew there were no hidden protectors. He could not help but frown.
Could it be my senses were wrong earlier?
However, just then the chariot came too close to them. Looking at his bandit underlings, the boss could not help but shake his head. If there were any hidden protectors, they would have already acted by now, so there was no time to waste.
With these thoughts in mind, a cruel and sinister grin appeared on his face, and he coldly announced,
"Boys, let’s move. Kill half of the people, kidnap the women. If any woman resists, strip them naked and drag them to me..."
As if the other bandit underlings had just been waiting to hear those words, a fire of lust rose up on their faces, causing strange expressions to appear there. One of them even smacked his lips and could not stop himself from saying out loud,
"Hope there are some city girls with tender skin and white complexions. I need to get over that dark chick with the fishy smell..."
The other bandits heard his words and shook their heads. This brother of theirs was truly hopeless. The moment he saw a human with a hole, he would become intensely horny.
The bandit boss had merely said those words when the entire carriage was suddenly surrounded by the five of them, all with snickers on their faces.
"How dare you...!"
Ethan heard the lustful bandit’s words and turned furious, his eyes glaring daggers. If looks could kill, the poor bandit would have died a thousand times.
However, even though he was furious, Ethan did not dare jump down from the chariot. While the Summers might be titans in the field of trade and business, when it came to combat, their talent was only ordinary.
Suddenly, he started regretting his decision.
Damn, I should have given in to elder sister’s words. If something happens to her now, everyone will blame me.
What to do? How do I get out of this situation...?
The more Ethan thought, the more frustrated he became.
However, compared to his worked-up reaction, Jessica Summers’ eyes were calm and indifferent, as if it was not bandits that were surrounding them, but a bunch of insects that could be killed at will.
Meanwhile, Cole’s eyes finally showed relief when he saw the A.I. chip assess some of the bandits in front of him.
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