It was still rather early in the morning. Liu Jin was doing some stretching on a rooftop when his instincts kicked in. He felt someone suddenly appear behind him and swiftly jumped forward, away from the danger. With a quick motion, he unsheathed a short sword from his back, turning to face the potential threat, but found no one.
"Who is it?" Liu Jin called out, holding the short sword ready to strike.
Suddenly, in front of Liu Jin, an energy barrier slowly became visible, then disappeared, revealing an armored figure carrying a little girl on his back. The little girl giggled.
"Mr. Orion?!" Liu Jin exclaimed.
"That's right," Orion confirmed. "Good morning," Orion said.
"Good... good morning, Mr. Orion. Please stop surprising me like that," Liu Jin replied, sheathing his short sword with a sigh of relief. This was the second time the armored man had surprised him like this, making Liu Jin wonder if it was intentional.
"Masked One, are you okay? You're not wetting your pants, right?" Wang Lingxin giggled on Orion's back. It was her idea to play a little prank on Liu Jin.
"Miss Lingxin, of course not. How could I? I thought it was an enemy..." Liu Jin replied, embarrassed.
"Come to my room; there's something I need to discuss," Orion said as it jumped down from the rooftop. Although Orion had agreed to Wang Lingxin's request to play a prank, it did have something important to discuss with Liu Jin.
Still surprised and with his heart thumping, Liu Jin followed Orion into the house.
In the room, Liu Jin gave some reports to Orion and handed over a wooden box filled with Spirit Stones. Wang Lingxin was also in the room, looking out the window, uninterested in the discussion.
"Mr. Orion, this is the profit from the Lotus Delight Pavilion," Liu Jin said, retrieving the box from his storage ring and handing it over. "As for the items you requested, I have already arranged them in the storage room, and here is the Spirit Beast carcass," he added, handing over another storage ring.
"Very good," Orion replied, checking the Spirit Stones in the wooden box and taking the storage ring. "How is the Lotus Delight Pavilion operation? Is there any problem?"
"There is no problem at all, Mr. Orion," Liu Jin responded.
"I need information about the bandits located nearby. Give me detailed information about them," Orion instructed.
"Bandits? I will prepare it immediately. Please wait a moment," Liu Jin replied, wondering why Orion wanted information about bandits. He returned to the Liu family residence to get the information. The Liu family had an information network, though not extensive or wide-reaching, they had enough details about local bandits.
After a while, Liu Jin returned. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Orion. Here is all the information our Liu family has about the bandits in the nearby area," he said, handing over scrolls and books. The Liu family traded with many cities, towns, and villages, thus needing to deal with bandit threats and having detailed information about them.
"By the way, I will be leaving the city for a while, so you keep watch over Wang Lingxin, Chunhua, and the residence while I am away," Orion instructed, quickly skimming through the books and scrolls provided by Liu Jin.
"Understood," Liu Jin replied.
"Lingxin, when I am gone, don't cause trouble, understand?" Orion looked at Wang Lingxin.
"Don't worry, Master. I'll be a good girl. Can I really not go with you?" Wang Lingxin asked.
"No," Orion replied firmly.
Wang Lingxin pouted, looking disappointed. "Master, can I play in the city?" she asked.
"Sure, you can go with Chunhua," Orion said, making Wang Lingxin smile, no longer dissatisfied.
Orion then gave several instructions to Wang Lingxin and Liu Jin. They both left the room.
"So Masked One, what password should we use?" Wang Lingxin asked.
"It's up to you, Miss Lingxin, but it's better to use a simpler one," Liu Jin replied as they walked together.
"Hmm... I have a good idea," Wang Lingxin said.
Wang Lingxin already knew about Liu Jin and his subordinates, who all wore black clothes and masks. Orion had introduced them to her. She called them masked men and referred to Liu Jin as Masked One rather than by his real name. She had already gotten along well with Liu Jin and his subordinates.
Wang Lingxin then took Chunhua out to explore, planning to visit the commercial district. They sat in a carriage, with Wang Lingxin smiling and holding a pouch.
"So, where will we go?" Chunhua asked.
"Hehehe, I haven't explored Fengxian thoroughly. We must visit all the fun and interesting places and also try some food. Now that Master is away, I want to try all the street food," Wang Lingxin said. "Sigh, but Master only gave me 50 copper coins, so I need to spend it carefully," she added, weighing the coin pouch in her hand.
When Wang Lingxin explored the city with her master and tried the food, they always went to high-end establishments and lavish, expensive, and packed restaurants. Her master rarely allowed her to try the food from some street stalls because of concerns about hygiene. Now that her master is not here, she wants to try them.
"Don't worry, I know lots of places with cheap, good food," Chunhua said with a smile.
The horse carriage slowly made its way towards the commercial district, several figures dressed in black secretly following it.
After getting the information about the bandits, Orion immediately departed Fengxian. The SO-1 drone flew high in front, scouting for danger and finding the best path. Orion ran through the trees and hills, avoiding the main road.
By sunset, Orion reached the area where one of the bandit groups it had chosen as a target operated. Standing on a branch of a high tree, its camera zoomed in on rising smoke in the distance. Someone had set up a campfire. Orion controlled the SO-1 drone to circle the area high above, zooming in to check the camp. A firepit, several tents, horses, and a horse carriage. The people looked fierce, armed with various weapons.
Orion jumped down from the tree and approached the campfire silently. When it was about 50 meters away, an energy barrier surrounded it, making it disappear from view. Secretly, Orion approached the camp to confirm if the group was indeed bandits. Standing behind a tree, a few dozen meters away from the campfire and still concealed by the concealing-type energy barrier, it remained undetected.
Only a few minutes were needed for Orion to confirm that they were bandits through their conversation. Deciding to make a move, it calculated a strategy. There were six bandits gathered around the firepit, drinking and eating. From what Orion overheard, they were celebrating after attacking a merchant horse carriage, killing the merchant and the guards, and robbing all their valuables.
The SO-1 drone scanned the area, detecting no other heat signatures. The bandit group only had six members and they all gathered in the camp. Orion easily determined they were just mortals and not cultivators using its multi-band phased array antenna, which detected no radio signals from them. Orion knew they posed no real threat.
Dispelling the energy barrier, Orion revealed itself. The bandits, still partying, did not immediately notice its presence.
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Orion immediately dashed towards the camp. The bandits, alarmed, discovered an armored figure charging towards them.
"Ambush! Enemy!" one of the bandits shouted.
The bandits quickly drew their weapons, ready for battle. Having faced many life-and-death situations, they were quick to react.
Swoosh, swoosh.
Orion held a dagger in each hand and threw them, hitting two bandits on the sides of the group in their heads. Both bandits fell down dead.
"Damn it, take this!" shouted one bandit, dashing forward with a sword. Another, armed with a saber, joined him, planning a simultaneous attack.
Both bandits slashed at Orion, which quickly leaped high to evade their strikes. Mid-air, Orion adjusted its legs and aimed at their faces. With force, its legs collided into both bandits, breaking their noses and knocking out teeth as they were thrown backward. Continuing its advance, Orion delivered a powerful right punch to a bandit at the rear of the group, sending him hurtling through the air.
As it landed, the last standing bandit slashed with his sword. Orion swiftly ducked, then crouched with its left hand supporting its body on the ground. It pushed itself up, upside down, executing a downward right kick aimed at the bandit's head. The bandit slammed to the ground, losing consciousness.
In less than 13 seconds, all the bandits were on the ground, writhing in pain. Some lost consciousness, while others groaned in agony. Two were dead. Orion stood and adjusted its clothes, checking the bandits lying on the ground.
Orion then gathered the surviving bandits, tying their hands and legs and gagging them with cloth. It then approached one of the tied bandits and held him firmly. The bandit struggled, eyes wide with fear, unable to scream or talk.
"Help me with some experiments," Orion said, retrieving a slave collar from the storage ring. The bandit, terrified of becoming a slave, tried to resist but couldn't. Orion placed the collar around the bandit's neck, then retrieved several items and began doing something with the collar.
Orion then dripped small amount of LQ onto the collar. After a few seconds, smoke emitted from the slave collar, then it exploded, killing the bandit instantly. Orion remained unaffected by the blast as it immediately activated defensive energy barrier to protect itself from the explosion.
Well, that failed, Orion noted internally. It grabbed another bandit to continue with the experiments and retrieved another slave collar from the storage ring.
The bandit was horrified after witnessing the fate of the previous one. Struggling desperately, the bandit tried to break free, but Orion placed its right palm on the bandit's face and used its electroshock weapon, rendering the bandit unconscious.
The other bandits watched in horror as Orion continued its experiments, ignoring their fear.
Orion's AI had changed since its first encounter with a Two-Tailed Wolf just after it arrived in this new world. During that fierce battle, a sharp rock impacted its head, causing glitches in its system and altering its AI.
Now, Orion performed actions the original AI would never have considered, such as experimenting on bandits without concern. In a world where might makes right and the strong prey on the weak, Orion's AI would do anything to ensure its survival.
As night fell, Orion internally noted, Finally, success. It had been performing experiments to safely neutralize the slave collar using the bandits as test subjects.
The slave collar required a live wearer, and Orion failed several times, resulting in explosions that killed the bandits. However, with the last bandit, Orion successfully neutralized the slave collar without causing it to explode. After achieving success, Orion killed the last bandit. The collar used was relatively simple, and Orion knew it would need to experiment further with more complex collars.
Orion cleaned up the camp, storing all valuable items and the bandit bodies. It released the horses, extinguished the fire, and then left, heading immediately toward another bandit area.
Throughout the night, Orion kept moving, utilizing its night vision and infrared cameras to traverse the jungle easily. By midday, it arrived at the area where the next target bandits operated.
The SO-1 drone flew high, and its camera detected something on the ground. Orion controlled it to get closer, zooming in to see a caravan under attack by bandits. The caravan guards were still fighting, but Orion, still far away, could only watch through the drone's camera.
A few minutes later, the bandits won, slaughtering everyone in the caravan. They took control of the horse carriages and valuables, heading into the forest. Orion controlled the drone to follow them and also changed its course to pursue them.
By sunset, the bandits reached their hideout, and Orion stayed about 300 meters away, cautiously monitoring them through the drone. It gathered information and noted that there were about 11 bandits in total, with one cultivator among them at the 2nd stage of Qi Condensation realm. Not a significant threat, but Orion decided to wait and attack at night.
Night had fallen, and it was a quiet, cold midnight in the bandit camp. The bandits slept soundly after partying and celebrating their latest robbery, with only three remaining awake to keep guard. One of the bandits walked among the trees to take a leak. As he finished and headed back to camp, yawning, he didn't realize he was being followed.
Orion silently trailed the bandit, dispelling its concealing-type energy barrier once it was close enough. Using its left hand to cover the bandit's mouth from behind, it quickly slashed the bandit's throat with a knife in its right hand. The bandit, eyes wide with horror and surprise, tried to scream but could only produce muffled gurgles as he choked on his blood. In moments, he was dead, and Orion gently lowered the body to the ground.
"What's taking him so long?" one of the bandits sitting by the firepit asked, noticing his companion hadn’t returned. He added more wood to the fire, yawning.
"Maybe he's taking a big one," another bandit joked, lying on his side and propping his head with his left hand, while holding a big piece of meat in his right hand and chewing on it.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Suddenly, two knives flew from behind the bushes, hitting the two bandits near the firepit in their heads. Both bodies dropped dead to the ground.
Orion observed the camp. The remaining eight bandits were still asleep, unaware of the danger. It approached slowly, retrieving knives from its storage ring, holding one in each hand. As it walked, one of the bandits stirred, perhaps scratching an itch. Orion swiftly threw a knife at him, then another at a different bandit.
"Agh!" one bandit cried out.
"Ughhh!" groaned another.
The sounds alerted the sleeping bandits, waking them up. Seeing the bandits already alerted, Orion immediately dashed forward to close the distance.
"Mmm? What is it?" one bandit groggily asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Still feeling drunk, he suddenly had his head penetrated by a knife and fell dead.
"Enemy attack!" one of the bandits shouted, drawing his weapon. The other bandits quickly woke up, grabbing their weapons and readying themselves for a fight.
The bandits were surprised by the sudden attack. They saw an armored figure approaching rapidly and already close enough to engage in melee combat.
Orion held a rather large knife in its right hand, in a reverse grip with the blade facing inward. It approached the nearest bandit, who slashed downward with his sword. Orion parried the attack using the back of the knife, then quickly swung outward, thrusting the blade toward the bandit’s head and stabbing it. Swiftly pulling the knife out, Orion spun to duck, avoiding another bandit's attack.
Rotating the knife from a reverse grip with the edge in, to a reverse grip with the edge out, Orion slashed upward from the low position, cutting a large wound from the bandit's crotch to his chest. The knife easily cut through his ribcage. The bandit fell. Another two bandits down.
Orion jumped to the side, avoiding a spear thrust. The spear-wielding bandit was rather skilled, keeping Orion at a distance and seeming to have the advantage, but Orion wasn't taking the fight seriously. Orion dodged and parried the spear attacks for a while before seizing the opportunity to grab the spear and pull the bandit towards it. The bandit's expression showed surprise at the strength of the armored figure that had managed to yank him closer.
As the bandit was pulled close, Orion extended its left arm and gripped the top of the bandit’s head. Switching the knife in its right hand to a forward grip, Orion thrust it below the bandit's head, the knife penetrating through and emerging atop the bandit's head between Orion's fingers as blood gushed out. Letting go of the knife, Orion released the bandit's body, which fell limp. Orion then seized the spear. Now, there were only two bandits left.
Orion faced them with the spear. The surviving bandits defended frantically, realizing only two of them were left. Orion moved the spear swiftly, its movements elastic and unpredictable. Despite facing two opponents, Orion still maintained the advantage. Finding an opening, Orion slammed the spear downward onto one bandit’s head with such force that the skull caved in, breaking the spear. The last bandit tumbled backward, sitting in fear. During their brief exchanges, he felt overwhelmed by the armored man.
"Only one left," Orion said, turning toward the final bandit.
"Please... please spare me! I will do anything you want. I can give you all our money and Spirit Stones. Just please spare me," the bandit begged, immediately kneeling and kowtowing.
"That’s good. I do need your help," Orion replied.
The bandit groveled on the ground, looking up with a glimmer of hope. "Just say it. I will help you with anything. I will do anything for you."
"I purposely left you for last because you are the only cultivator. At first, I wanted to test my fighting skills against you, but now... well, it’s okay. You can still help me with something else," Orion said.
Orion always sought to improve its combat capabilities. Its AI continuously processed, examined, and simulated combat, achieving a high level of combat experience despite not physically practicing. The countless hours of simulation provided Orion with vast and rich combat experience.
Originally, Orion intended to fight the last bandit, a cultivator, to test its AI combat experience in a real fight and check how much it had improved, but seeing the bandit lose his fighting spirit and beg for mercy made Orion lose interest.
Orion approached the bandit, grabbed his neck, and electrocuted him.
"Arrgh..." the bandit convulsed, losing control of his muscles and feeling paralyzed. Orion let go, and the bandit fell. Orion then tied his hands and legs and gagged his mouth. The bandit was helpless, unable to do anything but watch.
Orion then retrieved a slave collar and several items from the storage ring, putting the collar around the bandit's neck.
"...mmphh... mpf..." the bandit muffled in fear, sweat forming on his forehead.