For several days, Orion had raided several bandit groups, completely killing them all. It was now about midnight. Orion stood on a tree branch, its camera zooming into the distance. Not far away, there was a hill with lights coming from it. It was like a small stronghold on top of the hill, with many torches lighting up tall wooden walls. Behind the wooden walls were many wooden houses, and at the center was the biggest wooden building.
Orion observed from a distance. Several guards were seen patrolling the wooden wall, and there were several wooden towers manned by guards. Orion controlled an SO-1 drone to fly nearby, using its camera to check inside from above. It was a bandit nest. Orion had already eliminated the bandit groups nearby, and this one was the last. Orion had left it for last because it was the biggest. It didn’t plan to attack immediately but to gather information first.
As the sun rose, the bandit stronghold began to show lively activity. Not long after, several groups of bandits were seen leaving the stronghold on horses. Orion retrieved more SO-1 drones from the storage ring and controlled them to follow the bandit groups.
Orion continued observing the bandit stronghold while controlling the drones that followed the bandit groups. During the day, these bandit groups attacked some merchant groups and caravans. Orion also tried to sneak close to the stronghold to gather more information.
When the sun set, all the bandit groups finally returned to the stronghold.
After extensive information gathering, Orion managed to collect a wealth of details using drones and getting close to eavesdrop on conversations. It began formulating a plan to raid the bandit stronghold. Orion had already counted more than 50 bandits in total, with 4 of them identified as cultivators: the boss at the 1st stage of Foundation Establishment realm, the vice boss at the 7th stage of Qi Condensation realm, and the other two at the 4th and 5th stages of Qi Condensation realm.
Apparently, there were quite a lot of hostages held captive in the stronghold, intended to be sold in the black market as slaves. The captives were held in a cave within the stronghold. The situation in the stronghold was lively. Orion observed from a distance and waited, planning to attack during the night.
Currently, it was about 3 am. The bandit on sentry duty was rather sleepy, yawning on the cold, dark night. They scanned the surrounding area, trying to keep their eyes open and waiting for their shift to end.
High above, three SO-1 drones flew around the hill. Orion approached the stronghold slowly, first planning to neutralize some sentries hidden outside the stronghold. The drones' infrared cameras easily detected the body heat of a bandit sentry concealed in a high tree. Orion retrieved a bow and arrow from the storage ring and aimed at the bandit, using its laser range finder to accurately determine the range and improve aim. It aimed and shot the arrow.
Swoosh.
The arrow flew and hit the bandit in the head, penetrating and nailing the bandit to the tree trunk behind him. There were still two more bandits hidden in the treetops. Orion moved slowly and silently through the woods, approaching the remaining two. It positioned itself, retrieved an arrow from the storage ring, aimed, and shot. Another bandit was nailed to the tree trunk through the head. Orion then moved and killed the last one.
Orion didn't want to alert the bandits in the stronghold, so it intentionally killed the sentries by aiming at their heads to kill them instantly. Then, to prevent their bodies from falling and making noise, Orion nailed them to the tree trunks. Orion then approached the wooden wall and jumped over it, using inscriptions on its body to strengthen the jump and lighten its weight. It easily cleared the 3-meter wall.
Once inside, Orion kept moving stealthily, easily avoiding the bandits. With the help of the drones above, Orion had good situational awareness and knew the situation around it. It secretly moved to the cave where the hostages were held. Orion lacked information about the captives, so it planned to check and determine a further plan.
Orion easily sneaked to the cave undetected, even without needing to use a concealing-type energy barrier. After moving several meters inside the cave, Orion saw two bandits sitting at a table, drinking. They seemed to be in charge of guarding the hostages. Orion easily killed them, throwing knives into their heads.
It kept moving deeper into the cave and then encountered many cells. Orion activated the inscriptions on its body, causing an energy barrier to cover it and making its figure disappear from view. Not wanting to be seen by the hostages, Orion checked the cells one by one.
There are quite a lot of hostages, Orion thought internally, estimating there to be more than 30 hostages.
From the information obtained from Liu Jin, this bandit group is quite powerful and has many smaller subordinate groups affiliated with them. These smaller groups sold their stolen goods and hostages and also provided tributes. Some of these subordinate groups had been destroyed by Orion.
The many subordinate groups explained why there were so many hostages. These hostages would be sold in the black market as slaves, but an even worse fate awaited them: being purchased by evil cultivators and used to advance their cultivation through sinister techniques.
Orion then turned back, dispelled the energy barrier, stored the two dead bandits' bodies into the storage ring, and left the cave. It planned to rescue the hostages after eliminating the bandits.
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In the biggest building in the bandit nest, four bandits, all cultivators, sat around a table, discussing.
"Boss, regarding some of our subordinate groups that got attacked recently, what do you think about it? Do you think the attackers are from the City Lord's Manor or the Mercenary Guild?" one of the bandits asked.
"Or could it be just some random cultivator?" another said, gulping his drink.
When they sent their subordinates to check on their affiliate groups, they discovered that the camps of some bandit groups were abandoned, with traces of fighting. They concluded that some of their subordinate groups were annihilated.
"Hmm, it's unlikely the attackers are from the City Lord's Manor or the Mercenary Guild," the boss said.
"That's right. Didn't we just pay our tribute to the City Lord's Manor recently? Why would they suddenly attack us now?" one bandit responded.
Their bandit group had connections with the City Lord's Manor of Fengxian and secretly paid tribute. Because of this, the City Lord's Manor and the stationed army turned a blind eye to their activities. As long as the bandits paid tribute and didn't attack caravans related to the City Lord's Manor and the big factions in the city, they could operate freely.
Having just paid their tribute recently, it was unlikely that the City Lord's Manor was responsible. As for the Mercenary Guild, while the bandits had bounties on their heads and there were quests for their extermination, they also had informants within the guild. There were no reports of cultivators taking on those quests, making it unlikely that the Mercenary Guild was involved.
"So, just some random cultivator?" one bandit asked.
"Could be," the boss replied.
"But they specifically targeted bandits. What's their purpose?" another bandit wondered.
"More importantly, will we be the next target?" a bandit asked.
A series of laughs echoed around the room.
"Good, if they dare to come, we can just kill them," one bandit boasted.
"That's right. With the boss here, anyone who dares to attack will just offer their lives," another bandit said confidently, knowing their boss was in the Foundation Establishment realm.
"Hmm, it's better to be cautious. From now on, I want the security to be increased," the boss ordered, feeling uneasy. He had always been careful, which allowed him to reach the Foundation Establishment realm and lead a large group of bandits. He was uneasy about the unknown people who attacked their subordinate groups.
"Understood, boss," the bandits replied.
"Don't worry, boss. You won't even need to make a move yourself. I'll personally deal with them if they dare show up in front of us," one bandit promised.
Suddenly, the bandits' eyes widened in shock as the tip of a sword emerged through the face of the bandit boss. Blood dripped, and the boss also had a look of shock on his face. His eyes twitched, his mouth opened as if trying to say something, but he couldn't. His eyes slowly closed.
"Interesting. Okay, now I'm here. Let's see how you want to deal with me," an armored figure suddenly appeared behind the bandit boss, as if materializing out of thin air.
"Enemy!" one bandit shouted, swiftly drawing his sword and preparing to fight. The other bandits immediately stood from the table, drawing their weapons.
Orion quickly pulled the sword embedded in the bandit boss's head, and the bandit boss's body slumped onto the table. The sword in Orion's hand glowed with cyan light. Despite the distance, Orion delivered a horizontal slash, sending a crescent-shaped cyan light toward the three bandits, too fast for them to react.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The three bandits' heads fell to the floor and rolled, their bodies collapsing as blood gushed onto the floor.
Orion had used a concealing-type energy barrier to sneak in and secretly listen to the bandit boss and his subordinates. Orion had initially planned to fight the bandit boss, who was at the 1st stage of Foundation Establishment realm, to test its own combat capability. However, upon discovering the bandit's connection with the Fengxian City Lord Mansion, Orion decided to quickly deal with the bandit boss and cleanly eliminate the group to prevent future problems.
The chainsaw-Qi sword easily killed the bandit boss and his underlings. With the cultivators dead, the remaining bandits were just mortals.
Orion then sneaked into one of the wooden houses where many bandits were asleep. Inside the dimly lit room illuminated by oil lamps, Orion retrieved a spear with a long, thin spearhead from the storage ring. Taking careful aim at their heads, Orion stabbed each bandit, effortlessly killing the defenseless and vulnerable sleeping men one by one.
After clearing the house, Orion moved to another wooden building to eliminate the bandits inside, visiting each building one by one. Orion had gathered sufficient details about the stronghold using the drones, enabling precise targeting of the bandits' locations.
Leaving one of the wooden houses, Orion walked slowly, retrieving a bow and arrow. Orion aimed carefully at a bandit in a wooden tower, killing him with a precise shot. Swiftly reloading, Orion then targeted another bandit in a different tower. The second bandit fell from the high tower, crashing to the ground.
Alerted by the commotion, a bandit in another tower spotted the fallen bandit and moved to raise the alarm, but an arrow pierced his chest, causing him to tumble from the tower. The last remaining bandit in another tower noticed the unfolding events and managed to hit the bell, raising the alarm just before an arrow struck him down.
The remaining bandits on the wooden wall were alarmed, drawing their weapons and readying for battle. They scanned the surroundings for the attacker and noticed an armored man standing nearby holding a bow.
"Intruder! Intruder!" a bandit screamed.
The other bandits on the wooden wall quickly descended and attacked Orion. Orion stored the bow, retrieved a spear, and confronted the approaching bandits. The bandits on the wooden wall rang the bell, and some used bows to attack Orion. The remaining bandits in the stronghold who hadn't been neutralized emerged and engaged Orion in combat, but as mortals, they were completely obliterated by Orion. The bandits fell one by one.
The remaining bandits on the walls kept shooting arrows, feeling anxious about the strong enemy. They sensed something was wrong; with all the commotion, why hadn't the other bandits shown up to confront the intruder? They also wondered where their bandit leader and superiors were, why they hadn't shown up.
"Argh..."
"Uwah.."
"No... please spare me... guaghh.."
The remaining bandits were easily slaughtered by Orion. Some attempted to flee the stronghold, running through the trees in the darkness of night. However, the drones flying above easily detected them using infrared cameras. One of the drones moved to chase the fleeing bandits, dropping explosive wooden barrels that exploded and killed them. The remaining two drones continued to fly high, scanning the area. Orion controlled the drones, ensuring that none of the bandits escaped.