"No killing, no killing, no killing," I emphasised, gazing at the five barbarians positioned before me. Finally, I turned my attention to the central figure, the man to whom this warning was most directed. "No killing, Alcatraz."
All five, including Alcatraz, displayed a hint of disappointment in their eyes; however, they nodded in agreement, albeit quietly.
"Understood, everyone?"
Their expressions conveyed adherence to my order, yet their periodic frustration, surfacing whenever I reiterated the instruction against killing, was evident.
I exchanged a look with Alcatraz, his face etched with the greatest degree of disappointment. Our eyes met, and I gave a confirming nod.
"Let's proceed," he commanded, his footsteps nearly silent as he initiated movement. The other five barbarians followed suit.
The moonlight filtering through the trees cast faint shadows on their forms as they walked away, the dim light accentuating their figures against the dark landscape.
I, along with those who had been with me moments earlier, lingered at the rear of the bandits' hideout, situated upstream.
Twinkle! Twinkle!
I turned my head back and immediately turned it forward.
"Tch!"
Aside from the barbarians who had been with me moments earlier, there was another individual who had been following me after I returned from the exploration of all three hideouts.
Reverence and a twinkle were radiating within the individuals' eyes—no, not eyes but hollow eye sockets.
Yes, the individual with hollow eye sockets, who had nearly given me a heart attack and killed again just moments after my reincarnation, the old hag.
Shook! Shook!
I shook my head vigorously to get rid of the negative thought. I wanted to live a long and happy life, and removing such an ominous thought was a necessity for the long and happy life that I desired.
From the moment I had returned from the exploration of the hideouts with Alcatraz, she had been following me, not interfering with anything, just following me from behind, though from the moment the darkness enveloped the sky, she would occasionally look in the dark endless sky and would say the same thing, "Stars never lie!"
She would have her creepy and wrinkled smile on her face as she spoke, and though she didn't say this with enthusiasm, yet somehow those words would feel enthusiastic.
My heart and hands would tighten seeing her creepy wrinkled smile, which also ticked me off, and if I could, I would have killed this old hag. However, for better or worse, we needed her medical expertise.
"Ha!"
I sighed and looked at the night sky. The sky that used to be lonely with only darkness and the moon accompanying it would have been if it were my last world, but not this one. The sky wasn't lonely only with darkness enveloping it and the moon hanging in a corner, but there were stars; some twinkled more, some twinkled less, and some were the brightest.
Alcatraz had informed me about the bandits' hideouts, and we explored them from a distance while camouflaging ourselves in green. There were three of them within the 500-metre range of where I found myself after waking up in this world.
These hideouts were positioned in three different directions, and I concluded that the one located upstream of the river would be the first to be captured, and the town hall would be constructed there.
Why?
The reason was simple: I didn't intend to build a fortress to enslave ourselves in it.
After witnessing the situation firsthand about barbarians and knowing more about them from Skylar Reigns's memory, I realised a crucial fatal point in my thinking in this new world, and that led me to a conclusion: isolation would be extremely dangerous for us.
Yes, I wanted our town hall, which would be the main focal point of our tribe's building, to be in a place that was great in all aspects, built on elevated ground that would allow us to defend ourselves easily, have natural obstacles like dense forests, rocky terrain, or steep slopes, and have water sources that were not only drinkable but also for cultivating crops, hygiene, and more things that would make a place extraordinary for the tribe; however, I didn't intend to create it our cage.
A false fortress that would be nothing more than a cage for the barbarians.
No!
That wasn't my intention.
The most important information that didn't make sense was the cultivation section in my system interface, but it also made me realise what I was leaving out of my tribe's plans. I had a system, and it had a section about cultivation, which meant that in the future I would cultivate and thus become more powerful, and then I would be able to help barbarians become more powerful as well. There was also the possibility that they couldn't cultivate or that the cultivation was only for me, but that didn't change my mind.
I had the system, and that was my cheat! I planned to use it to its full extent.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I would build a fortress that protected us, not us, who enslaved ourselves in it for its protection and became easy targets for others again.
No.
My plan was aggressive, and I had to make it that way; otherwise, survival in this cruel world seemed like a distant dream, and our extinction seemed inevitable.
'As they say, the best offence is the best defence.'
Alcatraz provided information about the bandits' patrol patterns and their behaviour over the past two days as we were exploring it. These hideouts appeared to store their ill-gotten gains and other valuables, which they transported here daily, primarily during the mornings.
Given the dense vegetation of Green Valley—a virtual forest brimming with trees—transporting goods at night, when moonlight was the sole source of illumination, posed challenges. My plan for these bandits in these three hideouts was straightforward: we would ambush them during the night while they slept.
The pivotal aspect of the plan was to avoid killing any of the bandits. Rather, I had commanded them to incapacitate them and take them captive. We required manpower not only for constructing the tribe but also for the impending battle. Furthermore, perhaps some bandits might be willing to join us out of fear or admiration.
In total, there were twelve bandits in this hideout. I dispatched five barbarians, led by Alcatraz, to subdue all of them. Meanwhile, the remaining barbarians encircled the hideout to prevent any escapes or mishaps.
Once the bandits were subdued, the rest of the barbarians, including those who had attacked this hideout, would move to the next one under Alcatraz's leadership. Meanwhile, seven barbarians under my guidance would stay behind to initiate the construction of the town hall.
Our time was limited, extending only until dawn. We needed to prepare for the next round of the forthcoming battle, as the bandits other than those in these three hideouts would undoubtedly realise something was amiss when they came to these hideouts to deliver the goods the next day.
----------------------------------------
As the moonlight cascaded, I could discern Alcatraz and the other five barbarians nearing the concealed hideout.
The hideout was concealed beneath a natural canopy of overgrown foliage, carved into the base of an ancient, towering tree that had slate and long flat leaves that, for one, I hadn't encountered earlier in my life, but were pretty common in the Green Valley, whose entrance was masked by the cascading vines and moss-covered rocks.
As they reached the hideout, their pace changed. They lunged forward with quick footwork, swiftly covering the faces of the two bandits who stood guard. Two barbarians held the guards' bodies to prevent any movements, while the others suffocated them to make them fall unconscious, and in the next instant, they were knocked out.
Ding!
'Huh?!'
The instant the two bandits were knocked out, I heard a notification sound go off in my head.
"Keke!"
Chills!
And that same instant I heard the creepy laughter of the old hag, and all the hair on my body stood straight, and for a moment I dozed off, and it felt like my heart would jump out in an instant.
'Fuck! It was a bad idea to let this hag stay!'
It was an extremely bad idea for me to let this creepy hag stay by my side.
And what was this crazy coincidence that the moment I got the notification, this hag also started laughing?
Shook!
I rubbed my hand and shook my head to get rid of the negative thoughts and feelings, and I reminded myself of why I was going through all of this.
'I have to live a long and happy life, far from such crazy bastards.'
I opened the notification in my head, and a system prompt appeared.
SIDE QUEST
MISSION: CAPTURE OR ELIMINATE ALL THE BANDIT HIDEOUTS, OUTPOSTS, AND STRONGHOLDS OF THE LEAF BANDITS IN THE VERDANT VALE.
REWARD: THE REWARD WILL BE DETERMINED BASED ON THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CAPTURE OR ELIMINATION.
TIME LIMIT: UPON INITIATING ACTION AGAINST A HIDEOUT, A COUNTDOWN OF 24 HOURS WILL COMMENCE. FOR OUTPOSTS, A COUNTDOWN OF 36 HOURS WILL BE ACTIVE, AND FOR STRONGHOLDS, A COUNTDOWN OF 48 HOURS WILL BE IN EFFECT.
Captured/Eliminated Total Number Hideout 0 18 Outpost 0 9 Stronghold 0 3
Current Progress: Completion Countdown Hideout (1) 15.38% 23:54
'Okay! So, this is unexpected!'
I was staring intently at the system interface, so intently that I didn't notice the time passing by and was completely focused on the information that this prompt was providing.
This was a hideout, as it was hidden well enough to not be discovered easily unless one searched for it. Going by the definition, an outpost seemed to be a small, remote settlement for monitoring a particular area, and a stronghold could be a base heavily guarded and fortified with a well-defended location.
'If only this goes by definition, this will be true.' I pondered.
However, this side quest wasn't a bad thing; in fact, it seemed extremely informative. Informative in that we now knew what enemy we were dealing with and what their estimated power could be.
'Nice, after this, the other two will be in our bag too!'
As I mused to myself and closed the interface, I was about to just look towards the hideout-
Shhhhh!
A flare went up high in the dark sky.
BOOOOOOM!
And it blasted, producing a deafening sound and enough illumination to force me to shut my eyes.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
By narrowly opening my eyes, I began running towards the hideout. This was a massive mishap; this was going to alert our enemies, who were till now not even aware of our presence.
'Shit! Jinxed myself.'