Chapter 9: The Bandit Lord (Part 2)

Ezekiel didn’t understand at all. He asked in a low voice, “What do you want to do? Why so many bandits?”
Guo Shier said, “I just like to have fun…” In truth, he had other plans, but there were too few people gathered so far, and he didn’t want to explain. Even if he did, with Ezekiel’s understanding, it would be incomprehensible.
Ezekiel said, “Alright, go ahead and have fun.”
Soon, Esen and De Da assembled a group of fifty men. These men weren’t weak, but they had no discipline at all—lazily standing or sitting in disheveled ways, clearly a ragtag bunch. Guo Shier didn’t bother paying them attention. Following his habits from his past life, if he had taken it seriously, he would have made these bandits suffer greatly.
He waved for Esen and De Da to come over, along with Banilu. Guo Shier asked, “Are there any other bandit camps in the vicinity?”
Esen felt a chill run down his spine. He said with a bitter smile, “There are eight camps around here. The strongest group has over three hundred men, while the weakest still has thirty or forty. Their strength is quite high.”
Guo Shier asked, “Are you familiar with their camps?”
Esen replied, “I know about five. There are three more I’ve never been to, but I roughly know their locations… Lord, you’re not really planning to wipe them out, are you?”
Guo Shier retorted, “Do you think I’m joking?”
Esen knew Guo Shier wasn’t joking, but he wasn’t confident at all. After thinking for a while, he said, “We can start with the weakest ones to see if we can gather more people. If we fight the strongest ones head-on, I’m not confident we can win.”
Guo Shier said calmly, “You don’t need to fight. But starting with the weakest ones—no problem.” It’s always better to go after the easiest targets. Esen’s instinctive choice was similar to Guo Shier’s plan.
Esen and De Da exchanged a look, both feeling helpless. These two men were mad. Their only hope was that these madmen were strong—how strong, only heaven knew. That was also why they were uneasy.
Guo Shier asked, “Are there any local specialties or unique plants here?”
Esen and De Da were stunned. What did he mean? Specialties? Plants? They couldn’t process it. After a long silence, Banilu spoke up, “There are specialties! We have plenty of bandits and outlaws here… Ah, stop fighting… stop!”
Esen slapped him across the face and said, “Monkey, are you crazy? What kind of specialty is that?”

Benny Lu rubbed his head and muttered, “Other than that, I can’t think of any other specialties from the Karabaza Trail.”
After a while, Eson said with a wry smile, “My lord, I really can’t think of any specialties here. As for plants… there are all kinds of big trees. Oh, right, there are also many herbs, but I’m not an herbalist, so I’m not sure which ones are usable.”
De Da came up with a specialty. He said, “There are several kinds of wild fruits that are quite delicious, but it’s not the right season. It’s just early summer now; they won’t bear fruit until autumn. As for anything else… I don’t know.”
Guo Shier asked, “Are there any minerals produced here?”
Eson replied, “No. I’ve never heard of any mineral production here. In fact, even if there were ore veins, no one would dare to mine them…”
De Da said, “Hmm. If there were minerals, they would have been stripped away long ago.”
Guo Shier sighed and said, “This damned place is really terrible.”
…
There was no conversation that night. The next day, Eson found that three of his men had run away, and one of De Da’s men had left as well. The two were furious. Fortunately, not many had run away, so Eson recruited four more people to join the group. He didn’t dare tell Guo Shier about this and carefully organized the team before having breakfast, waiting for Guo Shier and Ezekiel to arrive.
Ezekiel completely disdained these ragtag bunches. Instead of continuing to mock them, he chose to ignore them, maintaining a cold and distant attitude. All the bandits present knew Ezekiel was extremely powerful, so no one dared to approach him. On the other hand, Guo Shier’s cheerful and friendly demeanor made the bandits feel more at ease.
Esen sent out scouts first, then led the team toward the dense forest.
Over seven days, Guo Shier and his men destroyed seven bandit dens one after another. After killing a few stubborn ones, the rest surrendered. The total number of members in the group reached over 500, making them the strongest bandit gang in the Eagle’s Beak Rock area. Guo Shier then attacked the largest bandit den in Eagle’s Beak Rock.
This gang held the most prominent position in Eagle’s Beak Rock, being the strongest and having the largest number of members—though their current size was still smaller than Guo Shier’s group.
The leader of this largest gang was as powerful as Eson, also a Level 4 Barbarian Spirit expert. If Eson fought him head-on, his chances of winning would be only 30%. This man was on the verge of reaching Level 5 and was known in the area as the expert closest to a castle lord.

A Level 5 Barbaric Spirit expert has another name here: Castle-level expert. Level 6 is Duke-level expert. Experts above Level 7 generally pursue greater martial prowess, so they usually have little interest in power. They travel across the continent in search of ways to advance, with only a few remaining in their own duchies, like Duke Eke—not because he doesn’t want to leave, but because he can’t.

The leader of this band of robbers is Yadelan, who is closest to being a Castle-level expert. Strangely enough, she is a woman. In this world, few women can become Barbaric Spirit experts. According to local customs, fighting is a man’s affair; women rarely participate in battles, let alone close combat. Yet Yadelan is an expert in close combat.

Guo Shier didn’t know Yadelan was a woman—he only heard from Eson’s introduction. He also didn’t know if Eson did it on purpose; he didn’t mention that Yadelan was a woman, only her group and her strength, leaving out everything else.

Yadelan’s bandit camp is less than two days’ journey from Eagle’s Beak Rock, the best spot for ambushes. Many caravans and hunters have fallen victim there. The terrain is rugged, with seven or eight hiding places, making it extremely difficult to defend against attacks. Thus, Yadelan’s camp is in an ideal location.

Moreover, Yadelan’s bandit group has the largest number of members in this area—nearly 400—and her subordinates are also very strong. Several of her captains are Level 3 Barbaric Spirit experts, while most of the other members are Level 2 Barbaric Spirit experts. She is extremely famous in this region.

Yadelan’s camp is located in a dense forest. Instead of clearing a space, they built their dwellings in trees, constructing treehouses atop large trees, with many traps set below. On one side of the camp is a cliff covered in countless vines, serving as an escape route.

A deep ravine runs in front of the camp, completely separating it. The ravine is 100 meters wide, with a rope bridge made of vines across it. Those who are timid wouldn’t dare cross this bridge. The bridge surface is woven from a thick vine, only about the width of a foot.

This time, Guo Shier brought Aizek, Eson, and De Da—four people in total—while the rest stayed on the side of the rope bridge.

Eson knew Yadelan. He was stopped on the side of the rope bridge, blocked by nine Barbaric Spirit experts. He said, “I want to see Yadelan. I’m Eson.”

Eisen was no unknown among the bandits; his reputation was well-known, and the bandits immediately bowed in respect. Since they were all bandits, there was no need for formalities. One of them asked, “Eisen, do you have something to discuss with our leader?”
“I want to talk about cooperation.”
As for how to cooperate, it wouldn’t be discussed with these sentries. The nine sentries didn’t stop them either. One of them said, “Let us go report this. Please wait a moment.” He immediately ordered one of his subordinates to go report. He was relaxed because the other side only had four people. Although two of them clearly didn’t look like locals, he didn’t see it as a threat. Especially Guo Shier, who was good-looking, dressed elegantly, and wore a faint smile—there was not the slightest trace of hostility in him.
Soon, someone sent a signal, and the sentries at the suspension bridge immediately allowed them through.
Guo Shier and the others crossed the suspension bridge. Eisen was completely convinced now. He had conquered so many bandit groups without even lifting a hand—It was either Ezekiel or Guo Shier who took action, crushing everything in their path. No one could stop them; they were too fierce. That’s why he was now full of confidence.
There was a small open area by the ravine, with a narrow landscape. Yadelan stepped out of the dense forest with seven or eight of her subordinates. As soon as Guo Shier and the others stepped off the suspension bridge, they saw Yadelan.
The woman appeared quite young, with fair skin, brownish-red hair, light green eyes. She wore leather armor and steel gauntlets, holding a two-person-high greatsword. Her appearance resembled the white people Guo Shier had seen in his past life. She was tall, over 1.9 meters, with leather boots that reached her knees, exuding an air of royalty.
Yadelan asked, “Eisen, why have you come to my camp… What’s the matter?”
Eisen replied awkwardly, “Heh, Yadelan, we’re here to discuss cooperation.”
Yadelan watched Eisen warily and said, “Cooperation? What could we possibly cooperate on?” She wasn’t interested in Eisen. She knew he was strong, but his group wasn’t large and posed no threat to hers. If it came to strength, he couldn’t defeat her either. So she saw no need for cooperation.
Eisen forced himself to speak, “Well…” His gaze shifted to Guo Shier. Guo Shier smiled slightly, signaling him to continue. Eisen cursed inwardly but had no choice but to say, “Well… cooperation means… your group joining us…”
Before Yadelan could speak, her subordinates exploded in anger. A bearded man shouted, “Eisen, have you gone mad? Do you want to conquer us? Do you want to die?”

Eisen said with a bitter smile, “That’s right, to conquer you all…”
Yadalan laughed in anger, yet there was not a trace of joy on her face. She said coldly, “Eisen, with just the four of you, do you think you can conquer my team?”
Eisen replied, “It’s not me… it’s him…” He pointed at Guo Shier and Ezekiel.
Ezekiel had been staring at Yadalan. For some reason, he found her extremely attractive—mainly because she had a fierce presence, no less impressive than that of a strong man. Suddenly, he blurted out, “This girl… is cute…”
Guo Shier was stunned. He thought, “What does that mean?” Then he said, “Ezekiel, it’s your turn.”
Ezekiel tried hard to force a smile. He said kindly, “Little girl, just give in to me…”
Everyone—Guo Shier, Eisen, De Da, as well as Yadalan and her subordinates—was stunned.
What the hell is this guy doing?
The scene fell silent. In just a few moments, Yadalan lost her temper.