Chapter 266: The Desperate Warwick

The twilight grew deeper, and Luoning had Kaierluosi find a desolate stretch of Shanlin to descend.

Boom!

The giant dragon loosened its sharp claws, casually dropping Warwick, whom it had been clutching the entire way, onto the ground.

Warwick, whose heart had long been shrouded in terror, only now saw the full appearance of the monster that had captured him, and it was this very glance that made his whole body turn cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Th-this, what kind of Magic Beast is this!"

He had seen his fair share of Magic Beasts, but he had never seen a Magic Beast like the one before him—so massive, ferocious, and terrifying, bringing a sense of shock to one's soul.

Especially those eyes of the creature, cold and devoid of any emotional color.

"Its name is Kaierluosi, and it is a giant dragon," Luoning reminded him.

"Dragon... dragon?"

Beads of sweat seeped from Warwick's forehead; did such a thing as a dragon really exist?

He dared not ask, because his intuition told him that the thing before him truly seemed to be a dragon.

Had he been captured by a giant dragon?

What an absurd thing this was!

It was only then that Warwick noticed the tiny human at the giant dragon's feet.

The man was dressed in fine clothing and had a handsome appearance, but when Warwick saw Luoning's hair, his pupils contracted violently, and he gasped in shock: "Are you from the Wushan Family?"

Luoning sighed.

This damned hair color; no matter where he went, anyone with a bit of knowledge recognized it, making it impossible for him to even hide his identity.

Silver was just too rare.

"As you can see, I am the commander of this Noble Allied Forces, Ronin Wushan."

His tone was as if he were speaking to someone he was familiar with, without the slightest hint of coercion.

"Now, tell me your identity information. Remember, don't think about escaping or hiding anything, otherwise, you might be excreted by Kaierluosi at this time tomorrow."

Warwick didn't understand this sentence for a brief moment, but he reacted quickly; if he didn't confess honestly, he would likely become dragon dung.

Kaierluosi couldn't help but quietly look at its master, then sized up Warwick, "Master, he is too thin, there won't be much to excrete. Besides, I don't really like eating human flesh."

"Rest assured, I'm just scaring him."

The giant dragon was still simple-minded.

These two sentences between the man and the dragon were communicated through their souls, so Warwick did not hear them, but he noticed the giant dragon's gaze sizing him up and subconsciously assumed the creature had already considered eating him, causing him to tremble.

When he had just been captured and was flying in the sky, Warwick had seen with his own eyes his warhorse being swallowed in one gulp by the giant dragon; that scene made his blood run cold.

"Speak."

Luoning urged: "My time is limited."

Luoning patted the giant dragon's leg, and Kaierluosi let out a symbolic roar toward the sky.

"I'll speak, I'll speak right now!"

Warwick was scared out of his wits by this scene and hurriedly began to confess.

Through the subsequent friendly exchange, Luoning learned the other's identity, and he hadn't expected that a casual capture would net such a big fish.

According to the man's introduction, there were five core members of the Bolante Bandit Group in total.

Among them, Warwick was the one with the lowest strength, having only recently broken through from Bronze to Silver, which was why he had been promoted to the core layer and was now responsible for the mining and transport of the iron ore in Chishan Town.

In the entire bandit group, the strongest was the leader, Amikusi, Along-renowned Golden Knight who was said to have wandered everywhere before forming the bandit group and had defeated many opponents;

The deputy leader, Huoerdan, ranked second in strength and was said to have one foot across the threshold of the Golden Grade;

Additionally, there were two other core figures, Gilbert and Lanweisa, whose strengths were similar and slightly weaker than Knight Haen.

Besides these few people, the Bolante Bandit Group also had six Bronze Knights, twelve Advanced Knights, and fifty-six Intermediate Knights and below.

Looking at it as a whole, the Bolante Bandit Group had formidable strength, already comparable to a Knight Order.

The Wushan Territory's Noble Allied Forces still held the lead in the number of Professional Knights, but if the enemy was well-trained, it was hard to say who was stronger in terms of overall strength.

Keruien had scoffed at the Bolante Bandit Group from the fortress at Jushi Castle, believing the latter to be vulnerable, but it now seemed he had clearly underestimated them, or had intentionally provided false intelligence.

And if Luoning's guess came true, once Keruien defected on the battlefield, the combat power of both sides would undergo a reversal.

Warwick knelt on the ground and tentatively asked: "My Lord, I have already said everything I should say; can you spare me?"

Although Warwick felt that he would likely die, he couldn't help but want to beg for mercy.

He had only just become a Silver Knight and hadn't even had time to enjoy the life his new status brought; he didn't want to die just like that.

Luoning revealed a pleasant smile: "Rest assured, Warwick, given that you have confessed so honestly, I will naturally spare your life."

"And your dragon?"

"It won't kill you either," Luoning said, offering words to put the man at ease.

Warwick finally breathed a sigh of relief, though he now looked at Luoning with even more fear than he did the giant dragon.

They had previously thought about killing Luoning on the battlefield, but Warwick knew that was impossible now.

With a flying Magic Beast like a giant dragon, even if Luoning's own strength were lacking, he could still escape the battlefield.

Come to think of it, since when did Wushan Castle have a legendary creature like a giant dragon as a Magic Beast?

If this were known to the outside world, there was no telling what kind of massive waves it would stir up.

"I have one more question to ask you."

Luoning continued to ask: "That night two months ago, how exactly did you attack Chishan Town?"

"This..."

Warwick hesitated.

Perhaps only Amikusi knew the truth about that battle in Chishan Town.

However, he had been promoted to the core layer after all, and even if he hadn't participated in some matters, he had heard some rumors and could probably guess fifty or sixty percent of it.

"You don't want to talk?"

Luoning chuckled, "Then let me take a guess."

He decided to try and fish for information from the other party.

"Baron Keruien of Jushi Territory is collaborating with your Bolante Bandit Group, and it was only by joining forces that you were able to easily annihilate the five Knight Squads of Wushan Castle stationed in Chishan Town."

He paused, wearing an expression that said he already knew everything, "Am I right?"

Warwick was shocked, "How do you know?"

He had only figured out such confidential matters after hearing bits and pieces of rumors; someone like Luoning, who was completely in the dark, should have had no way of knowing, so where did he get the information?

Could it be that there was a traitor in the bandit group?

The faces of core members like Huoerdan flashed through Warwick's mind; it was impossible, these people could not be traitors.

Could it be that something went wrong on Keruien's side?

Luoning did not care what Warwick was thinking; he only knew that Keruien's betrayal could now be confirmed.

He had not expected that this border Baron, who held command over the Wushan Castle Fifth Knight Order, would actually do such a thing.

"Since you chose to betray, you must bear the price of betrayal!"

Luoning was already considering how to deal with this traitor.

Should he take Tolu, Mawen, and the others to capture Keruien first, or should he make use of him?

Using a traitor to release information or deliberately mislead the enemy was still an option; he could even drive Keruien to have the Jushi Territory Knight Squad engage the bandit group in Chishan Town first.

But such an approach carried high risks; once the other party sensed something, they would likely take the Jushi Territory Knight Squad and join the Bolante Bandit Group directly.

Moreover, Warwick had been captured by him now; the disappearance of such a core figure would surely alert the bandit group, and Keruien might even find out.

If that happened, everything Luoning had done would be like trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice.

"Keruien and that subordinate of his are both Silver Knights; I am not yet clear on the specific combat strength of his Knight Squad. Comparing the options, the best strategy is to directly control Keruien before the war begins."

After some consideration, Luoning decided to take the other party down first to eliminate the hidden threat in the rear.

The forest was quiet; Warwick watched Luoning, who was frowning in deep thought, and quietly observed his surroundings, looking for a chance to see if there was any possibility of escape.

He was confident he could deal with Luoning; after all, he was just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth, how strong could he really be?

The key was this dragon.

Warwick looked at the dense forest around him.

The interference of the trees made it impossible for the dragon to flap its wings freely; perhaps he could use the dense forest to try and escape.

"Staying here doesn't guarantee survival, but running away might."

Warwick did not hesitate any longer; taking advantage of Luoning's deep thought, he stood up and fled at high speed.

Luoning was in the middle of thinking about how to capture Keruien and did not expect Warwick to pull this stunt.

"Master, it seems he has run away?" Kaierluosi reminded him.

Luoning could not help but roll his eyes; he had only been lost in thought, which was why he hadn't noticed Warwick.

What had Kaierluosi been doing just now? Was he reminiscing about the taste of horse meat?

"Thanks for the reminder, I saw it."

He dared not delay and immediately gave chase; he could not afford to lose this key witness.

Whoosh!

Two figures darted rapidly through the dense forest; Warwick glanced back and was horrified to find that the distance between him and Luoning was shrinking rapidly.

"What is going on?"

He was completely bewildered, "Although I'm not as good as Huoerdan and the others, I am still a Silver Knight; how could I be unable to outrun a mere brat?"

Luoning was now at the Silver-tier Peak; even without the assistance of Rapid Magic, his speed alone was far ahead of the other party.

"You dare to run away right under the dragon's nose; I truly admire your guts."

Luoning threw a punch, and a Flame Fist shot toward the other party's back.

Warwick dodged the strike and turned around with a ferocious expression: "I can't beat the dragon, but I can't deal with you?"

He actually stopped running and turned back, preparing to take down Luoning.

"As long as I take you down, I won't be afraid of your Magic Beast, even if it is a dragon!" (End of chapter)