Chapter 255: Live Well

Previously attacking the mercenary camp was the first battle; cautious players sought a steady approach, fearing the mercenaries would flee along the rear road.

So they had no fancy maneuvers at all—just bombardment first, then a charge, a Shou Gudelian‑ecstatic blitzkrieg.

Now the mercenary garrison seemed to occupy high ground, but to the players it was completely isolated and inescapable—a piece of meat on the chopping board!

Thus, after announcing the attack with a wolf‑howl, they did not fire cannons; they grabbed their guns and rushed straight into the enemy camp.

A few mercenaries sleeping on the watchtower were shot dead by the Divine Archer from the start, cutting off any possible danger at the throat.

Under such cover, front‑line players wielding war hammers, great axes and other demolition weapons smashed the makeshift log wall under the trees in just a few blows.

Consequently, the mercenaries hadn't even reacted before their defensive works became a joke, and could only stare bewildered as a huge crowd of inexplicable fellows cheered and surged into the camp.

"My God, who are they!"

"Enemy raid! Stop sleeping and get up!"

"Huh? I just crouched down!"

Even though a few squad leaders shouted to try to rally their troops, the excess alcohol and late‑night fatigue made organized resistance hard to muster.

On the contrary, the players finally having a big fight to look forward to were ecstatic, even eagerly swapping guns for cold weapons to spar with the rogue mercenaries.

"Armored and loaded, we raid the camp as if entering a deserted realm!"

"You really think I'll duel you? Take this American‑style iai!"

"The toilet? I'm the one who blew up the toilet!"

Previously they hadn't used the satisfying new light weapons; this time they all fell on the iron‑hammer mercenaries, and many who were still merrily drinking and eating meat were shot dead at the dining table.

And the newly asleep An De Lu was jolted awake by the endless gunfire, reaching for his sword in confusion as the camp tent was violently ripped open.

"Something's wrong, cousin! The Pioneers don't know what happened, they just all stormed in!"

"What?"

Because he was stationed abroad he hadn't removed his armor, so seeing the trembling Johnson, An De Lu took three steps, then two, and rushed to the doorway.

Looking out, he saw a few Pioneers in the distance brandishing strange iron‑pipe weapons, splattering blood on the chests of mercenaries trying to counterattack amid the roar and smoke.

"Damn, how did they get here, who led the way!"

The guards had no idea about such things; they only raised heavy shields and surrounded them.

"Sir, the combat power of these Pioneers is especially fierce; you should retreat quickly under the brothers' cover!"

"Retreat?!"

Influenced by mercenaries from the Sheldon‑type military background, An De Lu, who treats the mountain‑folk iron‑hammer as his confidants, may act despicably but stresses lofty ideals, the most important being obeying orders and never fleeing.

So An De Lu, hearing that, flared with anger and slammed his sword sheath onto that guard's helmet.

"You bastard, we are the great Iron‑Hammer mercenaries, we can…"

But he was cut off halfway, because he saw a goblin giant bearing two massive iron rods leap from the crowd, and an axe swing cleaved a mercenary squad leader into two slabs of pork.

"We can… we can conduct a strategic retreat in an orderly way, hmm!"

Yet the players never intended to give the mercenaries any chance of survival; facing such virtually non‑existent defenses required no concentrated force breakthrough, so they opened with an all‑out assault.

Moreover, among the players were two members of the covert official organization, especially the special task force represented by the Silken Garment Night Walk, which had repeatedly warned before battle that players must beware mercenaries clustering together, as such clusters could launch effective counterattacks and ruin the battle, and must be decisively stopped.

Thus the players' offensive was extremely aggressive; fearless, they all wanted to become demolition geniuses, tossing grenades at any mercenary grouping, while the audience outside cheered and tipped the streamers, thrilled as they pressed deeper into the camp.

Consequently, faced with Pioneers surging from all directions like an endless tide, An De Lu could find no path to avoid combat and retreat.

But can the living be made to die of thirst? Although Ba Er Si disappeared, he met Sheldon on the way to the rescue and immediately shouted.

"Go, you all explore nearby, see where the Pioneers are fewer, and we'll charge full force!"

So Johnson and Sheldon led a few subordinates away, and after paying a heavy price they barely returned to the unit.

The good news is they found a route; the bad news is each went their own way.

Sheldon, clutching his trembling arm, encountered the Lost Ones midway; had his blade not been drawn fast enough, he might have perished there.

"Commander, I found only a handful of wolf cavalry wandering in the west; if we move quickly we could escape!"

Johnson, after abandoning half his men, returned unscathed, his eight‑shaped beard wearing a sycophantic smile.

"Cousin… Commander, east! There are no cavalry in the east, only some lizards; if we break through their line at top speed we're fine!"

Ah this.

On one side the old minister, on the other the confidant, An De Lu was caught in a dilemma.

Yet time waits for no one; the battlefield shifts in an instant, and hesitating to decide may mean never deciding at all!

At the critical moment Johnson stepped forward and shouted loudly.

"Sir! The west points toward Sunlight City; do you really think the Pioneers wouldn't know that's the fastest way out?"

His words truly woke the sleeper.

Indeed, the Pioneers must first seize the camp to get out, and how could they not know Sunlight City exists after finding this place?

"Let's go east; we can just take a longer route!"

Sheldon tried to argue, but An De Lu scolded him harshly.

"There's no 'but'! You just need to obey my orders!"

So the hundreds of mercenaries hurried east, planning to blast a way with a fierce assault.

The players deliberately thinned the western forces to set a trap, but was the east really only lizards as Johnson claimed?

When they finally reached the spot after a bloody struggle, they found people of every kind there—except no lizards at all!

Moreover, mercenaries elsewhere seemed completely shattered, and the surrounding enemy tribes kept growing.

"Johnson, what's happening!"

"This…"

Johnson hesitated a moment, then his eyes flashed with ferocity.

"Cousin, this isn't my fault; the only thing to blame is the lord who gave us too much!"

The accidents that happened today were already enough; An De Lu's limited brain simply couldn't process so much, and the overloaded An De Lu instinctively let out a startled shout.

"What?"

Then they saw Johnson pull a purple‑backed, gold‑plated scroll from his coat and abruptly activate it amid the flow of magic.

It turned out to be a precious Teleportation Scroll, a life‑saving item that even in the kingdom only a great knight could afford.

So in the next instant, Johnson's figure vanished into the air, leaving only two swirls of a proud eight‑character moustache lingering in people's minds.

"I copied, I got the benefit!"

At the crucial moment, Sheldon still figured everything out, his face bitter.

"Sir, I'm afraid Johnson is the insider we've been investigating for a long time; I… Galami may have been wronged."

"That's impossible! He… he was the one I personally brought over from the kingdom; his family is just a branch of a branch, he…"

An De Lu couldn't believe it, but the bleak reality forced them to accept it.

Moreover, Johnson fled, and they themselves were tricked by him into the ambush set by the Pioneers.

All around, whether human or beast, their gazes were extremely enthusiastic, like a market auntie in the morning market eyeing a fresh piece of meat.

Now it's like having wings clipped—no escape, only to bow one's neck…

"No, wake up, there's still hope!"

Sheldon suddenly raised his hand and struck An De Lu's face, then shook his shoulder.

"The Mountain People's Iron Hammer is your mercenary corps and also my mercenary corps; brothers must not die in vain!"

"Right, we can't die in vain… but what can we do now!? We can't escape…"

"We can!"

He roared, and Sheldon reiterated.

"Of course we can escape!"

Having said that, he took another scroll from his coat—a scroll imbued with Four‑ring Magic: Wind Spirit Swift Technique.

"In a moment we'll buy you as much time as possible; using this scroll you can slip out of the encirclement…"

An De Lu's face showed astonishment.

"I escape… but you… what will you do?"

"You are the Marquis's son; only you going out can avenge us, give us a just account instead of being smeared!"

At that point, Sheldon, whose tone kept rising, suddenly halted, then sighed lightly as he spoke again.

"Listen, I'm not a traitor; remember, don't let us become deserters in others' mouths!"

An De Lu had tried many ways to earn his subordinates' loyalty, even making filthy dark deals with the swamp witch.

But now he desperately hoped someone would stand up to refute Sheldon's claim, so he wouldn't have to flee alone; yet when he turned, there were only one calm nod after another.

Sheldon forced the life‑saving Scroll he had bought at a high price into An De Lu's hand, then took the long sword handed to him by his subordinate.

"It seems it passed unanimously, commander, good luck to you."

"I…"

An De Lu was about to say something else, but was slapped again by Sheldon.

"What the hell, get out of my sight!"

At the pivotal crossroads of fate, this group of veterans who had done many bad deeds ultimately chose dignity.

All An De Lu could do was to escape alive, so their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain.

Thus he took out another Acceleration Scroll he had prepared, and with the two combined he burst forth at the fastest speed, fleeing the battlefield.

In the cold night sky, only one distant phrase could be heard.

"Live well!"

But do the executioners wish each other to live well, and ever consider letting others live while they swing their slaughter knives?

All of them had gone through nine years of compulsory education and studied history; such a scene couldn't move the players' hearts, and after a brief sigh they still picked up their guns.

Sheldon truly lived up to the name of a knight; wielding a long sword, he was indeed a fierce warrior on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, those he faced were also famous figures, and his dust‑covered loyal heart could not turn the tide.

Thus, under the barrage of gunners and the senior brother's gun and sword attacks, he could only paint the final chapter of his life with blood at that moment.

"What a pity, if they weren't the enemy, they'd actually be a hero."

After several failed attempts to persuade surrender, the players exterminated the guards completely.

But loyalty among mercenaries is rarer than being a good person; since some chose to fight to the death, others naturally chose decisive surrender.

At the start of the battle, when a wolf‑riding man charged forward with an armor‑piercing spear, Bars, his face scarred by a blade, clenched his teeth and used lightning‑fast footwork to evade the attack.

"Yo?"

Charging in immediately is actually a very "boring" thing, especially when killing thirteen people in a row is no challenge.

Therefore, facing this young master, the not‑yet‑satisfied Khan suddenly took interest.

But before he could steer his mount to strike again, the Cold Noodle man fell to his knees with a thud.

"Dad, I surrender!"

"???"

As the captain of the Self‑Discipline Squad, the Cold Noodle Executioner—who never frequents clubs, never goes to casinos, never oppresses civilians, and is always meticulous and dutiful—Bar's reason for doing this is—

"Don't kill me, I'm afraid of death, I really am terrified of dying!"

Khan: "6."

An De Lu fled, Johnson defected, Sheldon fell in battle, Bars surrendered, and the remaining mercenaries either died or knelt…

Thus, the Mountain People's Iron Hammer mercenary corps declared its extinction.

Logically, having escaped a major leader, this battle shouldn't be considered a success.

Players who have taken part in the closed beta all know that in this regard the officials are relatively lenient; they won't ruin the players' enthusiasm just because one person is missing.

Thus, in the next moment they received notice that the mission had been completed successfully, and all NPCs and players who had died in battle were already collectively resurrected in the High Tower Castle.

Hey! Do we get another limited title again?

Come on, let's hurry back to the tavern to brag—I just pulled off a spectacular strike, and I have to share it with you right away!

Hehe, the video is ready; just wait for those few video sites to come and buy the rights at a high price!

The players cheerfully led their animal companions underground, while in the distant forest, An De Lu, who had barely escaped with his life, fell to the ground in a sorry state.

Even in a world of magic, nothing appears out of thin air; the stacking of two speed-enhancing magics still drained a lot of his stamina.

Smelling the scent of earth, he felt his vision gradually blur.

Back then, he lived with his mother in the secret villa his father had built in the countryside, and many nights he fell asleep amid that atmosphere and his mother's stories.

Back then, he imagined himself as a knight from fairy tales, a hero who would save the nation and fight evil—but after so many years have passed, instead…

Yet in his silent weeping, he suddenly heard footsteps that made no attempt to hide themselves.

He quickly rose to his feet, wary, and took a close look—only to discover that it was…

Ji… Ji Ming?