Chapter 254: Rescuing Captives

Time passed quickly. When night fell, the burning Lake-town was still full of fire. The wooden structure of the houses made the entire fire last for a long time. The two hundred or so survivors huddled near the pier to keep warm, and occasionally there were suppressed cries spreading on the lake water.

The remaining soldiers and men maintained the order of the refugees under Wayne's command. Because of the rescue of healing potions and the food and materials he provided, although the survivors were still quite miserable, at least after filling their stomachs, they barely continued their lives.

Just when Wayne and a guard captain named Jerry, whom he had rescued, were discussing how to settle the refugees, a low beast roar suddenly came from the wilderness outside Lake-town.

Hearing this sound, Wayne's words paused slightly. He looked at the guard captain who was also a bit panicked because of this huge beast roar, and comforted him softly:

"Don't panic, Captain Jerry, this is my fighting partner."

Saying this, Wayne's voice paused for a second, and then said to this guard captain Jerry: "I am going to leave temporarily. The safety here will be guarded by you soldiers."

The guard captain was stunned upon hearing this, and then showed a look of embarrassment. Although Wayne was not a familiar person to them, half of the survivors among the survivors now saved their lives because of Wayne's treatment, and it was precisely because of his existence that these poor people who survived the disaster had a trace of security.

If this person who looked quite powerful suddenly left, to be honest, Jerry, although he was the guard captain in the town in the past, felt that he had no ability to manage these survivors well.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Jerry plucked up the courage and said: "Mr. Wayne, can you please not leave? The townspeople are very panicked now. Everyone has lost their relatives and does not have a backbone. Everyone needs you!"

Wayne was silent for a few seconds upon hearing this, and then said:

"Don't worry, I am just leaving temporarily. You don't need to tell them the news of my departure."

"And the purpose of my departure is also to rescue those townspeople who were captured."

"Don't you want your relatives and friends who were taken away to be rescued?"

Jerry was stunned upon hearing this, and then looked at Wayne with some disbelief. Seeing that the other party didn't look like he was joking, he said with

"The number of Orcs is too high, and they are well-equipped. Without an army, it is simply impossible to defeat those guys and rescue the captives they have taken."

As a survivor of the looting battle that afternoon, he knew the combat effectiveness of those Orcs very well. Although the equipment of those monsters could not be considered excellent, they fought with extreme madness, even to the point of being reckless of their own lives. Ordinary human soldiers might not even be able to kill them in a one-on-one fight.

And as a native born in Lake-town, he knew that these Orcs came from the Grey Mountains and were a powerful Orc force that had been competing for territory with the Dwarves of the Iron Hills for years.

Seeing that the other party still wanted to persuade him, Wayne waved his hand to interrupt his words, then asked with a serious expression: "Don't worry about my strength. There are thousands of Orcs who have died at my hands. To me, Orcs are nothing but defeated foes."

"I just want to know, do you need me to rescue those captured prisoners?"

Jerry remained silent for several seconds after hearing this, and then said with some difficulty:

"Of course, Mr. Wayne. My wife and children have both been taken by the Orcs. If anyone can rescue them, I am willing to give everything."

Ding! Task triggered, 【Rescue Captives】 Master-level, do you accept? Wayne immediately accepted the task in his mind, then patted Jerry on the shoulder and said: "Take good care of the refugees here. I must leave immediately. If I delay too long, they will be taken back to the Orcs' lair, and it will be even harder to save them then."

………………

After leaving the complex environment of Mirkwood, the Deathclaw's running speed increased significantly.

Riding on Robin's back, Wayne directed it, following the very obvious tracks left by the large army's march, and began to pursue the Orc army that had finished their looting.

The reason for waiting until night, besides needing to save the survivors in Lake-town, was another reason: Wayne wanted to act after darkness fell.

A witcher with a Cat's Eye Potion and a Deathclaw with darkvision would become even more lethal and stealthy under the cover of night.

As for whether he could catch up to these Orcs, Wayne was not worried.

A large-scale force like this, unlike elite cavalry units, was highly unlikely to march at night, and even if they did, their speed would drop significantly.

With the Deathclaw's speed, he would definitely be able to catch up to them before dawn.

Sure enough, after he and Robin left Lake-town and tracked toward the Grey Mountains, with the help of his keen vision and the Deathclaw's sensitive sense of smell, it took them about four hours to catch up to the Orc camp.

Perhaps because of the victory during the day, these scums had become arrogant. When he arrived near the camp with Robin, he found that these Orcs seemed to have held a wild party. There were wine bottles and leftover bones everywhere on the ground, and a large group of Orcs were lying on the ground in a disarray, wearing armor and hugging their weapons, fast asleep.

Although there were still some Orcs keeping watch, judging from their sleepy expressions, it was basically a mere formality.

This situation made Wayne quite satisfied, one could even say pleasantly surprised. Such an absurd scene would likely not happen in a human army, but for Orcs who had basically received no education and could only be considered a mob, it did not seem very abrupt.

This was a great opportunity to save people. He did not let Robin launch a surprise attack immediately, but arranged for it to wait for orders in a hidden place, while he put on his Invisibility Cloak and quietly slipped into the Orc camp.

Very different from human camps, as Orcs were little different from beasts, their marching was like child's play. There were no large tents provided for the soldiers to sleep in, nor were there any defensive measures like fences or caltrops built to block enemy cavalry.

They were as casual as savages. Apart from a few large bonfires used for lighting in the entire camp, everyone else slept on the ground. Only Orc captains of higher status would spread some furs or hay where they slept. Walking among these sleeping Orcs, Wayne could even hear the snoring rising and falling in succession, which was very strange.

Such a crude camp provided convenience for Wayne to find the captives, but it also made the whole area look very empty and clear at a glance; any slightly large movement would alert the enemy.

Fortunately, magic was not widespread in Middle-earth, and a convenient item like the Invisibility Cloak was very practical in such a world. Relying on the Invisibility Cloak and the cover of darkness, Wayne searched the Orc camp for less than five minutes before finding the location where the captives were being held.

The captives from Lake-town were divided into two types: the adults were locked in simple wooden cages with their hands and feet bound by iron chains, while vulnerable humans like children and the elderly were tied by their hands and necks with ropes by the Orcs like livestock and strung together.

It seemed that to prevent them from escaping, these captives were all locked in the same area, not only guarded by a dozen Orc guards but also surrounded by a wooden wall as tall as a person.

However, because of the Orcs' revelry and heavy drinking, more than half of the guards were sleeping against the wooden wall at this time, and the few who were awake were just forcing themselves to stay alert, looking drowsy.

This undoubtedly gave Wayne an opportunity to exploit.

He had no mercy for these Orc guards. Relying on the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, he quickly sneaked to their side, then covered their mouths and noses, and took them out without making a sound.

Moreover, after multiple stealth assassinations, Wayne also discovered a wonderful use for the space bracelet: destroying evidence and hiding corpses.

Although the space bracelet from the Faerun world could not store living things, it was perfectly fine for hiding corpses.

As long as he destroyed the enemy's brain during the assassination, causing complete brain death, the space bracelet could collect the corpse directly, just like collecting items.

This discovery greatly reduced the difficulty of being discovered during assassinations. Although the mysterious disappearance of guards and targets would still cause surprise among patrols, compared to discovering a corpse, the two results were undoubtedly worlds apart.

Just like that, the guards watching the captives all disappeared silently, without attracting anyone's attention.

When Wayne finished off the guards and entered the wooden wall where the captives were held, he was somewhat surprised to find that, besides him, there were actually others also rescuing the captured prisoners.

It was a middle-aged man who was not very strong, wearing a dark fur cloak, crouching on the ground, carefully approaching a cage, not knowing whether he was picking the lock or doing something else, without making a sound.

Seeing this, Wayne only considered it for a second or two before walking silently to the man's side, reaching out to cover his mouth and controlling his body; the immense strength made the man unable to resist.

"Don't make a sound. I'm here to save people too. I'll let you go now. If you dare to shout, I will kill you."

After confirming that both were humans, the man's struggle soon stopped. Wayne let go of his mouth and asked softly: "Who are you, and why are you here?"

The man was quite handsome, but he looked very disheveled at the moment, his face covered in sweat and bruises. After hearing Wayne's question, he hesitated for a second and then said:

"My name is Bard, a resident of Lake-town. I came here to rescue my children."

Wayne nodded upon hearing this, immediately knowing who the other party was, but he showed no surprise and instead ordered directly: "The guards outside have been taken care of by me. You come with me now to rescue the captives."

"After we save them, I will create a distraction, and you will take them and escape back to Lake-town."

"Do you hear me clearly!"

The situation was urgent and did not allow for much discussion. After hearing this, Bard hesitated for only a second before nodding in agreement.

Seeing this, Wayne did not explain further. After giving Bard a look, he drew the Statikk Shiv from his waist and came to the outside of the cage locked by iron chains.

As a divine weapon that had been reinforced several times by reinforcement scrolls, the Statikk Shiv possessed extremely excellent sharpness and durability.

The Orcs' chains were forged quite crudely. Under Wayne's powerful arm strength, there was no need to pick the lock; the chains were severed with a single strike, successfully opening the cage.

(End of chapter)