Chapter 94

At this point, the battle was nearing its end. It had to be said that the combat power of the former main city soldiers was quite impressive. In a battle of 20 against 70, they managed to kill over a dozen bandits, which was quite a feat. However, that was all they could do. Now, these twenty soldiers were almost all killed.

As for the members of the merchant guild, they hardly counted as combatants. Those who were not careful were immediately killed by the bandits. The slightly smarter ones brandished their knives and made a show of bravado before the fight, but as soon as the fighting started, they immediately hid, managing to save their lives.

"Captain, it's almost done. We've killed all those with knives," the orc Gurem, carrying a mace, walked up to Gilbert, who was still holding Marvin's body, and reported with a smile.

"Hmm..." Gilbert remained crouched, nodding slightly in response.

"Are you the one who killed Marvin? That's great, you've done a great service to our bandit gang," Gurem also greeted Li Huailin.

"Is it really that good?" Li Huailin said slowly, "If that's the case, why are you crying?"

"Crying? How could I..." Gurem touched his eyes as he spoke, and indeed, he found many tears.

"Huh? Why am I..." Gurem looked at the tears on his fingers, puzzled, "Captain, this is so strange, why am I crying?"

"I don't know either..." Gilbert slowly stood up.

"Captain, why are you crying too? Why?" Gurem asked, looking at the tearful Gilbert.

"I really don't know. I just suddenly feel like something very sad has happened, but I don't know what it is..." Gilbert wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his right hand, "Gurem, wipe away your tears first, don't let the members see."

"Okay..." Gurem also wiped his tears.

"How's the situation?" Gilbert looked around. The bandits had already taken control of the situation. Some were rounding up the captives, some were collecting the bodies of their comrades, and others were counting the goods.

"The guards have all been killed. We've captured 11 merchants from the caravan, and the goods are still being counted. On our side, 13 brothers have fallen, 2 are severely injured, and about ten are lightly injured," Gurem reported.

"Bring the captives over." Gilbert said.

Soon, about ten people were brought to Gilbert. They were not tied up, but each had a bandit behind them, holding a knife to their necks. Any movement would likely result in a swift death.

Among these captives, the leader was the caravan captain, Jared. It was unclear how he had survived the chaos, but he was alive and unharmed.

"Oh, hello there, Captain of the caravan," Gilbert said to Jared with a smile.

As soon as Gilbert finished speaking, the bandit behind Jared kicked the back of his knee, and Jared immediately knelt down.

"You... you can't kill me..." Jared was already in a panic, trembling as he spoke.

"Oh, why can't I kill you?" Gilbert asked with a smile.

"I... I am Lord Filmet's man... no, his confidant, his confidant," Jared could only rely on Lord Filmet to intimidate them.

"Oh, a confidant?" Gilbert smiled.

"Yes, yes, if you kill me, Lord Filmet will definitely send an army to hunt you down. That wouldn't be good for anyone, right?" Jared saw Gilbert hesitate and seized the opportunity to speak quickly.

"Do you think that if I don't kill you, Lord Filmet won't come after us? What do you think I should do with you? Let you go back and lead Lord Filmet to us? Ha, do you think I'm an idiot?" Gilbert said with a laugh.

"No... no, I won't go back to the lord after I return!" Jared quickly said.

"Alright, listen up, all of you!" Gilbert, no longer bothering with Jared, stood up and raised his voice to the other captives, "I'm giving you a chance to live. That means joining me. You all know what happened today, I can't let any of you go back to Lord Filmet. So, you either die or join me. Choose."

The merchants immediately became interested. Although becoming bandits from being merchants was a tough change, and they had been living well in the main city, it was still better than dying. The older merchants were even more conflicted; they had families in the main city, and what would happen to them if they joined the bandits?

"I'll join!" a very young captive shouted, "I was just a helper in the guild, I'm not married, and my parents can take care of themselves. Joining is better than dying!"

With the first one, a second followed, and soon six people stood up, indicating they wanted to join. These six were all young, with no significant ties in the main city, and they were just helpers in the caravan. The remaining seven continued to kneel, torn inside. They were not young, with families, wives, and children, and they couldn't easily become bandits.

"I... I'll join..." a man in his forties stood up hesitantly.

"Derek, you!" another man beside him immediately glared at Derek and shouted.

"I want to join, so what?" Derek suddenly became agitated, "I just want to live, is that wrong?"

"Th... That..." the man was speechless, not knowing how to counter. He also wanted to live, but he couldn't bear to give up the life he had built over decades. Once he joined the bandits, there would be no turning back.

"I'm an accountant, I can keep the books... no, I can help our gang keep the books," Derek shouted to Gilbert.

"Alright, that's enough." Gilbert waved his hand, and the few who had not stood up were immediately dragged away by the bandits. Some seemed to want to say something, but Gilbert ignored them, and the bandits quickly silenced them.

"Alright, seven of you are left," Gilbert looked at the seven who had stood up, "You all want to join our bandit gang, but we have a rule. Before you join, you must give a token of loyalty."

"A token of loyalty?" the standing seven asked curiously.

"Look, there's a perfect candidate right here, Lord Filmet's confidant. Kill him, and you'll be my brothers," Gilbert pointed to Jared, who was kneeling on the ground.

"What?" Jared's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately looked at the seven standing men.

The bandits immediately handed a knife to each of them. The bandits were not afraid of them suddenly rebelling; these merchants were no threat, and those with the courage to resist were already dead.

However, none of the seven immediately moved to kill. Each of their expressions was conflicted. Jared had been a very good captain. Seeing him kneeling on the ground, memories of his kindness and support came flooding back—helping them in their work, giving them money in times of need, drinking and adventuring together.

"I... I can't do it..." a young man said.

"I... I can't either..."

"Think carefully," Gilbert said from the side. At that moment, screams of agony came from the other side; the merchants who had not stood up had already been executed.

"No... I don't want to die..." a young man was on the verge of breaking down and immediately drew his knife to move forward.

"Don't... don't kill me, Egert..." Jared pleaded, kneeling on the ground.

Egert, seeing Jared's pleading, hesitated again, unable to bring himself to strike.

"Thud," at that moment, a sword pierced through Jared's head, emerging from the bottom, pinning him to the ground with a force that instantly covered the ground in blood.

"I join," Li Huailin said, standing beside Jared's body.