“Xing Chen, can your arrangement of these chains really stop those bandits?” The rusted chains had both ends buried in the ground, with the remaining section exposed to the air, making their presence clearly visible to anyone with eyes.
Facing Theresa’s question, Xing Chen shook his head. Such fragile chains could probably be easily destroyed by a few experienced Sarkaz mercenaries.
“Mr. Xing Chen, we’ve buried all the chains according to the diagram you drew.” Charlotte waved her demolition hammer, reporting the work status loudly to him.
This operation had little to do with hard power; it was more of a psychological game.
He was betting that those inexperienced, not-so-brave rookie bandits wouldn’t try to destroy the chains and attack from the open ground near the town, but would instead enter the pre-designated sinkhole area.
Yes, the chains offered almost no obstruction; their only purpose was to lure the enemies into the trap.
“Lord Xing Chen,” Xiao Pa Cai’s voice came from afar. She was currently riding on the Camel’s back, rushing towards them, “The bandits have already set off and are expected to arrive by noon.”
“Very good.” Then, Xing Chen looked at Theresa on the other side, “How are your preparations going?”
“Just as the townspeople said, the remaining old vehicles were indeed severely damaged, beyond repair with normal techniques,” Theresa then puffed out her chest and said proudly, “But I used Originium Arts to stitch up the damaged parts. Running two laps around the town will definitely not be a problem.”
“Excellent, Miss Charlotte, the rest is up to your people.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Xing Chen, we guarantee to complete the mission.”
...As noon approached, on the wilderness outside the Originium Carrot Town, a large group of ragged Sarkaz were riding their Camels, chasing several equally dilapidated wasteland off-road vehicles.
Theresa’s Originium Arts had indeed patched up the mechanical gaps, but the severely damaged Originium engines couldn’t make the vehicles run much faster than the Camels.
However, this was good; it could better attract the bandits’ aggression.
“Boss, look,” a minion pointed towards the outside of the town, where the path taken by the Cattus convoy was lined with numerous chains, “They’ve set up a trap.”
“My eyes aren’t blind, you don’t need to tell me.” The bandit leader stared at the terrain outside the town for a while. His slightly more experience than an ordinary bandit made him realize that the middle path might be the real trap.
“Boss, why don’t we just step over the chains? I don’t think those broken chains are very sturdy.”
“You (Sarkaz slang)! If you want to get hit by a Camel, I can help you!” After scolding his subordinate, the bandit leader began to order a few lower-ranking Sarkaz to scout the deliberately left-open path.
These unlucky Sarkaz, with swords and blades at their heads, walked along the path all the way to the edge of the town, only to be killed by ordinary crossbow bolts from the Leimbieta militiamen in the cover.
At Xing Chen’s instruction, two lucky bandits ran back, informing their leader that there were no explosives on the road and that the militia was organizing defenses within the town.
“Boss, I think it’s better if we go around to the other side; it’s still early.”
“If you say another word like that (Sarkaz slang), I’ll stuff your head full of Originium and use it as a bomb.” With that, the leader raised his notched blade and, leading by example, charged towards the town...
“Mr. Xing Chen, why didn’t they choose to go around? It’s only noon.” After parking the car, Charlotte quickly came to Xing Chen and Theresa’s temporary command post.
“It’s simple, Miss Cattus, if they turn, it means their flanks are exposed to us.” Xing Chen put down his binoculars. Not far away, the main bandit force had already entered the ambush circle. He roughly estimated the range, “Theresa, do it!”
“Okay, Xing Chen.” Due to the lack of sufficient fuses, detonating the Originium explosives buried deep in the mine shafts could only rely on the threads generated by Theresa’s Originium Arts.
With a few muffled thuds, the ground began to shake, followed by several huge cracks running through the mined-out area.
It is difficult for people in an earthquake to maintain normal fluid movements, and even in an open area, it may not be safe, as vibrations can sometimes lead to joint expansion, i.e., large fissures.
The collapse caused by the sinkhole was much smaller than Xing Chen had estimated, but Theresa excitedly told him, “Xing Chen, you’re amazing! There’s actually a tactic like this.”
“Is this enough?”
“It’s enough. As long as we control those few leaders, the rest will be easy to deal with.” Theresa took out the blade she had woven, nodded to Charlotte and the Camel, then said to Xing Chen, “Xing Chen, you and Xiao Pa Cai just wait for us here.”
Xing Chen nodded; he trusted Theresa one hundred percent. With her strength, as a caster, even without using her most iconic Originium Arts, relying only on her rudimentary swordsmanship, she could still overwhelm most ordinary Sarkaz. As for the remaining minor leaders, the Assassins would take care of them for her.
The sinkhole shattered the bandits’ fragile formation. The townspeople only symbolically used a few explosive arrows, and the scattered bandits lost their will to resist. Accompanied by the Sarkaz phrase “Surrender or die,” most chose to surrender, while a very small number fled into the Kazdel wilderness, which was truly a dead end.
“Xing Chen, how do you plan to deal with them?” Looking at the Sarkaz filling the square, crouching with their heads in their hands, Theresa asked Xing Chen for his opinion.
In this operation to defend the town, they both contributed the most, and since they were both Sarkaz, both the Sarkaz merchant caravan and the Cattus unanimously agreed to let them decide the fate of these bandits.
This was actually throwing a hot potato to them; whether to release them or kill them, it would affect the other group of people in the town.
“Theresa, can you pick out everyone here who has killed someone?”
Not having killed anyone and not having Oripathy were almost equally probable events in Kazdel; the latter might even be slightly easier to achieve.
But that wasn’t important; they just needed some people to die now, using their blood to appease public anger.
“I can pick out some.”
“Then go pick them out, try to pick as many as possible.”
“Alright, I’ll try my best.”
Theresa had been a demon lord for over two hundred years, and she was very good at judging people. She quickly picked out the bandits who had killed people from the crowd in the square.
“We all know that most of the people in this attack were ordinary Sarkaz forced to leave Kazdel to flee famine,” Xing Chen said to the people below from the podium. Behind him, the Camel and Xiao Pa Cai were assembling a gallows. “Everyone has the right to survive, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to take the lives of others.”
Theresa’s hand dropped, and the execution began. The chosen Sarkaz struggled a few times on the noose before falling silent.
“A life for a life, it’s only right.” Theresa picked up her blade and gave each person another cut. At the same time, Charlotte, as agreed with Xing Chen, unbound the people below. “But I believe we shouldn’t stop killing with killing, but rather eliminate such tragedies at their root. So, tell us, how bad is the situation in Kazdel right now?”