"It should be around this position..."
By the moonlight, White Night carefully studied the map for a while and finally locked onto the location of that group of bandits.
Since the location was locked, there was no reason to delay. She would just go and wipe out the bandits directly. However, before leaving, White Night had one more thing to do.
She extended her palm, channeled her magic, and cast several defensive and early-warning spells on the carriage.
"Silence, Defense Boost, Iron Wall, Danger Notice..."
White Night cast over a dozen spells on the carriage in succession, fearing that Iris might encounter danger while she was away.
After all, this road was surrounded by towering mountains and dense forests; there was no guarantee that wild beasts wouldn't appear.
If Iris were attacked by wild beasts while she was gone, it was likely no one would be able to save her.
"Sanctuary Flash, Flowing Fire, Synchronized Sensing—that should be about enough."
Having finished casting the spells, she finally felt a bit more at ease and prepared to rush toward the bandits' location.
"Scum, here I come!"
White Night's gaze turned sharp, and she suddenly leaped!
"Sky Wing!"
She traced a graceful arc through the air, charging straight into the depths of the forest... Few people knew there was a group of bandits on this road connecting the Royal Capital to the Nuokan Territory.
In fact, this group of bandits was very low-profile, rarely blocking roads for robbery, and their mountain stronghold was hidden deep in the forest. Although they called themselves bandits and had built a stronghold in this jungle, they didn't actually do much of what typical bandits do.
This was near the Royal Capital after all. If they hadn't kept their heads down, they would have been wiped out by the Empire's knights long ago; how could they have survived until today?
Of course, not blocking roads for robbery didn't mean this group of bandits were good people.
While they didn't do much bloody work on the surface, they did plenty of trafficking girls and forcing them into prostitution!
In fact, Li Ke wasn't their only collaborator; their partners included many brothels and pleasure houses.
In the pleasure district in the south of the Royal Capital alone, at least twenty percent of the prostitutes were sent there by them!
Although Li Ke wasn't the only collaborator, he was quite a special one—well-funded, well-connected, and bold enough to openly auction off the girls under him as slaves.
Though he didn't make many moves, each time brought in a significant sum, making him a highly valued partner for the bandits.
"Big Brother, Fourth Brother should be back by now. I hope nothing happened."
This group of bandits had four leaders in total, three of whom were currently gathered together drinking.
The reason there were only three was that the Fourth Brother had been sent to Li Ke's auction. He wasn't in the stronghold because he had to wait for the auction to end and split the money with Li Ke before returning.
Logically, the auction should have ended last night. Even if the Fourth Brother hadn't left immediately and only set out this morning, he should have returned to the stronghold by now.
"Don't worry, Third Brother. Have you forgotten where Li Ke's auction house is? I'll bet Fourth Brother couldn't control his crotch after getting the money and got hooked into some woman's bed. It's normal for him to be late; don't worry about him."
The one speaking was the Second Brother. He knew the Fourth Brother too well; every time that guy got paid, he'd go find a woman and spend a night in debauchery. It would be a miracle if he could travel the next day, so he wasn't worried at all about the Fourth Brother's absence.
Of course, he didn't know that Li Ke's auction house had already been wiped out by White Night. The Fourth Brother he spoke of, Li Ke the bunch of nobles at the auction, had fallen at the auction house and was awaiting the judgment of Imperial law.
"Even if that's Fourth Brother's nature, he's still our brother; we can't help but worry. Third Brother, if Fourth Brother isn't back by tomorrow morning, go out and meet him."
Compared to the boisterous Second Brother, the Eldest Brother was much more cautious.
"Alright, Big Brother. I'll go check tomorrow morning then."
"Fine, fine, stop worrying."
The Second Brother waved his hand and raised his wine cup again.
"Come on, let's keep drinking!" Just as the three were drinking merrily, a sudden knocking sounded at the door.
"Big Brother, something's happened!"
"Damn it, we were just enjoying ourselves!"
The Second Brother, annoyed by the sudden interruption, slammed his wine cup onto the table with a clatter.
"Which son of a bitch is it? Come in!"
Only after receiving permission did the person knocking dare to enter.
"Eh? Little Six? Aren't you on gate duty today? What are you doing running here to me?"
Seeing the newcomer, the Eldest Brother was taken aback.
According to the night watch rotation, Little Six should be responsible for the night watch at the main gate right now.
Even though this stronghold was just a bunch of scum, they were never careless with their nightly defenses. They not only arranged sentries every night but even set up hidden outposts just in case.
Although these arrangements hadn't been useful over the years, they had never slackened until today. After all, the stronghold's boss was an extremely cautious person; if he weren't, he wouldn't be the boss of this pack of scum.
"Big Brother, this is bad! Someone is forcing their way into the stronghold! They even smashed the main gate!"
"Forcing their way in? How many people are there?"
"Only one person, but they're very strong!"
Hearing Little Six's report, the Eldest Brother didn't rush to a conclusion. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and thought carefully for a moment.
On the other hand, the Second Brother beside him couldn't stay calm. One person dared to storm the stronghold? They were looking down on the brothers way too much!
He grabbed his long-handled iron hammer leaning nearby, ready to go meet the fellow who had broken into the stronghold!
"Big Brother, Third Brother, you guys keep drinking. I'll be right back!"
"Wait!"
Just as the Second Brother was about to leave, the Eldest Brother called him back.
"No, it's better to be cautious. Second Brother, Third Brother, we'll go together."
The stronghold boss was famously cautious. Since someone dared to storm the stronghold alone, it meant the opponent was very confident in their strength. In that case, they should also be cautious; acting together was the safest way.
"Little Six, go have the brothers assemble and head to the stronghold gate!"
"Yes!"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Before long, the piercing sound of gongs and drums echoed throughout the entire stronghold.
This was the signal for an emergency assembly. After all, there were nearly a hundred people in the stronghold; if something happened, it was clearly unrealistic to go and call everyone individually—it would waste too much time.
Therefore, the stronghold boss had specially set up a gong and drum system. Once they sounded, it meant something major had happened and manpower needed to be gathered.
It took fifteen minutes for the men to assemble. The Eldest Brother was very cautious; he didn't lead the Second and Third Brothers to the gate first, but waited until all the brothers had gathered before preparing to move.
"Big Brother, it's the middle of the night. What happened?"
*Yawn*... "Big Brother, it's not another emergency assembly drill, is it?"
Although nearly a hundred people had gathered in a noisy crowd, almost everyone was bleary-eyed and lacked any sense of urgency.
After all, the Eldest Brother held emergency assemblies Li Ke this every few days. The assembly wasn't allowed to be slow; whoever was slow would get poked in the butt with his spiked club.
Right now, although everyone had assembled at a reasonably fast speed, no one took it seriously, thinking the Eldest Brother was pulling another one of those stunts.
"Cut the crap! Everyone stand straight!"
The Second Brother's sudden roar instantly jolted everyone awake a bit. Although the Second Brother had a bit of a temper, he wouldn't flare up for no reason. It seemed something had really happened.
"Don't be angry, Second Brother. The brothers are just curious and wanted to ask what happened. Calm down, calm down."
"Damn it, look at how lazy you all are! What can you even do!"
"Yes, Second Brother is right to scold us."
Even though everyone felt the scolding was a bit unfair, no one dared to talk back. The Second Brother had the most explosive temper among the four leading brothers; he had disciplined his subordinates more times than the other three combined.
Right now, although they were being lectured for no reason, no one dared to object. If they really made the Second Brother unhappy, the iron hammer in his hand was no joke.
"Alright, Second Brother, cool off."
Compared to the Second Brother, the Third Brother's temper was relatively good. He turned to the crowd and spoke.
"While we used to have you do emergency assembly drills, this time is different. I won't say more than necessary, I'll only ask one thing: someone has stormed the stronghold, can you stand for that?"
"What? Stormed the stronghold!"
"Which grandson is tired of living!"
Hearing the Third Brother's words, the crowd's emotions flared. You have to understand, they were bandits and outlaws! Daring to storm their stronghold was simply not putting them in their eyes!
"No matter who it is, take them down!"
The crowd raised their arms and shouted.
"Take them down!"
Seeing this group of brothers finally show a bit of fighting spirit, the Third Brother nodded in satisfaction.
"Big Brother, it's about time. Let's set out."
"Mm."
The Eldest Brother nodded, then shouted to the crowd.
"Brothers, let's go!" For this bunch of veteran scum in the stronghold, it had always been them bullying others; when was it ever someone else's turn to bully them?
Now that someone actually dared to force their way into the stronghold, it was a massive insult to them.
Although the crowd rushed aggressively to the smashed stronghold gate, what they saw wasn't the opponent they had imagined. Instead, it was a pretty, young girl dressed in black with beautiful silver hair.
"Finally here. I've been waiting for ages."
Despite the large number of people in the stronghold, the girl in front of them didn't seem to take them seriously at all.
She just stood there with her hands behind her back, stepping on a person who was clearly the one responsible for tonight's hidden outpost.
"Whoa~ I thought our opponent would be some big burly guy or something. I didn't expect it to be a Little Girl."
"Those breasts, those legs... *Gulp*... She's even more enticing than the little prize we sent to Li Ke last time."
Seeing that the person who broke into the stronghold was just a Little Girl, the crowd couldn't help but let out lewd laughs.
They had only just met, and they were already starting to fantasize about how to "enjoy" this little beauty once they caught her.
"Hey, when we catch her, who goes first?"
"Nonsense, of course Big Brother goes first!"
"After Big Brother it's Second Brother, then Third Brother. Fourth Brother isn't here today, so I, though humble, will take fourth place."
"Get lost, you wish!"
While the brothers all had lewd smiles, the stronghold boss didn't relax his guard.
The girl before them showed no sign of fear even seeing so many people on his side; she just stood there quite openly.
In this situation, either she was an idiot, or she had absolute confidence in her ability to protect herself.
Looking at the Silver-haired Girl's leisurely manner, she clearly wasn't an idiot. It seemed to be the latter.
Thinking of this, the Eldest Brother's wariness toward the girl grew even stronger.
"Little Girl, to dare to break in here... do you know what kind of place this is?"
Facing the stronghold boss's question, White Night gave a cold laugh.
"Of course I know. Isn't this a gathering place for scum?"
Hearing her words, the stronghold boss narrowed his eyes. Although he had long known the opponent came with ill intent, he didn't expect this Little Girl to start with a group insult, showing no regard for their nearly hundred men.
Is she really that strong?
The stronghold boss was somewhat worried. He looked at the nearby iron gate that had been deformed as if struck by a heavy object.
This iron gate was custom-made by someone he hired and was a full five inches thick. To be able to smash such a gate, the opponent was clearly no ordinary person.
"Knowing we're a bunch of scum and bastards yet still daring to stand before us... Little Girl, you've got quite some courage."
White Night didn't respond to his words; she only asked,
"Are you the boss here?"
"That's right." The man nodded. "I'm Cainee."
"Mm~"