Captured

By the time Chen Cheng returned to the village entrance, the sun was already setting. The entire village was laid bare beneath the lingering glow of the sunset and the firelight.

Amid the sunset, a smear of dark clouds drifted in from the horizon. It was impossible to tell whether the coming rain meant to weep for these pitiful savages or extinguish the blaze that was about to sweep through the entire forest.

The women's howls, the children's cries, the elders' curses and pleas for mercy, and the sounds of the slavers' slaughter intertwined beside Chen Cheng's ears.

He had never imagined that this so-called disaster would be people coming to massacre the village.

Chen Cheng hid behind a great tree outside the village. His fists were clenched tight with fear and tension. This was the first time he had encountered danger alone since leaving Samlet.

But when he saw a child not even three years old dragged out to be beheaded—when he saw the bright red blood spray high into the air, the tiny face rolling across the ground with tears not yet dry and terror still written upon it, and the executioner's unrestrained laughter—the fear in his heart was replaced by rage.

One reason Chen Cheng had worked so hard to research Controllable Nuclear Fusion in his previous life was to solve humanity's energy crisis, so that people would no longer wage wars like the Iraq War over energy. Especially after seeing refugees in Iraq online, particularly those children, he could be said to have been a pacifist who cherished life.

This was the first time he had faced such a bloody scene so vividly. The occasional wails of agony in his ears constantly provoked his nerves.

He stared at the man holding up the child's head and laughing wildly, as though showing off his achievements.

Chen Cheng loaded his musket. By now, he no longer regarded these executioners as ordinary people. In his eyes, they were a pack of thugs. He aimed directly at the man who had carried out the beheading and fired.

The gunpowder detonated in the barrel with a thunderous crack, and the man's death was miserable beyond words. His entire head was blasted into a sieve by that shot.

When the people slaughtering villagers heard the gunshot, they all ran out and saw the horribly disfigured corpse of the executioner Bob at the village entrance.

The moment they saw Bob was dead, they all went mad, raising their weapons and shouting as they charged out of the village.

"Damn savage monkeys! They actually killed Bob."

"Where's that savage monkey? I'll catch him and avenge Bob."

Chen Cheng showed no mercy. He aimed at the people in front and fired another two shots. Two more men went to see the God of Light.

"Damn it, what weapon is he using? That's not a bow and arrow at all."

"West and the others are down too! Hurry and surround him—catch him!"

With the deaths of those two men, Chen Cheng's position was exposed. The slavers rushed toward where he was hiding, while William, the only mage in the slaving party, chanted the Fire Elemental Spell and hurled a Fireball Spell at him.

Though Chen Cheng had not cultivated Battle Aura despite years of training and fighting vicious beasts, he was more than capable of dealing with such simple magical attacks.

Chen Cheng rolled behind a large tree and dodged the Fireball Spell. Then he began using his guerrilla tactics, weaving through the forest with those men in pursuit.

Several more shots rang out, and several more men were brought down by Chen Cheng.

Seeing several of their companions already dead, the slavers grew fearful. Yet Scorpio, the captain of the slaving party, pointed at Chen Cheng fleeing ahead with an excited expression and said:

"Look at that—what a healthy, agile savage! None of the slaves we've captured over the years has been as formidable as him. If we catch him and bring him back, I reckon he won't fetch less than those Beastfolk. This time, we'll be making a killing."

Upon hearing Scorpio's words, the slavers grew excited as well. They were merely a very low-level slaving party. There was only one mage in their group, and their strongest member was only their captain Scorpio, a Silver Warrior who had only recently advanced.

If they could capture a slave worth as much as a Beastfolk this time, it would bring them not only money, but also honor within the slaving world.

At once, the men began dividing up their tasks clearly, treating Chen Cheng as a formidable enemy.

After Chen Cheng took down another two men, his gunpowder was nearly depleted. When he saw the encirclement taking shape, he knew that he truly could not escape this time.

Looking at the increasingly gloomy sky, Chen Cheng gripped the sword at his waist. Just as he was about to draw it, a bitter smile appeared on his tense face.

"Chen Cheng, Chen Cheng... only thinking of learning martial skills now, when things have come to this—aren't you a little too late?"

Chen Cheng then cast the negative thoughts from his mind, loaded the gunpowder for his final scattershot, and fixed his gaze on the only mage in the slaving party.

Having spent all these years beside Samlet, a Legendary Rank warrior, Chen Cheng's understanding of the warrior system could be said to surpass that of ninety-five percent of warrior practitioners across the continent.

He had long noticed that most of this group were either ordinary people with slightly stronger bodies or low-level warriors who had only just entered the Bronze Tier. Only the captain giving orders from the rear appeared to possess Silver Rank combat power.

Still, in these mountains and forests, Chen Cheng could take a gamble using his many years of survival experience. Even if he could not defeat the captain later, he still had a chance to escape.

But all of that depended on the mage not being there.

He had no idea whether that man knew tracking magic. Since his birth, he had experienced just how troublesome that magic could be.

If this mage truly knew tracking magic, then he would not be able to escape these people's pursuit.

Night was Chen Cheng's best cover. Once the gunshots in the forest ceased, everything seemed so peaceful, yet beneath that peace were Chen Cheng's keen, bloodthirsty eyes.

"Captain, I can't see that damn savage monkey anymore."

"Captain, neither can we. I really don't know why that savage monkey is so good at hiding."

When the gunshots stopped, Scorpio vaguely sensed that something was wrong. He began shouting in the language of the forest savages, while his men returned to the village, seized several women, pushed them to the front, and slaughtered them before his eyes.

"Savage monkey, come out now! These are all your tribespeople. If you don't come out, we'll slaughter them."

Chen Cheng knew that Scorpio had mistaken him for someone from this village. Right now, Chen Cheng only wanted to survive—and kill these damned bastards.

He knew he could not save these pitiful savages, so he had no intention of exposing himself. But the gaze he turned toward the mage was icy beyond measure; he had already regarded him as dead.

Thus, Chen Cheng lurked in the forest, cautiously drawing closer to the mage.

Just as Chen Cheng came within less than ten meters of the mage, a burst of explosive noise suddenly sounded beside his ears. He knew that, somehow, he had triggered the alarm the mage had set. He had been exposed.

Chen Cheng no longer hid. Enduring the dizziness caused by the blast hammering his eardrums, he fired directly at the mage who was chanting.

With a boom, the gunpowder loaded into this shot was far greater than before. Even though the mage had cautiously cast a magical barrier in front of himself beforehand, he still became a wandering soul beneath that shot.

After firing, Chen Cheng ignored everything else. The gun in his hand had already been ruined. He tossed it aside, turned, and ran.

Seeing that the only mage on their side had died on the spot, the slavers were instantly enraged by Chen Cheng. They no longer used the usual kiting methods meant for capturing slaves. Instead, they directly activated their Battle Aura and charged at Chen Cheng.

"Kill him! He actually killed Mage William! This time we've suffered a huge loss!"

These people were utterly devoid of humanity. To them, William's death was merely a loss; not one of them felt sorrow over it.

Previously, Chen Cheng might have been able to use the gun in his hand to threaten them, making them afraid to act rashly and giving him a chance to defeat them one by one. But when they saw Chen Cheng discard that iron gun to lighten his load, they no longer feared him and charged straight in.

The strongest among them were only Level Three Late Bronze Stage warriors. Using the forest's favorable terrain, Chen Cheng could still keep them trailing behind and find chances to take down a few.

But once Scorpio saw his own mage die and flew into a rage, Chen Cheng truly could not escape this time.

As a Level Five Silver Warrior, Scorpio's Battle Aura could easily shatter huge trees blocking his path, while his agility and speed were beyond what ordinary people could compare to.

Moreover, someone who made a living through slave-catching was naturally very familiar with dense forests. Thus, just when Chen Cheng thought his plan was foolproof, Scorpio gave him a surprise.

When Chen Cheng tried to use a large tree to evade the lackeys' attacks and continue fleeing, Scorpio had already predicted his direction. He leaped up and punched directly at the trunk of the tree Chen Cheng was about to pass.

The trunk, which was twenty to thirty centimeters in diameter, was punched straight through as though it were a rotten wooden board. Then, before Chen Cheng's terrified eyes, Scorpio grabbed the beast-hide armor on his body.

Chen Cheng had no time to react. With that tug, his entire body was flung down, and he tumbled across the ground like a rolling gourd.

Just as he tried to scramble up and flee, Scorpio and the slavers had already captured him.

"What a strong savage. Tie him up. William's compensation money and our future livelihoods will all depend on him."

When Chen Cheng thought he would be executed, Scorpio instead began discussing with the other slavers how to sell him for a high price.

In truth, Chen Cheng did not know that these slavers did not care much about whether their companions lived or died. Once a companion died, the captured slaves could be sold for money, and there would be one fewer person to share it with.

And that was not even counting a high-quality slave like Chen Cheng, whose capture had cost them several slavers and a mage.

If they took him back to a major city and embellished today's events, he could easily be sold for more than a hundred times the price of an ordinary slave. To them, that sum was an astronomical figure.

Especially after Scorpio had someone retrieve Chen Cheng's musket. This was powerful proof that Chen Cheng, this slave, could make some relatively advanced weapons, and such slaves were the favorites of nobles.

The sky, which had remained gloomy all along, finally let out its roar. Heavy rain came pouring down, as though even the gods in heaven grieved for the villagers who had died so miserably.

Chen Cheng, bound tightly, was treated by these slavers as their most precious treasure, ready to be escorted out of the mountains.

At daybreak the next day, after the rain stopped, the men no longer searched the forest for new savage villages to raid for slaves.

To be safe, they took Chen Cheng and left the mountains directly. This time, they intended to make a fortune from him.

Locked inside a cage covered by beast hides, Chen Cheng felt himself slowly growing heavier, sinking toward that endless Abyss.

After days of jolting travel along muddy mountain roads, they finally emerged from Nanmu Forest.

Just as Scorpio had someone routinely check on Chen Cheng's condition, the man hurried over to report to Scorpio.

"Captain, this is bad! The kid has a fever."

Scorpio, who had been imagining his wonderful future, was startled by the news. He grabbed the man's hand and said:

"If you dare lie to me, I'll slaughter you."