Use your skull as a bowl

Seeing their own greatswords and the chance to clear their names, the Meitengheim warriors certainly wouldn't back down from a fight!

The group stealthily crept towards the valley.

It really did look like a pirate hideout. As they got closer, Li Ang spotted a cave.

Several pirates were tending a fire outside the cave, seemingly cooking soup. Wisps of smoke curled upwards, carrying the savory aroma of wild mushrooms.

Hmm, the sun was setting at an angle; it was indeed dinnertime... Li Ang's stomach rumbled in response.

Then, as if contagious, more sounds of hunger arose, a chorus of growls from the Meitengheim warriors' bellies.

They stared at the large clay pot hanging over the fire, their eyes gleaming green—it seemed their craving for food far outweighed their desire to reclaim their gear...

Li Ang suddenly understood what Kloze had meant by "as long as there's food"...

Two bare-chested, burly men looked truly parched. They hefted their crude greatswords, ready to charge head-on, but Li Ang yanked them back.

Li Ang had the hungry warriors hide behind an earthen mound while he dismounted, intending to scout ahead. He planned a sneak attack.

He wasn't keen on such dangerous work, but his subordinates were without equipment... These men had cost a fortune to acquire, and any casualties here would be his own loss!

While his chainmail wasn't top-quality, it offered some defense, and its grayish-blue color would serve as camouflage in the valley.

So, if a sneak attack was possible, there was no need to confront them directly.

But the pirate camp clearly had sentries. Before Li Ang could get close, he heard someone from above the valley call out, "Is someone there? Who is it!"

An inauspicious start. Discovered dozens of meters from the cave entrance...

He looked towards the source of the voice but saw no one. The sound came from a small patch of woods on the mountainside.

Of course, calling it a mountain was a stretch; it was merely a dirt slope about ten meters high.

Li Ang's hand trembled, but he didn't draw his sword. Instead, he feigned ignorance. "I... I'm just passing through. Could I buy some food..."

He spread his hands to show he meant no harm.

Kloze was quite clever. Seeing Li Ang hadn't drawn his sword and was instead drawing the pirates' attention, he quietly led two men around the back of the mound.

A pirate armed with a light crossbow emerged from the bushes on the slope. He glanced at Li Ang, then scanned the area around him, before aiming his crossbow at Li Ang.

The pirates by the fire also stood up, drew their weapons, and slowly began to surround him.

Li Ang suddenly felt something was wrong. None of the pirates spoke, and their eyes were wary. The crossbowman on the slope had been aiming for several seconds!

These pirates weren't falling for it... Not good!

Li Ang abruptly rolled to the ground. A whistling sound passed by his ear. Looking back, he saw a crossbow bolt deeply embedded where he had just stood.

"Take them down!"

Li Ang yelled, then drew his personal sword and charged the nearest pirate.

The sneak attack failed, so it was time for a direct confrontation. These pirates were far more vigilant than he'd expected.

One pirate shouted, "I'll use your skull as a bowl!"

Several pirates rushed towards Li Ang.

But then, a group of bare-chested warriors tumbled over the mound, roaring as they charged to meet the pirates.

The crossbowman on the slope was nocking another bolt when Kloze leaped from behind him, cleaving him in two with a sword.

Kloze then charged down the slope, straight to the cave entrance, blocking a group of disheveled men who had come out to investigate the commotion.

Li Ang knew the Meitengheim people came from mountainous regions and were likely skilled in mountain warfare. Yet, he realized he had still underestimated these Meitengheim warriors' combat prowess.

He could have charged head-on...

These Meitengheim people ran like the wind on the slope. A dozen pale, bare-chested warriors darted around the mountainside, a dizzying spectacle...

Though unarmored, and with only five wielding swords, in this terrain, the pirates were easily routed like chicks by these warriors, unable to even escape.

Li Ang could have just watched from the sidelines, perhaps even munching on seeds.

Before long, the battle was over. The pirates were completely incapacitated, and his men suffered no casualties—except for one unlucky fellow who stepped on a sharp rock, piercing his foot. The others were virtually unharmed.

Li Ang whistled cheerfully, feeling an unprecedented sense of security.

As soon as the fight ended, the bare-chested warriors began slurping the fragrant mushroom soup, completely ignoring the scattered pirate corpses by the fire.

Li Ang wrinkled his nose in distaste, found a clean helmet, ladled some soup into it, and headed into the cave—the gluttonous eating habits of his men were too unsightly, making him feel like he was in a pigsty.

The cave did contain a cache of food and weapons, much of it the Meitengheim warriors' original equipment—wide infantry surcoats, two-handed swords, and infantry hammers.

These steel armors offered good defense but were incredibly heavy—a characteristic of Meitengheim gear: rugged yet practical.

However, this practicality was only for the Meitengheim people.

The steel armors were all made very large, only fitting the Meitengheim's massive physiques.

Perhaps for this reason, the armor hadn't been immediately sold—too large, most Pande couldn't wear them, making them difficult to offload quickly.

Regardless, these dozen-odd bare-chested warriors had finally recovered their familiar gear. The group finally looked less like 'merchants' delivering goods to a noblewoman and more like an army.

Yet, Kloze remained unsatisfied, his face contorted with grimness as he inspected the spoils.

Li Ang could probably guess the reason for his bad mood—there were thirty sets of identical armor, but he only had a dozen-odd Meitengheim people under his command.

The pirates here numbered only a dozen or so, most already dead—these Meitengheim people were ruthless, especially Kloze, who left no survivors among his subordinates.

Li Ang felt a pang of regret. If he'd known these bastards were so formidable in the mountains, he should have sold his chainmail and bought some blunt weapons, like Infantry hammers—then perhaps fewer pirates would have died. Captured prisoners could be sold as slaves for profit…

But now, only two captives remained. One lay in the cave—that pirate must have been injured long ago and hadn't even fought.

To Li Ang, this one was probably useless; he only had one leg and couldn't be sold.

The other was a young man, his legs bound by iron shackles.

He looked quite well-behaved, and rather… delicate.

Furthermore, he wasn't shackled by Li Ang's group—he had already been in the cave tending to the injured pirate.

No way, could these pirates be… Li Ang and Kloze looked at the handsome young man and exchanged glances. Their eyes held a hint of impropriety, clearly both thinking of something rather… unconventional.