Where are the Bandits?

The trees towered on both banks. The river's surface was calm and deep, and the raft glided forward, sending gentle ripples across the water like an ink painting slowly spreading.

"How much farther? We're almost there, right?"

Bai Yang crouched at the very front of the raft, staring boredly at the still water ahead as he asked.

No one around him said a word. Good grief, you've asked that eight hundred times already.

Bai Yang was a man with no patience to speak of. They'd left the village about three or four hours ago, and the whole trip had been uneventful. The scenery along the way had all looked more or less the same. He'd gotten fed up after just an hour, and had been hoping they'd reach their destination soon.

"Young Master, why don't you take another nap?"

Little Cat came to Bai Yang's side and asked softly. She'd even thoughtfully made him a nest out of the furs on the raft...

Bai Yang glanced at Little Cat and let out a heavy sigh. She was wearing a Titanium Alloy Armor weighing a hundred pounds, with a Titanium Alloy Blade weighing over twenty pounds hanging at her waist, yet she could still move around freely. Bai Yang really couldn't understand where a delicate girl like her got all that strength...

More importantly, with her armor on, even a simple, cozy hug was out of the question...

"I've already slept how many times..."

He turned to look ahead with a sigh, grumbling to himself about how bored he was.

Eight burly men wearing Titanium Alloy Armor surrounded him, their eyes sweeping the area like wolves. Their hands stayed close to where they could draw their blades at a moment's notice.

Bai Yang figured even Obama wasn't as safe as he was...

This raft was just too slow. It made Bai Yang want to get his hands on a yacht!

"Huh? A yacht? I probably can't afford one, but getting a diesel-powered boat should be pretty easy. The river's deep and wide enough for a boat, and we could increase our speed several times over!"

He was the kind of person who got carried away by any new idea. Once a thought took root in his mind, he couldn't sit still. If they weren't already halfway there, he'd probably have gone off to buy a boat right then and there...

"Young Master, why don't you move to the raft in the middle? A little farther ahead, the waterways intersect. We'll probably run into some danger there..."

Zhao Shi, the captain of the guards, looked ahead, then bent slightly to meet Bai Yang's eyes and offered his advice in earnest.

"Huh? What kind of danger?"

Bai Yang perked up at once. The trip had been so uneventful it could bore the feathers off a bird. Finally, something new!

He was happy even though they might get into trouble? Zhao Shi was utterly speechless. A "boss" like this was probably a bit of a handful. Still, he patiently explained:

"Young Master, it wouldn't be so bad if we ran into people from another village. What we're afraid of is bandits who rob passing villages of their goods!"

Little Cat said this, watching Bai Yang with deep concern. After all, even a child in the village could easily knock Bai Yang off his feet. His fighting ability was so poor that it was hard not to worry about him.

"Then what are we waiting for? Pick up the pace! Bandits are the stuff of legends to me. I might finally get to see some in the flesh...!"

Bai Yang sprang to his feet and cried out, looking eager beyond belief.

The villagers were all wearing Titanium Alloy Armor. What was there to be afraid of?

But even if he was that excited, what was the point of bolting toward the raft behind them?

Ahem. A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. Bai Yang was happy to see bandits, but he wasn't about to gamble with his own life...

Sure enough, before long, a maze of intersecting waterways appeared ahead. Between the channels, clusters of small woods looked like little islands.

Confronted with this spiderweb of waterways, Bai Yang knew that without navigation he'd never find his way out. If they dumped him in there, he'd probably be lost for the rest of his life...

"Where are the bandits? Why can't I see them?"

Bai Yang stretched his neck and peered around impatiently as he asked.

Sure, he was excited to see them—but wasn't it a bit much to cling tightly to Little Cat's waist from behind while making more than a dozen guards surround him like an iron barrel...?

Could you blame him? He'd never even seen a pig slaughtered in his life, and now they might run into vicious bandits. Was being afraid of dying really so shameful?

The river was wide enough, and several rafts had been linked together with wooden beams. More than a hundred burly men were spread out around them, watching their surroundings with utmost vigilance.

Bai Yang was worried. Linking the rafts together meant everyone could support one another, but what if the enemy was clever and tried to set fire to them like a chain of boats? They'd all be doomed...

"There's water all around us, so I doubt they could set the rafts on fire. The bandits probably wouldn't want to burn the cargo, either..."

Bai Yang muttered to himself as he stared around, eyes wide.

As the rafts reached the crisscrossing waterways, a flock of birds burst from the woods with a flurry of wings.

"Holy crap, we're screwed!"

Bai Yang's heart gave a jolt.

But Zhao Shi and the others were clearly more experienced than he was. The moment the birds took flight, they shouted, "Everyone, stay alert! Prepare for battle!"

These villagers really were professionals. As soon as they sensed danger approaching, most of them moved toward Bai Yang, surrounding him layer upon layer until not even a breath of air could get through.

Blades over six feet long slid from their sheaths, cold and grim beneath the sunlight.

A jumble of strange cries rang out from all directions. Trapped in the middle, Bai Yang grew frantic. Damn it, you're all so tall I can't see a thing...

Then came one ear-splitting whistle after another, followed by a clatter of clanging impacts.

"Little Cat, what's going on?"

He hurriedly asked.

Little Cat had already raised her broad Titanium Alloy Blade across her chest. Like a tigress protecting her cub, she shielded Bai Yang behind her and still found time to answer his question:

"Young Master, bandits have appeared all around us. They're shooting arrows at us!"

"I can hear that. But how many of them are there? Have we suffered any casualties?"

"There are a lot of them, and they have more than ten rafts. We haven't suffered any casualties. Their arrows can't penetrate the armor you provided, Young Master..."

"Good."

He relaxed. Just as he'd thought, Titanium Alloy Armor could even stop sniper bullets. These punks should get on their knees and sing "Surrender" already...

He was so conflicted. He couldn't see anything outside with everyone surrounding him. If only he'd brought a drone so he could watch the whole thing from above!

Bai Yang couldn't see what was happening outside, but both the villagers and the bandits were dumbfounded.

The bandits had fired several volleys of arrows, only to suddenly realize—what the hell? Not one of these people had fallen. Were they invulnerable to blades and spears or something?

What were they supposed to do?

The villagers were stunned for a moment, too, before they caught on. The armor Young Master had provided was unbelievably powerful. What were they waiting for? Fight back!

They sheathed their blades. Everyone except those guarding Bai Yang lowered their faceplates, ignored the enemy's arrows, and nocked their own. Shoot the bastards! Their arrows wouldn't even make a hair fall from the villagers' heads...

The two sides traded volleys, arrows flying with a constant hiss through the air. But aside from a clatter of impacts, nothing happened to Bai Yang's side.

The bandits, on the other hand, were screaming nonstop. One after another fell to arrows, and their casualties mounted heavily.

By the time the rafts drew close enough for hand-to-hand combat, Bai Yang's side had suffered no casualties, while the other side had lost at least a third of its men!

The bandits were really damn committed. Even after taking such heavy losses, they still hadn't fled. They'd lost a third, but still had four or five hundred men. They had the advantage in numbers and could crush the villagers, right?

"Kill them! Leave no one alive! Take everything they have!"

On one of the bandit rafts, the leader roared with bloodshot eyes, his voice booming like an explosion.

They'd suffered a huge loss. They'd never taken casualties this bad before. If they didn't kill these people, their own brothers would hack them to pieces when they got back. But if they could get their hands on the armor those people were wearing, it would all be worth it...

The bandit leader stood about eight feet tall and was covered in bulging muscles. Apart from his color, he was basically indistinguishable from the Hulk. He gripped a massive axe with a blade the size of a tabletop and charged like a wild beast as the rafts drew together, roaring furiously.

Did they really look like idiots who wouldn't flee after suffering so many casualties? The moment the bandits saw the armor on the villagers, their eyes went red with greed. Even if they lost a lot of men, getting just one suit would make them a fortune...

Hadn't anyone noticed how they were ignoring the villagers' cargo entirely, their wolfish eyes fixed on the armored men?

You'd think they were after a little man-on-man action...

(Requesting support with recommendation tickets and follows.)