Bringing Them into the Fold

Bai Xiaowen could sense from the fluctuations in the Psychic Field that this guy's strength wasn't that great, just at the ordinary level 3.

However, Bai Xiaowen nodded in approval. "Very good, stand up... Go and collect your 10 gold coins, this is your well-deserved reward! From now on, you are a formal guard of White Stone Fief!"

Harvey's initial anxiety subsided, and he kissed Bai Xiaowen's boots. "Yes, my lord!"

Once someone takes the lead, others will follow suit. After all, the first ten people can receive a hefty reward of 10 gold coins, which is no small sum.

Soon, two or three more people slowly walked out of the crowd. They walked faster and faster, and soon they rushed to Bai Xiaowen's feet, knelt down, and swore allegiance.

The first few who surrendered were all bandits' servants. However, there was one exception.

"Lord Dio, my name is Kitz, and from now on I will be your most loyal servant! Your will is my direction!"

Bai Xiaowen smiled. This was the first Elite Tier bandit to surrender—the guy who urinated when infiltrating the mine; he possessed the strength of a level 5 Elite Tier. He nodded. "Go collect 10 gold coins, and you'll be a candidate for captain of my guard!"

Soon, even the ordinary and Elite Tier bandits could no longer restrain themselves. With a "whoosh," they rushed forward and knelt before Bai Xiaowen, their voices of loyalty rising and falling.

However, amidst the chaos, a burly bandit who had been kneeling suddenly leaped up and slashed at Bai Xiaowen with his sword!

"My lord, be careful!" cried out the bandits who had just surrendered, including Kitz and Harvey, their voices betraying their true feelings.

Bai Xiaowen snorted. After obtaining the Blazing Flame Bloodline, he was no longer the kind of ordinary summoner who was weak in close combat and helpless when attacked at close range. He raised his hand and drew an arc, and wave-like flames swept along the ground, directly hitting the burly bandit.

Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts - Dark Swipe!

Bai Xiaowen had practiced this move many times and could be said to be very skilled at it. Even when attacked, she could still use it smoothly and freely.

Moreover, when Bai Xiaowen used "Dark Swipe," he had a strange feeling that he had a spiritual connection with the crimson fire he unleashed, a connection that was even stronger than before.

"It must be because I've used the Orochi Nagi's Blazing Flame Bloodline twice and am becoming more and more familiar with it," Bai Xiaowen suddenly realized.

Although the flames from the Dark Swipe were slow due to Bai Xiaowen's agility, they were still very close to the burly bandit and hit him directly! The burly man screamed in agony as his body was engulfed in dark red flames and he flew backward.

Bai Xiaowen's mental attribute is one of the main attributes that determines the power of "Dark Swipe", so this attack directly burned more than 30 points of the strong man's Life Value.

With a thud, the Rageclaw Claw stretched out its head, its massive jaws clamping down on the bandit. It slammed the bandit to the ground, leaving him dazed and disoriented. Then, it unleashed its Bite attack, severing one of the bandit's arms!

"Truly stubborn..." Bai Xiaowen shook his head. It seems that Ian's loyal henchmen are not all dead. This burly bandit is an ordinary level 6, not Elite Tier, and is not qualified to live in the mine. He has escaped a disaster.

The robber roared through his pain, "You bunch of cowards! Have you forgotten how Boss Ian usually treats you?!"

Bai Xiaowen crossed his arms and coldly surveyed the entire scene. In truth, he was also a little apprehensive. If these bandits really swarmed at him, he, Li Shuyi, Bonita would be no match for them and would have no choice but to flee for their lives.

However, we can't panic now; if someone notices our weakness, we're finished.

The essential requirement for stealing chickens is the ability to pretend! You may not have big brands, but you must make others believe you do!

Bai Xiaowen calmly scanned the area, seemingly searching for the burly bandit's accomplices.

Suddenly, Kitz stepped forward and plunged his sword into the chest of the burly bandit, cursing, "Damn Boris, if you want to die, don't drag the brothers down with you!"

A white knife went in, a red knife came out, and the burly bandit was lifeless.

Kitz knelt heavily, lowered his head, raised the blood-stained greatsword above his head, and shouted, "My lord, I use the blood on this sword to prove my loyalty!"

"Well done, Kitz," Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. "How many of Ian's die-hard accomplices are hiding among you, wanting revenge for him? Each of you must identify at least one of Ian's accomplices, or you're dead!"

These words immediately caused an uproar in the bandit's den.

These bandits aren't a monolithic group. As the largest bandit gang in White Stone Town, it would be abnormal if they didn't have internal strife. Although Bai Xiaowen asked them to identify Ian's accomplices, these morally corrupt guys didn't care. They just pointed to whoever they didn't get along with.

After a period of chaos, Bai Xiaowen coughed, and the room quieted down.

"You, you, and you," Bai Xiaowen pointed at the three robbers, "You three were the most accused?"

Given the chaotic situation just now, only someone with Bai Xiaowen's keen observation and memory could have tallied up who was identified the most.

One of them started cursing, while the other two tried to beg for mercy. Bai Xiaowen ignored them and ordered the bandits to hack the three to death with a flurry of blows.

While it's true that it's somewhat arbitrary to kill someone based solely on identification without a concrete investigation, Bai Xiaowen simply doesn't have that much time to delve into the grassroots. So be it, a wrongful death is a wrongful death; what temple doesn't have a few wrongfully deceased ghosts?

Even from the perspective of how popular they were, those three robbers weren't exactly great.

The key point is that a group of bandits all drew their knives and killed Ian's accomplices. With this Pledge of Allegiance, Bai Xiaowen felt more at ease using him.

Next, Bai Xiaowen counted the number of people.

There are 12 Elite Tier bandits who surrendered, 36 Standard Template bandits, and 53 servants, for a total of 101 people.

"Now we'll start dividing into groups... 5 people per group, 20 groups in total! Form your own groups, you have 30 seconds!"

The first bandit servant to surrender, Harvey, asked somewhat timidly, "My lord, what should we do with the extra person?"

"Heh heh, do I need to say more?" Bai Xiaowen grinned wickedly. "Twenty-five seconds left!"

Harvey shrank back and quickly tried to find a team. However, since he was the first to surrender, many bandits looked down on him, and coupled with his lowly status as a servant, he couldn't find a team for a while.

Soon, the 20 groups were divided. Harvey was the unluckiest, as he wasn't assigned to any group.

Harvey knelt before Bai Xiaowen, his face contorted with grief, and cried, "My lord, spare my life! I am absolutely loyal to you!"

Bai Xiaowen asked, "Harvey, what do you usually do for a living?"

Harvey: "I... I used to be a traveling merchant, usually doing appraisal and valuation work in the bandit gang..."

"Yes, from today onwards you will be my housekeeper!" Bai Xiaowen said, surprising everyone.