Silverback and Crow

"There's nothing I can do about that," Silverback said, scratching his head. "I was five feet tall at five, and six feet by the time I was eight."

Seeing the conversation shift toward Silverback, the tension eased from a state of impending violence to something more relaxed. Sally let out a long breath; judging by the atmosphere, unless Lude was the type of pervert who made small talk before killing someone, a fight was unlikely to break out now.

However, just then, Silverback suddenly spoke up: "So, big brother, why did you come to our home and lay a hand on Sally?"

"Hiss..." Sally gasped, and before Lude could speak, she blurted out in a panic:

"It's my fault! I was blind and stole something from this gentleman, so he chased me all the way here to get it back. So this whole thing... it's my fault from start to finish!"

"Oh, I see." Silverback raised a hand to scratch his head, hesitated, and then shut his mouth.

Silverback was a straightforward person, but that didn't mean he was a fool; naturally, he couldn't fail to notice that Sally was desperately trying to prevent them from clashing with Lude.

He also knew that he was better at acting than thinking, so he simply gave up on thinking altogether.

He left the investigation and analysis to the well-informed Crow and the decision-making to Sally, whose intuition was superb. He was only responsible for the fighting.

"It seems we have reached a consensus."

Lude smiled as he looked at the three of them, then reached out and ripped the iron bar from Sally's neck. "Then, after Miss Sally changes her clothes, let's go to the Golden Eagle Tavern for a meal. I have some questions for you."

Change her clothes? Sally rubbed her neck, looking bewildered. Why would she need to change her clothes?

But before Sally could ask, Silverback suddenly started laughing with a chugging sound like a tractor engine:

"Sally, you'd better go change your clothes quickly. It's not like we haven't seen you like this before, but that was back when you were three or four years old!"

Hearing this, the confusion on Sally's face deepened. What did he mean by "not like we haven't seen you like this," and what was this about being three or four years old—

As her tense nerves finally began to relax, Sally realized that the damp, cold sensation between her legs wasn't an illusion brought on by extreme stress. In an instant, her head spun, and a wave of intense shame washed over her thoughts.

She covered her crotch and let out a shriek, leaping through the window frame like a startled rabbit.

Seeing that Sally likely wouldn't be back for a while, Lude turned his gaze toward the two remaining men—or more accurately, toward Silverback. He couldn't help but feel curious: inside this massive, tower-like frame, was there power capable of rivaling his own?

"Hey, big guy." Lude smiled warmly and said, "Come on, throw a punch at me. Let me see what you've got."

Silverback was slightly taken aback. Once his brain processed the meaning of the words, a beast-like grin appeared on his ferocious face. He clenched his fist tightly: "You asked for it! I wasn't even planning on sparring with you, for Sally's sake!"

Lude nodded with a smile; it seemed this one was a restless soul as well.

However, Lude didn't dislike this kind of blunt, straightforward man, because they were simple and direct to deal with. As long as you possessed the ability to earn their respect and treated them with enough courtesy, they would treat you like a close friend.

"Hurry up." Lude hooked two fingers. "Or are you just a loudmouth who uses his size to scare people?"

The moment Lude finished speaking, Silverback's right arm—thicker than Lude's thigh—hurtled toward Lude's face, accompanied by a dull, whistling wind.

The punch was like a battering ram, causing even the air to emit a sharp, explosive hiss.

Yet, facing this lethal blow, Lude neither raised his arms to defend nor sidestepped to dodge.

He simply raised one hand with calm composure.

In contrast to the massive momentum of Silverback, Lude's movement was incredibly light, as if he were merely brushing away a speck of dust.

A thunderous roar erupted on the flat ground, and the dust kicked up by the shockwave obscured their figures. Crow had leaped backward the moment before the collision.

But as the dust settled and dispersed, the scene before him made his eyes widen in disbelief.

Lude's palm had been pushed back three inches—only three inches—before he steadily caught the punch!

How was that possible!

Silverback's innate, monstrous strength was beyond the reach of ordinary men; it was a force of nature capable of strangling a wild boar with his bare hands!

At this moment, Silverback's expression was also one of shock. He knew Lude was incredibly strong, so he didn't expect Lude to be knocked down by a single punch.

He just didn't know how Lude would handle it—would he deflect the force, dodge, or meet it head-on?

He had never considered that his iron fist would be caught head-on, as if it were nothing, by a single palm!

Was this even human?

Silverback froze, but Lude did not. He knew that when dealing with a brute like this, one had to thoroughly break their spirit in one go.

His five fingers instantly transformed from a palm into a claw, hooking into Silverback's fist like welded steel bars.

Lude then twisted and pressed down with his wrist. The intense pain radiating from his joint caused Silverback's form to buckle, and he crashed to the ground like a collapsing mountain.

By the time Silverback recovered from his dazed shock, he was already kneeling before Lude.

Before he could react, Lude shifted his grip from a claw to a support, lifting him up by the wrist.

Then, Lude patted his massive bicep. "The power is decent, and the speed is passable, but remember: after throwing a punch, you must retract it in time."

The tone was one of gentle, earnest instruction, which made Silverback's face flush red in an instant, though his lack of education left him at a loss for words.

Fortunately, just as Lude had anticipated, the one to break the tension arrived.

"Silverback!" the girl's sharp reprimand came from nearby. "What are you doing? I told you not to provoke this gentleman!"

Silverback stood up sheepishly, and just as he was about to speak, Lude interrupted him.

"It's no trouble." Lude smiled warmly at Sally. "I was just struck by a sudden urge to test my skills, so I asked Mr. Silverback for a spar."

Silverback was slightly stunned, then winked at Lude. His movement was so exaggerated that both Crow and Sally saw it clearly. Crow and Sally covered their faces in unison, and even Lude couldn't help but chuckle.

Lude, however, had a rather favorable impression of Silverback; it was somewhat akin to how Cao Cao viewed Dian Wei.

A fellow with a straightforward and honest temperament like Silverback might occasionally do things that were hard to endure, but at the very least, his loyalty was guaranteed.

To be able to treat a friend as an equal even when there was a massive disparity in strength was no simpler a feat than "remaining unyielding in the face of force."

"Then let's go."

Lude glanced at Sally, who had finished changing her clothes: "We're heading to the Golden Eagle Tavern; there are some things I wish to look into."

At this moment, Sally had changed into a light gray tube skirt, with a hemp rope cinched around her waist to outline her slender figure. On her feet, she still wore only a few wraps of linen strips, exposing soles that were slightly flushed and ten toenails trimmed quite neatly.

Under the moonlight, her soles appeared smooth and even, lacking the calluses one would typically expect from someone who walked barefoot year-round.

Strange, Lude thought to himself, is this also some kind of psionic influence?