056 Gap

The few individuals found themselves standing near the edge of a sparse woodland. A short distance ahead, lush trees dotted the expansive, flat ground, gradually increasing in density with distance until they finally merged into a proper forest terrain further away. Even so, the scale of this woodland paled in comparison to the former Emerald Forest, allowing people to peer through the wide gaps between the trees and catch a glimpse of the distant landscape.

Right now, that landscape was dotted with numerous figures.

Ahead of the caravan, the shouts of battle and the dying screams of the wounded had already begun to echo. From the carriages trailing behind, more people were steadily stepping out. The merchants clearly lacked combat capabilities, so their loud cries were laced with panic and anxiety. As they huddled together to find a safe haven, they pleaded with the guards to ensure their safety. Moments later, they were escorted by a guard into the narrow spaces between the central carriages. Some cargo crates had already been unloaded beforehand and temporarily piled up there, forming a rather crude defensive position.

Shortly after, several players received the exact same invitation, or rather, order.

"Get to the middle of the caravan, it's safer there."

While the others were still hesitating, Bai Lok already grabbed Mengzhu and started moving. "Let's go."

"Hey, aren't you going to help..."

"You underestimate Kid too much," Bai Lok said quietly. "Trust him and his subordinates; dealing with a few bandits shouldn't be a problem."

*Probably... shouldn't be a problem,* he mentally added to himself.

The halted caravan was not particularly long, and after taking only a few steps, they arrived at the temporary fortification in the center. Several large chests were haphazardly placed about, behind which cowered the non-combatants. They nervously scanned their surroundings from time to time, or looked up to the heavens in a prayerful gesture—though to which deity of the Free World they were praying remained a mystery. A few of them even craned their necks to peer forward, toward the direction from which the primary sounds of battle were emanating.

Bai Lok and a few other adventurers also scrambled over the crates, claiming a corner within the confined space. Bai Lok let out a sigh of relief, sat down on the ground, and leaned his back against a crate, only to realize that one person from their group was missing.

"Why aren't you coming in?" The height of the large chest was just enough for him to poke his head out when he straightened up. Right now, Bai Lok was peeking out from behind the crate, watching the player named Baili Duyou continue walking forward, leaving the rest of them with nothing but the view of his long hair swaying from behind.

"I'm going to join the fight," Baili Duyou said upon hearing the question. Although his figure paused, he did not turn around; instead, he tilted his head and fixed the others inside the crate barricade with a sharp gaze.

"Don't say I didn't warn you..." a voice drawled from behind the crate, "Once you go out there, you might not make it back."

"Hmph." Ignoring Bai Lok further, Baili Duyou turned and walked away, his voice fading into the distance as he moved. "I refuse to... live on as someone who needs protection."

The figure in the black robe gradually receded, his long sleeves fluttering in the wake. Having delivered his parting line, Baili Duyou shouldered his longsword and vanished from everyone's sight. The sounds of fighting ahead continued to rage, growing even more intense. Bai Lok shook his head and sat back down.

"Hey, mister..." the young girl's voice chimed in right on cue. "Are we going to be... Is he... Is that guy going to be alright?"

"I already warned him," Bai Lok said, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture. "It's his own choice to act cool. As for whether he'll die..."

He chuckled. "How would I know?"

In the time that followed, the remaining players and the merchants occupied opposite sides, sitting quietly in place. On either side of the crates, Kid had left a guard or two to ensure the safety of the people in the middle. Yet Bai Lok felt that the people left behind would be of little use other than screaming if an accident occurred. From a distance earlier, the number of bandits had already seemed immeasurable; if any bandits actually managed to sneak over, relying solely on two guards and a pile of crates would make defense utterly impossible.

However, it wasn't long before he retracted that thought, as he spotted Guzman's figure amidst the seated crowd.

*Well, with an old codger like that around, nothing should go wrong...*

The clashing of swords ahead continued, and time seemed to slow to a crawl. Although the players inside the crate barricade were not afraid of death, choosing to sit out the fight left them feeling rather bored during this helpless waiting. With nothing better to do, Mengzhu resumed her endless murmuring about future plans. Bai Lok observed the others and noticed that the bearded uncle who had remained completely silent on the carriage was clutching a shield of unknown origin, looking rather nervous as he sat there.

"Hey, buddy..." Bai Lok glanced up at his ID. "Uncle Butcher, why so tense? Relax, the worst that can happen is you die..."

"Oh, haha, I'm just a bit..." Butcher smiled awkwardly. "It's been a while since... uh, I'm not very good at combat, so..."

"Not good at combat? And yet you still managed to crawl out of the新手村 (Novice Village)? That's quite impressive..." Bai Lok remarked.

"Ah, well, that's because..." Perhaps the casual chat helped the uncle relax, as he loosened his grip on the shield and scratched his head with one hand. "I've been playing for quite a while..."

"I see... Are you traveling alone, heading to Windflower Town?"

"Y-yeah." The head-scratching stopped, replaced by the rubbing of his hands.

"You don't really look like a heavy gamer, Uncle."

"True, true, I don't usually have much time to play, so..."

"That makes things tricky. It seems like quite a long time has passed along this journey; holding out this long wasn't easy..."

"Yeah, ahahaha..." The two rubbing hands had now tightly clasped each other.

"Speaking of which..." Bai Lok looked up at the sky. "I don't recall seeing you log off once the entire way here..."

"Watch out! Everyone get down!"

From outside the crate barricade, one of the guards suddenly shouted.

Lost in her daydreams, Mengzhu raised her head, her dazed gaze sweeping across her surroundings. Before she could process the situation, however, a large hand forcefully pushed her head back down—it was Bai Lok's hand.

With a sharp whistle, an arrow flew over the top of the crates and embedded itself in the wooden wall of a crate on the opposite side. Water-like liquid began to ooze from the puncture hole; the goods inside that particular crate were apparently some sort of liquid, which had now been breached by the arrow.

Amidst the young girl's startled gasp, Bai Lok motioned for everyone to press their backs against the crate walls. "Do these bandits even have gear this advanced?"

"How am I supposed to know! This world is so dangerous..."

"Looks like being a bandit is a very promising career path. Should we consider it, everyone...?" Amidst the banter, Bai Lok quietly poked his head up from behind the crate to survey the situation outside.

Then, he heard the war cries erupting from ahead.

Several figures clad in earth-brown clothing, wearing standard bandit attire, came screaming toward them. By the time Bai Lok spotted them, they had already burst through the bushes, scrambled over the gravel, and rushed onto the road. One of them hacked down the guard who had been stationed on that side and was now lying on the ground with an arrow in him, then directed the remaining blade-wielding thugs to charge straight at the wooden crates.

The foremost man, wearing a brown headband, reached out to prop himself up in an attempt to vault over the wooden chests, only to be hacked back by Bai Lok with a swift sword strike from behind.

"Defend!" Bai Lok shouted at the top of his lungs, casting a brief glance back at Guzman. The blind old man was sitting cross-legged, maintaining a serene, unflappable expression.

Internally rolling his eyes, Bai Lok had no choice but to turn back to the front. "Hold the line!"

There were only three or four remaining players. Although they had all just emerged from the Novice Village, they had very few options left in this time and place. Pulling out their weapons one after another, they imitated Bai Lok, hunkering down behind the crates and unleashing a flurry of attacks upon the oncoming bandits.

Mengzhu was naturally one of them. Gritting her teeth, she parried an incoming heavy blade, though the recoil from the dagger sent her stumbling backward. Fighting through the pain in her wrist, she prepared to charge forward again to fill the gap she had left, only for the sound of air tearing to pierce her ears as an arrow shot straight toward her.

A powerful force collided with her side, shoving Mengzhu out of her original spot. A dull thud echoed as the arrowhead struck a shield, and when the young girl tumbled to the ground and turned her head to look, the bearded uncle was standing firmly in her former position with a heavy shield raised, desperately blocking the onslaught of blades and blows.

It turned out that Smiling Butcher had stepped up with his shield just in time to deflect the incoming arrow.

The bearded uncle paid no attention to Mengzhu's gaze—his entire focus was fixed on the situation ahead. The very next moment, he jerked his arm upward, once again deflecting a horizontal slash from the left.

The bearded uncle seemed to possess no other weapon; his sole possession was the shield in his hand. Yet, the defense provided by that shield proved remarkably effective behind the crate barricade. The charging bandits had to clear the wide wooden chests before they could deliver blows to the players, and whether they chopped or thrust, the momentum of their attacks had already spent much of its force, preventing them from unleashing their full power. Meanwhile, the shield wielded by the uncle completely neutralized the remaining fraction of force as well as the threat posed by the archers.

Aside from using Smiling Butcher's large shield for cover, the only task required of the few players was to prevent the bandits from breaching the defensive line formed by the crates. The players present were all around levels ten to twenty; although their stat distributions weren't entirely optimal, their overall strength shouldn't have been too far off. Having just witnessed Mengzhu's firsthand experience, they knew the bandits possessed relatively high strength stats. As long as they guarded against that and avoided head-on clashes, holding the line was entirely manageable.

Even so, despite everyone's vigilance, a bandit ultimately managed to break through.

It was an unexpected turn of events that occurred after a rapid exchange of blows. Just as Smiling Butcher blocked a thrusting sword with his shield, a spear-wielding bandit suddenly lunged forward. Instead of leveraging the advantage of his long weapon to attack, he thrust his spear directly into the wooden crate in front of him.

The spearhead sank deep into the wood with a crunch, and with a mighty roar, he hoisted the entire crate into the air.

The sheer force of the lift caused the wooden chest to disintegrate mid-air, scattering various goods all over the ground. The bandits ahead did not stop to loot the items, nor did the merchants behind have the leisure to mourn their lost cargo—their very lives were hanging by a thread.

The leading bandits had already surged through the gap. Even under these circumstances, they still chose to have a sword-and-shield-wielding member spearhead the assault. This particular bandit was shorter than the rest, wielding a short sword in his right hand and a small leather-wrapped round shield on his left. The center of the shield featured a metal plate, while the edges appeared to be wrapped in thick hide. To maintain offensive capability, the surface of the leather shield was studded with sharp spikes. Hollering wildly, the bandit held the spiked shield before him and accelerated.

The spikes on that shield were right before their eyes!

At the exact moment he was about to cross the threshold, the bandit let out a fierce shout, twisted his body sideways, and poured all his strength into his left arm, shoving the troublesome large shield aside and clearing a direct path ahead. His war cries gradually morphed into triumphant laughter as he swung his blade and swaggered triumphantly by the gap—once they eliminated these final resistors, indulged in some casual slaughter and plunder, they could simply hijack another carriage and make their escape. With a bit of luck, they might even secure the horses, making future raids all the smoother, and earning the approval of their chieftain...

From behind the retreating shield, a figure suddenly lunged out.

The short bandit sneered inwardly, maintaining his forward momentum while increasing the force behind his advance. With his own strength, even a fully braced defensive shield had been shoved aside; how could a mere human trying to block his path hope to withstand it...

The fellow didn't even have a shield, just a short sword... Wait, was he holding the sword with both hands? Is there even a dual-handed swordsmanship style for short swords?

The bandit had no time left to ponder.

Stepping forward with a powerful stride, the figure gripped the short sword with both hands and swept it upward in a ferocious, surging arc.

With a dull thud, the strike caught the underside of the leather shield. The arm holding the shield was violently jerked upward by the explosive force, dragging the short bandit backward and lifting him completely off his feet into a rearward arc.

[Clang]

"Take that!" Bai Lok bellowed, delivering a swift kick straight to the intruder's chest.

"Why didn't you just stab him with your sword?" As soon as the large shield was repositioned to block the gap, Mengzhu found a moment of respite to pant and ask Bai Lok.

"Where would I get the stamina for that? That move just now practically drained all my energy; managing to kick him was already pushing my limit..." Bai Lok wiped his mouth and replied, "Besides, trying to finish him off could spell trouble. The gap in strength between us is too wide; if my movement is even a fraction too slow and gives the opponent a chance to react..."

"Is the gap between us really that big?"

"By my estimation, that guy is at least around level thirty... Don't be fooled by how easily that uncle is blocking them; he's just taking advantage of the large shield." Bai Lok deflected an incoming attack with his sword, then countered with a slash of his own. "Besides, this uncle isn't simple. At the very least, his combat experience is extremely rich... Watch out!"

Ahead of the crates, the spear-wielding bandit attempted to repeat his trick, aiming to flip over another wooden chest. Acting with swift coordination, several players rushed to guard the vulnerable gap, but their numbers were pitifully thin—the total player count was only four or five.

At that exact moment, accompanied by a resounding battle cry, a silver-gleaming figure leaped down from the rooftop of a carriage at the front of the caravan, bringing a greatsword crashing down toward the spearman's head.

"Phew..." Catching sight of the familiar bald head as he led his squad of guards back into the fray, Bai Lok finally let out a sigh of relief. "I was wondering why they would design a battle with such high intensity. Turns out we just needed to hold out for a bit..."

"I guess... everything is fine now, right?"