Zhou Jing and the others rushed to the workshop first. The inventory here had been looted, and all kinds of blood potions and mutant beast equipment were gone.
Even the craftsmen had disappeared. The entire workshop was empty, but there were not even many corpses lying around.
“They were probably all kidnapped.”
Everyone looked around.
Since these thugs were Mutant Blood Warriors, they would most likely capture the craftsmen and force them to work.
Cole said solemnly, “This group of thugs is still wreaking havoc in the city. This means that they have a temporary place to hold prisoners.”
“That’s for sure. They attacked the fortress city. They wouldn’t have just taken the spoils. Therefore, there must be a temporary gathering point in the city, and they’ve most likely prepared a beast convoy to accept the spoils. They would first ransack the city and move the spoils of war together into one place before finally returning with a full load.”
Zhou Jing did not think much about it and quickly came to a conclusion.
There was not much to discover at the workshop, so the group hurried to the Hunter Tavern.
The tavern was a mess. There were broken tables and chairs all over the floor. It was obvious that there had been a battle, but there was not a single corpse of a hunter could be found.
“Looks like the hunters were also taken away. These thugs actually didn’t kill anyone.” Cole was shocked.
“Maybe they plan to persuade the hunters to join them like captured craftsmen?” Zhou Jing guessed.
“This is too…” Cole didn’t know what to say.
In his opinion, if he wanted to plunder a town, the first thing he had to do was to deal with the hunters in the city.
If the hunters were left alive, even if they were imprisoned, it would be an unstable factor. These people would become trouble at any time, so it was better to silence them from the start.
Not only did they not kill the hunters, but they also wanted to persuade them to join them… These thugs were either idiots, extremely confident or both.
Zhou Jing observed the traces of the battle in the tavern. He stroked his chin and analyzed out loud.
“This is a fortress city, so there will be many hunters. Even if most of them are active outside, there will usually be at least 10 to 20 hunters in the town… Therefore, the damage caused by the battle can’t be so small. It’s impossible for this group of thugs to easily subdue many hunters. They must have used some methods. I guess they poisoned the hunters to make them lose their combat strength.”
“If the hunters are alive, we still have a considerable number of helpers.” Cole was delighted.
“It’s hard to say. Just because they’re alive doesn’t mean that they have combat strength. The hunters should be imprisoned in their temporary stronghold by those saboteurs and guarded by someone… Look there!”
Zhou Jing said casually as he looked around. He suddenly realized that there were spots of blood extending along the road.
Everyone saw it too, and their eyes lit up.
This should be the blood left behind by a hunter who resisted and was injured.
“Follow the blood trail. We should be able to find the location of the prison.”
The group immediately moved.
...
Somewhere in Deep Rock City, in a small bunker.
This was originally one of the barracks where the guards were stationed. At this moment, the garrison had been completely wiped out and occupied by the Sons of Mutant Blood as a temporary stronghold.
The fire did not spread here. The bunker was filled with people, hoarding a large number of resources obtained from plundering. There were seven Sons of Mutant Blood bandits guarding this place.
Zhou Jing and the others followed the blood trail and soon found this place. They hid behind a building in the distance and stuck their heads out to observe the bunker, memorizing the appearance and location of the bandits.
“This is most likely the stronghold of the bandits. There don’t seem to be many people left behind. They probably think that after subduing most of the hunters, they no longer have the strength to resist in the city, so they sent the main force out to plunder, right?” Cole lowered his voice.
“This is good news. How should we attack?” The leader of the hunter team asked for everyone’s opinion.
“Take the advantage while the bandits are not around. Let’s go up and kill them.”
Zhou Jing did not hesitate.
Although they were all Mutant Blood Warriors, their team was made up of the elites of the Empire’s hunters.
He and the team leader had both undergone three enhancements, and there was also Cole, an elite who had undergone two enhancements. With similar numbers, there was nothing to be afraid of.
There was a high chance that a group of bandits would not be very powerful. Most of them would only be enhanced once… The seven of them were enough to defend against the town hunters who had escaped, but they were far from being a match for their elite hunter team.
Everyone thought about it and had no objections.
Since they were not facing the enemy’s main force, there was no need to think too much. This was a good time to weaken the enemy’s overall strength.
The group took out their weapons and dispersed from their positions. They took a deep breath and suddenly rushed out.
As soon as they stepped onto the empty street, they were noticed by the seven bandits.
The seven of them immediately revealed shocked expressions and hurriedly threw flying knives, javelins, axes, and other things at Zhou Jing and the others.
Zhou Jing was the fastest. He rushed to the front, easily dodging the flying weapons. In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of a bandit.
The enemy was about to attack, but before he could raise his weapon, two extremely fast cold lights circled around his neck.
Splat!
The bandit spewed blood as he fell to the ground, unable to fight back.
Zhou Jing did not stop moving. His two blades dragged out two trails of light, and he killed two more people in the blink of an eye. His opponents did not even have time to defend before falling with wide open eyes.
The bandits that were only enhanced once could not keep up with Zhou Jing’s speed. So all of them were basically insta-gibbed. For those who tried to parry, their necks had been sliced through even before they could get their weapons up.
At the same time, in a certain room in the bunker, more than ten hunters were lying on the ground, tied up tightly. They were all in a weakened state, cursing and swearing.
“That guy called Dorton actually pretended to be a hunter. I believed in him, but I didn’t expect him to be a bandit!”
“That dog even put a paralyzing potion in the wine when we weren’t paying attention. How despicable. My entire body is still numb.”