The man with the scarred face tightened the reins, his greedy gaze sweeping over the trembling villagers.
"Today is the day for your protection fee. My brothers should have informed you last time. Is all the grain ready?"
"Don’t blame me for speaking bluntly first; if the grain isn’t enough, we’ll have to use people to make up for it."
"And you all...."
His eyes finally landed on the Gauss Squad, who seemed out of place in the surroundings.
His gaze lingered on Aaliyah and Ying for a moment.
Gauss had already discreetly instructed his teammates to remove their Adventurer’s Badges.
Their purpose was to avoid alerting the enemy prematurely.
He also wanted to know the purpose of these bandits coming here, to prevent them from changing their demeanor upon seeing his adventurer level.
Otherwise, how would he know if they were here to rob and plunder?
Judging solely based on the villagers’ words seemed somewhat unfair.
But at the moment, perhaps because there was no badge directly proving their rank, or perhaps they hadn’t had time to notice them.
The scarred man had already announced his intention to rob and plunder, allowing Gauss to be at ease.
"You all...."
Normally, upon seeing such beautiful women, he would definitely want to take them back to the mountain.
But for some reason, just as he was about to utter some filthy words, an invisible yet unpleasant feeling seemed to grip his throat like an unseen hand, causing his words to be stuck at his lips.
"You all.... are adventurers, aren’t you?"
"Don’t meddle in our affairs, and I can let you go."
Though he felt something was amiss in his heart, the twenty or so subordinates beside him, armed with iron weapons, still gave him enough courage.
A group of over twenty, armed and trained for a period, with teamwork, was not to be underestimated.
This was also the reason why he could remain arrogant when facing villages with more people than them.
The combat power of robbers far exceeded that of ordinary villagers.
Not only were villagers at a disadvantage in terms of equipment, but they also had to engage in farm work.
But the robbers only needed to loot and hone their skills.
The gap in ruthlessness might even be larger than the physical gap.
The bandit leader thought he was offering a very generous choice.
After all, a squad with no apparent adventurer level might indeed be individually stronger, but if a full-scale fight ensued, they would likely be the ones to laugh last.
He hadn’t never encountered those so-called bottom adventurers before.
When outnumbered, they weren’t as fearsome as imagined.
So before he spoke, he actually had an inner struggle.
Between fighting unknown powerful enemies for potential rich rewards, and the possibility of casualties and losses, he hesitated for a long time.
In the end, he followed his instincts.
At the same time, his arm, which was behind his back, signaled his brothers to prepare for battle.
His brothers behind him discreetly spread out in a semi-circle.
If conflict was about to erupt, they could launch a siege on Gauss and the others immediately.
Seeing the thieves’ subtle encircling movements and the threatening gleam in the scarred man’s eyes as he glanced at Aaliyah and the others, Gauss’s last trace of doubt vanished.
This group were outright bandits, not some pitiable people driven by hardship.
Even if they initially had unspeakable reasons, as of now, they’ve become oppressors hanging over many people’s heads.
"Aaliyah, you all protect the villagers."
Gauss had no intention of communicating with the opposite party, only quietly instructing his teammates.
As for the thug in front of him, Gauss would handle it himself.
The bandit leader’s face instantly darkened upon hearing this.
Even though Gauss ignored him, the meaning was clear, and... why not let his companions help? Allowing them to protect the villagers.
Could it be he alone could handle so many of them?
For a moment, his heart was filled with both anger and concern.
Instinctively, he began to feel unease.
Daring to utter such bold words, he was either a fool or an expert.
No chance for further pondering.
Gauss suddenly moved.
The bandit leader only saw Gauss flicker in front of him, with no time to react.
The next moment!
A sharp pain erupted from his abdomen.
Then his entire body flew back as if struck by a battering ram, collapsing like a disjointed marionette.
"Boom!!!"
His body drew an arc through the air and then landed precisely on a distant haystack.
"Ugh!"
His body sunk into the haystack.
But a mouthful of fresh blood still spurted from his mouth.
Gauss remained where he had just stood, slowly withdrawing his leg.
His gaze then turned to the twenty or so bandits encircling them.
"Gulp."
A distinct sound of someone swallowing echoed.
When they noticed the man in the black robe gazing at them.
The legs of some bandits started to tremble.
The man in the black robe began to exude an aura akin to a fierce dragon, directly intimidating everyone present.
Those he looked at felt as if they were being watched by some kind of monster.
"Sir... Sir, we’ll leave right now."
"Don’t attack! Don’t attack!"
"We promise we’ll never come back."
Don’t expect this group of village-looting bandits to have much backbone.
They’ve always been bullies who fear the strong.
Gauss even suspected if the village dared to resist with the determination to fight until biting a chunk from them before dying, with the bandits’ quality, they might not dare to fight to the end.