Meanwhile, the counterattack on the Bastard Bandits was going extremely well.
Each and every time that they showed up to ambush a Reborn Taxi, they would always end up getting defeated by the chocolate-powered Taxi Drivers.
The Bastard Bandits seemed to have finally noticed that their numbers were slowly whittling down. The groups that they sent down for missions ended up being missing-in-action, as if they just disappeared out of thin air. And since no one was returning from the ambushes, they had no idea what was happening.
In response, the bandits sent out more bandits per group, making sure that they had the numbers advantage in the ambush.
Now, the Rebornian Drivers would find themselves outnumbered almost 10 to 1. But thankfully, the Shadow Orcs were always there to support whenever things got too dangerous.
So to find out their progress in the fight against the Bastard Bandits, Michael visited the Rebornian Prison to see for himself.
"How many do we have now?" Michael asked Sleazy.
"About 500, boss. But I don't think they'll send more bandits out soon. They'll know something is up and they'll hole up in the cave."
Michael nodded. "Yeah. The Orcs are telling me that there are less and less ambushes happening in the Golden Road. They're still there, but they just stay in the dark and spy on the automobiles."
"They're trying to find out the secret why they're losing the ambushes."
"They won't. While they're spying on us, the Orcs are spying on them," Michael assured. "By the way, how are things going here?"
The reformed prisoner pointed at the numerous bandits wearing orange jumpsuits gathered in the open courtyard. Some were playing mini baseball, some were working out, and some were even participating in a painting class.
"Look at them, boss. When they first arrived here, they wanted to escape anytime they could. But now, they've adjusted to life here just like I have."
Sleazy rubbed his nose, a bit embarrassed. "Actuallly, they're thanking me for helping them be captured in the prison. If not, then they would have been stuck in their cave becoming Flarecorp's lackeys."
Michael was glad that these bandits were given a chance. Although they definitely did some horrible crimes in their lives, that didn't mean that they weren't deserving of redemption.
And with his Supreme Skill, he even saw that these prisoners had a wide range of talents that they could pursue better than just throwing fists. There were potential Engineers, Chefs, and even Artists.
He planned on integrating them into society once they had fully served their time in prison. They were valuable man power that Michael needed in all of his projects in the Queens region.
Speaking of which, Michael wanted to check in on the progress of the Golden Road in the East. According to his estimations, they must be closing in on the forest.
He bid goodbye to Sleazy and teleported himself to the very edge of the Golden Road.
In front of him were a group of construction workers using their innate skill [Excavate Path] to dig up dirt and stone from the ground to make way for the pouring of concrete.
Behind him, he saw an automobile truck with an open load containing stacks of metal rebar meant for supporting concrete to make it much more durable. Beside it was another truck whose load was a cylindrical drum that was rotating at a constant speed—this was where the liquid concrete was stored.
The on-site Rebornian Engineer looked up from his paper and finally saw Michael in front of him.
"Boss!"
"Hey, Busker. How's the construction going?"
The Yellow HobMankey Engineer showed an awkward look. "Right now, it's going well, boss. But our scouts further up the forest are experiencing some weird events."
The Engineer Scouts were in charge of surveying the way for the Golden Road. They made sure that the path was suitable for construction. Unfortunately, their analysis was disrupted by some supernatural
"Hmm…weird how?"
"They would find themselves tripping on flat roads, they would lose items from their backpacks, and when they slept, they heard whisperings and incessant laughter around their tents."
Michael looked beyond and saw that the Golden Road was just 10 or so kilometers away from the luscious green forest of the East.
"It's the Fairies," Michael concluded.
"Fairies?! My gosh…are they dangerous sir?"
"Probably not. If they were, then they would have already attacked us."
The onsite engineer heaved a sigh of relief.
"They only want the emotions of people, so they'll probably scare you in the night."
The engineer was scared again. "Will we be able to construct the Golden Road in the forest?"
"They'll probably harass you as you get closer. But don't worry. I'll have me and a few others accompany you while you work," Michael assured him.
"Thank you boss!"
Once the engineer found out that Michael would be protecting them, he was inspired to start working a lot harder than before.
…
…
…
Back to the merchants and the adventurers, they all closed their eyes as the four 6-star Rock Golems brought down their thick, branch-like arms towards them.
They thought this was the end of their lives.
But a few seconds later, nothing happened.
Slowly, they opened their eyes to see that the giant Rock Golems that surrounded them were gone, with no trace of them ever being there in the first place.
They all patted their bodies and felt no injury or change. It made them wonder if everything that happened was just a dream or an illusion that was brought upon by deprivation of sleep.
Meanwhile, once they had their fill, Vivi and her friends blipped out of reality itself. Soon, they appeared in a world covered in darkness, where the trees glowed with a green and blue light, and where the veins of its leaves twinkled with luminescence.
This was the dimension of the Fairies, located in a subspace coinciding with the forest of the East.
This place was like the mirror copy of the forest itself, but contained in a different dimension that only Fairies could access.
In this place, they could come in and out of reality whenever or wherever they wanted.
This was how they stayed out of people's sight, allowing them to traverse the forest without anybody knowing.
Vivi looked down and saw the merchants and the adventurers quickly pack their things up and leave in the middle of the night.
They were spooked about what happened and immediately wanted to return.
On a whim, Vivi decided to follow them from the Fairy dimension.
She watched them turn the caravan around and race off to the forest's exit.
There was still a worried look on their faces, worried about those strange Rock Golems that suddenly appeared and disappeared out of nowhere.
But as they left the forest, Vivi saw their expressions change from one of worry to one of relief.
She looked beyond and saw these humans and demi-humans working together to pour some kind of liquid onto a ditch. Behind them were these strange metal carriages that looked like monsters laying in wait.
And as Vivi looked closer, she finally saw the badge embroidered on all the workers' shirts.
It was the symbol of 'R', one that she was familiar with from her target's memory.
This was Reborn!