Don't move, it's a robbery!

While I wouldn't call myself a wilderness survival expert, I've been a bandit for so long, spending most of my days in the wild. I know a bit about what to be careful about when sleeping in the wild, such as not sleeping upwind, otherwise wild animals might come at night, and staying away from big trees when it rains, otherwise you might get struck by lightning.

If conditions permit, I will also use some fumigant to repel mosquitoes. If these conditions are not met or if I need to be hidden, then I can only bear with it.

The soldiers weren't planning to rest for long, so they didn't set up camp, but the soldiers in charge of cooking started setting up pots and fires, seemingly preparing for a big meal.

Judging from their seating arrangement at the dinner table, these guys were roughly divided into three factions, probably the personal guards of the three knights. Among them, Knight Beni's personal guards had the fewest men, but were the best equipped and all looked to be elites, while the men under the other two knights were somewhat of mixed quality.

Since they were going to eat, they should have at least an hour to rest. I found a big tree that was downwind, climbed up a branch, and prepared to take a nap.

Exhausted from the long sleep, I slept exceptionally well, but even in that short time, something came to disturb me.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

Hearing the shouts, I was startled awake and quickly looked in the direction of the army.

Strangely, although the soldiers looked panicked, I couldn't find the attacker until someone started rolling on the ground, and I realized they might have been bitten by some kind of insect.

Could it be that we encountered one of those ants that bite really hard? But I haven't heard of any particularly dangerous insects around Linde City.

To prevent myself from being bitten, I quickly took out some insect repellent I had prepared beforehand from my pocket.

These things usually have a pungent odor that is hard for ordinary people to detect, but it is quite noticeable to trained animals, so I usually don't dare to apply them when I'm sneaking around.

However, the current situation is special. If I don't apply it, I might get bitten. Most of these strange insects are poisonous, and even the mildest symptom is a rash all over my body.

Anyway, they didn't bring any hunting dogs, so it's just a slight smell; we can just stay away.

It turned out that applying the medicine was the right thing to do. The symptoms of the attacked soldiers were far more serious than I had imagined. The two men who had been rolling on the ground earlier were now unconscious, and those who had not been attacked by the poisonous insects had already fled.

Several people tried to take the fallen soldier with them, but were stopped by others. They seemed to have a conflict and even pointed their weapons at each other. In the end, it was the leader, Knight Beni, who forcibly stopped the fight and led his group away from the place.

I waited until the person had walked away before slowly approaching.

Even after applying the medicine, I still didn't dare to get too close. The two fallen soldiers were already dead, but contrary to my previous guess, they were not killed by poisonous insects, but by acid corroding their bodies.

Yes, acid.

By this time, the chainsaws on their bodies had shown large signs of corrosion, with several places even having holes. If their armor was already corroded to this extent, the flesh and blood underneath were even worse off.

The culprit behind all this is likely those tiny, bright green insects on the ground. These insects are currently in their juvenile stage and, apart from their highly acidic body fluids, have no other advantages.

These insects like to lay their eggs in bushes. Those unlucky soldiers must have accidentally destroyed their nests while passing by, and were covered in these little creatures. Unaware of the danger these insects posed, they instinctively swatted at them and were then splashed with acid.

Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if only one or two insects were killed, since the body fluids of one or two small insects can't penetrate armor. The problem was that the soldiers panicked.

Upon realizing that these tiny insects could corrode armor, their first reaction was to quickly kill the little creatures, and then the more acid they sprayed, the more acid they produced.

Especially the two rolling on the ground, their whole bodies were basically covered in acid. The others who were swatting the bugs only suffered minor injuries, but they rolled around in the acid, it would be hard for them not to die.

By the way, the locals in Linde City are very experienced in dealing with these insects. They just need to locate the nest and then pour caustic soda over it.

The adult insects are a bit difficult to deal with because they can grow to be very large, up to 3 meters long, and are extremely ferocious and aggressive.

Just how ferocious was it? Well, let's put it this way: the founder of Linde City once killed an adult insect with the help of the guards. He then regarded this as his greatest battlefield achievement and used the insect's name to command a city.

Yes, the adult form of this insect is called the Linde worm.

Of course, I had only heard about it before, and this was the first time I had seen it. However, if possible, I would say that I would like to see the small one, and not the big one.

The journey became much smoother from there. Even when we occasionally encountered wild animals in the forest, they were scared off by the sheer number of soldiers. Naturally, it was much easier for me to follow behind.

The entire team walked from day to night, and after the sun set, not a single ray of light could be seen in the forest.

Logically, they should have set up camp and rested by now, but the group didn't stop. Although I found it a bit strange, I continued to follow them.

After walking for several more hours, the group finally stopped, but before I could get close, I heard arguing.

Another argument broke out among the soldiers. Because it was unusually quiet here, even though I was far away, I could hear what they were arguing about. It seemed to be because Sir Beni had ordered everyone to march through the night.

Honestly, even though I lied to him, I still can't quite understand Benny's thought process. No one is competing with him for it, so why is he in such a hurry?

Besides, you're a knight in full plate armor, you've been walking through the mountains all day, aren't you tired?

Knight Beni was clearly not tired. Seeing that the others were unwilling to leave, he even began to threaten them with his status as sergeant major. One knight named Keman seemed somewhat dissatisfied and argued with him for a few words before being berated.

The soldiers set off again, but at a slow pace. In addition to the fatigue from the continuous march, discontent and doubt were also slowing down the group's progress.

By this time it was completely dark, and even with torches lit, they couldn't illuminate the distance. I had to take a pill that could grant me night vision in order to keep up with the group.

The situation is a bit bad right now. In my original plan, Benny's men should have been able to travel for two to three days through the forest, and I could have created some surprises every night to disrupt their morale and reduce their numbers.

But who would have thought that Beni would make everyone march through the jungle at breakneck speed, without sleep or rest?

At this rate, they should arrive at the Forest Witch's cabin by noon tomorrow at the latest.

Of course, even the strongest people need rest, and even elite troops are no exception. This non-stop forced march will definitely leave them exhausted tomorrow. To be honest, the fact that they've managed to hold on this long is far beyond my expectations.

The problem is that I followed them all the way, and I didn't conserve much energy.

When both sides are dead dogs, won't the side with more people have the advantage?

"Xitong, my good friend, can you give me some advice?"

(ﾟωﾟ): "How about you use one tiger to devour the other?"

"Huh? Chasing tigers and wolves? What does that mean?"

(ﾟωﾟ): "We passed by a Linde bug nest earlier, right? Since there's a nest, it means there are adult Linde bugs. Go back now, find a way to provoke it, and then bring it to attack these soldiers. Doesn't that sound great?"

"That's a good idea. If I had just passed by there during the day, it might have worked. But I've run so far now, how could I possibly make it back in time? Besides, are you sure I can outrun a Linde beetle? I might get eaten by it halfway there."

(ﾟωﾟ): "Tsk, this is exactly what I wanted!"

Just as my best friend and I were joking around, the team in front finally stopped. Apparently, someone had fallen behind while going down a steep slope, and some soldiers were worried that the lost person might have rolled down the hillside.

That's exactly what happened. I saw it clearly just now. A poor guy lost his footing while climbing the mountain and rolled down the slope. And, by sheer coincidence, he hit his head. I don't know if he died or not, but he's definitely silent now.

Hiking in a primeval forest in the middle of the night, especially after a long day of running, would be a disservice to this reckless attitude if nothing went wrong.

Soon, the others found the unfortunate fellow who had rolled down the mountain. Seeing their teammate's life hanging in the balance, the soldiers' discontent instantly erupted. At first, it was just a verbal dispute. No matter how much the soldiers complained, Knight Beni would always use "this is to reclaim the ancient scroll" as an excuse.

Unfortunately, Knight Beni was soon proven wrong.

Suddenly someone said, "What Knight Beni truly desires is the legacy of the hero!" This drove the soldiers completely mad. They suddenly understood why Knight Beni had suddenly become so abnormal, and their own greed was also stirred up.

After that, there wasn't much to say; they went straight to using knives.

Knight Beni also had loyal followers, and in addition, Knight Beni himself was quite skilled in martial arts, so he remained unharmed even when surrounded by dozens of people.

That's not quite right, because both sides were exhausted, barely able to swing their swords. And Knight Beni was wearing full plate armor, so even if he stood still, no one could cut him down. It would be a miracle if he got hurt.

They fought for more than ten minutes, exchanging blows for over a hundred rounds, but neither of them died; instead, several were exhausted.

The rioting soldiers had finally calmed down, probably realizing they couldn't handle Knight Beni, so they chose to cease fire. Knight Beni, no longer arrogant, was exhausted and barely able to speak. Seeing the ceasefire, he readily agreed.

In the end, Knight Beni and his dozen or so close associates chose to continue on with Tina, while the rest chose to turn back.

The farce is over, but I can't feel happy.

Watching these soldiers retreat, I hesitated. I was sure I would follow Knight Beni, but what about these 40-odd people who were going back? Should I just let them go?

They've practically delivered this to my doorstep, how can I not rob them?

But if I act now, I'm not strong enough to take them all down in one go. And won't that alert Knight Benedict?

After weighing the pros and cons for a while, I finally decided to hold back for now.

We can't let small things cause us to lose sight of the bigger picture; Knight Benedict's situation is the most important. Putting everything else aside, Tina's ancient scroll is my primary objective for this trip. Even if I can't get my hands on it, I must at least destroy it.

However, just as I made my decision, I discovered that a small group of the remaining soldiers, about 20 of them, had turned back and were quietly following behind Knight Beni, led by Knight Kerman.

I don't know what they're planning to do, but judging from their sneaky behavior, they're definitely not up to anything good.

I shook my head and silently waited for this group of people to pass, so as not to run into them.

I waited for more than 20 minutes, and I figured they had gone far away. Just as I was about to follow the trail, I discovered that another group of people had come from behind.

Ah, yes, those were the last 20 or so soldiers. I don't know the name of the knight who led them. He just stood by during the infighting and didn't participate. He looked like a big, handsome man, but I never imagined he would be so despicable.

Fine, they're all scheming and plotting against each other.

I shook my head and followed at the very back.