The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he abruptly raised the old hunting rifle in his hand, pointing the dark muzzle at Lu Qianwei, who was moving through the crowd, and his finger was on the trigger!

However, the instant he raised his gun, Lu Qianwei had already picked up a machete dropped by a villager from the ground. With a flick of his wrist, the machete transformed into a spinning streak of cold light, not aimed at the old man, but striking the middle of the shotgun barrel with unparalleled precision!

"Clang!"

With a piercing clang of metal against metal, the old man felt a tremendous force, his hand snapped open, and the hunting rifle flew out of his hand, breaking in two in mid-air!

All of this happened very quickly; from the outbreak of the conflict to this moment, it had only taken a minute or two.

More than a dozen villagers were lying haphazardly on the ground, groaning in pain and temporarily unable to move.

Although the remaining villagers still carried weapons, their eyes were filled with fear as they looked at Lu Qianwei, who stood in the center like a god of war, with not even the corners of his clothes disheveled. No one dared to take another step forward.

Alai clutched his wrist, his face deathly pale.

The old man looked at the broken hunting rifle on the ground, then at the composed Lu Qianwei. The wrinkles on his face were as deep as if carved by a knife, and his eyes were incredibly complex. Amidst his shock and anger, there was finally a trace of indescribable horror.

Lu Qianwei patted non-existent dust off his hands, his gaze calmly sweeping over the silent crowd before finally settling on the plaid-shirted old man who had been watching the show without moving. "You must be the village chief of this village."

I won't repeat myself, but I really was lost.

"But I really don't know much about the refugees from the East that you mentioned."

Just pretend I'm someone who just came from out of town.

"Furthermore, I have no interest in knowing any secrets your village may hold, or any conflicts it may have with other villages!"

"So now you can explain to me what the Dongbang refugees are, right?"

Which country's territory is this?

The village chief sighed, and finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "There... is no country here anymore."

He pointed to a rusty road sign in the distance, entwined with vines, on which the words "Sacco City Boundary" were faintly visible. "Ever since that geological disaster decades ago caused the collapse of the old world order... we've never had a peaceful time here."

"But things weren't that bad until two years ago... when an armed group calling themselves 'Yaman' occupied Sako City."

The city of Sako was once a trading hub on the eastern coast of the Eonian continent, where merchants, artisans, scholars, and others from the east settled.

"After the Koyo people came... they divided the Easterners into different classes."

White people lived in the city center, where they had clean water and food, while mixed-race children were relocated to the outskirts to do light work...

Those from the East, or those who are not white... can only live outside the city, or like us, hide in the deep mountains.

Many of the business owners in the city originally came from the Eastern Continent.

But after the U-Taiwanese occupied the country, the people of the East became the targets of extortion and exploitation...

Furthermore, there were policies that favored white people, relegating Easterners to only dirty and strenuous jobs, which led to the term "Eastern refugees."

Lu Qianwei finally understood.

They just take advantage of their honesty and easy-going nature.

"So you were just talking about 'scavenging dogs on the other side of the river' and 'the iguana gang in the mountains'..." Lu Qianwei changed the subject.

The village chief said, "There's another village on the other side of the river called 'New Hope'."

They were also from the Eastern Frontier, and as for the 'Iguana Gang'... they were a group of bandits who specialized in robbing and plundering!

"Robbers? Aren't you dangerous living nearby?"

“They target roads, tolls, and drivers; they rarely target poor people like us.”

"But they are even more ruthless than U-Man, sometimes even killing people, so now you can hardly see any trucks on the road near the village."

Lu Qianwei nodded and then...

The village chief suddenly looked up, staring sharply at him: "Outsider, you just said you were 'lost'."

But judging from your skills... you don't seem like an ordinary person. What exactly are you here for?

“I…I’m a traveler,” Lu Qianwei replied with a smile. “I came from a very far place, curious about your world, so I came out here.”

The village chief stared at him for a long time, then suddenly grinned and shook his head: "Hahaha, traveler, traveling?"

In this day and age, people who still have the mind to travel... are either crazy or really not that many anymore.

Lu Qianwei didn't respond. In fact, after hearing about the Youren and the Oonia continent, plus the Dongbang refugees, he already knew what kind of world this was.

The story of Longsword Chronicles begins in the near future, where extreme climate and environmental degradation have led to rising sea levels, submerging most of the land and plunging human society into a survival crisis due to resource scarcity.

On the continent of Eurasia, ordinary people, especially those from the East, are forced to become "transport workers" under the current circumstances. They are engaged in dangerous labor in harsh conditions and are oppressed by armed warlords such as the Uyghurs, resulting in a stark class antagonism.

As for the protagonist of this story, she is a female lead named He Jiang.

The father drives a truck, but is extorted at a tollbooth and is shot dead by U-Theatre police after discovering a controlled knife. The female protagonist, He, will be imprisoned.

He went in at 18 and came out at 24.

Due to the global landscape, she eventually became a truck driver and later represented this group, organizing resistance against U-Mann's exploitation and becoming a symbol of the underprivileged's struggle.

At this point in time... his father should be alright.

Chapter 263 The Long Sword and the Storm 2

After asking about the situation and the direction to Sako City, Lu Qianwei ignored the village chief's insincere offer to stay for a meal and turned to leave the village.

He had no intention of getting involved in the conflicts and secrets here; he only wanted to go to Saco City first and then make further plans.

But sometimes, even when he doesn't want to cause trouble, things still happen to him!

Lu Qianwei could only say that such is the way of the world.

After walking along the road for about an hour, just as he turned a corner, more than a dozen dark figures emerged from behind a giant banyan tree, instantly blocking the road ahead completely.

The man in the lead had a slanted scar running from his brow bone to his chin, making half of his eye look crooked. He was shirtless, and his dark chest was covered with curly hair. In his hand, he held a machete that was almost half a person long. The blade was polished to a shine, and the nick was stained with old, black blood.

The dozen or so men behind him were all dressed the same, some clutching machetes, others carrying sharpened bamboo spears. They were all lean and wiry, having spent years in the mountains, and their eyes were fixed on Lu Qianwei's clean and neat clothes and hiking boots.

Without a doubt, this is the iguana gang that the village chief mentioned, the one that makes a living by collecting tolls and robbing and killing passing drivers. Judging from their appearance, they have already taken quite a few lives.

Scarface spat out a mouthful of green betel nut juice he had chewed, his greedy eyes sweeping over Lu Qianwei. "Heh, where did this Dongbang kid come from, dressed like a proper gentleman, daring to walk the path that grandpas have to manage?"

Do you even know the rules?!

"If you know what's good for you, take off all your money, watch, boots, and clothes, or we'll chop you up and throw you into the forest to feed the iguanas!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the iguana gang members around him burst into laughter, spewing out one vulgar curse after another: "Boss, I think this kid has such fair skin and tender flesh, he'll definitely make a fortune selling him to those white guys with special tastes!"

"Haha, that's a great idea!"

"I think we should open a brothel in the future!"

"From now on, send any good-looking person you see inside! Hahaha..."

His unrestrained words shattered Lu Qianwei's last shred of composure.

Just now in the village, the villagers were only being wary and xenophobic; he was willing to avoid taking lives.

But when faced with bandits who made a living by killing and robbing... he didn't say a single unnecessary word. As he raised his right hand, he had already gripped the gun handle. The moment his index finger pulled the trigger, the crisp gunshot shattered the cicadas' chirping in the forest.

The scarred man's laughter was still stuck in his throat when a dark, bloody gash appeared between his eyebrows, and he fell straight down.

At this, the remaining dozen or so iguana gang members froze on the spot, several of their machetes and bamboo spears clattering to the ground.

But Lu Qianwei's gun didn't stop as they were stunned. He quickly emptied the magazine, leaving only five people standing.

Within seconds, the five of them instinctively wanted to run away, but the moment they tried to move, their legs went weak and they collapsed to their knees.

The skinny guy standing at the front was called Ah Gou. His trousers were slowly getting wet, and a foul stench mixed with sweat wafted out. He cried and kowtowed, "Big brother, spare me! Father, spare me!"

We were blind! We shouldn't have blocked your way, Grandpa! Please spare our lives!

"Oh ho, you're quite good at begging for mercy, you even brought up the whole family's seniority." Lu Qianwei, with a magazine loaded, chuckled leisurely as he walked up to Agou, gun in hand.

Where is your gang's base?

Ah Gou didn't even dare to raise his head, and answered in a trembling voice: "I...I know, the stronghold is at the old toll station at the mountain pass ahead, less than five miles from here!"

"Ancestors, I'll take you there! I'll lead the way! Please don't kill me!"

"Let's go, lead the way. If you dare to do anything funny, everyone else will be your role model."

Lu Qianwei raised his gun barrel and pointed it at the corpse on the ground. Ah Gou scrambled to his feet, hunched over, and walked into the depths of the mountain path without daring to look back. The remaining four prisoners followed behind him, not daring to even breathe.

After walking less than two miles, Lu Qianwei sensed something was wrong.

The enemy deliberately circled around into areas with tall grass, dragging their feet, clearly trying to buy time so that the messenger who had run away earlier could set up an ambush at the outpost.

To conserve bullets, he used gunpowder weapons. When the gunshots rang out, Lu Qianwei didn't think the people in the mountains wouldn't hear them.

Lu Qianwei reached out and pressed the gun against Ah Gou's back, saying calmly, "If you take another wrong step, I'll smash your kneecaps."

"Yes, yes!" Ah Gou was startled and dared not try anything funny again, so he obediently followed the right path.

Before long, they climbed to the top of the mountain pass and could see the iguana gang's stronghold in the distance.

It was a highway tollbooth that had been abandoned for decades, surrounded by a crooked wooden fence. Above the gate hung three dried and blackened iguana carcasses, swaying back and forth in the wind, looking indescribably grotesque.

The messenger had already delivered the message, and by the time Ah Gou led Lu Qianwei outside the fence, the entire toll station was already on high alert.

Three gunmen were lying on the roof of the toll booth, and more than twenty people were standing behind the wall, with a total of five guns pointed at the gate.

Three gleaming old-fashioned hunting rifles, a bolt-action rifle so old its stock was cracked, and a stolen, nearly new police pistol—this was all the Iguana Gang had accumulated over a decade.

The outpost leader, One-Eyed Dragon, with a bloody hole in half of his face, lay behind a concrete wall and shouted in a rough voice, "Eastern Gang!"

You killed so many of our brothers, and you still dare to come looking for us!

You really don't know how to write the word "death"!

"Put down your gun and surrender, and maybe we'll even give you a proper burial!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than gunshots rang out from the top of the guard post. Lead bullets clattered and hit the muddy ground at Lu Qianwei's feet, splashing up a cloud of mud. All the bullets missed their mark, not even touching the hem of his clothes.

Lu Qianwei pushed Ah Gou behind a boulder about half a person's height by the roadside, pressed him to the ground, stood up, raised his gun, and fired!

The first shot hit the man holding the hunting rifle on the far left of the guard post. He screamed and rolled down the two-meter-high guard post with his gun, landing on the ground without moving for a long time.

The second one was the one on the right with the bolt-action rifle. Just as he pulled the trigger, Lu Qianwei's second bullet pierced his forehead, and he fell straight onto the roof.

In just a few seconds, all the gunmen were dead. Even the one with the police pistol who was hiding behind cover was shot in the forehead by Lu Qianwei using his spatial abilities.

Seeing this, the one-eyed man's eyes turned red. "Damn it! Charge!"