The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

Having received a reply, Julian flicked the reins again.

The horses carrying the carriage suddenly appeared startled by Julian's actions, their hooves thrashing about and instantly breaking free of their reins.

The two carriages, which were originally traveling side by side, veered off course after a close collision, stopping one on the left and the other on the right.

Julian, the coachman, fell straight down through the gap between the two carriages.

Viner only glanced at it before she couldn't bear to look any longer.

Even if it's acting, the sacrifice of landing face-first is really too much.

In comparison, Field's acting was much more exaggerated.

The attackers seemed unwilling to harm the horses; not only were there few arrows aimed at them, but most of them lacked power, barely serving to restrain them.

Despite knowing he wouldn't be hit by the arrow, Field pretended to be thrown off his horse, jumped down, caught an arrow in mid-air, and tucked it under his arm to feign being hit.

The entire sequence of movements was fluid and seamless. Julian reminded him that it was acting, and Venere was almost completely fooled.

Judging from the arrows fired by the other side, they were most likely a group of bandits who robbed along the way.

Bandits of this caliber could at most rob ordinary merchant caravans, but would vanish without a trace at the mere sight of a bandit suppression force.

Today we've really hit a brick wall.

"Stop shooting! Stop shooting! Don't hurt my horse! This is all money!" A rough voice suddenly rang out.

Then the curtain of the carriage was lifted from the outside, revealing seven or eight masked heads and a pile of gleaming swords.

"Hey! Who are you people?!"

Anna screamed in perfect unison, perfectly capturing the panicked state of a young girl.

That sound nearly pierced Wiener's eardrum.

Viner covered her ears and glanced helplessly at Anna.

He finally understood: everyone in this logistics team possessed unique skills, and they were all actors.

"Who are you? Robin Hoods!" the leader of the bandits shouted. "You heartless merchants, making a living off war all day long!"

"Today, I, Grandpa Costa, will act on behalf of Heaven and teach you a lesson!"

Chapter 178 The Emblem of Leisure

"She's just a weak woman, there must be some misunderstanding."

Anna immediately put on a delicate and pitiful act, sobbing as she did so, looking utterly pathetic.

"Yes, I believe you, so it must have been him who coerced you."

Costa was indeed seduced by Anna's beauty and turned his attention to Vina.

To make the performance more convincing, Venus, who had given up resisting and was being held down with her hands tied, immediately became unhappy when she saw the other person pointing at her.

No, you—

"Boss, the information we received is not—"

A henchman was about to step forward to stop him, but instead received a heavy slap from Costa.

"Stop talking nonsense. I'm the boss, and who are you?"

"You are, you are."

The henchman, who was so badly slapped that he could barely stand, didn't dare say anything more.

"You're quite cunning, woman. I almost fell for your trick."

After reprimanding his underling, Costa turned back to Anna and sternly rebuked her.

"Uh... my daughter hasn't done anything yet."

"You're lying! Didn't you say it was a misunderstanding between us? I'm telling you, there's no misunderstanding."

“I know you are from the Valentine Merchant Guild. I know there is money, grain, weapons, and horses on this vehicle.”

“What’s most infuriating is that you actually do business with those hypocritical bastards?” Costa said angrily.

"Who do you mean by 'hypocritical guy'?" Viner asked in a low voice.

Unarmed and trapped like turtles in a barrel, Costa's henchmen did not regard a young man like Viner as a threat.

"Those knights of St. Freya, they're the ones who made our boss homeless."

"May I ask what your boss did before?"

"He used to be the bandit king of the Augmar Mountains, who could dominate an entire mountain!"

"what about now?"

"...bandits who robbed passing caravans." The henchman seemed a little embarrassed himself.

The conversation continued on the other side.

“I am a businesswoman, so naturally I will do business with whoever offers the highest price. If you can offer a higher price, I certainly will not refuse,” Anna said.

“But all the supplies on the carriage are already mine. What else do you have to offer me in exchange for terms?” Costa’s lips curled into a wicked smile, his face full of malicious intent.

"Of course it's my daughter herself. As long as you don't harm her, the Valentine Merchant Guild can pay a hefty sum to ransom her."

“A good suggestion, but unfortunately it won’t work unless—” Costa deliberately dragged out his words.

"My young lady would rather die than betray her principles!" Venere shouted deliberately.

"Drag this little bastard out and chop him up. Drag him far away, so his blood doesn't splatter on the car," Costa ordered his men, his face darkening.

"Yes, boss." Immediately, two henchmen dragged Vina out of the carriage.

Seeing this, the other henchmen also wisely retreated, leaving this space to their leader.

"Now that the troublesome people are gone, I advise you not to have any other thoughts. Otherwise, I don't care whether they are alive or warm."

After Wiener's interruption, Costa completely lost interest and pressed closer to Anna.

"Alas, it seems this calamity is destined to befall me. Unfortunately, there is one thing I do not understand. Could you please let my daughter know the answer before she dies?" Anna placed her hand on her chest.

"This girl has quite a temper. Blame it on yourselves for walking into this mess. It took me a lot of effort to lure that pack of Frostwolf to Hanova Town to pull off a big heist."

"But who could have imagined that those guys would arrive so quickly? If you ask me, those Frostwolves are all show and no substance; they couldn't even manage to inflict mutual destruction."

"The local mountain strongholds all vanished at the mere mention of St. Freya's name. Luckily, I had a backup plan, which allowed me to catch a big fish."

"With the equipment that these knights have replaced, I'll have a chance to make a comeback," Costa said confidently.

“I don’t think so,” Anna shook her head and said, “You bunch of scoundrels will definitely be wiped out by the Holy Knights.”

"What do you know?"

Upon being questioned, Costa instantly became furious. He lifted his right arm, revealing the emblem on it.

Anna recognized it at a glance; it was the most common emblem of power, though its completeness was quite limited.

However, even among bandits and horse thieves, it's considered a rare find.

"I'm not the same person I was before! I only lost to those guys because I didn't have my crest. Last time I survived a near-death experience and even awakened my crest. What I've lost, I will take back everything!" Costa's words were filled with resentment.

After saying that, he reached out and grabbed Anna without any hesitation.

The moment he made his move, Anna also moved.

She had already placed her hand on her chest in preparation, or more accurately, on the ring on her chest.

In an instant, a flat and wide giant axe appeared out of thin air in Anna's hand and slammed down toward Costa with tremendous force.

Under this death threat, Costa instantly activated his Power Emblem, his muscles bulging like writhing dragons, attempting to seize the giant axe by brute force.

Costa felt that even if he had misjudged her and failed to recognize her as a Herald, how could such a thin and frail girl possibly compete with him in strength?

He already possessed fourth-tier strength, and after awakening his emblem, his power increased to a whole new level. For him to use such a cumbersome weapon in front of him was simply a waste—

"Snapped!"

The reality, however, was quite the opposite of what Costa had perceived.

Anna's axe swings were not fast, but they carried an indescribable weight.

When Costa touched the axe, it was as if he had crashed head-on into a mountain, and then he was sent flying by an unparalleled force.

This attack even forced Costa's activated Power Emblem into a dormant state.

“You escaped once by sheer luck, but instead of repenting, you dare to continue your evil deeds. If you run into the hands of our St. Freya Knights again today, consider yourself unlucky.” Anna chased after Costa and jumped off the carriage.

Anna's strength was not particularly outstanding in the entire academy, and her martial arts skills were also mediocre.

If there's anything special about it, it's that it's very rare for a girl to choose an axe as a weapon.

But it wasn't that Anna wanted to use a weapon like an axe, which didn't quite suit her personality; rather, it was because only this weapon could fully unleash the power of her emblem.

The emblem of wealth.

The greater the total weight of the items you carry, the greater the increase in power. The higher the total value of the items you carry, the faster the power increase.

This ability might be of little use to others.

But don't forget, Anna wears a storage ring around her neck that even Vena envies.

Taking the weight inside the storage ring into account gives Anna the possibility of using her strength to throw bricks.

This is Anna, a seemingly weak woman with both strength and speed at the A-level.

Chapter 179 The decision is yours

The carriage was cramped, and Anna's axe swept across all the space, leaving Costa with no way to escape.

However, the gap in strength between the two sides remains quite significant.

Anna's decision to jump off the carriage meant she was giving up this advantage.

If Costa can seize this opportunity to fight slowly and steadily, there is a possibility that he can turn defeat into victory.

Unfortunately, his courage had already been destroyed by Anna's attack.

This is the first time Costa has lost to someone in terms of power since awakening the power emblem.

The other party also claimed to be a member of the Knights of St. Freya.

"Don't be so smug, we still have hostages! Do you really think you can defeat all of us by yourself?"

If he fell into the hands of the Knights, Costa knew very well what awaited him.

So he quickly put aside his previous frivolous attitude and called for help without hesitation.

However, Costa overlooked the fact that Anna was not his only opponent.

A figure appeared silently behind Costa.

Costa initially thought it was one of his incompetent subordinates, until a cold blade pressed against the side of his neck.

"You're not referring to me as the hostage, are you?" Viner asked.

After being led out of the carriage, Vina easily broke free of her ropes and snatched a weapon from one of the henchmen.

Vandley, who was hiding in another carriage, and the two men who were lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious, also launched an attack and quickly subdued all the thieves except for Costa.

This was planned after realizing that the bandits were not strong enough.

If the enemy is too scattered and too far apart, taking the initiative to attack may result in some escaping. It would be better to lure them in and capture them all at once.

Costa never imagined that he would be isolated and helpless just by saying a few words in the carriage.

"!"

Seeing that Viner was only threatening and not directly beheading him, Costa realized that the other party still wanted to capture him alive. With his back turned, he suddenly reached behind him with his left hand.

That pretty boy is obviously this woman's lover. If we can catch him, he'll have leverage to negotiate.

However, with her attention focused, Wiener was not so easily caught off guard and immediately swung her left hand to exchange a palm strike with Costa.

The sudden switch from a catch to a shot prevented Costa from fully utilizing his power advantage.

Despite possessing the Crest of Power, Costa lost to Anna in terms of strength and was unable to even force Vena to retreat.

Since the other party was still putting up a fight, Wiener naturally didn't hold back.