Chapter 237
The real Red Beard was indeed being supported by powerful people. Otherwise, how could she get such a magic formation set up in here?
“Do they have a strong magician here? I don’t think the bandits would have such a high level magician in here.. It has to be the people behind the Red Beard had set this up.”
Xiao Yu and Grom went into the place. Xiao Yu was surprised as they moved into the depth of the lair. It was more like a city than a bandit’s lair. The size of this place wasn’t inferior to Subaru’s Eagle camp.
Xiao Yu pondered if Subaru was supported by officials from the Western Cloud Empire of the usurper! However, he believed that it didn’t matter who supported Subaru. As both parties would be interested in making sure that Lion territory was in check. It was advantageous both from defensive or offensive points.
Xiao Yu and Grom continued to explore the place. This lair was beyond their expectations. They would face a big loss if they marched in without checking the place.
There were almost 100,000 people inside the lair while Xiao Yu and Touba Hong had at best ten or 20 thousand soldiers.
Moreover, Xiao Yu was aware that the adventurers and escorts from the caravans wouldn’t go all out. If they lost the advantage in the battle then they would just retreat on their own. It meant that they could fail.
In addition to the Phantom formation there was a 10 meter high wall. Both Xiao Yu and Grom could jump over the wall but others didn’t have the ability. Their forces didn’t have any equipment for siege so it meant they couldn’t just barge in.
Xiao Yu didn’t intend to give up despite everything. He was just drooling over the wealth and treasures Red Beard had accumulated over the years.
Xiao Yu had turned filthy rich after getting the treasures from the Eagle camp. What would he be if he got his hands on Red Beard’s wealth?
Xiao Yu and Grom lurked in shadows and observed the place. They found out that there were two castes of people inside the lair. First, naturally there were bandits. The second category of the people were slaves. This place was totally different from Subaru’s lair. In Subaru’s lair there were families of the bandits and so on. But in here it was all about bandits.
Moreover, the number of slaves was much more than the number of bandits. About 80% of the population were slaves while 20% were bandits. Xiao Yu smiled when he saw the ratio. It would be much more easier to handle the slaves. The slaves had lost their sense of resistance but Xiao Yu could make the rise up with a little bit of stimulation.
Xiao Yu and Grom explored more and more. There were warehouses, normal residences and other facilities.
Xiao Yu smiled wider as he believed that using fire would bring great panic to the hearts of the bandits and slaves. It would be best to bring their morale down before attacking as psychological wars were the indispensable part of the siege warfare.
“There has to be the administrative hall if this place is like a town… I want to see that Red Beard woman.”
Xiao Yu was more interested in the real Red Beard. The fake one had told them that the woman’s strength was very high and she was scary. But Xiao Yu wanted to see her in real life. He felt attraction towards her.
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There were few guards in front of the administrative hall. Most probably the bandits never imagined that one day someone else would infiltrate their base. Moreover, it showed their confidence in the Phantom formation and the city walls.
Xiao Yu and Grom sneaked inside the place. He found out that this place was more poshy in comparison to his own administrative hall back in the Lion city.
“Damn it… My place is even inferior to a bandit’s nest! I gotta do some repair when I have the chance.” Xiao Yu has moved from one battle to another so he didn’t have much chance to work on construction of the Lion city.
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“The most important thing is that we have to know the strength of people who have captured Tiger! We can’t rush in to rescue him. Almost 20,000 troops were lost in the last attack. It’s clear to even a blind man that the enemy isn’t an ordinary person.. If we rush in then we will be trapped before we now it!” Xiao Yu heard people discuss inside the place.
Tiger was fake Red Beard’s real nickname.
Xiao Yu and Touba Hong beat the bandits last time and almost decimated all of them. However, there were still people who had escaped and the upper echelon of the bandits were aware that Tiger was caught by Xiao Yu and Touba Hong.
“The man who captured tiger was the 9th prince of the empire, Touba Hong!” Another voice echoed.
“The situation is more complex if its Touba Hong… He is the wisest and strongest one among the princes.. Moreover, he is Ao Du’s disciple.. If the action taken by Touba Hong is backed by Ao Du then the situation is more serious than we imagine…” The same voice continued to speak.
“I don’t think Ao Du is involved. Most probably, Touba Hong wants to build meritorious service in front of the emperor… The problem is if we don’t save Tiger as soon as possible then Touba Hong may get the gist of the real situation!”
Xiao Yu heard them talk and saw that there were capable people inside the bandits.
“We aren’t aware of their strength… We can’t blindly send troops or we will be hit once again.. We should send few people to investigate before making the decision!”
“Touba Hong is just a mere prince! He doesn’t have any actual power.. We may have suffered loss but it doesn’t mean he had kept all his forces intact. We can take over in one move if the conditions are right… It would be much difficult to capture the Ratchet town if we wait for Touba Hong to mobilize other troops…Moreover, Tiger may be transferred to some other location by now! We will send people to investigate and attack if the situation is ripe.. Otherwise, we will return back!”
“You are being quite noisy! The boss isn’t in here and you aren’t the one to call the shots!” Another voice echoed.
“The real red beard isn’t in here!” Xiao Yu smiled.