Chapter 218
Chapter 218: A cry from the heart
The House of Menlo was located within a small mountain in the Valley of Sunshine. The center of the mountain had been hollowed out into caves, all interconnected to form a matrix of astonishing defense.
Han Shuo came in from the air and stood on a towering tree tens of meters tall, looking towards the source of the noises.
He saw the caves where the House of Menlo stored their weapons on fire, with thick smoke rising into the air. Tongues of flame flicked out from some of the entrances. It looked like everything was on fire.
These caves each had many stone chambers hewn into them. Each was a room, with all the necessities of life inside. Many of them were even more luxurious than some of the shops within the Valley of Sunshine, so it was very normal for the whole thing to go up in flames once a fire dragon spell was lobbed inside.
A group of masked people were moving swiftly around the entrance to the small mountain. There were some fire mages amongst them who occasionally chanted fire spells, sending gouts of flame towards the mountain entrance.
Their movements were swift and highly coordinated. The fire mages would release fire, the wind mages call up winds to push the fire along, and several archers would force those of the House of Menlo who dared poke their heads out back inside again.
Nevertheless, the small mountain was actually quite large after it had been hollowed out. With so many caves and stone chambers, this band of marauders could only target a section of the mountain. Once Menlo reinforcements arrived, they would immediately split up and conceal their movements, hiding into the surrounding shrubbery for cover. They were obviously very familiar with the surrounding terrain and well versed in these guerrilla tactics. They would quickly retreat whenever someone discovered them and then circle around, coming in from another side to continue wreaking havoc.
Under normal circumstances, this group of people would’ve been dead without a doubt if they hadn’t retreated after the first wave of attacks.
However, the House of Menlo was completely preoccupied at the moment. This group of troublemakers wasn’t the main target. Their main focus was on a group of heavily equipped robbers around 500 strong. The robbers’ motives were unknown, but they were besieging the mountain and attacking anyone who walked out of it. These two sides were locked in heated battle.
“Florida cooperated with Gustav that year to scheme against our old chief, killing him and causing my little sister Annie to disappear. I’m going to kill him sooner or later!”
“There’s another woman called Janet. Eh, she’s basically inherited her father’s business. Her father was a robber, her grandfather was a robber, and her great grandfather was also a robber. They’re a notable family of robbers in these mountain ranges. She’s been raised as a robber as soon as she was born, and although she’s not a kind sort, she still has certain principles. As long as the merchants who run afoul of her don’t resist, they’re usually able to retain their lives!”
“Apart from these two, there are about a dozen small to mid-sized robber groups in the mountains. Their scales of operation are smaller and they’re not as famous as these two.” Trunks explained.
Han Shuo listened for a bit and then asked further about the strength of the robbers before nodding, “It looks like the robbers and mercenaries in the Valley of Sunshine mutually depend on each other. Whether it’s the robbers or the mercenaries, both of these are vital for the ecosystem of the valley!”
“What do you mean?” Trunks asked.
“Merchants won’t need protection if there are no robbers. Therefore, the mercenaries won’t be able to make any money. Without mercenaries, the merchants wouldn’t dare come here, and thus the robbers won’t have anything to take. Therefore, it’s completely logical that both mercenaries and robbers can be found within the valley.”
“With the strength of the four factions in the Valley of Sunshine, they should have the ability to destroy the robbers. However, perhaps it’s because they understand this that they haven’t done so and have allowed the robbers to exist.” Han Shuo smiled and explained.
Trunks chuckled after his words, “That’s right, the old chief understood this back in the day, to think you’d understand that so quickly as well!”
Nodding, Han Shuo looked at the sky, “Let’s go, it’s late. We should hurry back to the valley, I want to take a look at some things as well.”
Ever since the Rainbow Sickles had left, Han Shuo had felt a voice calling him from afar. He’d thought that it was the little skeleton running into trouble again at first, but after some careful probing, realized that this wasn’t the case.
When he focused his attention, Han Shuo discovered that the voice was coming from the Dark Forest. They weren’t too far away from the Dark Forest, and the cemetery of death was within it as well.
When he realized that this call was coming from the Dark Forest, Han Shuo immediately understood that the earth elite zombie had successfully broken out of the earth. However, it was confined by the boundary of the cemetery of death and couldn’t exit find Han Shuo. It could only passively send out this message to its master.