“Um, Miss Mitchell, could you put in a good word for us later?”

All along the way, a certain Sword King had been pleading over and over with a girl who was only an Advanced Mage.

“Hmph~”

The girl didn’t even want to acknowledge him. She simply turned her head away.

“Yeah, cutie, you... Ah!”

A short man with Little Yellow Teeth spoke from the other side.

“What are you yelling for? Get her name wrong again and I’ll beat you to death. Do you still want to be alive later?” The Sword King slapped him across the face.

“I do, I do...” Little Yellow Teeth hurriedly nodded.

“Hurry up and catch up with her,” the Sword King said.

“Yes, yes, yes.”

With that, the two jogged after the girl, who’d already gotten some distance ahead. But when they caught up, they found her standing stock-still, staring blankly ahead.

The two followed her gaze—and froze, too.

“What in the world is going on?!”

From where the three stood, the convoy behind them had vanished completely. All that remained was a wide-open space.

“Did you all get that?”

At the center of the open space stood a black-haired boy—Ye Xiaobai. He was standing on a cargo wagon, shouting at a neat formation of more than a hundred burly men.

“Got it!!” they answered.

“Good. What did I say our principle was?” Xiaobai shouted.

“Never attack anyone who loves peace!” they answered.

“And what if they don’t love peace?” Xiaobai pressed.

“Then we nuke them into peace!” They puffed out their chests and shouted their reply.

“Then what’s our rule for dealing with enemies?” Xiaobai asked.

“If we can crush them, we don’t let them get away!” they answered.

“And if we can’t win?”

“Don’t be reckless. Do everything you can to keep yourselves safe!”

Their thunderous voices rang across the sky.

“And finally, what’s our motto?” Xiaobai asked.

“We don’t take so much as a needle or a thread!”

“Be more specific!”

“We take everything except needles and thread!”

“That was a good answer. You’ve earned a reward!”

Xiaobai praised them loudly, then waved his hand. A bottle of wine appeared in everyone’s hands.

“Thank you, Brother Bai!”

The burly men bowed in unison.

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

While everyone was resting where they stood...

“Hey, Jin San, what are you guys doing?”

Two suspicious-looking people slipped into the formation. One of them casually tapped a man on the shoulder and asked.

But then—

“Whoosh~”

The burly men around them—including Jin San himself—instantly scattered away from the pair. The formation shifted from a square into a circle, surrounding them.

“Brother Bai, there are outsiders here,” Jin San called, raising his hand.

“Oh?”

Hearing the shout, Xiaobai hurriedly looked over.

“Aren’t those the two who passed out and burst into tears earlier?” Xiaobai thought.

The two inside the circle followed the voice and looked over, too.

Their eyes met.

“Thump~”

The two dropped to their knees at once.

“Se—”

Boluo and Barton hadn’t even managed to get the word “senior” out.

“Smack~”

“Smack~”

Someone rushed over and slapped each of them once.

“Call him Brother Bai!”

A stern voice came from the side. The two looked around, but couldn’t tell who’d hit them...

“You... You’re trying to rebel?!” Barton was furious, and Boluo’s face had gone livid, too.

How long had it even been? They’d all gotten this bold already? They’d even dare hit the two of them?

But then—

“Boss, Second-in-Command, if you don’t want to call him that, you can just say so. Brother Bai’s a pretty good guy.”

A timid voice came from somewhere.

“Well...” Boluo looked around, but couldn’t spot who’d spoken.

“Anyone who speaks their mind gets a free ticket to heaven. Really, it’s free~ Lots of people have gone already. Whether the boss and second-in-command get S-Rank tickets or F-Rank tickets depends on how many good deeds you’ve done.”

“...”

After hearing the explanation from that mysterious voice, Barton and Boluo exchanged a glance. They could both see a trace of fear in each other’s eyes.

If that was really how it worked, then Miss Mitchell had been right. Just how lucky had they been to survive earlier?

What the hell were they still hesitating for?

At once.

Heads down.

Quickly.

They shouted:

“Brother Bai,” Boluo said first.

“Brother Bai,” Barton quickly echoed.

Both their palms were drenched in sweat.

“Um... You’re not dizzy anymore?” Xiaobai asked Barton.

“Not dizzy anymore, not dizzy anymore,” Barton hurriedly replied.

“And you? Why were you crying so hard for no reason?” Xiaobai asked Boluo.

“Uh, well, at the time, I... felt so guilty for attacking Brother Bai that I couldn’t help crying,” Boluo said, trembling.

“Good. It’s good that you understand what you did wrong,” Xiaobai said, nodding.

“Um... Brother Bai, you’re not mad at us for using our skills on you earlier?” Boluo asked cautiously.

“Not at all, not at all. Those trash skills you used earlier—I’m not even trying to be mean, they were just too weak to affect me in the slightest.” Xiaobai waved a hand, showing he didn’t care.

Pfft... Don’t do this to us. We know we’re weak, but we still have some dignity. Could you not say it right to our faces? Boluo and Barton complained inwardly at the same time.

“By the way, I’ll let you know now: not just the two of you, but all these people are under my command from now on. Any objections?” Xiaobai smiled as he asked.

“No objections... No objections. As long as Brother Bai’s happy.” Boluo saw Xiaobai’s smile and felt his heart lurch. He hurriedly nodded.

“Yes, yes, I have absolutely no objections either.” Barton was even more timid. He didn’t even dare look Xiaobai in the eye and immediately went along with him.

“Well, I saw your... um... what was your bandit group called again?” Xiaobai lifted his head and gazed up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle.

“Brother Bai, it’s the Gale Bandit Group,” Andy replied hurriedly from where he sat nearby.

“Right. And my boundless kindness has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the Gale Bandit Group didn’t steal enough food for me this time. Ahem...”

“I just thought your Gale Bandit Group’s policies had some serious problems, so I decided to help you out.”

Xiaobai quickly cut himself off before he could say what he was really thinking, but Boluo had still heard quite a bit.

The corner of Boluo’s mouth twitched.

That food, judging by how much there was, could’ve fed our whole bandit group for a month. And you ate every last bit of it—?! Are you even human?

“I heard this was your only robbery in the entire month. Your efficiency is way too low.” Xiaobai took a sip of wine and continued.

“But... Brother Bai... there aren’t any other merchant caravans in this area...”

Boluo couldn’t help speaking up.

“That’s why your thinking is so rigid. That’s no good. I just spent ages teaching them about this.”

“If no merchant caravans show up, are you going to just keep waiting forever?”

“What if you move to another area and there aren’t any merchant caravans there either?”

“That’s why your policies are the problem. You need to change them. You’ve got to find a new way to make a fortune, right?”

“For example, if there are no merchant caravans to rob, you can rob other bandit groups instead.”

“How can you not even figure out such a simple way to adapt...?”

Xiaobai said sternly.

“...”

Boluo was speechless. He thought it over, and it actually seemed to make a lot of sense.

As expected of the Sword Emperor. That idea was unbelievably original.