SWDnovel Chapter 7 Lu Xiong, come join my team!
Chapter 7 Lu Xiong, come join my team!
"No--!"
Upon hearing this, one of the bandits was startled and had barely let out a scream when he was struck by several lead bullets.
Even as he collapsed, he couldn't believe he was dead.
He thought Rock would ask them other questions so he could try to save his life.
The three bandits who had miraculously survived looked around at the corpses lying everywhere, trembling with fear.
Rock's ruthless and deadly approach is even more thuggish than that of bandits; even bandits don't turn on each other that quickly.
Seeing that Luo Ke had directly ordered all the bandits to be killed, Lu Xiong whispered to himself:
"Uh, Brother Luo, shouldn't we interrogate these bandits to see if they've done anything wrong before deciding whether to kill them?"
"Isn't it a bit wrong to just kill them all like this?"
Hearing this, Rock raised an eyebrow and asked in return:
"Old Lu, there's no point in saying that. We're not the county magistrate in charge of solving cases, nor are we some so-called upright official. Why should we meddle so much?"
"If we release these bandits, they'll just keep harming others. Besides, it seems like this isn't the first or second time they've trafficked people. Countless brothers who ventured to Northeast China have fallen victim to them. We could kill them ten times over!"
Rock had no interest in letting these bandits go, especially since they were clearly not the righteous kind, but rather the kind of wicked guys who would do anything.
After all, human trafficking is a heinous crime no matter what, and judging from their murderous and plundering behavior, they are clearly repeat offenders.
Of course, this is not the point.
As Rock said, he was neither a judge nor a champion of justice, so why would he be interested in judging cases according to the law or determining whether they deserved to die?
The three bandits who were left behind were relatively honest when answering questions earlier and were easy to use, so they were enough to lead the way; the rest of the bandits were no longer of any use.
For this reason, Rock simply ordered his men to kill those bandits, effectively eliminating a bunch of trash.
The three bandits who had miraculously survived immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, fearing that Rock might kill them at the slightest provocation.
They couldn't help but feel resentful in their hearts, wondering what had gotten into them today that they had run into such a living devil!
Damn it! This guy clearly has a strong and well-equipped army, but he insists on disguising himself as a refugee and blending into the ranks. He even manages to do it convincingly, so they didn't recognize him at first!
What is this? This is entrapment!
This is clearly a ruthless killer with a twisted sense of humor!
"Alright, now follow us. As usual, we'll ask you questions separately. If anyone can't answer a question..."
Before Rock could finish speaking, the bandit named Xu Mazi quickly interjected:
"Your Majesty, please rest assured, we know the rules and would never try to fool you!"
Good heavens, someone's life is at stake if there's a disagreement, who would dare to fool someone like that?
After arranging things for the bandits, Rock glanced at the remaining refugees, waved to them, and said:
"Alright, folks, don't freeze here. Go wherever you want!"
"We're going to cause trouble for those bandits. This is none of your business. We'll go our separate ways!"
After saying this, Rock led his men and followed the bandits away.
Hearing this, the refugees who had been trying to keep a low profile finally breathed a sigh of relief.
These peasants who had fled famine all felt like they had survived a catastrophe. Whether it was the bandits who rushed out and killed without a word, or the cavalrymen dressed as foreigners who also killed without a word, they were all greatly shocked.
A young man looked at the oldest man in the line, a middle-aged man, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice:
"Uncle, this Guandong region is so dangerous, do we really want to stay here and settle down?"
The middle-aged man shook his head, a tear rolling down his cheek.
"Yes, yes! These bandits are vicious, but the imperial court and the foreigners are even more vicious!"
"We can still survive by begging from bandits, but there's absolutely no way to survive by begging from those other people!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding farmers fell silent.
They just want to find a piece of land and honestly grow crops, but why is it so difficult?
Not far from where Rock and his party had gone, he spent 50 taels of silver to get himself a set of French cavalry equipment.
After mounting his own warhorse, attaching his saber and musket to his waist, and hanging his carbine beside the saddle, Rock straightened his uniform and immediately felt much more energetic.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and Rock finally understood why soldiers in the Napoleonic era wore such gorgeous and brightly colored uniforms. Wearing such clothes would give even an ordinary person a sense of boost in spirit.
For the entire army, this naturally boosts morale, at least making the soldiers take themselves seriously instead of seeing themselves as scoundrels.
Furthermore, Rock discovered that the uniforms produced by these soldiers in his system seemed to have some kind of magical property—a constant temperature effect!
Before this, he wondered why his soldiers, despite their fancy clothes, didn't feel cold wearing such thin clothing in the dead of winter.
At first, he thought his soldiers were just putting on a brave face, but after listening to what they said and changing into the uniforms produced by the system, he realized that this thing really seemed to have a magical effect!
"Good heavens, I have no idea how this thing maintains a constant temperature. Just taking these clothes out here could make us look like ghosts!"
Rock curled his lip and complained. Although he didn't really like playing these supernatural tricks, this thing was clearly unscientific!
"Old Lu, from now on you're with us. Why not join my team? We'll fight the Tartars and the foreign devils together and drive all these invaders away!"
Seeing Lu Xiong standing there somewhat dazed, following his team in a daze, Rock didn't stand on ceremony and directly extended an invitation.
On the one hand, Lu Xiong had indeed helped him a lot these past few days, and Rock was willing to give his old brother a helping hand. On the other hand, Rock was mainly interested in Lu Xiong's martial arts skills.
I don't know how he trained his martial arts skills, but if we recruit him and let him be the instructor of his soldiers, then his soldiers can also train with him.
Although Rock knew that compared to some units in Total War: Warhammer, Lu Xiong's martial arts skills were nothing special, and his skills couldn't even handle a musket.
But regardless of the reason, even if it's just for the sake of improving physical fitness and strengthening soldiers' physique, he also felt that practicing martial arts was very useful.
Not to mention, according to Lu Xiong himself, the kung fu he has mastered is only the tip of the iceberg. If he could really develop into a master of internal strength or even a grandmaster of internal strength, wouldn't he be making a huge profit?
Hearing what Luo Ke said, Lu Xiong didn't refuse. He clasped his hands together, knelt on one knee, and said:
"Yes, my lord! From this day forward, I, Lu Xiong, entrust my life to you! Just give the order, and I'll risk everything for you, whether it's climbing mountains of knives or plunging into seas of fire!"
Rock laughed heartily, dismounted, and quickly helped Lu Xiong up, saying:
"Excellent, excellent, that's wonderful! From now on, you will be the martial arts instructor for my soldiers, specifically teaching them martial arts!"
"I don't ask for anything else, just that you train a few more masters of Ming Jin (internal energy) for me!"
Immediately afterwards, Rock didn't hesitate to exchange for another set of hunter equipment from the system.
Anyway, exchanging a set of equipment only costs 50 taels of silver, which is not expensive, and he doesn't need 50 taels of silver now.
As soon as the redemption was clicked, a cavalryman quickly ran off into the distance.
Before long, he brought over a strong warhorse, along with a military uniform, a saber, and two muskets.
"Old Lu, change into these clothes, and this horse, along with the knife and gun, are all yours from now on!"
Hearing what Rock said, Lu Xiong excitedly stroked the warhorse with its glossy coat, a look of disbelief on his face.
I never expected that Brother Luo, who looked no different from a refugee before, would turn around and be so generous, easily getting me a BMW!
The system's products are always of the highest quality, and the warhorses of these hunters are naturally also of superior quality. In particular, European warhorses are of better quality than Eastern warhorses, and they are taller and stronger, which makes Lu Xiong even more satisfied.
To put it bluntly, putting aside the value of those two foreign guns, the horse itself alone would be worth at least a hundred taels of silver on the market, and there would be no market for it.
The thought that Rock had given him a warhorse without hesitation as soon as he joined the group filled Lu Xiong with anticipation for the future, and he no longer felt as lost as before.
In fact, the reason he accepted Rock's invitation without hesitation was partly because he saw that Rock's team was extraordinary and felt that Rock could really succeed, and partly because he really had nowhere else to go.
Almost his entire family was dead. Apart from some distant relatives, the remaining friends and relatives either died at the hands of foreign devils or Manchu soldiers. Alone in this harsh and cold place, he didn't know what he should do.
Having practiced martial arts for over ten years, Lu Xiong felt he couldn't bring himself to be a farmer and till the land.
Seeing the joy on Lu Xiong's face, Rock nodded slightly.
Sure enough, Boss Cao's methods of winning people over are very effective most of the time.
They rewarded him with fine horses, precious swords, foreign guns, and good clothes. Who wouldn't be tempted?
Most people are completely bewildered by this whole thing.
As for the issue of titles, Luo Ke had no intention of following Liu Bei's example and continuing to address him as a brother. He felt that although the title of "Lord" sounded a bit awkward, it was actually quite good.