Chapter 271 - 160: The Four Surrendering Xiong Brothers
Seeing this, the four Xiong Family brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
[Xiong Family’s Joyful House]
Xiong San: "Holy crap, that scared me to death. I really thought we were done for."
Xiong Xiaoming: "Big Brother, are we just going to surrender?"
Xiong Er: "Hey, youngest, what’s with you? Can’t you see we’ve been beaten half to death? You want to keep fighting instead of surrendering?"
Xiong Xiaoming: "But we didn’t even bring our main army. We’re just surrendering?"
Xiong Xiaoming: "Is this going to be our first defeat as brothers? And we’re losing to a flock of birds?"
Xiong Da: "Enough. Didn’t you hear that sound in the distance? This is just the enemy’s advance party."
Xiong Da: "And remember, we’re just here to farm points, not to actually participate in the northern expedition."
Outside the stockade, the sound of heavy footsteps indeed began to echo.
Everything fell quiet again. The flock of birds silently watched the wounded inside the stockade. The soldiers within had laid down their weapons, quietly awaiting what came next. Under the protection of their guards, the four Xiong Family brothers stared toward the source of the sound.
Time seemed to stretch on endlessly at this moment. The four Xiong Family brothers felt that every minute and every second was torture. They could do nothing but stare blankly at the dark figures approaching from the distance.
"Monkey, you guys move way too fast!"
A voice carried from the distance, accompanied by the appearance of countless towering figures. They marched in unison, each step making the earth tremble with a heavy thud. On closer inspection, smaller figures could be seen moving among them.
’Monkey? I thought this was a flock of birds. Aren’t they on the same side?’
Xiong Da was confused. He looked at the flock of birds in the sky, unable to make sense of the situation.
A large yellow bird flew out from the flock and landed in the clearing by the stockade gate. In a flash of light, it transformed into a large monkey glowing with golden light.
’Oh, so it really is a monkey!’
’How can they shapeshift? Does that mean all these birds are actually monkeys?’
Xiong Da silently snarked to himself.
’Whose army is this? I’ve never heard of soldiers like these.’
’They look like a Magic-based army. That’s rare. Who still goes down that path these days? Don’t they know that while the Magic route is strong early on, it gets quickly overtaken and crushed by the tech route later?’
’All the well-known lords on Cuiwei Star who’ve reached the fourth stage have gone the tech route. It’s a shame there are no higher stages... I wonder how you even get there?’
...
"Monkey, why didn’t you kill them all? What are you keeping them for? The Lord didn’t say to take prisoners."
"These guys said they’re lords from the Cuiwei Corps and haven’t attacked any other lords, so I left them alive."
"Oh? Okay, the Lord Commander did say we should try to avoid attacking lords from the Cuiwei Corps. But isn’t this guy part of the Northern Expedition Legion? And he hasn’t attacked other lords? I don’t believe it!"
"I don’t believe it either, but just in case, it’s better to leave them alive. It’s not like they can do anything anyway."
The voices grew closer, and as they spoke, several figures arrived in front of the four Xiong Family brothers.
Three figures appeared before them: a monkey, a Scarecrow, and a plant-like being that swayed with four large, toothy flowers.
’This is too damn bizarre...??? (;´・`)>’
’Whose subordinates are these, anyway?! Why is the aesthetic so all over the place?? ∠(°ゝ°）’
Xiong Da was bursting with snarky comments he wanted to let loose, but with his life in their hands, he could only bottle it all up, which made him miserable.
Yuan Xiaobo, Amuti, and Manqiluo walked up to the four Xiong Family brothers.
"You’re the lords of this army?"
"Yes. And may we ask who you are?"
"Don’t worry about who we are. Give us your names. Our Lord needs to confirm your identities. If you lie, you can get ready for your careers as lords to be over."
"Xiong Da!"
"Xiong Er!"
"Xiong San!"
"Xiong Xiaoming!"
"o_O???"
Yuan Xiaobo stared in confusion at the last one to speak, Xiong Xiaoming. He saw the young man’s face contorted as he tried to hold back a smile, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.
Announcing his name was his most common form of amusement; seeing the astonished expressions on strangers’ faces always made his day.
"Sir, he’s not lying. That’s really his name," Xiong Da chimed in, trying to smooth things over.
Yuan Xiaobo said no more. He quietly instructed a nearby guard to step aside and use a Light Chain Communicator to notify their Lord and have him look into these four brothers.
"Oh, and have your men take off their shirts."
The four Xiong Family brothers obediently ordered their men to remove their gear, baring their upper bodies.
The dark figures from outside the stockade filed in—Scarecrows, Tree-men, and all sorts of other plant-like humanoids, leaving the brothers wide-eyed.
’What kind of lord recruits so many bizarre-looking troop types?’ they wondered. ’Don’t they even consider the morale of their territory’s normal citizens?’
The soldiers who entered the stockade immediately began inspecting everyone’s backs, checking to see if they had been parasitized by Eye Demons.
The flock of birds from the sky landed outside the stockade next to the Steel-backed Porcupines. In a series of flashes, they transformed back into their humanoid forms. A few, who were from the Demon Race, shifted into eye-catching, combat-ready Half-beastman forms. The rest of the birds, however, turned into handsome men and beautiful women.
’Ah, that’s more like it. We thought some non-human race had infiltrated Cuiwei Star, but it looks like it’s just some guy who marches to the beat of his own drum.’
’What a lucky bastard. To have so many troops that can turn into birds...’
Watching the flock’s transformation, the four Xiong Family brothers felt a unanimous pang of envy.
"What are you staring at? Don’t just stand there gawking. Your turn to take off your shirts!"
"Huh?"
The four Xiong Family brothers looked at Yuan Xiaobo in astonishment. Seeing he wasn’t joking, they had no choice but to reluctantly remove their armor, along with their hero-class guards.
Amuti and Manqiluo circled behind them for a careful inspection. Once they confirmed that no one was parasitized by an Eye Demon, they returned, relieved, and allowed them to put their armor back on.
[Cuiwei Star Masters Chat]
Lin Yu: "Hey everyone, does anyone know four brothers named Xiong Da, Xiong Er, Xiong San, and Xiong Xiaoming?"
Lin Yu: "I’d appreciate any help. Need info on them urgently."
「A moment later...」
Ding Dong: "I do. They’re lords from my region. Pretty strong, too—all of them are on the leaderboard. What’s wrong?"
Lin Yu: "All of them are on the leaderboard? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"
Ding Dong: "Why would I lie to you? It’s displayed plain as day on my map. All four of them have advanced to the next stage."
Ding Dong: "And so what if they weren’t on the leaderboard? My region is a long way from yours. There’s no way you could have run into them."
Lin Yu: "Well, what can I say? I did!"
Lin Yu: "I found these four brothers when I launched a surprise attack on the Northern Expedition Legion. They’re part of the Legion’s camp."
Ding Dong: "?? That’s wild."
Ding Dong: "If I remember correctly, the Northern Expedition Legion’s whole purpose is to attack leaderboard lords and knock them out of the rankings, right?"
Lin Yu: "Yep!"
Ding Dong: "So, you’re saying four lords from the leaderboard have infiltrated the Northern Expedition Legion?"
Lin Yu: "I just asked our mole inside the Northern Expedition Legion—the one commissioned by the Sniper Corps. Turns out, these four brothers have been collecting a ton of ’protection fees’ along the way. They only brought Cavalry, so they split up to hit different targets. After they collect from one place, they wait for the main Legion to pass by, then immediately rush to the next location to do it all over again."
Ding Dong: "That’s fucking brilliant! Mad respect!!"
...
Meanwhile, Yuan Xiaobo, Amuti, and Manqiluo received the information about the four Xiong Family brothers and shot them a strange look.
"Alright, we’ve confirmed your identities. You four are free to move about, but your heroes and soldiers need to stay put. No wandering around."
With that, the trio paid the four brothers no more mind and led their people away to survey the surrounding terrain.
The four Xiong Family brothers, meanwhile, wandered curiously through the stockade. They observed the troops, whose forms were so different from the Human Race, as they inspected the bodies of their own Cavalry and casually healed the wounded ones.
A little while later, Yuan Xiaobo and his companions got the inspection results. After confirming that no one in the army had been parasitized by an Eye Demon, they called the four Xiong Family brothers over.
"We know you joined the Northern Expedition Legion right when it was founded. So how is it that your army has no promoted Excellence-grade heroes or advanced troop types?"
"Hehehe, well, we did... We just borrowed those heroes from other people. Once they were promoted, we gave them back."
"Huh?"
"Then... what about the lords who lent you those heroes?"
"They joined the Northern Expedition Legion. They’re all Core Lords now."
After hearing Xiong Da’s explanation, the trio was speechless for a moment. They could only order a nearby guard to go and report this new intelligence.