Online Game: Unrivaled Gods

Sun Rui looked at the map in his hand, trying to discern the directions. Looking at the dense jungle, Sun Rui felt a headache coming on. He and his 150 soldiers had been out of the city for half a day, and it had taken them three hours on military horses to reach Tianjian Mountain. He had thought they would soon complete the mission, but unexpectedly, the bandit stronghold was hidden deep in the mountains and forests. Without the map given to them when they received the mission, they would still be wandering around outside the mountains. Even so, the pace of Sun Rui's group of over 100 men was not fast.

Being misled by the surrounding environment is entirely due to experience. Sun Rui has never had the experience of surviving in deep mountains and forests in reality, so it is impossible for him to have been born with this knowledge.

“Sir, our position is here. You see, the double lines filled with water ripples indicate a large river, and we just crossed a river here.” A middle-aged man carrying a yew bow said. Sun Rui recognized him; this man was the leader of the longbowmen of the Third Battalion and an experienced veteran.

"Thank you. This is my first time venturing into the mountains. I know the directions, but I'm completely lost on this location." Sun Rui wasn't embarrassed at all about getting directions, and just grinned sheepishly.

The middle-aged man carrying a yew bow nodded to Sun Rui and returned to his own ranks. He was quite satisfied with his superior's lack of regard for rank. After being shown the location by the veteran, the entire group moved forward much faster.

"Stop." Sun Rui waved his hand, and the 151 people behind him obeyed his command without question. Sun Rui was very satisfied with the performance of the 151 people. He understood that his ability to control the 151 people so well was entirely due to his leadership attribute. Seventeen points of leadership attribute may not seem high, but it was enough to command 151 people to exert 100% of their combat power.

Seeing the five-person team on the path, Sun Rui knew from their attire that they were a patrol team of bandits. Once he spotted them, Sun Rui knew he hadn't gone the wrong way and that the bandit stronghold was nearby.

"Archers, get ready. I'll go first." After giving the order, Sun Rui nimbly leaped up a tree, his legs propelling him into the air as he moved from tree to tree, approaching the bandit patrol team.

"Huff..." Sun Rui held his breath, watching the robber so close at hand, and waited intently for his chance.

"Whoosh." The longbowman hidden in the woods launched an attack, hitting one of the bandits directly. The bandit who was hit clutched his throat, as if this could stop his life from slipping away.

The stench of blood lingered in the air. Sun Rui looked at the bandit lying in a pool of blood, feeling utterly powerless. The bandit's resentful gaze was deeply imprinted in Sun Rui's eyes, and a sense of fear crept into his heart.

Sun Rui hadn't expected it to be so real, and he certainly hadn't imagined that the sensation of killing a dead person was completely different from that of killing an animal. Sun Rui now only felt nauseous, and his original plan was completely forgotten. He was breathing heavily, as if someone was choking him.

"Ah." Although Sun Rui did not go down to slaughter the bandits, the longbowmen squad continued to fire, and soon only one bandit remained.

"I'll take someone down with me even if I die." The last man in the patrol squad glared menacingly at Sun Rui, who was panting heavily in the tree. Instead of charging towards the longbowmen, he headed straight for the tree where Sun Rui was, intending to kill him.

"Ah!" Sun Rui was also terrified. Seeing the robbers rushing towards him, he panicked and fell from the tree, which shouldn't have happened given his fighting skills.

"Die!" The vicious bandit thrust his spear straight at Sun Rui's heart. Sun Rui's mind went blank, and the dagger in his hand flailed wildly in front of him. He had never expected such an outcome and had completely forgotten how to use a dagger.

"Clang." The dagger that Sun Rui was wildly swinging in his hand struck the tip of the bandit's spear, causing the bandit's hands to go numb and the spear to fly several meters away.

"Monster. Uh." The robber stared in horror at Sun Rui sitting on the ground, terrified that Sun Rui had knocked his gun away with a dagger. Just as he uttered the word "monster," the robber's eyes widened bloodshot, and he collapsed to the ground.

Before Sun Rui could react to this series of changes, he felt a weight in his arms. When he looked down, he saw Chou Ya. It was Chou Ya who had killed the robber. Chou Ya was trembling in Sun Rui's arms, looking very scared, and she didn't dare to turn her head to look at the dead robbers.

"It's okay, it's okay." Sun Rui comforted Chou Ya, but he was startled by his own voice as soon as he spoke. His voice was dry, as if he hadn't drunk water for many days.

Sun Rui stood up, holding the ugly girl in his arms, and moved away from the bandits lying in pools of blood. He didn't dare to look at them. Just the smell of blood in the air made him want to vomit, let alone look at them.

After getting away from the bandits lying in a pool of blood, Sun Rui found a tree and leaned against it to comfort Chou Ya in his arms. Although Sun Rui was also very scared, he felt that Chou Ya had killed someone to save him, and the responsibility was on his shoulders. He couldn't let Chou Ya, who was so young, suffer psychological trauma.

"Ugly Girl, don't be afraid. You did the right thing. You killed a bad guy." Sun Rui gently comforted Ugly Girl, even though his voice wasn't very pleasant now.

"Really..." Ugly Girl's timid voice came from Sun Rui's arms, her body still trembling slightly.

"Yes, really, would I lie to you?" Sun Rui tried to keep his voice steady, so that it no longer trembled.

"Then what is a bad person?" Ugly Girl finally calmed down after listening to Sun Rui's comforting words and asked a question that put Sun Rui in a difficult position.

"This." If this question were asked in real society, Sun Rui's answer would be that anyone who breaks the law is a bad person, which would be very simple. However, in the Three Kingdoms era of the game, an era that was about to be divided among warlords, it was impossible to clearly define who was a bad person.

“Well, those who bully the defenseless and those who bring disaster to the country are bad people.” Sun Rui racked his brains to come up with a weak reason, trying to establish a worldview with Ugly Girl.

"Oh." Although Ugly Girl didn't quite understand what Sun Rui was saying, she still accepted it out of habit.

"Phew." Seeing that Ugly Girl had completely calmed down, Sun Rui breathed a sigh of relief. At least Ugly Girl wouldn't have any psychological trauma. Fortunately, children don't have much of a worldview, otherwise they would be really hard to coax.

After coaxing Ugly Girl, Sun Rui's fear resurfaced. To prevent Ugly Girl from sensing it, he made her go with the soldiers to fetch water.

"Ugh." After Ugly Girl left, Sun Rui could no longer hold back his nausea and started retching. He was neither a pervert nor a born killer. It was the first time he had seen a dead body in front of him, and the nauseating feeling of blood was simply unbearable.

"Here you go." The longbowman platoon leader handed Sun Rui a bag of water, gesturing for him to drink it.

"Where's Ugly Girl?" After taking the water from the village chief, Sun Rui didn't drink it directly but asked where Ugly Girl was.

“I sent Ugly Girl with a group to gather firewood. We’re going to stay here for the night. You’re not in a good condition to fight.”

"I'm sorry, it's all because of me." Sun Rui took a sip of water and apologized. He hadn't expected the gap between his imagination and reality to be so huge. He was so incompetent, and the person with the highest combat power had become a burden.

"Don't worry about it, everyone goes through this. Except for some who are born that way, every soldier goes through this process," the platoon leader comforted Sun Rui in a stiff voice.

"They didn't want to die, but they died anyway." Sun Rui's voice trembled slightly, with a hint of sobbing in it. Considering the circumstances, Sun Rui was not yet 20 years old, and the sudden event was something he couldn't bear.

"They don't want to die? But do the civilians who die at their hands want to die?" The troop leader's words were tinged with hatred.

Sun Rui looked at the village chief carrying a yew bow with surprise. He felt that there was a story behind the village chief, just as everyone has their own story.

"To be honest, I'm still afraid of killing people, but what can I do? What will happen to what we're protecting if we don't kill them? Are we just going to surrender because we're afraid of killing people?" The village chief didn't stop his teaching despite Sun Rui's surprised look, but continued to enlighten him.

"For what I'm protecting," Sun Rui murmured to himself, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

“Yes, it’s useless to just whine about what you’re protecting. Our Wuyuan County is located beyond the Great Wall, bordering the Xiongnu, Xianbei and other foreign tribes. There’s no war now, but what about in the future?” After raising his question, the village chief got up and left. He had taught everything he needed to; the rest was just a matter of time.

That night, a total of 152 people spent the night in the woods, and Sun Rui did not close his eyes all night. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see the bandits lying in pools of blood, which made it impossible for him to fall asleep.

The next day, just as dawn broke...

Sun Rui's eyes were bloodshot, making his double pupils appear incredibly eerie.

"Is it permissible?" the village chief asked, standing beside him, meaning was it permissible to fight, to act, and to kill?

"Yes." Although his face was pale, his eyes were very firm, and Sun Rui answered affirmatively.

"Sir, these are yesterday's spoils." After receiving Sun Rui's reply, the platoon leader also got into character and reported yesterday's spoils to Sun Rui.

Five Tier 1 Pikeman Training Manuals, three sets of leather armor, two sets of cloth boots, five pikes, and 364 copper coins.

Training books are valuable. In Global Hope, soldiers cannot quickly master the skills of their rank without them. Besides training books, soldiers can also learn skills on their own, but those with this talent must be natives with above-average aptitude. Moreover, even if they learn skills, no one can guarantee how long it will take. Therefore, training books are the key to expanding the army in Global Hope.

"Use Tier 1 Pikeman Training Manual?"