Don't move, it's a robbery!

After a whole morning of investigation, I finally confirmed one thing.

There's really no chance for the Upper City. These soldiers have completely surrounded the Upper City, and the city lord is constantly sending reinforcements. Let alone infiltrating, even getting close would be extremely risky.

Is it really necessary to be so afraid of death?

Worse still, in the afternoon, many guards were going door-to-door questioning people, and they would investigate any empty houses they came across.

To prevent my real stronghold from being discovered, I deliberately created some chaos in the southern district and left a few prisoners who had been driven mad by my torture in several houses, thus concentrating the guards' main efforts in the southern district.

After finishing all that, another day had passed. I yawned and continued my nighttime work.

It's time to transport the noble captives to the arena.

Although it was late at night, the streets were not dark, mainly due to the light coming from the upper district. I don't know what's gotten into the people of the upper district; there are torches everywhere in the streets. Given the dryness of the south, aren't they afraid of fires?

The infiltration process was not difficult because the defenses in the arena were very weak, and at one point I even suspected it was a trap. But no matter how much I tortured them, the slave owners just wouldn't say what their schemes were.

Either the people behind them didn't tell them, or it really was just a coincidence.

But it doesn't matter, I'm not here to free slaves anyway.

I summoned all the slaves in the arena and frankly told them about the situation they faced: revolt meant certain death, and even if they didn't revolt, death was only a matter of time. I now had a way to save them, but it would come at a huge price.

The plan is simple: I have killed all the administrators in the arena. As long as the noble captives I have disfigured are put into the crowd, and then some slaves are disfigured, no one will be able to tell them apart.

The slaves were emotionally stable, or rather, eerily numb, but they still told me they were willing to follow my orders.

Those slaves who were willing to be disfigured had a piece of burlap stuffed into their mouths, and then, enduring the excruciating burning pain, they could not stop moaning.

Even in such a terrible state, the slaves behind did not back down and continued to wait silently.

When faced with the will to survive, pain is insignificant.

I gave each of the slaves who voluntarily disfigured themselves a magic pill. The pills I had painstakingly made over the past week were all gone. Just in case, I kept 50 as backup, but such a huge consumption still made me feel a little heartbroken.

This is all money!

This is all money I earned through hard work!

I spent over two thousand on materials alone!

"Waaaaah~"

As I wiped away my tears, I distributed medicine to the slaves. After receiving the pills, a glimmer of light returned to the previously lifeless eyes of these disfigured slaves.

"My lord, if we manage to leave this hell alive, we are willing to give our lives for you whenever you need us!"

"Pay my ass! You guys should think about how to deal with tomorrow's interrogation. Remember to hide those nobles well. Anyway, I've told you all their secrets, so figure out how to lie to them yourselves."

I waved and left the arena with Knox.

Yes, Knox is here too. Disfiguring hundreds of people is hard work; I don't have the strength to do it. Knox did it all.

This guy is numb now, his eyes are even more lifeless than those of the slaves, he doesn't say a word, he's no different from a walking corpse.

"Knox?"

"Ah! My lord! What are your orders?"

It's alright, not broken, it's probably just tired.

Yeah, this guy's been working for two days and two nights straight, just like me.

I smiled at Knox, gave him a small bag of gold coins, and told him that he would be free from tomorrow and could do whatever he wanted in the city, even report me.

This time I really didn't lie to him. After all, I have my pride. I said I would let him go, and I really will.

As for reporting me, even if I didn't say it, he would still report me. Anyway, I'm going to run away tomorrow, and the city people won't be able to catch me. At worst, I'll just raise the ransom a bit more.

"My lord! I would never betray you! I swear!"

"Shut up, I don't believe in this. Get out of here right now, I have something important to do."

I yawned, turned around and left, intending to go back and get a good night's sleep.

But before I had gone far, Knox chased after me again, looking very reluctant to let me go.

"Sir! The city is under martial law, I have nowhere to go!"

Okay, it's not that I'm reluctant to part with it.

However, I didn't make things too difficult for him. After dumping him in an empty house, I returned to the West District and started to rest.

...........

Knox was jolted awake from his deep sleep. He glanced at the sky outside and realized that it was still dark.

Although he was exhausted, Knox kept having nightmares. One night he dreamed of guards breaking down the door, the next he dreamed of the terrifying faces of faceless slaves. The most frightening thing was that he was alone in the dark and suddenly heard the voice of a chivalrous thief.

Too scary!

Before, Knox felt very unlucky, constantly being abused by the Robin Hood. But after seeing the imprisoned thugs, Knox felt that his life wasn't so bad after all, though he still harbored resentment towards the Robin Hood.

But when he saw the fate of those noble prisoners, his resentment vanished without a trace.

The outlaw had been kind enough to him; all he got was a beating, all his wealth was stolen, and he was forced to be bait. Compared to that, it was nothing.

As for reporting the chivalrous thief to the city guards, he would only do that if he had a death wish. Putting aside whether this was a test from the chivalrous thief, even if it wasn't, he would never have told the guards such a thing.

Why? Because he was involved too! If the guards couldn't catch the chivalrous thief, surely they could catch him?

Knox wiped the sweat from his face, then recalled the scene of guarding the prisoners during the day. Those high and mighty noble lords, who used to be like dogs, knelt before him, howling and begging for mercy. Their servile appearance was more contemptible than that of the lowest slaves.

Suddenly, I felt a sense of satisfaction.

The slaves he had previously resold were all from the lowest rungs of society. No matter how much he flaunted his power in front of them, he felt no sense of accomplishment.

During his time with the Robin Hood, he was guarding either gang leaders or noblemen. Although they were all slaves, Knox felt completely different about them.

It's as if you're someone superior to others.

This experience was probably the most exciting time of my life.

When he grows old, when he tells stories to his children, Knox can proudly tell them that he once wreaked havoc in the city of Mogosloar with the chivalrous thief, whipping gangsters, trampling nobles, and was invincible!

After all, this is the only thing I have to brag about.

Knox rubbed his nose and suddenly felt a strange sense of peace. Then, drowsiness came over him, and he lay down again.

This time, he finally stopped having nightmares.