It was dawn, and the gray-white banner of the Wolf Pack Company, with its wolves in full gallop, pierced the slightly cool morning. Gendry had never enjoyed the smell of the sea breeze more than he did now. After the Wolf Pack Company left Firegrass Manor, they immediately escorted the slaves transporting four large carts of dried gunpowder herb swiftly to the east, first to the coastline to rendezvous with the pre-arranged smuggler fleet.
The Wolf Pack had always traveled by land from Firegrass to Myr in the past, but this time The Handsome Man decisively chose the sea route through the Disputed Lands. The road from the manor to the coastline was more rugged and difficult, but switching to sea transport would be much faster.
However, it was difficult for their particular group to completely conceal their movements. The ripening of gunpowder herb was fixed, and escorting a team of slaves transporting gunpowder herb also slowed down their progress.
"Four Lookouts at the front and back of the convoy!" The Handsome Man commanded, choosing agile and sharp old Mercenaries. "Cavalry on both sides of the convoy, with the gunpowder herb transport team, infantry, and Longbowmen in the middle! Everyone has armor—plate armor, black scale armor, chainmail—even the slaves have a piece of leather armor to save their lives."
"Someone! There are indeed people watching the rear of the convoy," the Lookout Mercenary at the back of the convoy quickly reported. "The Bandit Mercenaries and the runaway slaves' spies have been following us!"
"Ready, old friend!" Gendry thought, caressing his mace.
"We chose the sea route to Myr precisely to avoid the Bandit Mercenaries! I didn't expect to still be unable to escape them!" The Handsome Man mused. "The enemy set up an ambush on land and certainly didn't expect us to take the sea route. Once they discover us, they will turn around and pursue us! Speed up! Go as fast as you can. We'll only be safe once we're on the ships."
"The enemy outnumbers us several times over and is lurking in the shadows." "Are you afraid, brothers?!" The Handsome Man raised his riding crop, galloping back and forth along the convoy.
"No!"
"The warriors of the Wolf Pack are not afraid of death! What is there to fear? We Northerners never cry like women!"
"Our tactics are very simple: courage, courage, and more courage!" The Handsome Man fist-bumped the Mercenaries one by one, and even the slaves. "Manpower is paramount. In a last resort, we can abandon some gunpowder herb. As long as we escape with the vast majority of the goods, that is a victory!"
"winter is coming, the lone wolf dies, the Wolf Pack lives! If the old gods and new gods still love us, let us advance over the bones of those bandits!" The Handsome Man roared.
"winter is coming, the lone wolf dies, the Wolf Pack lives!" The Mercenaries of the Wolf Pack Company roared with voices like steel, then continued their advance with steel-like resolve.
"Boy, in a while, you and Master Qyburn will be in the middle, escorting the goods!" The Handsome Man came up to Gendry and said.
"Captain, I wish to be an assault trooper!" Gendry raised his warhammer. "My warhammer also thirsts for blood!"
"Good Boy!" The Handsome Man clapped Gendry's shoulder, then whispered, "While the Wolf Pack is fearless, the Wolf Pack also needs its young wolves to live. Protect your life. The families in Wolf's Den still need your protection in the future."
From dawn to noon, the Bandit Knights' scout Knights followed them, but only from a distance, with intermittent harassment, firing a few shaky rounds from their crossbows at the convoy before drifting away. Their arrows couldn't even reach anyone; it was merely a tactic of harassment.
"I smell war!" The Handsome Man said. "The scouts are just harassing us. When their main force arrives, they will surround us!"
There was still some distance to the coast, and the terrain ahead consisted of gentle hills and plains, perfect for a bloody battle.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" The sound of war drums and horns had already begun. The combined forces of the Bandit Mercenaries and runaway slaves reappeared behind the Wolf Pack Company like a black cloud, appearing on the hill behind the Wolf Pack Company, looking down from above. Without the high walls and cover of Firegrass Manor, this battle would be more urgent and dangerous.
Gendry put on his helmet and iron mask, gripping the mace in his hand!
"Drop this batch of gunpowder herb! I can let you go!" Purple Beard shouted loudly.
"While the Wolf Pack Company may not be as true to its word as the Golden Company, at least we won't become bandits and swindlers like you!" The Handsome Man retorted unceremoniously.
"That's him, the lion of Meereen, Lord Bardak! He's the Mercenary who killed Rust!" Purple Beard said to the Meereenese beside him, pointing at Gendry, who was not far behind The Handsome Man.
"That black-haired, iron-masked Boy killed Rust?" The Meereen Gladiator asked Purple Beard. He spoke in a rough, halting language. The Meereenese saw Gendry. He was a tall, brown-skinned Meereenese man with black and red leather armor, carrying a Longspear. He had no hair, and his face was crisscrossed with knife scars.
"Yes, I will never forget that mace!" Purple Beard said.
"I will kill him and then eat his heart! Eating the heart of a brave man will make a Gladiator stronger!" Bardak showed a look of longing. "Although Rust wasn't that strong, he won dozens of battles in the arena. This Boy killed Rust, so I must act!"
"Lord Bardak, would you like to put on a piece of plate armor? It's a great disadvantage not to have armor in a comparison!" Purple Beard advised.
"Wearing such clumsy armor? My greatest pride is my speed; a leather armor is enough!" The Meereenese man showed an impatient expression. Seeing this, Purple Beard said no more. Meereen Gladiators do not wear any protection in the arena because the audience most wants to see scenes of blood splashing.
"Yes, Lord Bardak! But the Governor only ordered us to delay their speed and seize the opportunity to reclaim the gunpowder herb, not to fight the Wolf Pack Company to the death!" Purple Beard looked troubled.
"Coward!" The Meereenese Bardak scoffed dismissively, then raised his Longspear and charged forward.
"These Meereen Gladiators are all impulsive brutes, like wild boars!" Purple Beard said bitterly. Purple Beard stopped his subordinates from eagerly trying to join the fray.
"Let those runaway slaves go first!"
"But how do we explain this to the Governor?" Purple Beard's treasurer had a bitter expression.
"Explain? Explaining doesn't mean we die in such a meaningless battle. If we're dead, can we spend gold? The Wolf Pack Company is a tough nut to crack. If we can delay them, we've already completed the mission! Let the Meereenese and the runaway slaves go up and wear them down a bit, to see if there's any possibility." The Mercenaries' equipment was also varied; only the Golden Company's equipment was comparable to a regular army, and many Mercenary companies had low armor rates. In terms of equipment, the Bandit Mercenaries couldn't compare to the Wolf Pack Company.
Purple Beard waved his hand, and a group of runaway slaves, in their confusion, also began to charge with the Meereenese. Most runaway slaves had become worthless Bandit Mercenaries in the Disputed Lands, but without proper training and nutritional support, their combat effectiveness was quite limited.
"Roar! Masked Boy, come out!" The Meereen Gladiator shouted, with various runaway slaves cheering and waving flags behind him.
"Draw bows! Fire!" The Arrow Maker commanded. The longbows launched arrows in beautiful arcs, which then fell. Several unlucky runaway slaves were showered with arrows, becoming pincushions like their horses.
Only that cunning Meereen Gladiator, he dodged the longbows' firing positions. Although his horse fell heavily, the Meereenese man charged to the front of the formation. The tragic part of the story was that at this point, he was the only one who had arrived.
"Coward!" The Meereenese man looked back at Purple Beard, who was still on the hill, and said fiercely. The Bandit Mercenaries had no intention of charging down to help.
"Whoosh!" Dick the Fletch drew his longbow, and the arrow glided smoothly as if through silk, then embedded itself in the Meereenese man's left shoulder. Blood seeped from the Meereenese man's shoulder.
"Coward! Coward hiding in an armor box!" Bardak roared, then raised his Longspear.
The Handsome Man had already come forward. Bardak's Longspear was elusive, striking again and again like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.
The Handsome Man raised his longsword, but the longsword was not as swift as the Longspear. A wound was cut across The Handsome Man's face by the Longspear, and red blood flowed out. But The Handsome Man, with that one effort, also cut a gash in Bardak's arm.
"Die!" Gendry watched Bardak, who was in a state of rage. His mace let out a dull whistling sound as it smashed down.
"Coward!" Bardak roared. His Longspear thrust at Gendry from an incredible angle. Gendry's oak shield blocked the Longspear's path. Taking advantage of that brief moment, the mace still mercilessly smashed into Bardak's face.
Qyburn rushed over.
"Throw away a few boxes of gunpowder herb! Go quickly!" The Handsome Man barely managed to tend to his wound, then looked at the Bandit Knights on the hill!
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