"Halt! Who goes there?" asked a guard.
"We brought the last batch of goods." replied Morgan who was in the front of the caravan.
The sun has set. The silhouettes of the people who guarded the caravan was not visible to the guards of the camp. The camp was in the wasteland, but the woods that bordered the wastelands were just a few hundred meters from the camp.
"Drop the boxes here and leave." Replied the guard as he pointed in a certain direction.
Morgan nodded and signalled his man to do so. They placed the boxes at the pointed location, handed the key and left.
"Open the boxes and lock them up. There is still time before they wake up."
A voice came from a building in the center which was several times bigger in area than the others, and was also sturdier.
Daren heard the voice and he now knew what made these captive sleep so long. When the men came and dragged his body, he pretended to be fast asleep just like the others.
When all the sound of activities ceased and he was sure that no one was around, he opened his eyes to see where he was.
It was a large hall. One side of the hall was filled with cages of different sizes, Some were even placed one above another. The other side looked like a lab of some sort.
After observing for a while and knowing he has nothing to do, Daren decided to rest.
After leaving, Morgan and their group rejoined their comrades who were hiding in the woods and waited silently for the man mentioned by the caravan guards to arrive.
.
.
.
Few men were moving sneakily through the woods. After sometime, when the group saw sign of human settlement ahead of them, they stopped.
A hooded figure walked out of the group. His figure was visibly larger than the others. He said is a hoarse voice.
"Create a distraction big enough to draw most people's attention. When you have achieved that... Run."
"Run!!.. Did we hear you wrong boss ?" Asked a man.
The hooded man was ofcourse Arius and the men were those that Kage has burdened him with.
"No you didn't. We are not here to wage war. This is a sneak attack. So just distract them and then run away. I would be busy and won't come to protect you in case you fight them. They have some strong men too, don't forget that." Said Arius.
"Yes boss, we understand.. haha" said a man awkwardly as he realised his mistake.
Arius has relayed the mission to them many times on their way here. But well, it seems like those words fell on deaf ears. The phrase 'All brawl and no brain', suits these men of his completely.
Arius moved and tried to sneak in. The camp was just infront of him. The camp was the biggest he had seen so far. There were about 100 or so huts. Some small some big. There was a large empty space in the middle. He saw that the people here were rather carefree and were eating and drinking with a campfire in the middle. Some of the men were brawling. Some were cooking. All of that was happening in that open space. He saw an area which seem to devoid of any guards, though the area was far way from the center where everyone was, that place seemed perfect for him to start from.
Arius signalled his men and disappeared. Though he was not as fast as Boaz. He was still at SSS rank. He can travel 100 meter in a second.
His men waited silently for someone to appear. They didn't had to wait long though.
Sound of a man walking towards them were heard by the group. Then the man stopped near a tree. That man came with the intention of relieving himself.
"la la la lala.. oo lala la lala...." He started to hymn a tune while he swung his weapon in all directions, spraying water everywhere. If the singer of the song heard this man, he would commit suicide for sure.
Unable to bear this anymore, 10 of Arius men came out in the open and surrounded him.
"Do you plan to kill the world with that noise." One of the man that came with Arius said as he slapped hard on the head of the man who came to relieve himself.
The man was flabbergasted. When he regained it sense he shouted, "What are you doing? And who are you?".
"We are the representatives of all the people in the world. And we are doing a favor to the world by eliminating your existence. Such an awful voice should never exist, or God knows how many people will suffer under you."
The men that came with Arius clarified as they all took turn beating that guy. The man face become swollen, he shouted to call for help and attempted to run for his life.
He managed to flee from the group a short while later. Or to be precise, those men let him go.
His screams did garner the attention of some people, but most of them ignored it as they were to busy enjoying the food and drinks.
"Aaaagh... Captain help." the man that was just beaten came running, Falling over many time in the way.
"Who are you. And Why are you shouting." Asked a man. He sounded annoyed by such a ruckus.
"I..I am Richard. One of you. Can't you recognise me. There are enemies near our camp." Shouted the man as he neared their captain.
"Shut up. Calm down and explained everything." Said their captain.
Richard nodded and continued, " After drinking for a while I went to the side of the camp to relieve myself. Which humming and relieving myself..."
Richard was cut down mid way by loud laughter of many of his friends.
" Hahahaha.... No wonder they beat you. Haha...how many times have I told you not to sing.. Haha.. " Said the captain as he laughed out loud with the others.
" But.. But captain. What if they spread news about this incident. Would you not lose face when news spread, that one of your men was beaten under your nose and you did nothing." Richard said with a grave expression.
The captain stopped laughing along with the other members. He then nodded and said. "Take 20 men with you, and beat them up a little too. Don't create much commotion though. If they were enemy they would have killed you, instead of just beating you up."
The captain knew Richard was manipulating him, but he too have doubts about so many men coming over here suddenly. He had been told by the leader of their force to lay low. He didn't want any accident that may reveal their cover, to happen. Thus he sent him as a bait to know their real intentions.
"Yes captain, rest assured." Richard said and left with 20 men.
'Now I'll let you go through the same pain I went through. I'll laugh as you lay beneath my foot. Just you wait. Hehe'
Richard thought, as he walked towards the place where he first spotted those men.