Zhang Yun didn't think much and made his decision.
"Option B!"
Milano was a righteous thief. He participated in this battle not to harm the villagers but to save them from the hands of the bandits who attacked the village.
There was no need for Zhang Yun to observe Milano in secret, and Zhang Yun shouldn't hide either.
Zhang Yun should just help the Silver Wolf Bandits destroy the enemy and complete this trivial task. By then, Zhang Yun would finally see what the so-called hero's soul was like. This must be the right path.
But...
Didn't the simulation start with a prosperous and peaceful Ice Kingdom in its golden age?
How could there be a food shortage and pillaging bandits?
[After some consideration, you have decided to help the Silver Wolf Bandits defeat the vicious enemies.]
[You summon the Shadow Soldiers and order them to ambush those ordinary enemies who are busy fighting the Silver Wolf Bandits.]
[With the help of the powerful Shadow Soldiers, the Silver Wolf Bandits easily defeated the opponents and beheaded them collectively. Accordingly, the surviving villagers are saved.]
[In the following second, the Silver Wolf Bandits began to help put out the fire, treat the injured, distribute food, and do their best to aid the villagers who had lost their families.]
[After the incident, Milano personally came to thank you for your help. He also invited you to join his group and save more people living on the border who were in deep waters and suffering.]
[Choose your option.]
[A: Reject and explore beyond.]
[B: Agree and rely on the Silver Wolf Bandits to obtain information.]
[C: Kill all enemies and turn them into Shadow Soldiers.]
[D. Lead your Shadow Legion to personally descend and interfere.]
Zhang Yun was speechless.
If Zhang Yun was still inexperienced, he might have chosen Option C and casually treated the simulation as a game.
After all, Zhang Yun could control the lives of the NPCs at will and use "Backtrack" if he wanted to play with them.
However, texts poured into Zhang Yun's mind as memory fragments…
Everything in front of Zhang Yun morphed into a scene of raging fire, corpses strewn all over the ground, spilled blood, and howls of despair.
The villagers looked at Zhang Yun as if he was their savior.
Hence, Zhang Yun changed his mind.
Perhaps...
Everything was real.
Zhang Yun's every move would change the fate of those historical figures and lead them to a different future.
If Zhang Yun really chose to kill the Silver Wolf Bandits...
If the villagers were to encounter such a thing again in the future, perhaps no one would come to save them. They could only hide in dark corners and pray that the god of death would not find them.
Zhang Yun was at a loss for words. In the meantime, he decided not to worry about it.
"I'll choose Option B first. Join the Silver Wolf Bandits."
With that, Zhang Yun would be able to understand the situation of the world he was in.
[After weighing the pros and cons, you have chosen to join the Silver Wolf Bandits.]
[In the following days, you helped the Silver Wolf Bandits rescue many villages and villagers in succession. You relied on the enemies you killed to continuously expand the scale of your Shadow Soldiers.]
[When the time is right and you have become familiar with everyone, you will be able to ask about the situation in the Ice Kingdom.]
[Everyone will be willing to share information.]
[Even if the gathered information is scant, you will gain useful knowledge.]
[Under the wise leadership of the Ice Emperor, the Ice Kingdom is truly wealthy and powerful. The citizens live and work in peace. However, this is only limited to the prestigious areas in the hinterland of the kingdom—the big cities ruled by the upper-class nobles.]
[The impoverished villages at the border of the kingdom are plagued with infectious diseases, famine, and crooks.]
[The incident soon reached the ears of the Ice Emperor. He issued orders overnight to deploy the generals of the nobles to the border and wipe out the bandits, distribute food, and help the victims.]
[The generals of the nobles had hundreds of thousands of elites, but they couldn't eliminate a few thousand bandits. Every time the bandits were surrounded by the army, the commanding general would deliberately leave an opening for the bandits to escape.]
[Someone couldn't help but question the lenient treatment of the bandits.]
[The commanding general revealed that as long as the bandits are not eradicated, the kingdom will not stop allocating funds to the army. The army just needed to guard the major checkpoints leading to the capital and prevent rumors from reaching the Ice Emperor's ears. With this, the knights would be able to live without worries and get promoted.]
[At the cost of citizens suffering on the border, the general and his men enjoyed great wealth, which they couldn't possibly earn if they were stationed in the capital for decades.]
[The army became the local tyrants of the border.]
It was absurd!
The Royal Army of the Ice Kingdom could have wiped out the rats completely, but they deliberately raised the bandits furtively and profited against their conscience?!
If umbrella sellers were given the right to control the weather, perhaps they would rather opt for endless rain!
Zhang Yun grew furious as he thought about it.
He clenched his fists and wanted to tear this group of scum from the kingdom apart.
It might seem like just a few short paragraphs of text in simulation.
However, the memories in Zhang Yun's mind seemed to have been dwelling within that world for months. Zhang Yun saw with his own eyes how the greedy army abandoned the peasants and allowed corpses to pile up in the mountains and fields.
The villagers at the borders experienced the painful life of having to endure days of hunger and thirst.
Fortunately…
The leader of the Silver Wolf Bandits was a man of principle.
Every time he got extra food, Milano would send it to the commoners in need of help at the border as soon as possible. Milano never thought of hoarding the stock and giving up on the victims who were about to starve to death.
Naturally, there were also subordinates who questioned Milano's decision.
Even so, Milano never forced them to do the same.
Milano remarked, "We don't have anything to eat, but we can bear with it for a while and rob the granaries of those arrogant aristocrats. If the villagers of the border don't eat, they will starve to death here!
"Don't forget, 10 years ago, when we were in exile, we also almost died from hunger. It was the villagers of the borders who fed us a hundred families' worth of food, saved us, and raised us!
"If anyone feels that this is inappropriate and doesn't want to abstain from food with me, you can leave. You can join the Royal Army or any other bandit group. I won't stop you!
"If we encounter each other again in the future, I will still show you mercy on account of our past brotherhood!"
"..."
Compared to Brother Milano, who would rather starve himself to repay a debt of gratitude, the nobles of the Ice Kingdom who used the name of disaster relief and suppression to deceive the lower ranks and fill their own pockets were undoubtedly the scummiest of the scums.
Honestly, Zhang Yun could understand the aristocrat's unwillingness to donate money to the poor.
After all, money wasn't easily obtainable.
To help others was considered a favor.
Aristocrats didn't consider helping as a duty.
Pity would not work to morally obligate those who were privileged.
But...
The money in the hands of the nobles was the life-saving straw that the Ice Emperor provided to help the people at the border. Whether from an objective point of view or a subjective point of view, the funds rightfully belonged to the people at the border.
Instead of giving the funds to the people at the border, the nobles misappropriated them. The nobles were true robbers and actual thieves!
Zhang Yun could not stand them and felt the desire to crush them to death.
After a long time, Zhang Yun calmed down and continued the simulation.
[After revealing the truth about the border, Milano came straight to the point. You were an extraordinary professional genius. You have more potential than a rare necromancer. You could create an invincible Shadow Legion.]
[Originally, the Silver Wolf Bandits did not have the capital to fight against the Royal Army entrenched at the border. Milano and his men could only move in secret and try their best to save others.]
[But with you around, you could transform the rotten magically and defeat those unscrupulous nobles who harmed the people of the border.]
[Milano hoped that you could become the new leader of the Silver Wolf Bandits, lead them, launch an uprising, end the rule of those "local tyrants", and save everyone at the border.]
[Choose an option.]
[A: Agree and plan an uprising to defeat the Ice Kingdom's army.]
[B: Reject and leave Milano utterly disappointed in you.]
[C: Betray Milano and expose him to the Ice Kingdom's army stationed at the border.]
[D: Leave this place and look for other hero souls.]
[NOTE: This selection will greatly affect the favorability of Milano's hero's soul toward you.]
"Ha! Is there a need to think about this? Option A! I'm going to crush this group of scum!"
In an instant, the text in front of Zhang Yun's eyes began to twist and change.
[You were extremely displeased with the actions of the Ice Kingdom's army, so you decisively agreed to Milano's request and became the new leader of the Silver Wolf Bandits. The other members of the group were convinced by your charm and strength after interacting with you for a long time, so no one opposed Milano's abdication.]
[In the following months, you planned and attacked several outposts set up by the army. You managed to draw in the earnest people who suffered at the border and quickly strengthened the Silver Wolf Bandits' uprising force.]
[However, this action angered the upper nobles in the army. A highly capable group of professional knights were sent to sweep through the entire border. There was an issued bounty for all of you.]
[With the temptation of a large sum of money, there were individuals who were bound to betray you, regardless of their allegiance. Your whereabouts had been disclosed to the knights pursuing you.]
[By relying on guerilla tactics, you kept on circling around and persevered for several months, but in the end, you were still found by the hostile knights.]
[The power of your shadow was extremely powerful, and you were bestowed with the ability to convert every person you kill into your own servant. Unfortunately, your plan was not well devised due to the time constraint. You ended up seriously injured by the concentrated fire of numerous professional knights. You got trapped on an easily defendable small hill, but it was difficult to launch a counterattack.]
[Under the pressure of incessant attacks by the knights, there was a shortage of food. Many of the rebels were demoralized, and they surrendered.]
[However, the noble commander of the Royal Army did not accept anyone's surrender. Instead, the rebels were hung one by one in conspicuous locations to highlight the absolute superiority of the Royal Army.]
[Seeing this, you knew you couldn't save the situation, so you rushed down the mountain with the rest of the Silver Wolf Bandits, killed the noble's lackeys, and scolded the world for being unfair.]
[In the end, you were killed by the combined forces of the expert professionals in the royal army.]
[You ended up being buried.]
…