When he saw the name Nick, it was as if someone had knocked him on the head, and he only felt his brain buzzing.

Of course he had heard of this name, and who in the entire Wild Sand Empire had not heard of this name?

Nick, the former general of the Wild Sand Empire, is marginalized in the palace struggle and is eventually sent by the royal family on an impossible mission. The last time most people heard of this name was when it was rumored that he had died of illness in the middle of the desert.

It wouldn't be surprising if this was the end of the matter.

But one day a few months after his "death", his entire family in the waste capital disappeared overnight, dissipating into the air like smoke and dust.

Since that day, all kinds of rumors have spread in the streets and alleys of the abandoned capital.

Some people say: Nick is not dead at all, he and the former general Glenn are called "desert wolf fox", and they must have been hiding somewhere.

Someone else swore that Nick must have participated in the organization called "Red Pavilion" in the north, and also designed to kill the queen from the demon race.

But these rumors mean nothing to Benson.

At this moment, he slapped the table indignantly and asked sharply, "Where did that damn guy go after killing my men?" ”

The boss replied resignedly, "He snatched the alpacas and disappeared when he went out." ”

Benson frowned, "He snatched six alpacas by himself?" ”

The boss nodded, "He also said that he will come back when it gets dark......"

Benson scolded, "You fat pig, why didn't you say such an important thing earlier!" Come on, bring me all the slaves outside! ”

The guards on both sides asked curiously, "General, what are your arrangements?" ”

"Of course, I want to give 'General Nick' a little surprise." Benson smiled grimly.

Under his arrangement, hundreds of homeless slaves were taken to the back kitchen and warehouse, huddled together like canned fish, and did not dare to come out. The two hundred or so people he brought with him also found their own rooms and ambushed them.

He also selected ten soldiers who were first-class and good at observing words and expressions, and sat in the dining room disguised as ordinary merchants and his associates. I found a comfortable position, ordered a table of wine and food, and ate deliciously.

It was getting dark.

Wind lanterns were lit in the inn, and the flickering lights danced restlessly, as if to herald the coming crisis.

The alpaca neighed, and someone came to the door of the inn.

Benson raised his hand and signaled, and the dozens of samurai hiding in the shadows simultaneously drew their crossbow guns and aimed at the gate, and the soldiers who were pretending to be merchants also clenched the scimitars hidden under the table.

There was a knock on the door.

Tuk, tuk, tuk.

Benson glanced at the two soldiers at the door who were pretending to be buddies, and the two of them understood, slowly approached the door, and opened a slight slit, "Which guest is it?" ”

There was no answer outside the door.

And the expressions of the two soldiers also became subtle.

Benson glared at the two of them.

The two reluctantly pulled open the door: there was nothing outside, only a rope hanging from a small stone, swaying back and forth in the wind. If you hit the door panel, you can make a "tuk-tuk" knocking sound.

"What's going on?" Benson was about to speak, when a knife was already across his neck.

"You...... Are you waiting for us? ”

Benson tilted his head slightly, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a girl with antlers. She had a disdainful smile on her face, "You want to play with us too?" ”

A few plainclothes samurai on the side drew their scimitars and immediately surrounded Finx, shouting, "Let go of the general!" ”

Finks didn't answer, just looked out the door.

Outside the door of the inn slowly walked a middle-aged man, beneath the shabby cloak and straw hat was a lazy but attentive face.

"I promised before I came to kill as few people as possible." He looked at the samurai in front of him playfully, "Guess how many more I can kill today?" ”

He walked in with a big grin, oblivious to the fact that there were two men disguised as samurai at the door.

The two clenched their scimitars and followed Nick. The two exchanged glances, and the two scimitars were unsheathed at the same time.

A flash of cold light!

The two heads landed on the ground, gurgling and rolling around.

At some point, a saber appeared in Nick's hand, and the blade was stained with blood.

"What a fast knife!" Benson exclaimed.

Nick walked into the dining room, and with every step he took, the samurai in civilian clothes took a step back. When he reached Benson's table, the warriors retreated to the wall.

"You're Nick...... Checkmate? Benson squeezed out a few words of praise from his mouth, "Benson, the adjutant of Zahir, the partial general of General Sortu under the 'Golden Scorpion'......"

Finks snorted and complained, "Where did you get such a long name, are you called 'Soltu' or 'Zahir' or 'Benson'?" ”

Nick grabbed a chair, sat down peacefully with his feet crossed, and smiled lazily, "Miss Finkx, you all created your own 'Dune Five' in imitation of the 'Five Gods of War in the Wild Sands', don't you even know the 'Golden Scorpion' Soltu?" ”

Finks' little head shook and his mouth flattened.

She really doesn't know where the title of "Five Heroes" came from, anyway, she is only the youngest sister, and it is always right to follow the big brother and sister to call blindly.

Nick picked up a fork and poked a piece of roasted snake meat into his mouth: "Soltu is a short man, obviously not him." Zahir's name is supposed to be a woman, not him. Looks like this guy should be called Benson. ”

Benson forced a smile into his composure, "General Nick is extraordinary......

Nick shook the fork in his hand and motioned for him to shut up: "There are three things I hate most in my life: the first is quarrelling; The second is sycophancy; The third is to be ambushed. ”

He poured himself a glass of cider, "Do you know how not to be ambushed?" ”

Ben Sen looked at the tip of the knife that always stayed in front of his neck, and didn't dare to nod, so he could only say in a trembling voice: "Please...... Please advise the general. ”

Nick pretended to mysteriously lower his voice, "As long as I kill all the people who ambush me, I won't be ambushed." ”

Although Benson has been licking dogs in officialdom for many years, the sentence thrown by Nick is too tricky. He couldn't grasp it for a while, and he even didn't know from what angle he was licking it from in a trance.

"Now, I have a question for you......" Nick smiled slyly, "this little brother in front of you, are you 'ambushing' me?" ”

"Nope! Absolutely nothing! Benson suddenly understood the correct answer and replied loudly.

Finks looked at the civilian samurai around him who were still flashing their scimitars, "Then how many of them are ......?"

Benson hurriedly coughed a few times. The samurai were also clever, and hurriedly put their swords into their sheaths, and stood on both sides with a smile on their faces. A few discerning fellows brought fruit bowls, and they had to make a set of horses and chickens for Nick and Finks as a sign of respect.

Nick was pleased with the reaction of Benson and his men, and filled him with a glass of fruit wine, "I heard that you have captured hundreds of outcasts as slaves, what temple are you going to build?" ”

Beads of sweat dripped down the tip of his nose from Benson's head, and he immediately said, "No...... No, these slaves ...... Ran halfway through...... Yes, they all ran away! ”

Nick motioned for Finks to put the knife down and raised his hand to give Benson a glass, "yes, I also think those outcasts shouldn't have been hiding in this inn, they must have escaped halfway." ”

After a glass of wine, Benson's face softened slightly. He carefully wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked, "General Nick is here, I don't know why?"

Nick took another piece of snake meat and threw it into his mouth, "As far as I know, the current general of the Wild Sand Empire is already the head of the 'Five War Gods of the Wild Sand', known as the 'lone wolf', Darius, right?" “

Benson nodded cautiously.

Nick chewed on the snake meat, "It seems that the construction of the temple was the idea of the second prince Babu, and the leader was the 'protector mage' sent by the demons. The Five Gods of War and the Demon Race have been hostile for many years, and Darius has publicly expressed his support for the Four Princes......"

He paused, "I'm sorry for you to give me an answer, how is the army of the 'Five War Gods of the Wild Sands' taking prisoners and building temples for the 'Protector Mage'?" ”

"No, no, no, I didn't ......" Benson was about to deny it, when he saw Nick's murderous eyes, "I mean...... Zahir, it's because of Zahir! ”

Finks snorted, "What is Zahir again?" ”

Nick dropped the fork in his hand, "According to what he just said, Zahir should be his commander, the general of the 'Golden Scorpion' Soltu." ”

Finks blinked, "So he wants to convince us: can a general of the Wild Sand Empire mobilize his army and go out of the city to burn and kill?" ”

"It's not impossible." Nick sighed.

It's not news that the military discipline of the Wild Sand Empire is sloppy. When Glenn was the generalissimo of the soldiers and horses, the two discussed this issue. Nick once strongly advocated the return of military power and centralized dispatch management. But Glenn tells him that there is always an insurmountable gap between reality and ideals.

The so-called empire has decayed, the politics are corrupt, the economy has regressed, not to mention the military salaries, and in many places even the armaments are running out day by day. In such a situation, each general can only be kept in charge of his own small group like a private soldier, so that the entire empire can still have military power to speak of.

But both knew that this pattern would not last long. The military strength of the entire Wild Sand Empire will eventually be eaten up by this small corps system.

Nick poured another glass of wine for the other man, "Tell me what's going on." ”

Benson breathed hard a few times, slowly calming down his tension. He took a drink from his glass, pursed his lips, and said with a serious face: "Zahir has already betrayed the 'Protector Mage', and now in addition to her, there is also a 'Demon Monk' in the army. ”

"Demon Monk?" Nick's glass shook off, as if sensitive to the word.

Benson nodded, "That's a disciple of the Protector Mage, called Linton." We all call him 'Demon Monk' behind our backs. ”