Wizard: I have ten trillion nanomachines

The moment I crossed the Third Ring Road, the smell in the air changed.

The air was no longer filled with the pungent scent of spices and metal from the inner city; instead, it was replaced by a strong, fishy stench.

Sewage flowed freely on the potholed dirt road, with unidentifiable filth floating in the murky liquid.

Even more striking were the dark red bloodstains.

Some had dried into dark brown patches, while others were still sticky and damp, mixed with excrement, meandering along the street ditches and emitting a nauseating stench.

Most of the houses on both sides of the road were dilapidated, with the wooden doors mostly rotten, revealing dark, gaping windows. In the shadows of the corners, one could occasionally glimpse a pale arm or half a blurry head—the remains of abandoned people, gleaming with a deathly luster in the dim light.

Luo Kunlun carried a greatsword wider than five fingers on his back. The blade gleamed coldly in the sunlight. He walked slowly, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings. Almost every time his gaze fell, he would meet several hungry wolf-like eyes.

Those people leaned against broken walls or squatted in the mud by the roadside, their eyes murky yet often filled with greed and ferocity, like hyenas, locking onto every passerby.

Their gaze would linger on the other person's waist, baggage, and even bare wrists, and they would stare intently into the other person's eyes, trying to find a trace of cowardice, weariness, or any flaw deep in those pupils.

If their prey shows even the slightest sign of weakness, they will pounce on them like wild beasts that have smelled blood, tearing off everything of value from their prey.

Luo Kunlun encountered many such people along the way.

But when these people caught a glimpse of the enormous sword behind Luo Kunlun, their eyes would instinctively shrink, and their fierce aura would instantly diminish. They would either pretend to straighten their clothes or turn around, spit out a mouthful of saliva, and drag their feet away in a huff.

It was broad daylight, and the bright sunlight shone on the ground, exposing all the filth and darkness.

If it were night, with a dark and windy sky, dozens of dark figures would probably have already sprung out from the shadows, swords and spears drawn, bows and crossbows nocked, surrounding him.

Can't they tell that Luo Kunlun isn't an ordinary person?

It was obvious. The weight of that greatsword was not something an ordinary person could easily carry.

His upright posture, steady steps, and calm eyes all exuded an aura that was completely out of place in this chaotic place.

But living here, besides the poor who simply couldn't scrape together enough money and had to huddle in this appalling environment to survive, are mostly desperate criminals.

Blood-stained killers, thugs who take pleasure in violence, and local gangs, among whom are many skilled fighters.

They don't always stay on the edge of the town; sometimes they go out in groups to venture into the outer reaches of the Dark Forest, risking danger to collect rare plants or hunt lone monsters.

But more often than not, they would choose to stay on the only way back to camp and make a more "profitable" deal.

They plundered the survivors returning from the outskirts of the forest.

The dangers of hunting magical beasts are unimaginable to ordinary people. Even the weakest herbivorous magical beast, the Fang Rabbit, which seems docile, can easily kill a person.

The slightly stronger tusked boars have thick skin and flesh, and their tusks are as sharp as knives. It would take at least a mid-level knight to deal with them.

Beings like the Rock Armored Giant Bear are covered in indestructible rock armor and possess immense strength. Even a Grand Knight would need to lead a team of a hundred men, set traps, and suffer considerable casualties to have any chance of successfully hunting them down.

Even if you successfully hunt the monster and sell the materials to specialized merchants, you'll still have to pay a tax to the towering tower.

After all that hard work, the rewards you actually get are often meager.

In that case, why not turn our attention to similar targets?

Compared to the ferocious monsters, the humans, who had just gone through a fierce battle and were exhausted, were obviously much easier to deal with.

They'll either stop you and collect a toll, or they'll simply kill you and rob you—clean and efficient.

Lokunlun continued along the bumpy dirt road. While the core area of ​​the Rogue Encampment was vast, its influence extended even further, with many villages and towns of varying sizes scattered throughout, including Avan Town.

When Lokunlun stepped into the territory of Avan Town, the sun had already set more than halfway down the horizon, its afterglow turning the sky a dark red. The shadows of the houses on both sides of the town were stretched long, giving it a somewhat eerie feel.

There were very few pedestrians on the street, most of them walking in a hurry, their eyes scanning their surroundings warily, as if danger might strike at any moment.

"You've been following me for so long, you've got quite the nerve."

Luo Kunlun stopped in his tracks without turning around. His voice was calm, yet it carried clearly throughout the empty streets around him.

His five senses were already quite strong, and after learning Qigong, his perception became even stronger.

The scents hidden in the shadows of the house, behind the corners, and even on the roof had been following him ever since he left the edge of the Third Ring Road.

"You're the one who's really bold."

A rough, hoarse sound rang out, carrying a hint of a beastly roar.

Before he finished speaking, like a rising tide, nearly thirty men with unfriendly expressions emerged from various hidden corners, wielding steel knives, short axes, and several carrying poisoned crossbows. They quickly surrounded Luo Kunlun, forming an impenetrable encirclement.

The leader was an exceptionally tall man, nearly two meters in height, with broad shoulders, bulging muscles, a face covered with a layer of fine gray down, a slightly upturned mouth revealing two sharp fangs, and murky yellow eyes with a ferocious, beast-like glint.

This is a half-orc, whose ancestors must have undergone wizard-induced beast-transformation.

He wore a pair of steel claws that gleamed with a cold light. The claws were sharp and had a faint bluish-black hue, clearly coated with a potent poison.

He stood about thirty meters away from Luo Kunlun, looking down at him and scrutinizing him. He lingered on the greatsword behind Luo Kunlun for a long time, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes before turning into a sneer.

"Your strength is not weak. Even a great knight would find that sword too heavy, yet you can carry it so easily."

"No wonder those spies reported you to our Yashan Gang right away." The orc grinned, his voice full of disdain. "You're just not very bright. I really don't know where you got the guts to wander around this place all by yourself."

He paused, puffed out his chest, and said with increasing smugness, "Alright, if you know what's good for you, hand over the sword on your back, the money on your body, and your game cards."

"Don't even think about resisting. Every one of my men has undergone at least three years of special training and has been given strength-enhancing drugs. The weapons they have are not to be underestimated either." As he spoke, he pointed to the men holding crossbows.

"The mayor of Afan Town and I are on good terms. No one can save you here. If you don't want to be pricked like a hedgehog, hand over your valuables obediently—"

Without saying a word, Luo Kunlun moved the next second.

Without any warning, he gripped the hilt of the greatsword on his back with one hand, and with a slight twist of his wrist, he easily drew the heavy sword, creating a whistling sound.

The sword flashed, as fast as lightning, and no one could see how he swung it.

With a few soft "thuds," the thugs closest to Luo Kunlun had their bodies snapped at the waist, their upper bodies crashing heavily to the ground, blood and entrails gushing out and staining the ground beneath their feet.

After taking down the three, Luo Kunlun didn't pause at all. He suddenly exerted force with his feet and charged towards the leader of the half-orc Fang Wolf like an arrow.

His speed was astonishing, creating a gust of wind. The surrounding bandits didn't even have time to react. They only saw a blur before Luo Kunlun's figure passed through the crowd and appeared in front of Ya Lang.

Yalang's pupils shrank suddenly, alarm bells blaring in his heart.

Although he was arrogant, he was not a fool or a piece of trash. He instinctively raised his hands, using his proud steel claws to block.

clang!

A piercing metallic clang rang out, and the moment the steel claws made contact with the greatsword, Garo felt an unimaginable force surge through him.

His arm went numb instantly from the shock, and a deep gash appeared on the steel claw.

Before he could react, the cold blade had already severed his steel claws with overwhelming force and then cleaved into his body.

puff--

Blood splattered, and Garo didn't even feel the pain. He saw his upper body slowly lean forward, while his lower body remained standing.

His gaze shifted downwards, landing on the clean cut and the scattered internal organs on the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief and bewilderment.

Luo Kunlun sheathed his greatsword, the blood dripping from the blade with a "drip-drip" sound.

He glanced at the broken-in-two Fang Wolf and scoffed, "Nonsense. I thought it was something powerful, but it turns out it's nothing special."

Just as Garo's corpse crashed to the ground, someone in the crowd screamed, "The...the boss is dead!"

This shout instantly shattered the psychological defenses of all the bandits.

Just moments ago they were aggressive and menacing, but now their faces were deathly pale, and they had lost all will to fight. Like frightened birds and beasts, they scattered and fled in all directions, wishing they had more legs.

"Trying to run away?"

Luo Kunlun snorted coldly, took a step, and his figure weaved through the crowd.

With each swing of the greatsword, a scream and a corpse were uttered with every strike.

Their movements were swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation, as if they were harvesting crops, reaping the lives of these bandits.

On the field, only the broken Garo remained in a state of confusion until the very last moment.

Why?

He clearly couldn't smell any potion on the man, nor did he detect any trace of wizardic modification.

This man was just a mortal!

A mere mortal, no matter how strong, is only at the level of a Great Knight, at most comparable to himself after he has become a werewolf.

But the power and speed just now were clearly several levels stronger than those of the elite beast soldiers in the Black Beast Legion who had undergone modification and training!

He died unable to understand what had happened.

Is it a secret technique he has never seen before?