"All of you, stop right there! Anyone who tries to run dies!"
Shawn Steele's voice rang out loud and clear in the ears of the twenty-plus Black Tiger Stronghold bandits. Instantly, their feet felt as heavy as lead—they couldn't take another step.
The next moment, the whole group turned and dropped to their knees, kowtowing and begging, "Chief Shawn, have mercy! Spare us!"
"Are you idiots blind or deaf? This is our Clearwind Stronghold's current head chief!" Old Stick strode up and kicked several kneeling Black Tiger bandits over—classic bullying under borrowed authority.
The bandits who'd been kicked over didn't mind. They just kept shouting, "Chief, have mercy! Spare us!"
None of these bandits were literate, so even their pleas for mercy were monotonous—they just kept repeating "Spare us!" over and over.
Shawn Steele swept his gaze over the kneeling bandits and said, "Sam Wu, Old Stick, how should we deal with this bunch? Should we just kill them all?"
Hearing this, all the bandits couldn't help but tremble.
"Chief, you can't," Old Stick hurriedly advised.
"Why not?" Shawn Steele asked.
Old Stick explained, "Chief, you might not know—among the 108 strongholds of the Blackwind Mountains, there's an unwritten rule: no stronghold can completely wipe out another. If one side surrenders in a fight, you either cut off a finger and let them go, or take them in as your own."
"There's really such a rule? Who made it up?" Shawn Steele asked curiously.
Old Stick thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure, but it's been around forever. If anyone breaks it, all the other strongholds will unite against them!"
Shawn Steele immediately understood—it was a bandit code of conduct.
So, looking at the kowtowing bandits, he lazily said, "You want to lose a finger and get lost, or stay and join my Clearwind Stronghold?"
"I, Wang Erniu, am willing to join Clearwind Stronghold."
"I, Ma Fengsan, also want to join Clearwind Stronghold—please take me in, Chief!"
"I, Zhou Xiaobao, am also willing to join Clearwind Stronghold!"
...
In no time, all twenty-three bandits expressed their willingness to join Clearwind Stronghold.