Chapter 40: The Army's Annihilation

  Please go ahead and provide the text you'd like me to translate. I'll return the translation in English.

  The fierce battle was still going on, and Rayn led more than 100 people to confront the more than 500 strong thieves led by Traein, with swords drawn and bows stretched. Suddenly, a middle-aged man in thief attire came running over from afar, looking flustered.

  He was small in stature, with disheveled clothes and a messy brown head that stuck to his forehead, looking unkempt. His eyes were filled with a terrified expression as he frantically pushed away the robbers who were about to fight, panting heavily as he arrived before the leader.

  "Gildor, how did you get here?" Traien said furiously, his curved knife at the ready, staring at the thin, frightened-looking man in front of him with a mixture of anger and fear in his eyes, his whiskers bristling.

  "Big... brother, Luo Feng Shan's old nest is surrounded by the Emperor's troops, in a precarious situation. I... I... I came to request support, didn't expect..." Gilt said in a panic, pointing behind him as he spoke.

  "What?" Traien's whole body shook, and he said in surprise, his face pale, his entire person stunned, his eyes dull, as if he had aged a lot, the curved knife in his hand also powerless to fall to the ground.

  At this time, more than 2,000 fully armed Imperial soldiers rushed over, holding crossbows and stopping not far away. The person was Somarte, the guardian of Haigou Pass, wearing a red cloak, majestic and powerful.

  These robbers retreated in terror, but behind them were the completely defensive formation of Lain and others. They quickly adjusted their formation to form a circular defense array, surrounding Lutrain in the middle.

  "Halt!" A loud shout came from the town, it was Traien himself.

  The besieged bandits all stopped, and the soldiers and villagers who had also heard Lain's command also ceased their attack. The scene was silent, with only the crackling of the bonfire sounding exceptionally clear.

  The robbers formed a circular defense formation and opened up a path from the middle, Traien slowly walked out, facing General Somat in the distance, he continued to move forward without hesitation.

  "Big brother!"

  "Squad leader!"

  “……”

  The robbers tried to stop Trajan, shouting loudly, but he continued on his way, when...

  "Father..." Leya's sobbing cry made him, the leader of the bandit group, Traien, stop in his tracks, slowly turn around, and gaze deeply at his daughter Leya who was being held back by Gilt. He hung his head and let out a long sigh before continuing on his way.

  When Trayne came before General Somat, he held in both hands the golden curved knife that symbolized leadership of the Robber's Guild of Mount Lof.

  Somat gazed at the silent and bowed Traen, then raised his golden curved knife high, and the soldiers cheered in waves, while the villagers also shouted in unison.

  "Father..." Suddenly a cry of surprise came, followed by a figure rushing out wildly from among the robbers, and then heart-wrenching sobs.

  The robbers have surrendered and their leader, Trayne, has taken his own life. His daughter is holding him as he lies dying.

  "General, please... you must... keep your promise, keep..." On the verge of death, Traien was still muttering non-stop, his eyes fixed tightly on Somat, as if they had reached some kind of agreement between them, and yet...

  "Hmm!" Somatra nodded slightly and then let out a long sigh.

  "Father...... waaahhhh......" Layla sat on the ground, hugging Traien's still warm body and weeping uncontrollably.

  The Battle of Luoxia Village resulted in the capture of over 1,300 bandits, including 35 leaders such as Los, Deke and Jiertu. Over a hundred soldiers and villagers were killed or wounded.

  In the temporary camp set up in Luoxia Village, through conversation with Somat, Lain learned about the ins and outs of the matter.

  Raine led the soldiers to suppress the bandits, Somat had been grasping their whereabouts, but did not expect that the opportunity for suppression would come so quickly. A small village of Luoxia actually attracted the main force of the bandit army, and the reinforcements sent by the imperial capital also arrived, not only breaking through the bandit's lair, eliminating the hidden danger of the empire, and providing a guarantee for the battle to defend the border.

  However, there were still many doubts in Laine's heart that had not been resolved. Before he could continue to ask questions, Somat led the army and took those bandits back to the border city at night, but did not require Laine and others to follow.

  After a day of bloody fighting, the villagers and soldiers were all exhausted, some even fell asleep on the battlefield littered with corpses, too tired to be woken up by shouting. The cruel battle had made people forget fear, forget...

  A makeshift tent had become Renn's council chamber, where they were now discussing post-war affairs.

  Rough and unrefined, Rus and Dakota were counting the casualties of the soldiers. Dakota held the list of soldier names while Rus carefully recorded them. Everyone present had an exceptionally heavy mood.

  As a thief, Ladds stood beside Rain and wanted to talk to him, but every time he hesitated and didn't know how to start.

  "Rades, what's wrong with you? Is there something you want to say?" At this time, Rain turned his head and looked at Rades who was fidgeting nervously.

  "Ah?" Renn's words made Lades jump, and he didn't think his expression had escaped Renn's eyes.

  "Captain Rains, I...I...I..." Then Lades was tongue-tied for half a day and didn't say anything conclusive.

  "Rades, you little brat, if you have something to say, say it, and if you have gas, let it out. Don't be so annoying. You..." Rudes had always been particularly disgusted with Rades, who was originally a thief, and since joining the army, he had received special care from Rain, which made him even more resentful.

  "Captain Rains, I wanted to ask you something. Little Fatty and I also made significant contributions in this battle, so we should be considered to have military merit, right? Can't you help us get our criminal records in the Empire expunged? Besides, we're already soldiers of the Empire...” After a tirade from Rus, Lads finally spoke out what was on his mind. Actually, since joining the army, he had been looking for an opportunity to bring up this matter, but there hadn't been a suitable chance until now. This was a rare good timing, and he didn't want to miss it again.

  "Hahaha......" Everyone burst out laughing, and the atmosphere in the camp was no longer so depressing. Even the taciturn Rus and Dakota couldn't help but laugh nonstop.

  Everyone's laughter confused Rades, who stood there in a daze, carefully thinking about what he had just said, and didn't feel like he had said anything wrong. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, a sudden urgent report from the soldiers came from outside the tent.