"How did the NPC guards arrive so quickly?" One of the ambushers was astonished.
"Fuck, we were played by them!" Another one was more clever and realized they had fallen into a deeper trap than they initially thought.
"That's right, this hallway looks discreet on the surface, but it's secretly connected to the NPCs Training Ground. Thanks to you dummies making such loud noises, it attracted them over here." Xu Feng suddenly exclaimed, letting these ambushers know what was up.
"Oh, so that's why you told me to stay put." Zhao Kai clasped his hands, having realized Xu Feng's terrifying insight. Even when baiting out the enemy, he had calculated the strategic location to confront them.
At first, he thought that Xu Feng merely wanted to find a discreet place to finish the enemies tracking them.
Who would have thought Xu Feng had another plan in mind?
And one that doesn't involve moving a muscle.
"You have my like, Brother Feng!" Zhao Kai gave him a thumbs up in respect and admiration.
Xu Feng rolled his eyes at his response, taking a step forward to the NPC guards.
When the NPC guard noticed his approach, he was cautious initially, but his face turned solemn upon detecting something.
"Baro-" Before the NPC guard could call out his noble status, Xu Feng stopped him.
"Hello, guards, these people just attempted to rob me and even harmed me in the process. How do you think we should handle it?" Xu Feng greeted him and proceeded to explain the situation.
The moment Xu Feng finished his statement, the NPC guard's eyes turned cold.
Zhao Kai and the ambushers might not know the current status of Xu Feng, but these NPCs were different. With a bit of scrutiny, they could easily detect the Baron status Xu Feng held.
Now that he was informed some lowly adventurers had the nerve to openly initiate an attack within the town, but their target was also a Baron, whose jurisdiction was directly under the Aetheria Empire, the matter had turned serious.
"Quickly detain these criminals!" The NPC guard ordered sternly.
Upon hearing that, some of these ambushers naturally wanted to retaliate, with some even trying to flee the scene.
However, their efforts were futile. In front of these powerful NPC guards, the players were no different than ants.
Thus, within a few minutes, all the ambushers totaling 5 people were captured and detained.
If it was the normal protocol, these players would all be sent to jail for 3 days in real-time before being released.
Unfortunately for these unlucky ambushers, of all the people they had to target, they had to choose the one player who currently held a prestigious noble status. Thus, the normal protocol does not apply to them.
"Sir, the criminals have all been detained. What do you wish to do?" The NPC guard asked, cleverly avoiding to call his nobles status.
Their intelligence was shown very subtly, but Xu Feng was able to detect it and realized the NPCs are slowly able to act very human-like.
To even understand his intention and avoid calling his status made him somewhat anxious.
'It seems like I need to act fast.' He thought to himself, realizing the Divine World was changing at a rapid rate.
"My friend and I were visiting Oakwood Town due to its scenery and reputation. Alas, it was unfortunate that we met with such an incident." Xu Feng sighed in a bitter tone.
"We will definitely increase the security here." The NPC guard turned rigid and said solemnly, clearly afraid of Xu Feng leaving the town with a bad memory.
It would be over for their town if Xu Feng went ahead and complained to the upper management that he was ambushed and attacked right under their nose.
"I know, and I trust in you." Xu Feng patted the NPC guard and slowly guided him to the corner.
"I don't want to make a big deal out of this and neither do you. Let me take all of their possessions and you throw them in jail for a few weeks, and I'll pretend nothing happened." He whispered softly.
The NPC guard was stunned initially, but upon weighing the pros and cons, he felt this wasn't so bad.
After all, they wouldn't be punished and the matter would be resolved, given Xu Feng had already claimed he would pretend nothing happened. A noble's words were still convincing and he doubted a noble would go back on their words.
"Only that and no more?" The NPC guard asked, seemingly still suspicious of how easy the resolution would be.
Nodding his head, Xu Feng explained, "I like Oakwood Town, and I don't want a few lowly adventurers to dampen the town's reputation. Aside, you rescued me in time before any real danger occurred so I don't want you to be punished either."
Thanks to his convincing words, the NPC guard readily agreed with his suggestion, having ordered the guards to strip the ambushers of their entire property.
The only thing left on them were the clothes to avoid having them exposed.
"No, you can't do this to me! This isn't how it works."
"Yeah, just throw us to jail. Why are you taking away our items and money?"
"This is definitely a bug. I want to make a complaint!"
Agitated, the ambushers were livid upon seeing their entire belongings stripped from them. Worse, they saw how cozy the guards were to Xu Feng, especially when they watched how their possessions were given to him right afterward.
It was only at this moment that they truly understood one thing.
The role of a robber was never them, but these two despicable men who had lured them into the discreet hallway.
"How dare you make a fool out of me! I recognized your faces and I'll ensure you won't see the daylight once I return." One of the ambushers threatened as they were dragged away by the guards, most likely going to the jail cell.
'Heh, recognize my face? You all will be detained for a few weeks in real-time and you can't even access most of the features when jailed. By the time you come out, the world has already changed.' Xu Feng sneered inwardly.