At that moment, everyone prepared their weapons, and a few young and strong soldiers were enough to conduct reconnaissance. Justinian nodded with satisfaction.

"Then when will we set off?" Valens also didn't expect that this young-looking boy would be so generous. He asked immediately. With the weapons and equipment in hand and Justinian's heavy reward, he couldn't help but

Eager to try it out.

Under Valens's loud suggestion, everyone nodded, and they were obviously a little convinced by Justinian, the commander. After all, they had been filled with anger because of those damn pirates huddled in this castle these past few days.

And now, they are willing to listen to this young man's next instructions.

It can be said that the calmness and decisiveness shown by young Justinian cheered everyone up. Although a large reason was due to the large bounty, they were willing to fight with this young man from the bottom of their hearts.

A handful.

"Don't worry, we will take action in the evening. I will set off with you." Justinian nodded with satisfaction. He had just arrived here and was unable to establish prestige immediately. At this time, money is the most straightforward way to maintain relationships between superiors and subordinates.

.

"good!"

Everyone was ready to risk their lives, and the matter was settled. On the contrary, the soldiers who had hesitated before looked at this scene and regretted why they didn't stand up earlier.

It's just that Abdera became a little worried when he saw Justinian's arrogance. Ilovan Castle finally had a new lord, but Justinian had to go to the dangerous situation in person. Although he was also prepared to go together, but

He still wanted Justinian to think twice.

"Your Excellency Justinian, actually you don't have to take action on these matters yourself." The man with a veteran background said in a low voice.

But Justinian raised his eyebrows slightly, "If not, then I'm afraid there won't be many opportunities to control the people under his command in the future." He made no secret of his intention to take this opportunity to establish his authority.

Seeing that Justinian had decided to go, Abdera actually admired this young man. He originally thought that most of the officers transferred here were incompetent people or other noble playboys, but Justinian's

The performance really surprised him.

"We will set off after sunset."

In the evening of that day, Valens took the lead and took four people to scout out in advance to find out which village this group of pirates had settled down in. Theoretically, although the number of pirates was large, they ultimately depended on the sea for their meals.

It was impossible to stay on the shore. Valens and the others were locals, and they were familiar with reconnaissance.

Once upon a time, the Byzantine navy was the pride of the empire. No matter whether it was the rise of the Arab Empire or the Russians, the sieges eventually failed. It can be said that the Byzantine navy was the best of the best. However, with the decline of the empire, the civil war intensified.

Due to the financial deficit, the last navy was disbanded, and the Byzantine Empire had to rely on the mercenary navy of the Italian city-states.

Nowadays, pirates are rampant and maritime trade has suffered a heavy blow. This is why Justinian must eradicate these pirates at all costs. Valens led his men to explore first, and they could not wait any longer.

Eating is more dignified than hiding in a castle, eating and waiting to die.

It was time to rest again, eat and drink well, and recharge their batteries. Valens and the others were full of energy, and they soon discovered clues. There were no traces of pirates in two of the three small villages, and the last small fishing village was still alive.

There was a handful of pirates who didn't seem to be leaving.

After receiving the exact news, Valens immediately told Justinian. At night, eleven men, fully armed, appeared on the outskirts of the village.

Night attack, this is Abdera's suggestion. Indeed, the pirates' combat effectiveness is not very strong, and there are not many people left here. But if there is a frontal battle, there may be casualties, and if a large force is mobilized to attack during the day,

The pirates ran away when they heard the news. It would be better to make a sudden attack and kill someone by surprise. The only concern is that in ancient times, night battles were rare and there was not enough nutrition. If you have night blindness, it will be difficult to move. In addition, there are many connections between each other.

It was difficult. Fortunately, the people in the team were all young and strong. In addition, the number of people was small and the scale of the battle was not large. Justinian easily agreed to Abdera's suggestion.

"Is everyone ready?" Justinian asked, looking at the people behind him.

"Well, everything is at your command." Valens and others nodded, and Abdera, who had the most combat experience, also pulled out the sword at his waist and picked up the kite-shaped shield.

There are two pirates watching at the entrance of the village. They are still having fun in the village and have greatly relaxed their vigilance.

Justinian and Abdera walked in the front, heading towards the target. Justinian held the bow and arrow in his hand and drew the bowstring. Although the battle was coming, he felt surprisingly calm in his heart. Everything that followed took the initiative.

He was about to fight to the death, but it made him inexplicably excited.

"Huh, it's so unlucky that we two have to stay here all night." One of the pirates on guard couldn't help complaining. They also wanted to go in and have a drink, but they had to stand guard to prevent the Epirus army from coming over.

"Who told us that we were unlucky enough to draw lots?"

"I think it's that guy Bruce who's cheating."

The two pirates exchanged words with each other but did not realize that danger was approaching quietly.

"Get ready!" Justinian glanced at Valens beside him and whispered. The two of them aimed their bows and arrows at the unsuspecting pirates at the same time.

"Whoosh——"

The arrows pierced the air without any notice. The two pirates were shot directly through the necks and died on the spot. The two soldiers who sprang out from both sides immediately helped the bodies away to prevent them from being noticed by the pirates inside.

The group of people walked all the way into the village, and faintly heard the cheers of pirates. It seemed that there were more than twenty people in number. Everyone did not dare to be careless. They approached lightly, and Justinian's soldiers

Although they lack experience, these few walked without making any sound. This is something that even Justinian couldn't do. Obviously they all have combat experience. The arrow shot by Valens just now was steady and hard, and Justinian's arrow was accurate and hard.

Tinny also saw that this was by no means his first time on the battlefield.

Everyone approached cautiously, and at this time, the group of pirates were sitting around the fire, talking and laughing loudly. Although they were said to be a group of bandits, they had obviously become rich by robbing families. Everyone was well-equipped, and some even had armor on their bodies.

Perhaps they were resting at night, so they were not alert at all and did not know that Justinian and others were approaching.

Next to a fire, the pirates killed pigs and chickens and completely destroyed the livestock raised in the village that had no time to take away.

"Damn, you can't make any money in this poor place." A man who looked like a pirate leader suddenly cursed and kicked over a bonfire nearby. They came here to search and found nothing. The other pirates had already

Unwilling to leave, he took his men here and prepared to wait and see, but it turned out that it had been several days and none of the timid villagers came.

Seeing the situation in front of them, Valens and others were extremely angry. These damn pirates were so arrogant.

But Justinian turned his head and glanced at his men, signaling him to calm down. Justinian whispered: "It's not time yet. We'll wait until these guys have rested before we take action."

He carefully counted the number of Croatian pirates and found that there were twenty-four people in front and behind him, more than twice their number. What surprised him even more was that the weapons of these pirates were very sophisticated. Abdera also discovered

In this situation, it is difficult to get off the tiger at this time. There are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, and we have to fight.

"There's nothing we can do about it, boss, we can't afford to offend those Venetians. Aren't the weapons and rewards he gave us just for us to harass these Greeks?" The men on the side quickly persuaded them, and their words

It immediately angered everyone. "The worst we can do is kill a few of them to vent our anger."

Justinian's blood surged up, but he forced himself to suppress it. He desperately said to himself: "Calm down, calm down, it's not the time yet!" These lingering Venetians are actually still moving, and they even got it.

On his own territory, he will make these guys pay the price one day.

But suddenly Valens behind him couldn't help but yelled: "Go to hell!" In his opinion, although there were many people on the other side, they were just a ragtag group of pirates, which was not enough evidence. Hearing that these Croats were actually like this

Arrogant and quick-tempered, he finally couldn't help it, but this completely ruined Justinian's plan.

Like a hornet's nest being popped, the pirates beside the fire jumped up one after another. They immediately realized that they had been attacked.

"Whoosh!" There was a taut sound from the bow string, and a heavy arrow pierced the darkness and shot directly through the face of a pirate who had just stood up and picked up his weapon. Justinian dropped the bow and arrow and struck hard

He glanced at Valens, knowing that his success had failed and he had no choice but to confront these gangsters head-on.

"We will only leave one alive and kill all the others!"

The secret attack failed and the only option was to fight openly. Justinian drew his sword, roared, and rushed out at the head of the team.

"kill……"

Abdera knew that he was already riding a tiger and could not get off, so he could only defeat these pirates with thunderous momentum, so he screamed at the top of his lungs and waved his weapons to follow Justinian.

The remaining people rushed out one after another, either throwing javelins or shooting bows and arrows. Several pirates were hit for a while, but they still reacted quickly and hid behind their shields.

"Kill these Greek soldiers and you will be rewarded heavily!" Unexpectedly, the cowering Epirus army actually took the initiative to attack. The pirate leader was also shocked. He laughed angrily. He immediately regained his composure and led his men.
Chapter completed!