Florida Man in Magus World: Unleashing Liberty and Freedom

After blatantly murdering the lone traveler for his cargo, the border guards sneered at the other travelers and merchants in line. Their leader, a burly man in an iron vest and leather pants, yelled at the crowd, "If you don't want to end up like that fool, get your gold coins ready! The toll is 10 gold per person, and 10 gold for each wagon!

If you don't pay and insist on going through the border, you'll be violating our province laws! NEXT GROUP! HURRY!"

Bitterly, the next group of merchants fetched the gold coins in their pouches to pay the border guards. Several groups hesitated, considering turning back. Five groups steered their wagons away, passing Felix. Among them was a family with a dejected husband, a middle-aged wife, and a 6 year old boy.

"We might run out of food on the way back. Hang in there," the husband warned his family.

Overhearing their trouble, Felix's heart ached. He bit his lower lip and raised his hand, intending to help, but before he could call out, two horsemen from the border guard rode up and blocked the family's wagon.

"Halt! Get out of the wagon for inspection, now!" one of the soldiers demanded.

The husband pleaded, "B-But we don't have enough gold coins to pay the toll. We are planning to head back."

"No excuse! You must be hiding a criminal in your wagon! Get off!" The horseman leaped onto the farm wagon and kicked the husband off the driver's seat. He stared at the family and noticed the wife.

Seeing the trembling child and the helpless woman, he smirked. "There's a wanted criminal here. COME HERE!"

"W-What?!" The family was shocked.

The soldier pulled the woman off the wagon by her hair, laughing. He signaled his friends, "Hey! I've caught another one!"

The border guards leered at the woman. "Well done! Bring her to the 'Interrogation' tent! I'll take her first!"

"I'll take her next," the horseman cackled.

The husband struggled to get up, crying, "No! My wife didn't do anything wrong!"

"SILENCE!" The horseman turned and unsheathed his sword, striding toward the husband. He raised his weapon to cut the man down in front of his son.

Nobody dared to intervene. They cowered and averted their eyes, praying they wouldn't be chosen by the corrupt border guards.

Felix had seen enough. He sighed and pointed a gun at the horseman.

*BANG*

The bullet blasted through the soldier's head, dropping him as he held the broadsword. Felix put the pistol away and brought out his shotgun, expecting a sudden battle.

"Back off, people. I'm in a rush." Felix turned his vehicle and drove along the side lane, cutting through the queue. He raised the shotgun and carefully aimed at the burly guard who had captured the wife. He pulled the trigger.

*BANG*

A slug bullet hit the crooked guard's chest, leaving a gaping hole. The bullet also struck another soldier behind the target. Both fell simultaneously.

Being freed, the middle-aged woman ran toward her husband and child. Felix, without looking at the family, fetched a sealed bucket of cookies and six bottles of water from his inventory. He tossed them onto their wagon.

"Leave. There's some dry food and water on your wagon. Opening those packages will be tricky, but I know it's not that hard to learn. Go!"

The husband and wife nodded and sped away from the border.

Felix calmly stood in front of the checkpoint. A dozen soldiers brought out their spears and swords, surrounding Felix and pointing their weapons at him. The tips grazed the ATV's outer barrier, producing light sparks and mild electric shocks that didn't reach the soldiers due to their wooden poles.

"A-A mage?!" one of them uttered.

Felix corrected them, "Correction, a Florida man."

"What?"

*BANG*

Without warning, Felix started blasting.

.

.

Five minutes later, Felix lowered his gun, looking back at a dozen corpses of the corrupt border soldiers. However, by murdering them, Felix had poked a hornet's nest.

Behind the checkpoint was a military camp housing over 2,000 soldiers. The gunshots and screams had attracted their attention, and the camp rang an alarm.

When Felix was done with the crooked guards, a hundred soldiers in chainmail armor rushed out with their weapons. Instead of attacking Felix right away, they formed ranks and assessed the situation.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE?!" one of the soldiers in a red tunic yelled, glaring at Felix.

Felix glanced at his system map. Everyone except the travelers behind him was marked as red. Seeing so many hostile soldiers, Felix grumbled.

"This is why I hate main roads."

Since senseless killing might escalate the situation, Felix decided to break through. He adjusted the barrier output of the ATV to the maximum and pressed the accelerator.

The vehicle roared and dashed toward the crowd of soldiers.

"W-What?! HEY! STOP!"

Instantly, the barrier dome collided with the soldiers' phalanx formation. Unlike the immovable mountain wall, these men were sent flying upon impact.

The ATV slightly decelerated after the collision but soon regained speed. Felix steered the vehicle through the checkpoint, ramming anyone who blocked the road.

Pushing through the crowd, Felix found an empty road ahead.

He got through!

"Heh. It's over," Felix smirked, glancing at the radar map. All red dots were behind him.

Still, Felix wasn't satisfied with the breakthrough. He thought of the innocent merchants and families who were taken advantage of. If he left them alone, the crooked soldiers would resume their activities.

Felix shook his head, dismissing the evil thought. For a moment, he wanted to drop a napalm bomb and kill everyone.

"No, no. I'm not Joker. I'm not going down that path."

<Yet.> Jessica corrected him.

"Yeah, not yet. Not now."

Felix bitterly smiled and turned away from the military camp at the border. He left them to the course of nature. It was up to them to decide their fates.

…

Three hours after the mayhem, the Highland Province soldiers managed to control the situation and resumed inspections. The toll fee ransom was canceled as their commander arrived to oversee the task himself.

The commander, Jonathan, was a 3-star aura knight, similar to Garr. Busy analyzing the Lamia's recent movements in the camp, Jonathan failed to react and join the battle earlier, letting Felix escape through as a result.

This time, Jonathan swore that no criminal would slip away again. He also monitored his men, suspecting them of extorting money from merchants and travelers.

While watching the crowd, Jonathan noticed a large caravan group, bringing a hundred people. Only 20 were mercenaries guarding them; the rest were chained slaves.

The leader of this slave merchant group, a big-bellied man who had murdered a runaway female slave earlier, approached the checkpoint and verified his origins. Jonathan saw the man paying a border guard with a bag of gold coins.

"HALT! YOU THERE, COME WITH ME!" Jonathan yelled at the border guard and the slave merchant. He called them over and gestured for his men to take their place.

The slave merchant clicked his tongue while the soldier sweated profusely, yet they followed the commander for a private talk.

As soon as they were alone, Jonathan ordered the soldier to remove his helmet and slapped him with an iron-gauntleted hand, knocking out several teeth.

Jonathan turned to the slave merchant, who brightly smiled, "Sir, it's just a friendly gift."

"You dared bribe my men?" Jonathan glared.

"A gift is not a bribe, sir. I didn't ask him to do anything special for me. As I said, it's a gift of friendship. Also, I'm not doing anything harmful. We're bringing merchandise for the Swan House and the Brown Stone House. You may check the order token."

Jonathan examined the token and documents the fat man carried.

At the bottom of the papers were stamped candle seals of two noble families. In this case, the swan seal and the boulder seal matched the images Jonathan had seen before.

The seals of both noble houses were authentic, and the documents clearly stated they expected the merchants to deliver the slaves before the Magi Academy's exam period.

Unable to do anything to this group because of their legitimate documents, Jonathan allowed them to pass.

The slave merchant sneered and ordered his men and the slaves to cross the border.

…

After the incident, most travelers passed through the checkpoint without issue. But at midnight, a black-haired woman in a ragged and bloody tunic approached the checkpoint. Her wrists and ankles were free, but the traces of iron cuffs lingered.

Reaching the checkpoint, the soldiers guided her to a commander's tent as she seemed suspicious.

Jonathan took over his men. He asked her a simple question to start the conversation. "Who are you? State your name and origins."

The woman looked up and muttered in a monotonous voice, "Death."

"Wha-"

Everything happened so fast.

Jonathan couldn't understand why his vision rotated 360 degrees. His head flipped in the air and fell to the ground, then rolled toward the woman's feet. His headless body fell to its knees and collapsed, dripping crimson blood on the ground.

The woman silently gazed at the military camp while her left fingertips was soaked in the commander's blood. Her eyes gleamed with red light. Simultaneously, the entire camp ignited in flames. Hellfire erupted, devouring all soldiers, travelers, and merchants in the area.

The black-haired woman calmly walked through the sea of flames. Her clothes burned away, but the fire around her materialized a new black hooded cloak and robe. Without lifting a finger, the clothes fitted themselves onto her, the hood lowering to cover the upper half of her head. A white skull mask manifested in her right palm, which she then placed on her face.

With her glowing crimson eyes, she scanned the area, searching for a trace of someone. She found a trace of strange wagons and caught a unique scent.

"…There."

The woman looked ahead and continued walking, showing no sign of hunger or fatigue.