Chapter 86: Trouble Strikes Again

“Brother, this is the guy who was harassing me earlier. You said you’d help me teach him a lesson,” Long Xin immediately said.

I scratched my head, surprised to have run into these fellows again. Helplessly, I said, “Friend, this isn’t how you do a mugging. Yelling and making a scene in the city? You harassed my sister, and I haven’t even come looking for you yet. Instead, you came to me. If you really want to fight, let’s take it outside.”

He laughed boisterously. “Ha! You’ve got guts. All right, I’ll take all your equipment too.” With that, we walked out of the city gates. As soon as we stepped out, the man swung his massive broadsword and charged at me with a heavy slash.

The guy really didn’t fear death—only level 28 and already looking for trouble. He was overestimating himself. With a dull thud, his blade landed squarely on my Dragon Pattern Helm.

The burly man grinned wickedly, but instantly, a “-30” damage number flashed above my head, and his grin froze. In the next moment, a cold flash of light darted by—he felt a chill at his neck.

“You… you…” The male warrior staggered back two steps before collapsing. He still had some health left, so he wasn’t dead, but he was in no state to speak. I said coolly, “You’ll need to go clear your name after this. I’ll leave you with one level’s worth of experience—let this be a lesson. Next time, don’t try this again. Everyone, let’s get back to leveling up.” With that, we left him behind.

His followers dragged him back to the city for healing. In his mind, he was already vowing to gather his brothers and take revenge once he recovered.

“Pu—Hurry, call the boss—bring the boss here. You have to avenge me! I want those people to die miserable deaths!” He and his companion were just ordinary members of the Warrior Alliance. As soon as the burly man saw his fellow guildmates, he shouted out.

One player responded, “Yes, Brother Tian!”

——

Elsewhere, having just finished off a giant bear, my name finally cleared. Xiao Xi said, “Brother Long, they’ll definitely come for revenge. What should we do? Should we find another place to hunt monsters? Even though the Blazing Fire Mercenaries are just a ragtag bunch, you always say it’s better to avoid trouble. If they come in a full group, we’ll be killed until we lose levels.”

Ye Shuang asked, “Brother, where’s your staff?”

“It got dropped. I’m using this in the meantime,” I replied.

Ye Shuang continued, “Who was so strong they managed to kill even you, my brother? When I meet them, I’ll get revenge for you.”

I smiled, “Sure. It was Phantom Moon who killed me—so I’ll leave it to you.”

He muttered for a bit, then patted my shoulder and said, “My condolences, brother.”

But just then Long Xin perked up, “Big brother, everyone, I think this is a great chance for our very first battle with the Blazing Fire Mercenaries! Let’s make a name for our guild!”

“Interesting. Let’s ambush them. I know there’s a river on the west side of the Death Forest, with a small rest stop for players. There are about a dozen NPCs there offering simple quests. It’s only ten minutes away from here. That area should be perfect for an ambush,” Feng Xiaoyue suggested.

We nodded and headed that way. But before we went far, three players stepped out from the woods and blocked our path. Judging by their gear, they were all warriors. One of them said, “Sorry, handsome guys and beautiful ladies, this road is closed.”

Long Xin looked eager to fight, while Feng Xiaoyue was a bit frustrated—she’d wanted to set an ambush herself, yet here we were being ambushed instead. She stepped forward and calmly asked, “What do you want?”

“Nothing much,” a voice came from behind us. It was that burly man again, this time with over a dozen players fanning out to surround us. He approached, saying, “Hand over your gear and a hundred gold coins, and we’ll let this go. Otherwise, don’t even think about hanging around in Celestial Dragon City.”

Xiao Ai shouted, “A hundred gold? What a joke! No one would give that much to a jerk like you.” She made a face at him.

He replied, “Pretty girl, you may have brought some friends for backup, but you’re still outnumbered. Do you know who we are? We’re a branch of the Dynasty guild. If you mess with us, you’re messing with the Dynasty. You might not understand now, but you’ll find out soon enough. Get them!”

At his command, the three warrior players at the forest’s edge surged toward Xiao Ai, while his men attacked us.

Only then did I realize they had powerful backing—no wonder they were so bold. The three Blazing Fire Mercenaries warriors burst into our formation, but Xiao Ai summoned her Archangel and activated her transformation skill, immediately engaging them. They underestimated the strength of Xiao Ai’s Archangel.

A druid’s transformation isn’t just a simple fusion with the summoned beast; after merging, the player’s stats stack with the summoned creature’s. When their three attacks landed on Xiao Ai, the damage numbers “-242,” “-210,” and “-271” floated up—just over two hundred each. With her total HP at four thousand, these hits barely made a dent. In contrast, her twin axes in hand made the three enemies’ hearts tremble. Their attack gave our side the perfect justification to retaliate.

Meanwhile, the rest of their group moved into our attack range. Suddenly, a series of explosions rang out—their men had triggered Xiao Xi’s traps, suffering both injuries and movement debuffs. Then she tossed a photon grenade, stunning and putting the whole group to sleep. Next came Long Xin’s barrage of fire magic: Meteor Shower, Flame Vortex, Hellfire Sea—spells rained down in a frenzy. Feng Xiaoyue charged into their ranks with her Soul-Eater Sword, cutting down the wounded players like harvesting wheat. In an instant, the Blazing Fire Mercenaries felt what it meant to face true experts and high-level attacks.

Their formation was quickly thrown into chaos. But just then, we saw another large group of Blazing Fire Mercenaries approaching. There were so many of them, and they were well-organized. They surrounded the entire area—at least a thousand strong. Realizing escape was impossible, I stepped forward and asked, “Who among you is the leader?”

A burly man strode out. “I am the leader of the Blazing Fire Mercenaries, Fierce God. What do you want to say?”

I called out, “You’re taking things too far. Clearing out players and monopolizing grinding spots is already wrong. Now, after we defended ourselves, you come back with an army for revenge. How is this any different from a gang? You think you’re special just because Dynasty is backing you? Dynasty is nothing to me!” As I spoke, I raised my middle finger.

Furious, he shouted, “You’ve got a death wish, kid! I know you’re strong, but you killed my people and looted their gear. If you don’t pay up, our four thousand members will make sure you regret it. If we can’t handle you, then we have no place here!”

“Dragon Warrior!” I bellowed. With a sweep of my black sword, I carved a path through the ranks. Long Xin followed with a fiery sweep, clearing out the players crowding around us. Then Dragon Warrior unleashed a breath of fire, and another wave of enemies fell. Fierce God was astonished—he’d underestimated our strength. Dragon Warrior was like a low-HP boss, instantly killing anyone he struck. In just five minutes, we’d already fled a kilometer, with Dragon Warrior maintaining high output all the way. Three waves of their blocking teams had already been destroyed.

From the moment the fighting began, casualties among the Blazing Fire Mercenaries mounted rapidly, and Fierce God grew increasingly grim. He quickly called back all his members from the wild—though most were only level 28, they had the advantage of numbers. They could stall us until reinforcements arrived, and then we’d be trapped with no way out.

He led another group to intercept us, but then, suddenly, screams and flashes of white death light erupted from his rear. Through a field of corpses, a figure in gleaming silver armor strode forward.

I gasped, “Phantom Moon?!”