Aswa and Siegfried watched Chang Long and Captain Hicks, who appeared to be barely managing to keep their balance on the floating round stone slabs. Although the two young n found it quite amusing, they had no choice but to get on the remaining slabs themselves—before the King of Reptile reached the abandoned temple. Siegfried leapt onto a slab, followed by Lycanth. Aswa barely managed to bring up the rear, just as the fangs of the King of Reptile grazed past his head by only a few centiters.
The group floated through the air in a rather clumsy fashion. They still were not used to standing on flying stone slabs, which were darting and weaving erratically over the abandoned temple—provoking the King of Reptile to chase and snap at them. This filled the group with intense anxiety. Little Jade floated over to Chang Long, who was feeling dizzy from the motion of the stone slab.
"What are you all doing? Why aren't you heading straight to the Heavenly Avian Temple?"
Little Jade asked Chang Long with confusion.
"How should I know? Why won't this stone slab just take us already? It keeps circling above the abandoned temple."
Chang Long complained in frustration. Luckily, the stone slabs were responsive to their commands when it ca to dodging the fangs of the King of Reptile.
"Are you crazy? Why didn't you tell it where to go? It's because you didn't give it an order. That's why it's just circling around here like this."
Little Jade said, leaving Chang Long dumbfounded. She gave it so thought again and realized the slab truly did obey commands. But what was puzzling was—if this really was the path to the Heavenly Avian Temple, then why did they have to issue a command in the first place? Should it not head straight to the destination on its own?
The fact that it required a verbal command to determine the destination ant that these slabs could likely go to other places besides the Heavenly Avian Temple—could they not? But now was not the ti to seek answers to that question, because they were currently being relentlessly pursued by the temple's guardian beast.
"Take to the Heavenly Avian Temple."
Chang Long gave the stone slab a command. It stopped its erratic flying and then gradually ascended smoothly into the sky. The three young n and Lycanth were left staring wide-eyed, as Chang Long had mysteriously escaped being targeted by the King of Reptile.
"Chang Long. How did you do that? Tell us too, I'm about to puke here."
Captain Hicks shouted, looking like he was on the verge of throwing up.
"Just tell it. Tell the slab where you want to go, and it'll float along the route on its own."
Chang Long shouted back.
"Oh. Then take to Europa Island!"
Captain Hicks eagerly commanded the slab.
He had the sa thought as Chang Long—that if you had to give a destination command, then there had to be other places the slabs could go besides the Heavenly Avian Temple. And he himself was desperate to return to the association, afraid that his position as captain—and his crew—would fall into the hands of other mbers before he got back. But Captain Hicks's command produced the opposite result. Not only did the slab not head toward Europa Island as he ordered, it even released the suction holding his feet, causing him to plumt from the slab.
Everyone gasped in shock at what happened to Captain Hicks. But no one was more stunned than the man himself as he fell—because what awaited him below was not the treetop canopy with its soft leaves, nor was it the hard bricks of the abandoned temple, nor even the sandy ground being stirred up by the rampaging King of Reptile. It was an open maw, its wide gaping jaws revealing rows of massive, razor-sharp teeth—belonging to none other than the King of Reptile.
The last thing everyone saw before Captain Hicks disappeared into the wide mouth of the King of Reptile was him frantically searching for his teleportation scroll. He managed to unfurl it just before he was swallowed whole. A white light shone from within the creature's mouth, leaving everyone unable to tell whether it signaled teleportation to a safe point—or if the poor guy had just been chomped for good.
Aswa and Siegfried, horrified by the grueso sight, imdiately gave their slabs the command to take them to the Heavenly Avian Temple. No one dared make a cheeky request to be taken off-course like Captain Hicks again.
The stone slabs flew in orderly formation, leaving the furious and frustrated King of Reptile far behind. They ascended slowly, giving everyone plenty of ti to admire the island of Aris from above. The slabs climbed higher and higher, past even the tallest treetops of the forest, as the abandoned temple below grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
Eventually, the chill of the cloud brushed against Chang Long's soft cheek. At this altitude, if a surprise attack were to occur, it would be difficult to defend or dodge. In truth, one could say they were practically sitting ducks, because everyone's feet were being suctioned onto the stone slabs to prevent them from falling due to poor balance.
However, no attack occurred during this ti—until the stone slabs floated up to a massive cloud that appeared to be denser than the others. The slabs flew directly toward a narrow square track, just about the sa size as the stone slabs themselves. On either side, there was cloud flooring supporting it, and a path extended out from there. But the visibility was quite poor, as wisps of mist drifted constantly in and out of view.
The three of them looked at each other for a mont. They felt uneasy and unsure whether the cloud floor they had to step onto would be dense enough to support their weight. Lycanth, who stood beside Siegfried, seed more impatient than the others—or perhaps he had been standing still for too long and was simply tired of it; that could not be known. He jumped down from the stone slab and stood on the cloud floor, with only a small puff of cottony cloud scattering lightly into the air.
Seeing Lycanth land safely on the cloud floor, everyone gradually followed him down. The narrow path that appeared before them made Chang Long and the others certain it would lead them to the Heavenly Avian Temple. Little Jade, in her miniature form, flew nearby Chang Long and said there was a bad sll coming from outside.
Further away from the path, which was obscured by cloud mist that made it difficult to see clearly, everyone could still vaguely sense sothing moving—sothing that was watching their approach with unmistakable hostility.
…..
Chaos erupted at the ports of various cities not long after the Reaper's Whisperer newspaper hit the stands. Players vying for the title of the Pirate King's last heir rushed to the port areas in search of the drunken old man, creating an unprecedented scene. The ports were teeming with players coming and going, as if so festival were taking place there.
The scramble for the drunken old man beca quite intense—especially among players with large groups, who often forced other players in their way to back off. And due to this very struggle for the old man, drunken elders around the ports began to disappear, to the point that almost no one could find them. These old n understood the intentions of the players and went into hiding, afraid that harm might co to them. And the harder they were to find, the more aggressive the competition beca. Many who brought liquor as bait had to return empty-handed, because the drunken old n feared being mobbed more than they feared going without a drink.
Argunts were heating up within the public communication channel—the main source of news for all players. Finding the drunken old man had beco extrely difficult, because aside from the port areas, no one knew where else to look. The discussions grew so intense that players even started investigating the news source, trying to trace it all the way back to the origin—which was the Reaper's Whisperer newspaper. But the only clue they had, which they believed might actually lead them sowhere, was the na of the article's author—written right below the piece.
"Your phone's ringing like crazy. Aren't you going to pick it up? Leaving it ringing like that is super annoying."
Peach Blossom turned to ask the young man sitting not far from her, who was staring absentmindedly at the building that would beco his publishing house. The young man snapped out of it and replied to Peach Blossom with a frustrated tone:
"It's just friend request notifications. You can't call soone unless the friend request is accepted first."
"Who on earth is sending you so many requests? Look, the notifications haven't even stopped ringing."
Peach Blossom observed with interest. These days, she and her pet seed to be getting along better—it even let her stroke its head from ti to ti.
"I don't know. All I know is it's best not to accept any. The recent news in the public communication channel has made really cautious about who I accept as a friend."
Kimhant shrugged as he answered, visibly troubled—quite the contrast to his pet Felon, who was blissfully enjoying his al.
"What news was that?"
Peach Blossom turned her eyes away from her pet and asked the young man with curiosity.
"It's that news about players trying to hunt down the person who wrote the article and the source who gave the tip about the drunken old man—the one who gives the quest to search for the Pirate King's treasure map. These people really have no perseverance at all. The article I wrote was already perfectly clear."
The young man complained with an air of weariness.
"Then just shut off your communication channel for a while. Those people will get bored soon enough. The article was already that clear—if they don't even try to find it on their own, then those players don't deserve to be heirs to the Pirate King."
Peach Blossom said, sounding annoyed. Her brother and Lord Chang had worked so hard for it. And these people—despite having a newspaper giving them the clues—were still so helpless, it was frustrating to watch.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll do what you say, Peach Blossom. Even though it ans I won't be able to contact anyone for a while, it's still better than putting up with all this annoyance."
Kimhant agreed with Peach Blossom and proceeded to shut off all his communication channels. Though he would not be able to contact anyone, the young man was not particularly troubled by it. He did not have anything urgent to talk about with anyone just yet, as the publishing building still was not finished. Most of his friends had gone off to gather news, and they knew where to find Kimhant if they needed to, so it was not inconvenient for him to close off all his contact channels.
"By the way, I wonder how Sieg and Lord Chang are doing. They've been off on a quest together for so long and haven't sent any updates. Honestly, I want to go and stay close to Lord Chang too. Just wait till my brother cos back—I'm going to throw a fit to my heart's content."
Peach Blossom changed the subject, causing Kimhant to drift into old mories of the tis he had traveled and adventured with Chang Long.
Those were fun, thrilling tis—vibrant, colorful, and filled with friendship. His true self was fully visible to everyone, without needing to pretend, deceive, or hold back to gain advantage over others. The warmth and goodwill from his fellow adventurers during his journeys with Chang Long left Kimhant with a strange longing.
The thought of being her underling, keep calling Chang Long master, letting her order or scold him—that still seed like an attractive idea, if it ant he could go on adventures with her again. But no matter what, all etings had to eventually part ways. He chose to carve his own legacy within the ga—so that other players would speak of him, even if not for being the strongest, or the most handso, or the most ruthless.
At the very least, Kimhant wanted to be called the news mogul—the one who knew deeply, truly, and more than any other news outlet in this ga. Even though that dream was still far away, it was not sothing he could not make co true.
Even though he no longer tagged along after Chang Long, Kimhant could still keep in contact with her, asking for updates about her strange adventures from ti to ti. Though they had gone their separate ways, their friendship remained. Chang Long was still the strict but kind-hearted master to him. And asking to go adventuring with her again would not be difficult at all—he just needed so ti to build himself up, to make the dream of founding his newspaper a reality and a strong one. Then perhaps, he might ask to follow her once more.
"What are you spacing out for again? I told you to help think of a way to punish Sieg, and all you're doing is sitting there!"
Peach Blossom's voice snapped the young man out of his mories. He gave her a sheepish smile and answered a bit nervously,
"Maybe let's not, yeah? I think it'll backfire. Have you ever successfully bullied Mr. Siegfried before? Worst case, we get blocked by master… I an, by Chang Long."
"You still call Lord Chang master?"
Peach Blossom asked, surprised.
"Well, I'm used to it. I've been calling her master for so long, it just rolls off the tongue. Besides, it actually feels kind of comforting when I say it."
Kimhant replied, his cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassnt, as he raised a hand to scratch his head.
"Then if I end up dating Lord Chang, you'll have to call Mistress, right? Eh… or should it be Lady? Ooh, that sounds so noble. But it's a bit too over-the-top."
While Peach Blossom was lost in her sweet daydreams, trying to co up with the right title for Chang Long's followers to use when addressing her—on the day that Chang Long finally agreed to be her girlfriend—Kimhant could only roll his eyes and think to himself, 'Yeah, keep dreaming.' He did not dare say a word to contradict her, of course. Naturally, he was afraid she would blow up on him. At the very least, the monts when Peach Blossom was happily giddy like this were peaceful tis for Heaven City—and for its citizens, too.
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