Kimhant and Cat-Faced Angel made surprisingly swift and comfortable progress on their journey after Cat-Faced Angel unsealed her zebra mount. Though the zebra was a bit unruly at first, it eventually allowed her to ride. It could run very fast, but frequently stopped to nibble on grass along the way. Despite the interruptions, the two could now see the familiar figure of Wet Trash Can ahead.

"Look, there's Wet Trash Can! If we catch up with them, we should be able to catch up with master too,"

Kimhant called out excitedly.

"Yeah, if we don't manage to board the same ship as Chang Long, we'll probably miss the moment she resurrects her pet,"

Cat-Faced Angel replied, eager to witness the birth of a sacred beast.

"Don't worry, if Sara keeps running at this speed, we'll—hey!"

Kimhant did not even finish his sentence as Sara, the zebra, stopped again to graze. Both Kimhant and Cat-Faced Angel rolled their eyes in exasperation.

Cat-Faced Angel had to coax the zebra for a while before it resumed running. She paid for its speed with fifty cans of soft grass, which motivated Sara to sprint ahead, quickly overtaking Siegfried's group.

Meanwhile, Chang Long arrived at the gates of Alexandria within an hour. She had not summoned her spirits or pets yet, as she was in too much of a hurry. She made her way swiftly toward the port but soon encountered a disturbance. A group of players was blocking the street, facing off in a tense confrontation that had halted all traffic.

"You've got some nerve, bumping into us and not apologizing!"

A player wearing a shiny black comet-shaped pin yelled at another group of players. The second group looked a bit frightened but refused to back down as they were not at fault.

"We didn't do anything wrong. You're the ones who were swaggering down the middle of the road and bumping into my friend who was just shopping!"

A male player from the accused group retorted firmly, showing no fear.

"Tch! That's because your friend was standing in the way. Now, bow your heads and apologize, and maybe we'll let you go. Ha ha ha."

One of the bullies laughed loudly.

"Or better yet, give us that girl's phone number. Let her spend a day with us, and I might forgive you!"

Another male bully added, eyeing the only girl in the group lecherously. The girl, frightened, immediately hid behind her male friend.

"You have no right to mess with her. Get lost. Even if you're from the Doom Star Guild, don't think we're too scared to fight back!"

The male player shielding the girl shouted, losing his patience with the bullies.

"Hey, sounds like they want to start something. Forget about talking—let's kill them all and then take the girl with us later!"

Hearing the challenging tone, the bullies drew their weapons. Now enraged, ready to start a fight with the group in front of them.

Players and NPCs gathered around the scene quickly backed away, fearing they might get caught in the impending fight. All except for Chang Long, who was growing increasingly irritated while waiting. Now that a fight was about to break out, she decided to walk through the tension-filled group, heading to the other side. The players near her felt a chilling aura and instinctively parted to let her pass. However, the group of bullies in front of her looked at her with disdain and barked out a threat.

"Hey, kid, get lost if you don't want to die!"

"I'm going to the port,"

Chang Long responded curtly.

"Didn't you hear me? Back off. I don't want to hurt someone uninvolved,"

one of the bullies shouted, growing more frustrated.

"You guys... are pretty bold to yell at me while I'm already in a bad mood,"

Chang Long replied coldly, drawing the Sovereign Sword. A strange, freezing dark aura began to seep from her body like mist, the former Grim Reaper aura turned into an overwhelming killing intent whenever Chang Long got angry.

"You're alone, and you think you can take on all of us? Hahaha. If you want to die so badly, I'll be happy to oblige!"

One of the bullies sneered, pointing his sword at her, ready for a fight.

"Dark Wraiths,"

Chang Long intoned, pointing her sword at him. Four shadowy figures materialized, immediately darting toward the group of players without needing any further command. The bullies recoiled in horror at the sight of these wraiths, whose forms resembled tattered cloaks of mist with skeletal black hands reaching forward to grasp them.

Anything touched by the wraiths' hands disintegrated into ash—be it weapons, clothing, or even skin, which blistered and tore depending on the length of contact. The weapons of the bullies immediately broke and melted into dust, and one player's sleeve was torn off, leaving his arm bared. Faces pale with terror, they quickly retreated. Chang Long ordered her wraiths to stay still, watching the bullies cower in fear.

Not only did the bullies retreat, but even the onlookers, including the players who had originally been harassed, backed away. No one knew if Chang Long's wraiths would turn to them next.

"Y-you, how dare you do this to us? Do you even know who we are? If you don't back off, don't say we didn't warn you. Our guild leader is on this island, so if you don't want to get into trouble, then get lost!"

One of the bullies shouted, he was trembling with fear but still trying to act tough, even throwing in a threat about their guild leader.

"You're... the ones standing in my way,"

Chang Long replied, stepping forward. The bullies, trembling in terror, stumbled backward.

"D-Don't come any closer. If you don't want trouble. Guild Leader Demos won't forgive anyone who dares harm his guild!"

That player had made a grave mistake by mentioning a name that invoked Chang Long's deepest fury. A powerful wave of killing intent surged toward the seven bullies, making them feel suffocated and paralyzed. Their faces went pale as they watched Chang Long's expression shift from cold to seething with rage, her eyes locking onto them.

"You picked the right name. I'll give you a reward for that,"

Chang Long said in a chilling tone. Her sword, now enveloped in a dark mist of her killing intent, glowed ominously. In an instant, she dashed toward the seven players, slashing her sword in a horizontal arc. Blood sprayed in the air as cries of pain echoed out. All seven bullies collapsed to the ground, clutching their stomachs, blood gushing from their wounds.

"Tell him I'm looking forward to our next meeting,"

Chang Long said coldly before stepping over their fallen bodies and continuing on her way to the port. Not long after, Kimhant and Cat-Faced Angel, riding the zebra named Sara, rushed past the scene. They were curious about what had happened but did not stop to check, too focused on catching up with Chang Long. Shortly after, Siegfried's group, racing against time, also sped by without paying attention to the crowd of players who had gathered in a circle around the scene.

The seven players who had foolishly challenged the wrong person were left incapacitated from excessive blood lost. They had tried desperately to consume blood crystals and rejuvenating crystals, but it barely made a difference. The blood continued to pour from their wounds non-stop, and the rejuvenating crystals only made them feel slightly better. Eventually, they all entered a coma state, and one by one, their bodies dissolved into white light, waiting to respawn without needing anyone's help.

At the port, everyone was panting and anxiously searching for Chang Long, worried that she might have already boarded the ship. However, Kimhant's sharp eyes spotted her sitting on a bench, clearly agitated. He immediately approached her.

"Master, I'm so glad we made it. I thought you'd left without us."

Chang Long turned to him, her expression still sour. She gave him a quick order:

"Go handle the ship arrangements. I'm too irritated to talk."

Kimhant quickly nodded and backed away, not wanting her to lash out on him. As he left, an image flashed in his mind—those seven players lying in the street they had passed, bleeding profusely. He suspected that might have been Chang Long's handiwork.

He quietly informed the others of Chang Long's foul mood, not wanting the m to die a horrible death. Then, he arranged for a ship through the Maritime Association and returned to gather Chang Long and the others to board.

During the voyage, no one dared to approach Chang Long. Her mood was still clearly volatile, though no one knew the exact reason. Most assumed it had something to do with her beloved pet, Kitsune, being killed.

"Who could have beaten Chang Long so badly, and even killed Kitsune?"

Wet Trash Can whispered to the group, who were gathered far away from Chang Long.

"No idea, and I'm not brave enough to ask her. I don't want to set her off,"

Oliang replied, and everyone nodded in agreement. No one was willing to bring it up, especially when Chang Long was clearly in a foul mood.

"Whoever it was must be really powerful. I've never seen Chang Long take such a hard hit before,"

Wet Trash Can analyzed.

"But isn't that a bit extreme? Even if it was a fight, killing someone's pet like that is over the top. It's like there was some deep grudge, enough to want to kill each other,"

Siegfried said gravely. In this game, few people knew Chang Long, so who could have such a vendetta against her to go that far?

"Maybe it was some bullies. This game has plenty of them,"

Destiny suggested.

"True. Especially in the big guilds, there are always bad apples—players who flaunt their guild's name to do bad things and bully others."

Cat-Faced Angel agreed.

"If that's the case, this bully must have been incredibly strong to kill boss... I mean Kitsune,"

Kimhant said seriously. The group discussed the situation for nearly half an hour, theorizing about what had happened, until the conversation shifted to other topics. Occasionally, they had to band together to fend off beasts attacking their ship.

By evening, Chang Long seemed to have calmed down. She joined the group for dinner, and although the guys were itching to ask her about Kitsune's death, none of them dared to risk upsetting her again. They could only keep their curiosity to themselves and focused on light, fun conversation to keep her spirits up.

Three days passed quickly, and they finally spotted the Starting Island in the distance. The group was excited, reminiscing about their early days in the game, even though they had barely explored the island before moving on to other places.

Chang Long checked her time in the game—three days lost was not much out of a month she had. Still, she feared there might be complications, or that there was more than one task required to bring Kitsune back to life. But no matter how difficult it was, she was determined to succeed. Even though Kitsune was just an AI in the game, he meant a great deal to her, being her first true companion in Adventure World Online.

The ship docked at 11 AM on the fourth day. Siegfried offered to pay the ship's fare, but everyone insisted on chipping in since they had chosen to accompany her. After that, they quickly made their way to the only town on the Starting Island.

Peach Blossom, who was in the town, was shocked to see Chang Long entering. She rubbed her eyes, looking Chang Long, who had changed. Her skin was as pale as snow, and her cloak, no longer tattered, gave her a much more refined appearance.

Once Peach Blossom was sure it was truly Chang Long, she ran to her and hugged her tightly, full of longing. The others, trailing behind, were stunned to see this cute young girl embracing Chang Long with such warmth and affection, sweetly expressing how much she had missed and worried about her.

"Master Chang, I missed you so much. I'm so happy to see you again."

Peach Blossom said sweetly, hugging Chang Long tightly and refusing to let go, even though she felt a shiver down her spine every time she got too close to her.

"That's enough, Peach Blossom. Let go of Chang Long,"

Siegfried stepped in, pushing his younger sister's head away. Peach Blossom pouted and was about to scold him, but when she noticed the large group of people following, her mood shifted from irritation to curiosity.

"Who are all these people?"

"They're my friends. Lead them to the Nine Moon Restaurant. It's almost noon,"

Siegfried replied, quickly guiding his sister along. As they walked, he whispered to her not to mention Kitsune, warning that it would anger Chang Long. Although confused as to why, Peach Blossom gladly kept her questions to herself, not wanting to risk upsetting Master Chang.

At the restaurant, Chang Long's group coincidentally ran into Draco and Rafael. They decided to book a large private dining room and eat together. Both Draco and Rafael were also warned not to bring up the subject of Kitsune, so they refrained from asking and instead talked about things that had happened on the Starting Island during Chang Long's absence.

"We ran into Hero and Jane here. They were helping some new players gain experience in the northern forest. It's rare to see them, so I'm not sure if they've already left the Starting Island or not,"

Draco shared.

"Really? Man, I'd love to see them shooting their guns again,"

Kimhant said, his interest piqued. Everyone unfamiliar with Hero and Jane turned to him, curious.

"Shooting a gun?"

Destiny asked, puzzled.

"Now that you mention it, the Reaper's Whisperer newspaper once reported on players with the Sniper profession. I'd love to see them in action."

Cat-Faced Angel chimed in excitedly. Kimhant smiled but remained silent, not wanting to reveal his connection to the Reaper's Whisperer.

"If they're still here, I'll introduce you to them,"

Kimhant promised.

-----

Read 'Adventure World Online (AWO)' before anyone else with more chapters at https://www.jinovel.com/en

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.