These people, both their skin and clothing have been weathered by the sandstorm. They walked towards us without hesitation, looking at Li Ang and the others' sand sled, touching and picking through the Demon materials.

"What are you doing?"

Zoe blocked their way, furrowing her brow, much like a small animal whose carefully collected chestnuts were being rummaged through.

The leader, wearing a short shirt and cloak, had numerous knife scars on his exposed arms and face. His gaze lingered on Zoe and Dorothy's faces and bodies for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak:

"You guys aren't even the sandland merchants; you don't understand the rules at all."

Zoe tilted her head: "Rules."

"There's no such rules." Li Ang shielded the girls behind him, blocking these people's view. "I've been to the Salem Sky Realm plenty of times; I know that only a big fist counts as a rule."

The scarred man grinned: "Seems like you're not just some ordinary pretty boy. Ever heard of our name?"

He pointed to the insignia on his arm. It was a yellow skull with two curved sabers.

"We are 'The Sandbone Group'! Ranked within the top 3000 Sky Cavalries!"

Within the top 3000, huh? In the Four Major Aerial Realms, that's nothing to brag about.

Similar to personal rankings at 100, 2000, 50000 intervals, the Sky Cavalry ranking also has segments, but without specific titles.

The leaders of the top 4 can enter the Knight Resolution Council, the top 300 are called the Celestial Group, and 300 to 3000 are known by name—and beyond that, they're not so notable.

Although this person claimed their group was within 3000, a 3000th place group and a 301st place group are fundamentally not the same concept. The powerful ones will state their ranking outright, not just claim to be within 3000.

Li Ang glanced at the panel. This scarred man was a Tier Three Warrior, and the lackeys behind him were all Tier Two. By the standards of the Four Major Aerial Realms, they weren't weak, but their group wouldn't be ranked higher than 2000.

"Never heard of it." Zoe shook her head.

The scarred man sneered: "Our boss is Blood Eagle, a high-tier Tier Six strongman!"

"Don't know him." Zoe said.

Li Ang rolled his eyes at her: "Of course you wouldn't know."

Though he himself hadn't heard of them either. Given the chaos of the Salem Sky Realm, powers rise and fall frequently, and in a year or two, a massive force might emerge and claim territory.

But the main thing was, Zoe had just come from a small countryside place and was having a serious conversation with these people, which made Li Ang almost want to laugh.

"Bastard! Are you looking down on us?"

The girl's simple mindset easily angered these sky pirates.

Although the group had officially registered as a Sky Cavalry, in the Salem Sky Realm, they might turn around and accept shady jobs in secret, and the Guild wouldn't be able to supervise in detail; the Order Sandstorm Corps was often overwhelmed just handling visible disputes.

This Sandbone Group was likely the sky pirates Farina warned about.

The scarred man reached for the Demon Materials: "We, The Sandbone Group, are entrusted by the King of Platinum to maintain order in the Flashing Field, ensuring the smooth hosting of Platinum Racing and the Flowing Silver Competition!"

"You are disrupting city order, and now we're fining you!"

The scarred man was not a pure bandit; his words were meant to intimidate as a tactic.

Li Ang glanced at the surrounding shops, the owners seemed to show expressions of anger and reluctance, no wonder the atmosphere on the street felt off; it turned out they had been looted by The Sandbone Group under various pretexts.

The King of Platinum Li Ang knew of him, he was the leader of the Flashing Field, once a major Slave Master.

Although there were other Slave Masters here besides the King of Platinum, he wasn't the sole ruler. Yet with these two annual competitions he hosts, he earns substantial profits, and his power continues to grow.

However, not the entire island is his kingdom. The sandland merchants—the self-identifying concept of many in the Salem Sky Realm—is inherently rebellious, and those making a living in the Flashing Field wouldn't let themselves be manipulated by the King of Platinum.

The two competitions have been held for several years, so why invite The Sandbone Group to "maintain order" this year?

Seeing the expressions of the merchants and passersby, this, in fact, only intensifies conflicts.

"Don't touch my stuff!"

Zoe didn't care about the saying "a powerful outsider can't contend with a local rogue," she directly grabbed her sword hilt.

Just when she was about to draw it, she hesitated slightly and glanced at Li Ang. It seemed she remembered his teachings from earlier.

"What? Want to make a move?"

The scarred man sneered: "Offend The Sandbone Group? You two chicks could fetch a good price."

He picked up a piece of Sandstone Spiral Turtle's carapace to tuck into his bosom, but saw the pink leather beneath it.

It was the Rigid and Resilient Hide of the Sandnest Maggot.

"Sand Worm hide! Captain, they took down a Sand Worm."

"Huh, turns out you have some skills as Hunters."

The scarred man's expression changed, and he put the materials back: "Just don't cause trouble, and we'll be on our way."

These sky pirates were quite cunning, realizing they'd messed with the wrong people, they opted to leave promptly.

"Stop right there!"

A childish voice suddenly intervened out of nowhere.

Everyone present looked to see a small figure, not even one and a half meters tall, with face and skin wrapped in white cloth to conceal her appearance. The voice identified her as a girl.

"Ah, it's the girl I saw at the arena before!"

Zoe recognized her immediately; she was the opponent Zoe had wanted to spar with earlier.

The white cloth on this girl's face had loosened a bit from before, Li Ang guessed she'd lost some of it after it came loose. With her wrapping method, the white cloth would easily fall off during a fight.

Now, it was clear to see the little horns on either side of her small head, short and round, much like those on a calf.

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