"What’s the situation?" I asked.

Chaos Moon sat down next to me, plucked a wood ear from the dead tree trunk and examined it for a moment. She then threw it away before answering, "Did you know that Soul Battle Robes lay low during the few days after the Nation War? It was only now that we learned that Song of Cloud and Water, that ambitious little girl, was carrying out an SSS Rank quest. With Ringwraith, Song of Ice and Fire and God Bone by her side, she successfully completed a quest to kill a faction leader and killed the duke of Daybreak City. Her reward was a map…"

"Oh? A map?"

"Mn. It’s a quest item, and its full name is the ‘City Map of Daybreak City’. The player with this map can, after paying a certain price, appoint any NPC to become the new lord of Daybreak City. Assuming that this map falls in the hands of a player of another server… You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?"

I instinctively punched the trunk beneath me while swearing, "What the fuck! This is just bullshit!"

"I know right?" Chaos Moon gritted her teeth. "Even worse, our worst fear became a very real possibility. God Bone was ambushed at a canyon entrance and killed…"

"Who ambushed him?"

"It was Now and Forever, the vice leader of Sword Lord of Jianghu!"

"Fuck!" I clenched my fists. "Let me guess, he’s also the traitor, isn’t he?"

"Correct."

Chaos Moon nodded. "Tang Long is facing massive pressure from the public right now, and Sword Lord of Jianghu was absolutely wrecked by Bloody Mercenaries. If I’m not mistaken, Now and Forever broke up with Tang Long completely and left the China server for Elephant City. From the looks of it, he’s even planning to change his in-game nationality. It doesn’t get more traitorous than this."

I sucked in a deep breath. "That goddamned map… it’s a tier 2 main city, dammit. After the destruction of Floating Ice City, we only have eight tier 2 cities left. We can’t afford to lose another one…"

Chaos Moon said, "Mn. The map is in Now and Forever’s hands right now, but it can only be used after 24 hours have passed. That is why Warsky, Candlelight Shadow, Beauty Lin and Strange of Three Lifetimes are all hunting after Now and Forever at the borders of Elephant City. There’s a high chance they’re not going to succeed though. Elephant City’s players had set up a ton of Ivory Towers at Thunder Mountain Range, and we are unable to launch another Nation War so soon after the War of Purple Grape City. Our hands are tied, so to speak."

I leaned dejectedly against the giant rock behind me.

Chaos Moon blinked at me before asking, "So, what I’m asking is this: Do you have any idea you would like to share with us? Eve, Li Chengfeng and the others have gone to Thunder Mountain Range with a ton of siege weapons, but again, there’s a high chance it’ll be all for nothing."

I licked my lips. "Give me some time. You dropped a bomb in my lap, at least give me some time to sort out the mess. If I try to invade Elephant City myself, the only outcome will be certain death, not even if I’m a divine dragon rider right now. In fact, it might be worse since the Ivory Towers will be able to shoot me unimpeded in the sky. There’s nothing worse than getting camped to Level 0…"

Chaos Moon giggled and stared at the Ancient Divine Dragon coiled up next to us. She caressed its head and said, "This Ancient Divine Dragon is so handsome, hehe. I read up on grand feat in the Japanese forums while I was making my way over, you know. First, you ascended and became a dragon rider. Then, you wrecked the Giant Buck Cavalry so hard that they ran away. Tsk tsk, videos of your battle are going crazy on the China forums right now. It’s astounding how amazing you are even when the situation is hopeless, Lu Chen...

I curled my lips. "So what? Daybreak City is about to be gifted to the enemy for free. I’m so upset I can hardly feel anything right now…"

She rose to her feet, brushed her butt to get rid of the dust before gazing to the distance. "By the way, it’s said that Red Maple is already at Level 130, so watch out. It won’t be long before he grows strong enough to threaten you again. Also, don’t enter Final Duel Valley willy-nilly again, okay? You may have been stripped of your in-game nationality, but you are literally the most popular player in the entire China right now. Your actions are literally watched by hundreds of millions of people, so you don’t get to risk yourself like your life doesn’t matter anymore. Also… we are all waiting for our king to return to us!"

I smiled. "I know. Don’t worry about me. Are you leaving? Be careful not to die on your return trip."

"Die?"

Chaos Moon chuckled before pulling out a return scroll. "Who can possibly stop me from leaving?"

"Pooh!"

"Heehee!’

A flash later, Chaos Moon vanished and returned to Sky City. She had come all the way here just to bring me the message, but I couldn’t say that I enjoyed it all that much. It was almost impressive how Now and Forever could betray his country like nothing. Perhaps the only thing that mattered to him was profit, and shame didn’t even exist in his dictionary.

After Chaos Moon left, I resumed chatting with Xinran for almost an hour. Finally, an idea flashed through my mind. There might be other ways, but for now it seemed to be the only viable way left to take back the City Map of Daybreak City.

I patted Xinran on the shoulder and said, "It’s time, Xinran. Big brother has something big to do, so you should head back to God Domain and work hard as well!"

Xinran blinked once before asking, "Do you want me to come with you and… protect you, big brother?"

I immediately raised my sword and declared confidently, "No need! An exceptional expert like me doesn't need the protection of… a little girl!"

"Is that so?"

Xinran opened her palm and conjured a lightning ball. The sky literally changed due to the sheer power contained within the spell. She giggled at me and said, "Care to amend your statement, big brother? I am no fragile little girl!!"

I surrendered immediately. "Fine, fine, I get it. Anyway, I really have to go, so see you later!"

"Mn! See you later, big brother!"

"Bye!"

……

Xinran jumped into the air and took off with Bloody Finger and Winged Silver Dragon. I myself went back to the NPC camp to repair my equipment and stock up on supplies. This time though, my destination wasn’t Final Duel Valley anymore. After mounting the Ancient Divine Dragon, I flew south where Thunder Mountain Range, the territory of Elephant City lay.

"Roar roar…"

The Ancient Divine Dragon zipped across the sky like lightning. After we reached cruising altitudes, I nearly lost my grip of my own mount and had to make a frantic grab for the vines. The vines were meant to hold up the magic lamp, but I supposed the game wouldn’t mind me using it as a makeshift rein. Also, I finally understood why a mighty divine beast like the Ancient Divine Dragon would have a cutesy magic lamp on its head. It allowed me to ignore the vision range penalty that was usually imposed on a player when nighttime arrived.

The wind was so strong that I almost couldn’t open my eyes. When I opened my mouth, I felt like the wind could punch through my throat. I hurriedly shut my mouth and buried my head beneath the Ancient Divine Dragon’s head. At full speed, the Divine Rank mount was just too fast. It was even faster than Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun with Flying General active!

The ground moved behind me as we soared. Less than ten minutes later, I ordered the Ancient Divine Dragon to descend. Beneath me was none other than the Thunder Mountain Range, and just a few days ago Elephant City had climbed across the same mountain range to come to Purple Grape City’s rescue.

We flew over the mountain range and descended on the other side!

Pa!

After I landed on solid ground, I withdrew the Ancient Divine Dragon immediately. In its adult form, my little dragon was just way too eye-catching. Anyone who saw it would be able to identify me immediately. For now, it would be best if I remained unmounted. I could enter stealth if things got dangerous, and to a stranger I was just another red name.

……

I didn’t need to venture far before I spotted my first player. He was a young 19-year-old tamer who was commanding two Praying Mantises and one Wasp to attack a dread-rank Ironback Bear. The way he fought was so bad that even I couldn’t bear to see it much longer.

So I Charged the Ironback Bear and cut it down with the Purple Ying Sword. To my surprise, my weapon arm turned ice cold all of a sudden. Seriously? I triggered the new Mountain Crush effect already?

Shred!

927780!

The Ironback Bear died as a matter of course.

The young tamer looked like he wanted to thank me until he saw the color of my ID. He immediately blabbered in fear, "Ah, a-a red name…"

I almost couldn’t believe it. Was this the first time he encountered a red name? Just how new was he?

I charged him and punched him in the chest. I wasn’t trying to kill him though. I put just enough strength into my fist to knock him to the rock behind him before planting my sword to his neck. From this position, all I needed to do was exert a little bit of strength, and his head would fall off just like that.

The tamer stared at me with panicked eyes. "W-what do you want, hero? I only have 18 gold with me! You can take all of it if you want!"

I smiled. "Calm down, brother. I don’t want your gold, I just want a favor from you!"

"What favor?"

"I want you to bring someone to me!"

"Okay, who?"

"Flowing Cloud!"

"What?!" The tamer’s eyes widened. "You want me to bring the war goddess over? That’s impossible! She’s the goddess of countless nerds! More importantly, she’ll never give a guy like me a second glance!"

I smiled again. "And she doesn’t need to. All you need to do is send her a friend request with the message ‘Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is looking for you’!"

"Really? You sure?"

"Yep."

The tamer looked at me with skepticism, but he did it anyway because his life was in my hands. A few minutes later, he shot me a disbelieving look.

"What’s wrong? Is she ignoring you?" I asked.

"No…" the tamer said in a shaky voice, "s-s-s-s-he added me as a friend… me…"

I rolled my eyes. "Grow some balls, man!"

The tamer grew embarrassed. "Oh right, Flowing Cloud is asking me to ask you where you want to meet her. She says she’s coming to meet you herself…"

I nodded. "Just give her our current coordinates. And no, you can’t leave yet. I will lop off your head if Flowing Cloud shows up with an army, understand? Don’t doubt my sincerity."

"Of course, I wouldn’t dare…"

……

About 20 minutes later, the war goddess of Elephant City, the female warrior Flowing Cloud appeared on her signature white horse.

"What is it, Lu Chen?" Flowing Cloud asked immediately after she dismounted.

I smiled at her. "I want to talk to you about something…"

"Okay!" She nodded encouragingly.

Next to me, the nerd tamer stared at Flowing Cloud’s pale, firm legs and swallowed visibly. He looked happy enough to faint on the spot.

I shot him a glance before removing the Purple Ying Sword from his neck. Then, I faced Flowing Cloud directly and said, "You already know what I’m here for, don’t you?"

Flowing Cloud smiled. "I don’t? You’ll have to clarify."

I said seriously, "I’ve thought carefully about your offer earlier. My own people betrayed me, and the Japanese threaten me everyday. I fought day in and day out at Final Duel Valley, but all I got was the cold shoulder. I can no longer stand this treatment. That is why I’ve decided to enter the India server and join Elephant City. But don’t say I didn’t warn you beforehand: I expect to get paid ultra-generous for my services!"

Flowing Cloud’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "You… you’re serious? This… this is wonderful! Hahaha! I’m so happy! Have you truly made up your mind? Very well, I will do my best to get you the treatment you deserve. I will contact God of War, Breeze and Rain, and Dark Clouds Sorrow right now! You will be pleasantly surprised, I promise!"