...

"I'll give some useful information about them, but only if you pay me handsomely," said Crazy Jiang while rubbing his right-hand fingers together.

Seeing that sudden change in his attitude, Arthur suddenly clicked his tongue before saying. "Tsk! Where's that friendly attitude earlier? "

Hearing that, Crazy Jiang pursed his lips a little before refuting. "Come on~! I'm still running a business here, so I can't just give you some free candies."

He then paused for a couple of seconds to point his chin at Leonard while saying. "Even if I am close with Big Brother Simba, that doesn't mean that I need to give him some important intel. At least, I need to earn some money to survive in this game."

On the other hand, Leonard just waved his hand and spoke. "Ignore that guy, Crazy Jiang. Just tell us the information that we and I will cover the cost just like old times. But you need to make it quick since our time is quite tight given what you just said earlier about our competitors."

"Wait, we can't just go with our old terms. This information really is quite different," said Crazy Jiang while waking his hands in front of him.

"Just tell us what you want, we can't afford to waste our time here, can we?" said Shin who was now showing some signs of annoyance.

Taking the 'hint' from Shin's tone, Crazy Jiang put up a smile to calm Shin a little. "Alright, relax, relax. I'm doing this for a living, so please understand."

After that, he didn't wait for the others to ask what he wanted and immediately told them about it. "I'm not going to ask for a powerful weapon nor money. What I want is to become famous just like you guys!"

"I already have everything that I need, except for one. And that is fame! I'm supposedly the best Information Merchant in this Kingdom but no one knew about me! Aside from Big Brother Leonard, there is no other player who is aware of my greatness," he added while trying his best to stop his eyes from tearing up.

"Eh~!?"

Shin and Cloe started making a weird look on their faces the moment they heard that; they couldn't believe what they had heard just now. "What the heck?"

On the other hand, Leonard was suppressing his laughter when he heard those words as if he was already expecting that Crazy Jiang was going to say that. And right beside him, Chaotic Luck was also trying his best not to laugh and didn't know what to say.

Seeing their reactions, Crazy Jiang was about to fail at suppressing his tears for feeling dejected. Especially when he thought about Arthur who kept on giving him some negative remarks since earlier.

But contrary to what he was expecting, Arthur was actually doing the complete opposite. His eyes were also starting to tear up and seemed to be sympathizing with Crazy Jiang's feelings.

Crazy Jiang was about to say something when Arthur suddenly appeared right beside him and said. "I see that you are also a man who pursues the spotlight. Don't worry, I know exactly how you feel since I also started in that place," while patting his shoulders.

Hearing those words, Crazy Jiang couldn't hold back his tears any longer and started crying. "Big Brother!"

Seeing that strange scene in front of them, the other others couldn't help but look at them with a weird expression on their face as they couldn't keep up with the sudden turn of events.

A few moments later, Arthur suddenly turned his head at Leonard and asked. "I never knew that you are actually such a heartless guy. To think you are letting such a poor kid rot in the darkness? Given your fame and reputation, you should have helped him build his name, especially that he is calling you Big Brother!"

"Yeah! I asked for his support countless times already, yet he never helps me no matter how desperate I am," added Crazy Jiang as he cried on Arthur's shoulder.

On the side, Cloe facepalmed as she couldn't believe that she was currently surrounded by a group of idiots.

"I don't like where this is heading," she muttered to herself before tugging Shin's shoulders to tell him to do something about their current situation.

Sigh~!

Seeing that, Shin could only release a helpless sigh as he also couldn't watch any longer. He then stood up from his seat before walking towards Arthur and grabbing the back collar of his brother's armor, dragging him back towards his seat. "Enough of your drama. We are currently in the middle of an important matter, so give it a rest already!"

After returning their seat, he immediately forced Arthur to sit before giving Cloe a signal to cast a binding spell to lock the troublemaker in his place. And to make sure that Arthur was not going to talk anymore, she even added an extra spell to prevent him from talking.

Then he turned back towards Crazy Jiang before saying. "Me and Leo are not good with social media as we don't have extra time to waste on them. So, that is probably why he couldn't help you with your favor."

"This idiot, on the other hand, is quite experienced in it. So, he will deal with your 'demand' later when we are done with our current task at hand," he added while pointing at Arthur.

After that, he pointed to Cloe who was sitting on his other side before continuing. "So, can you please start briefing us about the matter that we are asking? After all, our muse is really about to lose her temper."

Hearing that and feeling the heavy pressure coming from Shin, Crazy Jiang immediately recollected himself and nodded his head before apologizing. "I'm sorry about that, Big Brother."

He then became a little silent for a couple of seconds before he finally recovered his composure. "Before I tell you about the duo who discovered the Sky Island, let me inform you that they are also the first players who arrived at the Crystalline Peak first."

"Eh!?" The group was suddenly taken aback when they heard that.

"Now this is becoming a little interesting," said Leonard while crossing his arms in front of him as he started to become excited.

On the other hand, Cloe nodded her head and commented. "That means those two are not only lucky and just discover the Sky Island by chance; both of them should be skilled at the very least."

"But from what I can see, those guys are targeting the Sky Island from the very start," said Shin as he felt a little suspicious of that certain information.

"After all, it is too much of a coincidence that both of them discovered two of the regions in this place. And it is in the same place no less," he added with a knitted brow.

Beside him, Arthur was trying to say something but couldn't voice it out since his mouth was covered by some sort of cloth that prevented him from talking. "Hm! Hm! Hm!"

On the other hand, Crazy Jiang was currently nodding his head repeatedly while acknowledging Shin's words. "And both of you are correct."

"Those two are really skilled and they were able to beat the forces of 'Monster Hunting Unit', one of the strongest groups in this Kingdom."

"And from the information that I've gathered, those two are originally not a resident of the Primal Kingdom. Instead, they came from the neighboring country, the Azure Kingdom."

Hearing those words, Shin was starting to put some pieces together and mumble with a soft voice. "Then, maybe they got the clue about the Sky Island from their original Kingdom?"

"Exactly!" said Crazy Jiang while also snapping at the same time.

Seeing his reaction, Cloe suddenly knitted her eyebrows while asking. "Are you telling us to head over the Azure Kingdom first before we proceed looking for the Sky Island and whoever those two are?"

"Originally, yes," answered Crazy Jiang noddingly. "After all, those two are quite cautious towards anyone from this Kingdom."

"Huh? Why is that? Is it because they are originally not from here?" asked Leonard curiously.

"Partially, it is a yes," responded Crazy Jiang instantly before quickly adding. "It is because a lot of players from this place are either hunting them down to rob all of everything from them or find those two to invite them to join their side. Either way, both reasons are not pleasant for those two."

"But at the same time, there was actually another reason behind it."

"But at the same time, there was actually another reason behind it. And that is because of the quest that they are currently doing."

Hearing yet another unexpected piece of information, the group became even more interested in this topic as they all knew that this was going to be much more interesting than they originally thought.

"So, how about we stop beating around the bush and immediately tell us about it already?" asked Shin with a serious expression on his face while also leaning his body forward.

Hearing that, Crazy Jiang gulped a mouthful of saliva before nodding his head and started talking. "The truth is, those two and the locals of this Kingdom are currently at war with each other."

...…