Long Beach Sunken Ship

"Receiver's Ring? You have it?" Sulonna stared at Li Shaolin in astonishment.

"Yes. I got it when I accidentally killed Morgan the first time. I never expected that ring to be so important. It's completely useless to me, so I might as well give it to you. Take it back to VanCleef. Maybe you can regain his support." Li Shaolin spoke calmly. The ring was the key to the Defias Brotherhood's treasury in Elwynn Forest. It truly was useless to him. Even if he found the treasury and killed every guard, he would only gain some money and jewels. As far as he was concerned, the supplies from Fargodeep Mine were enough to support his financial needs. There was no need to provoke the Defias Brotherhood, such a huge trouble.

Without waiting for Sulonna to react, he took out the Receiver's Ring engraved with VanCleef's signature and placed it in her hand.

"This... thank you so much." Sulonna raised the ring, overwhelmed with complicated emotions. Because of this thing, she had been hunted by every Defias member in Elwynn Forest and Westfall. For days, she had been unable to sleep peacefully, all because of a baseless accusation. Yet now that she had it, no matter what she chose, wealth and status would surely follow. If she returned it to VanCleef, with only one of the seven captains in Elwynn Forest remaining, she would definitely be entrusted with greater responsibility. Her territory might even expand severalfold. If she handed the ring to Stormwind City's officials instead, Elwynn Forest's entire financial chain would likely collapse. That would be a great achievement, and perhaps she could earn an official reward, never having to live in fear again.

"We should get out of here first. This is Benny Blanco's territory. The other members have probably heard about this too. It won't be easy to get back to the Deadmines safely!" Li Shaolin reminded her. With Benny Blanco as an example, he believed the other captains and leaders would not easily let Sulonna go. Right now, in this land crawling with Defias members, they had to find a safe route into the Deadmines. Without meeting VanCleef, everything was empty talk.

Sulonna looked at the man before her and felt somewhat moved. Perhaps he was compensating her for that night, or perhaps he felt guilty over Erland's death. In any case, he had always helped her without being swayed by money or profit. In this world where strength ruled everything, that was rare indeed. How could she know that this man possessed the memories and soul of another distant world, and that the values he had been raised with were entirely different?

When the two stepped outside, it seemed that the nearby Defias members had all been killed in the battle just now. They did not attract much attention from anyone else.

Sulonna put on a red leather mask, then took out another and handed it to Li Shaolin. "These are the masks commonly worn by Defias members in Westfall. If we wear them, we'll draw less trouble."

"So I've actually become Defias." Li Shaolin could not help mocking himself, but he knew it was necessary and could only put it on.

After spreading out the map, the two discussed it for a while. They decided that if they followed the Official Road all the way, the Defias leaders at Morson's Farm and Alexston's Farm would likely not let them pass. They had only managed to kill Benny Blanco at Fabron's Farm so easily because he had history with Erland. He had not wanted to kill them in broad daylight, intending to lure them indoors and assassinate them instead. Yet because he lacked manpower, he had been killed in turn. As for the leaders of the other two farms and Moonbrook Town, they would probably not be so easy to handle.

"How about this? We head down from the west, circle around to Long Beach, pass through Golden Coast Mine, then reach Westfall Lighthouse. There's an inland sea route there that leads into the Deadmines. It might be safer, though the journey will take longer." Sulonna pointed at the map as she spoke.

"I'll follow your lead. I'm not familiar with this place." Although Li Shaolin was not unfamiliar with this map in the game, this was reality after all. It was nothing like the game.

Once they had decided, the two set off along the road.

After all the trouble of the day, dusk had already fallen. Pale sunlight filtered through the birch trees, casting long shadows across the ground. Combined with the wild grass swaying in the breeze, it created a rather poetic scene.

Naturally, neither of them was in the mood to appreciate it. In just one hour of travel, they had killed another six Mountain Dogs and three Carrion Birds. Westfall truly was far from peaceful.

Finally, after reaching a hill and killing four Gnolls, the pale blue sea came into view in the distance.

Where sea met sky, flocks of white seagulls skimmed across the tranquil surface, occasionally slicing through the water and sending ripples spreading outward.

The two finally reached the beach. Exhausted beyond measure, they dropped onto the sand.

In the distance, huge Sand Strider Crabs crawled slowly across the shore. Their two raised eyes looked around in all directions. When they saw the pair, they did not panic, instead continuing to search through the sand and rocks for food.

As they drank chilled milk, the silhouette of a massive ocean liner suddenly appeared on the distant sea. "What's that?" Li Shaolin asked in confusion.

"That's a ship from Stormwind City to Kalimdor Auberdine. It makes three trips a day. This is the last one today." Sulonna watched the distant vessel with a trace of sadness in her voice, as if there was some story behind it.

"Oh, right. You must be hungry. The meat from these Sand Strider Crabs is quite good. I'll cook some for you later. I learned cooking before, so I'm practically half a chef." Sulonna shook off her sadness and smiled at Li Shaolin.

"That'd be great. I've eaten so much bread these past few days that my mouth's gone bland as a bird's." Li Shaolin was delighted as well. At last, he could improve his meals a little.

Sulonna took a short sword from her Storage Space and walked over to a Sand Strider Crab. With one thrust, she pinned it to the ground. The poor thing had suffered this unexpected disaster. Its eight legs scraped desperately against the sand, while its two huge mandibles opened and snapped. After struggling for a while, it finally stopped moving.

"Oh no, I forgot the flint and tinder!" Sulonna cried out in surprise as they gathered broken planks from wrecked boats along the beach and prepared to start a fire.

"Aren't you a mage? Use magic to light it." Li Shaolin reminded her.

"I'm an ice mage and a shadow warlock. I don't know fire magic. Looks like we won't get to eat it today." Sulonna spoke dejectedly.

"Wait. I bought some miscellaneous supplies in Goldshire last time. I don't know if I have any, but let me look." Li Shaolin suddenly remembered the odds and ends he had bought. He had fishing rods and bandages, so there should be flint and tinder too, right? After searching carefully, he indeed found some.

As the campfire rose, Li Shaolin watched butter drip from the iron sword onto the crab meat, its fragrance wafting through the air. Only then did he feel, for the first time since coming to this other world, a sense of warmth. He wondered whether his family far away was doing well. Ever since crossing over, he had lived every day in Elwynn Forest filled with fear and worry. Back then, he could barely protect himself, which had diluted his homesickness. But after arriving in Westfall, several of his skeletons had evolved and grown stronger, giving him the ability to protect himself. And this was an ungoverned land where he did not need to worry about anyone discovering the skeletons' existence, so those concerns had faded. Instead, the sorrow of homesickness surfaced. Alone in a foreign land, the clear, simple smiles of his parents and the friends who always cursed crudely came back to him one by one.

"It's ready. Here, eat." Seeing that Li Shaolin seemed somewhat downcast, Sulonna smiled and handed him the cooked crab meat.

On an enormous, unknown glacier, atop a towering castle, a tall man in black armor leaned on a sharp butcher's knife, the Obsidian Blade, and watched lightning flash across the sky. Like him, he too missed someone far away.

Li Shaolin took the crab meat, thanked her, and bit down. It was tender and delicious, smooth without being greasy. What wonderful food.

"Mmm, not bad. You're really good at this." With his mouth full of food, Li Shaolin spoke indistinctly.

"Really? Hehe, as long as you like it. There's nothing else along this route, but there are unbelievably many Sand Strider Crabs. You'll have more than enough to fill yourself up." Sulonna held a piece of crab meat herself, but she tore it apart and ate it slowly, unlike his wolfing it down.

"Murgh!"

"Not good, Murlocs!" Li Shaolin knew that sound better than anyone. Back by Crystal Lake, those creatures had chased him for an entire morning.

He turned his head and looked. Sure enough, three Murlocs holding wooden spears were running toward them, apparently drawn by the scent of roasted crab meat.

"Damn it, can't I even have one decent meal?" Li Shaolin sprang to his feet. With a thought, the Book of the Dead appeared in his hand. He opened it slightly, pointed at a page, and the Bronze Skeleton, Black Skeleton, and Clay Golem were released.

How could such insignificant Murlocs be a match for Skeleton Warriors tempered by countless battles? Within two or three exchanges, all three Murlocs were killed.

"Your skeletons are very strange. They feel much stronger than the Scourge Legion's Skeleton Warriors. Those skeletons are transformed from corpses. Ordinary adventurers can scatter their bones apart, but yours seem even stronger than adventurers. That bronze one's bones are so hard that even a blade only leaves a few marks." Sulonna said curiously.

"They're my companions. They weren't transformed from corpses." Li Shaolin answered vaguely and did not explain much further. It was better not to speak carelessly about something like this.

After resting enough, they tidied up casually, took a few more bites, and started walking again.

The Bronze Skeleton cleared the way ahead, the two of them followed closely behind, and the Black Skeleton brought up the rear. As for the Clay Golem, after reaching the beach, the earth's blessing upon it had weakened, leaving it little more than a bystander.

The sky gradually darkened. Fortunately, the Murlocs they encountered along the way were only scattered groups of a few. How could they possibly resist such a powerful combination?

"By the way, what are we doing tonight?" Sulonna suddenly remembered a very serious question and turned to ask him. By the sea, even if they set up a tent, they probably would not be able to withstand the midnight ocean wind.

"This... Huh, a shipwreck abandoned after running aground!" Li Shaolin had a headache at the question as well. He looked up and saw a cargo ship more than twenty meters long, half-submerged beside a massive reef ahead of them.

The two exchanged looks and were instantly overjoyed. The ship appeared to have been abandoned not long ago, so they should be able to stay inside. Their lodging for the night was settled.