Town of the Dead

Not far away, behind a stall.

Hanks wore a miserable expression, seemingly whispering something to Widow Wang.

Although Widow Wang claimed she was scraping by, her clothes, rosy complexion, and vibrant expression...

All suggested she was doing quite well.

Hanks, on the other hand-that old bastard who liked to pretend he was stooped-looked noticeably thinner to An Kai...

His Intelligence attribute had now reached 131 points.

There was no chance he had misremembered someone's appearance...

"Poor bastard!"

An Kai muttered, actually feeling a flicker of sympathy for Hanks...

"Sir... I'll just..."

Carrying the wounded warrior on his back, Reed asked An Kai for permission to leave...

An Kai nodded, signaling him to go.

He began browsing the stalls that had relocated to Chaos City.

The moment Reed's group of four approached Hanks, Hanks noticed their return.

He whipped his head around.

His eyes widened with fury.

The comforting words Reed had imagined never came.

Instead, he was greeted by a roar: "You bastards! Who told you to leave?!"

"Fuck! Why didn't you just die out there?!"

Reed lowered his head, silently comparing Hanks to An Kai, who had saved him twice. The more he thought about it, the worse Hanks seemed.

Even if An Kai had also been the reason his life was in danger the second time...

"Sir... we ran into the young mage master..."

While Hanks berated him, Reed seized the moment when Hanks paused for breath and hurriedly brought up An Kai...

"Him?!"

Hearing Reed's words, Hanks suddenly shouted.

His expression grew even angrier.

He looked around and spotted An Kai crouching in front of a stall, his fair face looking utterly harmless...

Although An Kai had changed his appearance, that punchable expression let Hanks recognize him at a glance!

He shoved Reed aside and headed toward An Kai...

"Hanks, you old bastard! Don't blame the young master for your own incompetence. He hasn't done anything to you!"

Hanks had only taken one step when Widow Wang's words reached him...

His footsteps halted...

He was even angrier!

"Brat! You finally showed yourself!"

His furious voice arrived before he did.

An Kai heard Hanks's angry voice and recalled what Reed had told him on the way here about Hanks being wanted by the Shak Kingdom.

He instantly understood why Hanks was so furious.

It was simply because something had gone wrong with the blank sheet of paper he had given him last time...

Watching Hanks draw closer, An Kai calmly cast the Freezing Spell, shaped it into a sharp sword, and hurled it straight at him!

Seeing the sword hurtle toward him, Hanks stopped abruptly!

He stood rooted to the spot.

With a hiss, the sword formed by the Freezing Spell plunged into the ground beside Hanks's feet!

Sensing the aura emanating from the sword, Hanks marveled inwardly, How has this bastard gotten stronger again?!

Is that old bastard, the God of Magic, blind? Why is he letting this guy improve so quickly?!

"Old bastard, you know I don't like men getting close to me."

"Bastard! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

Hanks roared furiously, not caring about the eyes on him...

An Kai burst out laughing...

His expression was utterly dismissive. "Is this your first day out in the world?"

Those words left Hanks speechless.

True enough. If he couldn't tell the real thing from a fake, he had only himself to blame...

Seeing An Kai's indifference, Hanks sneered inwardly. Sure enough, this guy tampered with it!

Good thing I didn't hand it over to the Shak Kingdom. I made a fake myself instead!

Since this brat thinks he's the one who screwed me over, I'll let him keep thinking that...

I can use it as an excuse to squeeze something out of him when I get the chance!

Think you can take me on? Hah!

Hanks felt smug inside, but his expression remained unchanged, still furious...

Looking at An Kai, he finally snorted and turned away. "Come with me! Something happened in the town!"

"The town?"

An Kai muttered, immediately connecting what Hanks had said to the strange happenings in the town mentioned in the side story...

He followed Hanks into the distance...

As they passed Widow Wang, she gave An Kai an apologetic smile and explained, "Young master, Hanks is just stubborn as a mule. Don't stoop to his level..."

An Kai smiled back and nodded with an honest, simple expression...

He followed behind Hanks, but kept a Freezing Spell ready in his hand...

"They... they're gone..." Reed watched Hanks and An Kai leave, then looked at his two companions' injuries again.

A sense of desolation welled up in him.

Even though he knew these were the rules of the Desert...

"Take them for treatment. I'll cover the cost. I know the clinic's owner. Just give them my name."

Widow Wang stood before Reed like a goddess of salvation.

She rekindled hope in Reed's despairing heart.

"Thank you, ma'am! Thank you!"

After hurriedly thanking her, Reed and the other warrior hoisted the two wounded warriors onto their backs and ran off into the distance...

Once that was done, Widow Wang approached the spot where An Kai and Hanks had just confronted each other.

Looking at the hole An Kai's Freezing Spell sword had made in the ground, she told the people nearby, "I'll pay to have this repaired. Tell the Evergreen Gang to come to me for compensation."

After handling everything, Widow Wang swayed gracefully as a ripple of mana appeared, expertly packing up her stall and putting it into her Storage Ring.

She headed in the direction An Kai and Hanks had gone.

Hanks's residence in Chaos City.

Outside the door.

An Kai and Hanks stood about a meter apart.

"The Nameless Town has reappeared, and that old bastard Dong Lin has shown up too. He even posted a bounty to find you. You know that, right?"

An Kai nodded...

"That's not the point. The point is, do you know what the Nameless Town is called now?"

An Kai shook his head, though inwardly he recalled the side story's description: the Town of the Dead!

"The Town of the Dead!" Hanks revealed the answer with a look that said An Kai never would have guessed it.

An Kai remained unmoved, thinking, Just as I thought...

"There's a bounty mission in the Bounty Tower. Uncover the Town of the Dead's secrets, and you can earn 5,000 gold coins!"

"What do you say? Shall we team up?"

The moment Hanks finished, An Kai said quietly, "You're insane."

He turned and left without a hint of hesitation.

Watching An Kai walk away, Hanks recalled the words An Kai had once used to goad him and hurriedly copied him. "Brat! Are you scared?"

Without looking back, An Kai replied, "Yes!"

Obviously. He wasn't an idiot. Why would he go looking for trouble in the Town of the Dead?

Never mind how much danger a hefty bounty of 5,000 gold coins implied.

Dong Lin alone, a Tier Three mage, was already beyond his ability to handle.

An Kai figured the strongest opponent he could handle would probably be around Tier Two, fifth stage.

He wouldn't readily take on anyone above that level. After all, it was better to play it safe.

Leaving the alley where Hanks lived, he activated the [Disguise Mask] with a thought and changed his appearance again.

He adjusted his face to that of a middle-aged man with a full beard.

Then he headed toward the Evergreen Gang's headquarters.

He had seen in the side story that the Evergreen Gang was now controlled by the siblings Will-Bukelin and Sally Bukelin!

In An Kai's mind, Will-Bukelin was the ideal person to help him dispose of the items he didn't need.

Besides...

The Evergreen Gang probably had plenty of food stockpiled too...

Thanks to Aili rkg for the tip. Once I'm through these busy few days, I'll post an extra update for you. Thanks to Book Friend 2022...817 for the tip, and to Haoxiang Zhujie Weiyi, Book Friend 160...100, and Yeshen Ganfan for the monthly votes.