"He's gone..."
Hanks watched An Kai's retreating back and muttered to himself.
He took a detector from his coat: [Tier One, Stage One]
"Damn it! Did that fat pig lie to me again?!"
On second thought, after the beatings he'd given that fellow, he probably wouldn't dare lie...
Which meant An Kai had been hiding his strength from the very beginning!
They hadn't seen each other in nearly a year, and Hanks realized An Kai must have come across another opportunity!
Not only had he acquired an item that concealed his face, but his strength had also increased enormously!
Compared to their last desperate escape from Chaos City, An Kai's growth in strength was terrifying!
Even Hanks felt a certain pressure standing before An Kai...
Hanks watched An Kai disappear without the slightest worry. He believed they would meet again!
"He's gotten stronger again and found himself some opportunities. He must be here to exchange resources this time, right?"
"I refuse to believe anyone besides me can get you the resources you want!"
Hanks muttered, then chuckled, pushed open the door, and returned home.
He hummed a tune, looking quite pleased.
When they made the exchange, even if he couldn't persuade An Kai to explore the Town of the Dead, he could use the way An Kai had screwed him over last time as an excuse to fleece him!
After all, the Shak Kingdom really had put Hanks on its wanted list!
His faulty information had led the Shak Kingdom astray while exploring a certain location.
The entire exploration team had been wiped out.
Hanks didn't know exactly how strong they had been, but he knew one thing: the Tier Two professionals on that team had only been errand runners...
"Now that An Kai's shown up, I'm bound to make a killing, I, Hanks!"
"Let's see how she orders me around now! Tonight, I'll call the shots!"
An Kai returned to the Evergreen Gang's headquarters.
An Kai discovered that the place had changed dramatically since his last visit.
The entrance was spotless.
The gang members guarding the Evergreen Gang's entrance wore friendly smiles as they watched people come and go.
They stood in stark contrast to the vicious-looking guards from the Evergreen Gang who had been there before.
If not for the words "Evergreen Gang" clearly written in the continent's common tongue beside the entrance, An Kai might have thought he'd arrived somewhere decent.
Here in Chaos City, everything about the Evergreen Gang now marked it as an oddity.
For example, when members of the Evergreen Gang headed out, they even nodded to the guards at the entrance and greeted them warmly.
They looked like the closest of friends.
The sight made An Kai deeply suspicious. Had every member of the Evergreen Gang become a [Wanderer]?
Besides that, An Kai could faintly sense a Tier Two fluctuation within the Evergreen Gang's headquarters.
This fluctuation was very diffuse. Only An Kai's high intelligence attribute allowed him to pick up a trace of it.
"Hahaha! Tired, brother?"
"If you are, just tell me. I'll find someone to relieve you!"
Polpi, the Evergreen Gang's former acting leader, smiled kindly as he patted a guard on the shoulder.
"Sir, I'm not tired! I'm proud to contribute to the Evergreen Gang!"
"Don't call me sir. Call me big brother!"
"Good, good! If everyone in our Evergreen Gang had your dedication, how could we not prosper?"
An Kai knew Polpi. The impression the man had left on him was one of a violent temper.
Now, before his very eyes, Polpi and the guard were acting like actual brothers.
An Kai found it surreal.
He simply couldn't understand what kind of experience could suddenly change the nature of such an evil man...
"That kid Will really didn't kill Polpi?"
An Kai muttered to himself. Polpi had personally tortured Will-Bukelin. If An Kai had been in Will-Bukelin's shoes, Polpi would never have lived to see today.
The Evergreen Gang's strange behavior made it feel unfamiliar to An Kai.
Something had to be behind such an unnatural change.
"Could that little bitch Sally have recovered her mana?"
"She's a genius Tier Three mage. If she's recovered her mana, she really might be able to pull this off through sheer strength..."
An Kai muttered to himself. The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
He then stepped back a few paces and hid in the shadows at the mouth of an alley, watching the Evergreen Gang's headquarters.
If Sally Bukelin really had recovered her strength, she would definitely settle the score for everything he'd done...
An Kai felt some regret now. If only he'd known, he would have sold Sally Bukelin off or smashed her to death...
"Ah! I'm still too softhearted!"
Night fell.
Laughter rang out not far from the Evergreen Gang's headquarters.
Looking over, An Kai saw that the people leading the group were the siblings Sally Bukelin and Will-Bukelin.
Behind them were more than a hundred gang members wearing Evergreen Gang nameplates.
But their appearance left An Kai dumbfounded...
"Chaos City-Evergreen Gang-Cleaning Team One, Will-Bukelin."
"Chaos City-Evergreen Gang-Sweeping Team Two, Sally Bukelin."
"Chaos City-Evergreen Gang..."
Will-Bukelin and Sally Bukelin both carried cleaning tools, with nameplates on their chests identifying them as members of Cleaning Team One and Sweeping Team Two.
The Evergreen Gang members behind them were the same, carrying cleaning tools and wearing nameplates for either Cleaning Team One or Sweeping Team Two...
"What the fuck is going on?!"
An Kai felt as though he'd spent not seven months in seclusion, but seven years, or seventy.
As far as he could sense, Sally Bukelin still had no mana whatsoever. She gave off no aura of a powerful fighter.
Watching the smiles on the approaching Evergreen Gang members' faces, An Kai grew increasingly frustrated.
Something he didn't know about had definitely happened to the Evergreen Gang!
An Kai now had two options.
The first was to turn around and leave, then find Hanks or the Bounty Tower to handle his goods.
There was a downside to that: Hanks would absolutely make an issue of how An Kai had screwed him over last time.
As for the Bounty Tower...
An Kai felt some aversion toward the place. He always had the sense that Bounty Tower wasn't as simple as it appeared.
Especially given how the Orc army had camped outside Chaos City without choosing to enter...
Judging by the strength of the Orcs he'd killed and what he knew of Chaos City's strength, that Orc force could easily wipe the city out...
Then there were the rumors of countless connections between the Bounty Tower and Chaos City's mysterious lord, who was obsessed with cleanliness...
After giving it a little thought, An Kai ruled that option out!
He still had the blood of the Bounty Tower's people on his hands...
As for the second option...
An Kai emerged from the alley, lowered his head, and walked toward Sally Bukelin and Will-Bukelin...
A few seconds later, only five meters separated An Kai from them...
In less than half a second, An Kai chose between Will-Bukelin and Sally Bukelin.
He darted forward and, before Sally Bukelin could react, hoisted her onto his shoulder. Then he sprang away, rushed into an alley beside the street, and disappeared after a few strides...
The whole thing took An Kai just two seconds!
"Sis!" Will-Bukelin suddenly reacted and was about to chase the bearded man carrying off his sister...
"Boss!"
Suddenly, a gang member grabbed Will-Bukelin's arm and shook his head at him...
The remaining gang members did the same, surrounding Will-Bukelin and firmly shaking their heads, their expressions cold...
Will-Bukelin drew a deep breath. Looking toward the Evergreen Gang's headquarters, he spat bitterly, "If anything happens to my sister, I won't let you get away with it!"
"Don't worry, boss. This is Chaos City!"
A gang member's calm reply reached his ears.
Then the gang members surrounding Will-Bukelin suddenly dispersed, returning to their earlier air of harmony...
Smiling, they chatted about the day's amusing events...
"Don't struggle, or I'll kill you!"
"I'm warning you! I know Hanks, one of Chaos City's powerful fighters!"
Hearing the cool voice beside his ear, An Kai faltered for a step, then continued running into the distance...
An unpleasant thought arose in his mind: Has this woman been using my name to climb her way up?!
Thanks to Xitu Xiaoying for the tip.
Before you continue