Lunatic!

As he ran, An Kai's urge to kill began to grow...

He had no idea how many enemies Sally Bukelin had threatened using his name over the past seven months...

Or how many enemies she had made for him out of nowhere...

At that moment, An Kai felt somewhat relieved that he had given her the name "Hanks." There was still another layer of protection keeping his identity from being exposed...

With Sally Bukelin slung over his shoulder, he raced out of Chaos City.

At the stalls by the entrance to Chaos City.

The vendors rubbed their eyes hard, staring in the direction An Kai had raced off in. One after another, they exclaimed in shock, "Was that the female leader of the Evergreen Gang? Our city lord's sworn younger sister?!"

"I think... it was her!"

"Whoa! Who was that guy? He's got some nerve!"

"What do you know? With a fair-skinned beauty who's also a princess, even dying would be worth it!"

Ever since he had hoisted Sally Bukelin onto his shoulder, the threats from her mouth had never stopped.

She kept saying that her man was the mighty Hanks, and that she herself was the leader of Chaos City's largest gang, the Evergreen Gang...

An Kai simply pretended not to hear.

Ignoring everything she said, he carried Sally Bukelin toward the oasis closest to Chaos City.

An hour later.

An Kai tossed Sally Bukelin down beside the oasis lake...

After racing along for an hour, his face wasn't flushed, nor was he out of breath.

Nothing about his physique looked like that of a mage.

"I'll give you one minute to explain everything about the Evergreen Gang. Then I'll let you die painlessly."

An Kai looked at Sally Bukelin, who sat slumped on the ground, his voice cold.

This woman had dared to throw his name around. She was asking to die!

If someone with an agenda noticed and followed the trail, there was no guarantee his identity would remain hidden.

After all, his name, An Kai, was still listed in the Bounty Tower!

For some reason.

At this life-or-death moment, Sally Bukelin's first thought wasn't about her own safety.

Instead, she found the bearded man before her somewhat familiar.

His indifferent tone when talking about life, in particular, reminded her of that old acquaintance who had suddenly disappeared...

Sally Bukelin didn't answer An Kai's question. Instead, as though compelled by some unseen force, she asked, "Brave Hanks, is that you?"

An Kai's expression froze at her question.

Was my [Disguise Mask] really that easy to see through?

After speaking, Sally Bukelin slipped off her Storage Ring, placed it in her palm, and held it out to An Kai...

Without the slightest hesitation, An Kai took the Storage Ring with practiced ease...

"Hanks! It really is you!"

The joy on Sally Bukelin's face came from the bottom of her heart.

At the same time, after confirming An Kai's identity, she deactivated the magic array in her mind that would send a distress signal to the lord of Chaos City.

An Kai hadn't expected a Storage Ring to give him away.

But he wasn't going to admit anything, nor would he take off his [Disguise Mask]!

As long as he didn't admit it, his identity wouldn't be exposed.

With a thought, he took the [Brute Force Staff] out of the Storage Ring.

Gripping it, he slammed it down beside Sally Bukelin...

Bang!

Using brute force, Hanks smashed out a crater more than half a meter deep and over a meter wide!

Dust flew, splattering Sally Bukelin, but she showed no reaction. She simply kept looking at An Kai with a sweet smile.

There wasn't a trace of fear in her eyes. She seemed utterly certain that An Kai wouldn't hurt her...

"Lunatic!"

Seeing Sally Bukelin like this, An Kai couldn't help muttering.

Then his face hardened. "Answer my question. You have thirty seconds left!"

"Hanks, I promise this is the first time I've ever used your name!"

"You can ask Will! He wouldn't lie!"

"Will hasn't even told me your real name!"

Sally Bukelin finally spoke, but not about the Evergreen Gang.

Instead, she was explaining herself.

She knew very well what An Kai hated most.

After explaining, Sally Bukelin remembered what she had said back in Chaos City, and her face suddenly turned bright red...

Hearing her explanation, An Kai couldn't help nodding. He still trusted Will-Bukelin a great deal.

Sally Bukelin's words only lowered An Kai's first layer of wariness. He would find Will-Bukelin and verify how much of what she had said was true.

Seeing An Kai's expression soften a little, Sally Bukelin couldn't help letting out a long breath of relief.

Over the past six months, she had imagined her reunion with An Kai countless times.

In those imagined encounters, fear and shock should have dominated.

After all, An Kai was the man who had nearly sold her to the Bounty Tower.

And yet...

Only now, when they truly met again, did Sally Bukelin discover that trust and reliance were what she felt most upon seeing An Kai!

Under the influence of those feelings, other emotions had even begun to develop...

Even she found it unbelievable!

Even when An Kai had attacked her in disguise, her first instinct had been to scare her attacker with An Kai's name.

That meant An Kai was the person she trusted and relied upon most...

"Lunatic!"

Looking at Sally Bukelin making lovesick eyes at him, An Kai muttered again.

He seriously suspected that this woman was ill, and badly so!

She had actually developed feelings for him, someone who should have been her enemy?!

It was no exaggeration to say that Sally Bukelin's gaze was practically dripping with desire...

With a thought, a Freezing Spell appeared in his hand. Without hesitation, he hurled it at Sally Bukelin...

"I'll cool you down!"

The Freezing Spell turned into a layer of ice that clung to Sally Bukelin's skin!

In an instant, Sally Bukelin shivered from the cold.

Only after silently counting three seconds did An Kai cancel the Freezing Spell.

Sure enough, the Freezing Spell worked.

Sally Bukelin's eyes were indeed a little clearer now...

"I'm saying this one last time. I want to hear why the Evergreen Gang changed!"

"All right. Since you want to hear it, Hanks, I'll tell you~"

Sally Bukelin still wore her sweet smile, and her voice was exceedingly gentle...

Just as An Kai was about to frown, Sally Bukelin began slowly recounting how the Evergreen Gang had changed...

Ten minutes later.

An Kai understood.

Sure enough, the Evergreen Gang's drastic transformation had something to do with these two siblings.

More precisely, it had something to do with Will-Bukelin.

On their very first day in the Evergreen Gang, the siblings had been ostracized.

Then the supposedly mysterious lord of Chaos City had suddenly arrived.

She announced on the spot that she had taken Sally Bukelin as her sworn younger sister.

Will-Bukelin would serve as the leader of the Evergreen Gang, with equal standing to Sally Bukelin.

She had even left two Tier Two powerhouses behind to assist the siblings!

The lord of Chaos City hadn't done this out of a sudden burst of kindness.

It was because she needed Will-Bukelin to willingly offer up his rainbow-colored [Wanderer's Heart]!

She had also promised that, two years later, on the day before she took the [Wanderer's Heart], she would resolve the matter weighing on Will-Bukelin's heart: the sudden death of the King of the Bukelin Duchy...

"What tier is the lord of Chaos City?"

"She should be Tier Five."

"Tier Five? Goodbye!"

Without the slightest hesitation, An Kai turned and left!

He was going to find Hanks. If he got swindled, so be it...