The night was one filled with horses, crystals and madness. I logged off only when it was past 9 am in the morning.

Chaos Moon stared at my bloodshot eyes curiously. "Damn, you look like you robbed a house last night."

"I guess that isn’t too far away from the truth…"

I couldn’t refute Chaos Moon’s observation when I recalled the mindblowing fortune I made last night. In fact, saying I robbed a bank might be a more apt description. Whoever had designed this part had probably intended for one magic knight to seal just one Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse, but because I coincidentally accepted the Black Wind Scout Battalion’s quest and bought a crazy amount of 90k Sealing Crystals in one go, I was able to pocket over half of Zephyr Valley’s mounts overnight.

Chaos Moon took a sip of hot tea before saying, "Well, what are you waiting for? You look like you’re about to die from starvation…"

"Mn."

I rolled the pizza on my plate and stuffed the whole slice into my mouth. She was correct. I had been so hungry that, when Chaos Moon returned with a box of pizza, I had nearly shed tears of joy. The ancients didn’t lie when they made up the sayings "to send charcoal in snowy weather", and "hoeing the grass under the noonday sun”...

……

"Seriously though, what on earth are you doing in Iron Skull Wilderness? Eve worries about you a lot, but she didn’t dare to call you because she didn’t want to catch you while you’re on the run or something. It would suck for everyone if you were killed because a phone call distracted you."

"Well, right now I’m building a powerful army in Zephyr Valley…"

"A powerful army?"

"Yep. Don’t worry, you should see the results very soon."

Chaos Moon giggled. "You know what, why don’t I come to Iron Skull Wilderness and meet you? The Crimson Scythe Scorpion you gifted me is now Level 110, by the way. It levels up quickly, and its offensive power is incredible. I put all its stat points under Strength."

"Of course. If it’s an offensive pet, then you always add Strength. It won’t be able to pierce a high-level mobs’ Defense otherwise."

"Mn. Do you know how envious Eve was when she saw the Crimson Scythe Scorpion?" Chaos Moon chirped with a pleased expression. "She said that the Crimson Scythe Scorpion is way stronger than the Firelight Mouse and Ghost Chariot. Sister Mingyue even tried fanning some flames saying that you’ve had a change of heart and fell for me…"

I nearly spat out the cola in my mouth when I heard that. I complained, "That’s more or less the usual bullshit I expect to hear from sis alright. Fall for you? I would have a bigger chance falling on you…"

Chaos Moon blushed like an apple. "Why am I getting burned? Sister Mingyue’s the one who said it, not me!"

"Haha!"

After I ate another slice of pizza, I patted my stomach in satisfaction before saying, "Well, I won’t keep you occupied any longer. I’m going to sleep, wake up at three, and hopefully finish everything before 12 midnight so I can readjust my biological clock."

"Mn."

Chaos Moon nodded once before saying seriously, "By the way, the investigation on Tang Long is progressing quickly. The CGL officials are constantly releasing new information and updates regarding the investigation. It seems like Tang Long and the higher-ups of the VR department really did have some sort of unspeakable deal with each other, so Li Chengfeng has traveled to Japan to investigate it himself. Long story short, the investigation is progressing in both the real and the virtual world. Tang Long will fall once enough evidence has been gathered."

"Awesome!" I replied.

However, Chaos Moon glared at me and added, "Idiot. I’m asking you if we’re returning to Suzhou soon. Eve, Beiming Xue and Lian Xin all miss you a lot. Beiming Xue especially asks me day and night how you’re doing, whether you’re eating and sleeping on time, and more. The same questions, every. Single. Day. I’m literally running out of words here…"

Feeling a surge of warmth in my heart, I replied with a smile, "Tell Eve, Beiming and Little Xin that I miss them a lot as well. Tell them that we’ll return to Suzhou once my business at Iron Skull Wilderness is settled."

"Nice. Alright, you should catch some sleep soon."

"Yeah!"

……

Another day passed by in the blink of an eye. As it turned out, my obsession with the Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses surprised even me. After 29 total hours of hard work, when the beginning rays of sunshine began shining through the window once more, I finally managed to sweep through the entire necropolis and capture every Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse there was. In total, I had captured 51k+ Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses, which was absolutely enough to build a super powerful cavalry legion. It was only then I logged out of the game and took my rest.

On the same day, when the clock reached 9 am sharp, I logged back into the game with a full stomach.

Swhoosh!

After I reappeared in the depths of Zephyr Valley, I took a moment to admire my bagful of Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses and felt very pleased with myself. The first step of my super massive plan was finally complete, and it was time to begin the next step. Speaking of which, Breeze and Rain and Flowing Cloud had been carrying out their suppression plan in the past two days. Unfortunately for them, I had suggested to Warscar and Hickey to exploit their familiarity with their homeland and engage the Indian forces in guerilla warfare. As a result, they weren’t able to make any solid progress whatsoever.

I closed my bag and summoned the Ancient Divine Dragon. After I jumped onto its back and grabbed the vine to steady myself, I ordered smilingly, "Time to go to Black Wind Scout Battalion camp, little dragon! We can deal with everything else after I’ve turned in my quest! Level 209, here I come!"

The Ancient Divine Dragon bent its neck backward and let out a mighty roar, shattering the forest’s silence instantly. Then, it took to the sky and flew toward Black Wind Scout Battalion camp in a straight line. In less than half an hour, we arrived at our destination.

"Ah, my dear warrior! You’ve finally returned!" The archer Mona greeted me passionately and cheerfully. She even stopped calling me boy.

"Mn."

I walked up to her, passed her 5 Sealing Crystals and said with a smile, "It wasn’t easy, but I’ve brought the 5 Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses you requested, Mona. I wish you all good luck and safety on your journey back home. I’m an adventurer of Sky City myself, so maybe we’ll run into each each other when I finally return home!"

Mona’s eyes reddened with tears immediately. The girl barely met me a handful of times, and yet her Amity toward me was almost abnormally high. Clutching the Sealing Crystals and wrapping me in a bear’s hug, she said, "I will be waiting for you at Sky City, young warrior. Don’t die in this wilderness no matter what, okay?"

I forced a smile on my face as I replied, "Don’t worry, I’m the man who managed to kill even the Great Undead Magus Juve. There’s nothing in this god-forsaken land that could kill me, hahaha!"

This was a lie. The fact was, the Great Undead Magus Juve had been killed by Hickey and her people via the unbeatable human wave attack. Had I had to fight the super boss solo, I would’ve lost between 1 to 3 levels at least. Juve’s Magic Attack was insane, and I didn’t have the Fire God Helmet at the time, so I couldn’t claim that I could cleanly beat him with absolute certainty.

……

The quest reward gave me an incredible amount of experience, and just as expected I skyrocketed to Level 209 14%. I was now only one step away from reaching Level 210 and qualifying for my eighth-promotion quest.

After saying their goodbyes to me, the scout battalion got onto the Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses and prepared to leave. At the last moment, Mona looked back to me and said, "You must come find me when you return to Sky City, okay?"

I nodded. "I will!"

The middle-aged warrior said with a cheeky grin, "Our scout battalion’s number one beauty has fallen for you, so you’d better not break your promise, boy! Hahaha…"

I smiled but didn’t say anything. I mounted the Ancient Divine Dragon and bid them one last goodbye, "Let’s all do our best!"

"Mn!"

Just like that, I left the camp and vanished into the clouds.

……

In the sky, I brought up my friend list and sent Warscar a message: "Yo, where are you right now?"

Warscar replied quickly, "We’re grinding Undead Earth Dragons at Bonecrush Forest right now. These fucking hammers killed a bunch of our brothers already!"

I shook my head. It would be a while before I finally got over that accent. "I’m coming over. Wait for me!"

"Sure!"

After I located the coordinates of Bonecrush Forest, I made the Ancient Divine Dragon fly there at top speed. Less than twenty minutes later, a bunch of green dots appeared on my minimap. I was listed as a friend of Warscar’s guild, Godkiller, so the Berserkers wouldn’t be able to hurt me even if they wanted to.

After I landed on the ground, I jumped off my dragon’s back and faced toward Warscar. The guy walked up to me with a hearty laugh. "Good day, brother Lu Chen! So, you wanted to say something?"

I began, "Warscar, have you ever thought that the one true way you can protect yourselves from the India server is to form some sort of alliance of vagabonds?"

"What? An alliance?"

Warscar’s expression immediately turned disgusted. "You want me to work together with that girl, Hickey? Or worse, those hammers who call themselves the Black Crow Tribe? Absolutely not! We vikings only respect the strong. Only those with the power and courage to fight side-by-side with us against powerful enemies have the right to become our brothers!"

I licked my lips once before asking, "Warscar, can you tell your corp commanders and vice commanders to assemble here?"

"Mn, sure!"

It took only a short time for twenty or so brawny and doe-eyed viking warriors to surround me. They were all waiting to see what I had to say to them.

……

I started, "You have all been bullied and party-wiped by Breeze and Rain before. Have you ever wanted to take revenge against him?"

All twenty or so commanders raised their weapons at once. "Of course! We all dream of tearing that hammer’s head into pieces or using it as a chamber pot!"

I spoke louder. "How are you going to do that though? Do you think you can beat Breeze and Rain or his Beast King Cavalry?"

Everyone including Warscar fell silent. In reality, they knew that they were no match for the Beast King Cavalry at all. They didn’t have high-level mounts or high-level equipment. Even if with their incredible Berserk talent, they were no match for their opponents at all.

After pausing for what felt like a suitable amount of time, I continued, "Well, I have the strength to make y’all stronger than the Beast King Cavalry! I have a condition though!"

"What condition?" Warscar asked immediately. Judging from the urgency in his eyes, the guy had been bullied by the Indians for far too long already.

I smiled. "I want you all to obey my orders unconditionally!"

Warscar looked surprised. "You want us to obey you? That’s… not a problem. You are already one of us. But can you actually make us stronger than the Beast King Cavalry?"

I nodded and tossed a Sealing Crystal with the Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse into his hands. "Summon it and equip it, brother!"

"Ah?"

A stunned Warscar did as I said. After the magnificent-looking stallion appeared before him, Warscar climbed onto its back and let out an exclamation of shock, "My god, it’s an Ancient Spirit Rank Boss mount! This… this is freaking lit!"

I smiled. "You see now? Obey my command, ally with the other forces of Iron Skull Wilderness, and fight the India server with me! If you agree, then I will give all of you a Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse each! That’s right! Every viking warrior will be getting an Ancient Spirit Rank Boss mount!"

……

The crowd immediately erupted into cheers. The viking warriors waved their weapons and roared with bloodshot eyes, "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! The King of Virgin! Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! The King of Virgin!"

I felt like someone kicked me in the balls when they chanted that though. The chant was in English, but I wasn’t so illiterate that I couldn’t recognize the English word "virgin"...

What the fuck! The last thing I wanted to become was "the king of virgins"!