Hearing Shi Feng agree without a moment's hesitation, Yan Qiu felt deeply moved — and a little envious.
The reason she had joined a free organization like Gun of the Wind God was precisely because every member was like a brother. If anyone got bullied, the others would step in without a second thought.
That wasn't the case in a guild. Helping a fellow member always came with all sorts of complications.
Someone in a high position like Shi Feng certainly couldn't act rashly — he would normally have to investigate who the other party was, weigh the pros and cons, and only then make a decision.
But Shi Feng hadn't done any of that.
His very first question hadn't been "Who are they?" It had been "Where are Siyu Qingxuan and the others?" — something that would never happen in a guild.
"Qingxuan and the others were ambushed in the Crystal Forest. The attackers were all experts wearing black robes — you can't see any of their information, and they move without a sound. Fortunately, Qingxuan and the others had the spare Blink Scrolls you gave them, so they managed to escape. But according to Mingqiang, those people came specifically to kill them. They won't let them get away. Here are the coordinates of the ambush — be careful." As she spoke, Yan Qiu sent the map coordinates to Shi Feng.
"Got it. I'm heading there now." Shi Feng glanced at the Crystal Forest coordinates, committing them to memory, then wheeled the Demonic Flame War Tiger around and charged straight for the teleportation hall.
Hearing Shi Feng's calm and steady tone, Yan Qiu didn't know why, but despite the slim odds of actually saving Siyu Qingxuan and the others, she felt a weight lift from her chest.
Never mind how long it would take to travel from White River City to the Crystal Forest — once there, it would be over two hours just to reach the ambush site. Even though Siyu Qingxuan and the others had escaped using Blink Scrolls, players had far more skills now, and tracking someone had become much easier than before.
On top of that, the attackers had apparently used some skill that prevented Siyu Qingxuan and the others from using Return Scrolls. It kept them perpetually in combat, so they couldn't even log out normally. If they tried to disconnect and flee, they'd receive the system's death penalty.
"I hope Qingxuan and the others can hold on." Yan Qiu could only pray at this point. She was far away in the Dark Night Empire, and getting there would take even longer.
……
In the core area of the Crystal Forest, amid trees made entirely of crystal, over a dozen black-robed players searched in every direction.
"Damn it — dealing with two women shouldn't be this hard. Qiluo, have you found their trail yet? Boss Jumuo gave us dead orders — we have to eliminate these core players of Zero Wing." Mofei Mo glanced at the assassin searching in the distance and asked in a low voice.
They had collected a fair number of leads on Zero Wing's core members, but most of them were in Stoneclaw Mountains — over ten hours away just by travel. A few others were running team dungeons and couldn't come out anytime soon. The closest targets they'd managed to track were Siyu Qingxuan and her group, who had been grinding alongside Zero Wing's higher-ups.
They hadn't expected that ambushing two women would let them slip away. All they had managed to kill were two insignificant free players — and if Arbiter Jumuo found out about this, they'd be in serious trouble.
"You think tracking players in this place is easy?" The assassin named Qiluo shot Mofei Mo a glare and swept a look over the crystal thickets surrounding them, his teeth grinding with frustration. "Those two really know how to run — they ducked right into this crystal maze. Without this natural labyrinth, I'd have found and finished them off long ago. But don't worry — no matter how complicated the terrain is, there's only one entrance and exit. They can't use Return Scrolls and they can't log out normally. Finding them is just a matter of time."
"Good. Thunderclaw and I will hold the entrance while you guys search inside. We need to take them out fast — remember, our time is limited. There are other Zero Wing members we still need to deal with." Mofei Mo nodded and issued his orders.
"Understood." The assassin Qiluo began to speed up his search.