Sword Among Us

Compared to the world over devising proper strategies to fight against Class One Hall and Wild Wolves, the world three years later was a complete mess. He did not have a powerful force backing him up, and he was alone. If he made even a single mistake, he would fall into hell.

When he returned to the world three years later, Happy immediately logged out of the pay-to-view battle replay system. When he opened his eyes on his bed, he saw three familiar faces smiling as they sat and spoke to Xu Yao and Young Yi. When they noticed the movement from the bed, all five stopped talking at the same time and looked over.

Silence.

Six pairs of eyes met each other in the air, and four people had warmth flow in their eyes at the same time.

Time seemed to have stopped at that moment, and no one spoke.

Happy put down his helmet and got up slowly from his bed. There was surprise and delight on his face. “When did you come over?”

Chen Fan, Bai Lang, and Qi Ci stood up at the same time, and they started laughing in a manner that completely destroyed their image.

“What the heck? I thought that you would be so excited that you would start bawling when you see us after not meeting us for nearly two years.”

“How does it feel to sleep for more than one year?”

“…Screw you.” Happy smiled and got up from his bed. In a show of great teamwork, four arms knocked against each other with great force. Then, all four boys hugged each other tightly.

“I knew that you’d definitely not be defeated so easily after you persisted in suffering for three years to stand at a height we can never hope to reach.”

A punch landed on Happy’s chest, but he did not budge even an inch. “You recovered pretty well. Our sister-in-law helped you replenish your nutrients, huh?”

“Nonsense, of course she is!”

“Heh! Brat, aren’t you being conceited?”

“Sister-in-law, be honest. Did this guy bully you when he woke up? If he did, while we still haven’t left yet, tell us. We’ll teach him a lesson.”

Xu Yao and Young Yi watched the four men use their fists to describe their friendship during their student days, and there were smiles on their faces. In a show of great sense, they decided not to butt into the friendly atmosphere and destroy it.

“You’re leaving?” Happy captured bits and pieces of information from Bai Lang’s words. His smile faded away, and he asked in a seemingly relaxed tone, “We’ve just gotten together, and you’re saying you’re leaving. Where are you going?”

“It’s Chen Fan. Soon after we graduated, he managed to marry Shanshan. Right now, his kid can already help with chores.” Qi Ci pointed a finger at a certain person who looked incredibly blissful. “This time, he came over here to rent an apartment near the University of South China for a few months, and if he doesn’t go back soon, Shanshan might run away with another man.”

“Off with it.” Chen Fan unceremoniously gave Qi Ci a hook.

While the two of them settled their grudge, Bai Lang pushed the bridge of his glasses.

“Happy, as your brothers, we’ve come over here to visit you a few times over the past one and a half years, but during the previous times, you always had your eyes shut, and you were incredibly quiet. At that time, I was saying that once you wake up, you will definitely make up for the one and a half years you lost and cause a ruckus. As expected, you managed to do it. This time, even though Class One Hall managed to win, you can’t give up! You have to continue fighting against them, and you’ll be considered to have helped us let off some steam.”

“I will.” Happy’s tone changed, and he stared at the trio. “When are you leaving?”

“We bought flight tickets for the plan two hours later.”

The trio looked at each other and smiled wanly. “We were originally thinking about coming over here yesterday, but you were fighting in Beijing yesterday, and you scared us. At that time, we thought that something would change.”

When he heard this, Happy instantly fell silent.

He understood now.

In truth, the trio had never given up on fighting against Class One Hall. However, once Class One Hall and Wild Wolves worked together, all the organizations and sects who fought against Class One Hall and helped Wind Assault Tower were destroyed, and no hope could be seen in the cities, which was why they decided to leave the University of South China and return to their original lives of staying in the cities.

“What about Tea Words and the rest?”

Happy might be prepared to create a brand new force belonging to him in the Chinese server because of Xu Xin’s suggestion, but in truth, he did not intend to drag this group of friends who went through thick and thin with him down again, because the situation in the Chinese server over here was too bad. Unless they were as strong as him and One Emperor, the risk was just too great for them if they had to develop while facing the great threat from Class One Hall. Hence, he asked this question quietly.

Chen Fan said in resignation, “Tea Words is still at Dragon’s Gate. He intends to work together with Head Hunters with his skill in lip reading. Right now, aside from you, perhaps he’s the only in Beautiful Robes Faction who can have a place to stand in the game.”

Bai Lang and Qi Ci continued remaining silent.

Those words were true.

In Dragon’s Gate, quite a number of Beautiful Robes Faction’s members had been noticed by Blood Alliance and Class One Hall once more because of them exposing themselves.

Right now, Class One Hall had already completely controlled the entire Chinese server. These people would not be safe no matter where they went, and there were only a handful who could remain while gasping for their last breaths.

“Once you go back, send word on my behalf to the others.”

Happy’s serious tone caught the trio off guard. They had stern expressions appear on their faces, and they listened quietly.

“Go on.”

Happy sucked in a deep breath. Then, with a slow but solemn tone, he said, “This time, even though Class One Hall and Wild Wolves won, I haven’t given up. Wind Assault Tower hasn’t given up. One Emperor and Wandering Know-it-all are also still on our side.”

Bai Lang frowned. “But Wind Assault Tower only has around thirty branches left. I heard that Class One Hall has already stated that they will destroy the remaining thirty or so branches from Wind Assault Tower within the next twenty-four hours so that it will turn completely into a relic of the past.”

“No matter what happens in the end, we will definitely not give up! That’s why I’m begging you to tell the others to not give up. Give me three months at the very least. If the situation at the Chinese server has not changed for the better by then, it’s not too late to give up by then.”

Qi Ci nodded. “Since you’ve said that, I promise you that once I go back, I will continue paying attention to this matter. I don’t want the Chinese server to fall into Dream Clouds and Evil Emperor’s hands just like that.”

“That’s right.”

“But you might not necessarily have a good time. Evil Emperor and Class One Hall have too many elites. It’s hard for you to turn the tables with just you and a crippled Wind Assault Tower.”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

Happy’s words finally caused the group to have hope, and they were interested in the topic. After all, there were still two hours left before they had to board their plan. Xu Yao helped them shut the door and gave them a space to talk about this in detail.

“What do you intend to do?”

“As of now, I don’t have a detailed plan just yet. The most important thing for me to do is to help Phantasmal Shadow and Wind Assault Tower break out of the encirclement and rush out of Beijing.”

“Class One Hall and the twelve sects’ headquarters are in Beijing. It’s necessary for Phantasmal Shadow to break out if she wants Wind Assault Tower to survive. But Dream Clouds will definitely have been keeping a lookout on this.”

Happy smiled and said confidently, “It’s useless even if she has been keeping a lookout. When we’re outside Beijing, not everything will go along as Dream Clouds plans.”

*****

Once he discussed things in detail with the Three Lonely Wolves, the trio left the hospital with hope and anticipation in their hearts.

Happy did not send them off.

Just as the trio had said, the Chinese server was in a perilous situation right now, and since he wasted some time in the other world, Wind Assault Tower only had around thirty branches left.

Even though saving those branches had no direct relationship with him, Wind Assault Tower had indeed entered a critical moment where they had to fight with every second they had. If he did not seize time to help them break out of Beijing, the destruction of the last branch will mean that Wind Assault Tower will be completely destroyed and only be a page in history.

That moment was something Happy did not want to see.

When he returned to the game, Happy could already sense the tense atmosphere based on the cuckoos from the dozen pigeons on his shoulder. That atmosphere was completely different from the other world.

[Happy, have you thought about it? Signed, Phantasmal Shadow]

[We don’t have much time. If you have made your decision, contact me immediately. Signed, Phantasmal Shadow]

[You’re not online yet? When you are, contact me. Signed, Phantasmal Shadow]

The tone in Phantasmal Shadow’s letters were each more urgent than the last. It could be seen that she had already decided to place all the hope of breaking out on Happy.

Happy frowned, but he did not reply immediately.

[I’m Wandering Know-it-all. Evil Emperor has been training in the plains to the east of Beijing. He might have predicted that we will definitely use the river to make a break. We’ve decided to set the location of us getting into the river somewhere in the south instead of near the port.]

[It’s still me. The situation has changed, and it’s really bad. Ji Feng, one of the sect masters of the four sects, has managed to persuade a sect master, and they’ve launched a breakout just now, but when he managed to make it out of Beijing by less than six miles, he was intercepted and killed. More than ten thousand died on the spot, and the remaining twenty thousand did forced logged offs. There are more than fifty thousand Class One Hall members who locked down the area where they logged off.]

Happy was stunned silent. When he read this, he felt that the frown on his face had deepened.

‘Seriously, these people just make me continue to be full of worry. Ji Feng might be a little smart, but he’s clearly not very useful when it comes to the whole picture. It’s no wonder why his fame has been decreasing over the past two years.’

[Happy, I’m One Emperor. Wind Assault Tower can’t last for much longer. If you have a specific plan and you need me, just say the word.]

The remaining letters came from Dream Clouds and Evil Emperor.

These two people had still not given up on trying to draw him to their side.

The former took a fancy to Happy’s strength because he was as strong as Evil Emperor. The latter took a fancy to Happy’s potential. Each wanted to bring him to Class One Hall and Evil Emperor respectively.

Happy chose to ignore Dream Clouds and Evil Emperor’s letters. He thought about this for a moment before he replied to Wandering Know-it-all and asked him to tell him about the situation in Beijing in detail.

Then, Happy wrote a letter to One Emperor. [Are you interested in killing some people outside Beijing? You know the location…]

The last was Phantasmal Shadow. [I’m here.]

She replied very quickly, [I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. The manpower we can use to break out of the encirclement has shrunken from nearly one hundred thousand to fewer than fifty thousand. Forty thousand of them were taken away by Ji Feng. The remaining ten thousand or so have already left their sects.]

It was clear that Phantasmal Shadow had been waiting for his reply, and this made Happy a little guilty and embarrassed.

But Happy quickly recovered. [There’re advantages to fewer people. At the very least, our targets of protection have become smaller. Since Dream Clouds has mobilized more than fifty thousand people to lock down Ji Feng, she has created a chance for us. There’s only one Evil Emperor, and he can’t fight on two fronts. I’ll go help Ji Feng, and you open the scene. You will need to control the other aspects of the plan on your own.]

There was only one word written with unyielding strokes in the letter that came back with the messenger pigeon.

[Thanks!]

Happy tore off the letter in his hands before he cast a glance at the empty forest.

“Are you done watching?”

Right after he finished speaking, multiple figures shot out endlessly from the forest dozens of feet away.