The Trampling Ram waited in position between the stars. Thanks to its specially designed glass walls, it did not reflect the starlight, lending itself perfectly for an ambush.
Jack stood on the bridge, arms crossed. His chest was bare, while a gray cloak fluttered behind his back. He seemed like a warlord. Next to him, Brock calmly waited, reading from the Bro Code. Golden ripples spread out of him every once in a while to scan the distance.
âThis is fun!â Gan Salin exclaimed. âJust some dirty old friends prowling the galaxy in search of guilty victims. Doesnât get much better!â
âPace yourself, my canine friend,â said Vashter. âDonât be in a rush.â He leaned against a wall with his mace in hand, emitting the air of a veteran. His eyes glistened. He was ready whenever.
âDo you want to play some Crazy Man Goes to Town?â Nauja asked, fishing a deck of cards from her pocket.
Salin shrugged. âWe could. But I want to be the Crazy Man.â
âNobody is the Crazy Man. Itâs just the name of the game.â
âHey, Iâm a man and Iâm pretty crazy.â
âTheyâre here,â Brock suddenly said. Everyone tensed up. The deck of cards in Naujaâs hand disappeared, replaced by a longbow, and Salinâs canines showed beneath his raised lips. Bomn drew his greataxe, Vashter straightened himself, and Brock took out his new Goldwood Staffâthough, probably, none of them would need to fight.
Jack simply waited, staring into the distance. His gaze was inscrutableâhis mood, deadly.
A starship entered their view. Red walls surrounded a white interior visible through large windows, and they could clearly make out a pale man bathing in a pool of blood.
âThe Blood Baron,â Salin said, licking his lips. âIâve always wanted to kill this son of a bitch.â
Their starship accelerated, matching the otherâs speed. They hadnât been discovered yet, but they were flying almost in parallelâit would be difficult to catch something moving at thousands of miles per minute otherwise.
Jack took a step through space, borrowing the Ramâs momentum to approach the other starship. He reached out a hand, then clenched it. Space collapsed around the Blood Baronâs starship. It veered off to the side and spun wildly. The pool of blood flew everywhere, revealing a dazed, naked man. The Blood Baron instantly disappeared and reappeared outside his starship, already wearing a set of crimson robes which looked macabre against his pale skin.
âWho goes there!?â he thundered. He was an early C-Grade Enforcer of the Animal Kingdom out on official business. There was nothing he feared. The only people willing to attack his starship were poor souls too naive to recognize it.
His gaze and perception scanned space. Now that he was actively looking, he quickly spotted Jack. His eyes widened. His lips trembled. He recognized this man. The Blood Baron had attended Jackâs Grand Duel on Hell, and heâd also seen a recording of Jack fighting the planetary overseer. This was a face carved deep into his memory, a dark star he hoped to never meet.
However, Jack Rust had died a year ago. How could he randomly be here?
An illusion! the Blood Baron thought quickly, but no matter how he looked, there was no sign of falsehood. His gaze reached farther, falling onto the dark starship.
A pair of ram horns decorated its frontâa recent addition designed by Bomn. The horns werenât only aesthetic; they fulfilled a practical purpose as well, which was to make the starship easily recognizable. It was much easier to spread terror and prestige like thisâit was kind of their brand.
Even before Jack appeared, the Kingdom cultivators had learned to fear the starship with horns ramsâthe Dark Ram, they called it. The Blood Baron was one of them. Facing both the Dark Ram and a man suspiciously similar to Jack Rust, he felt deep fear. The appearance of Jack Rust could be imitatedâbut the terrifying aura emitted from his body could not.
âWait!â he said. âI can offer you money!â
Jack snorted. âJust die.â
A fist crossed space, exploding on the Blood Baron and his starship both. They were destroyed. The Blood Baron, an almighty Enforcer of the Animal Kingdom, the pride of his home planet, didnât even have time to cry out, let alone defend. An instant after Jack attacked, only broken debris littered this part of space.
Jack shook his head. âAgain, no levelsâŠâ
Brock flashed by his side. âThis is a bit slowâŠ.â he agreed.
Jack did not reply. This was already the third Enforcer he killed, and he hadnât received a single level. He remained stuck at 318.
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There were two reasons why he hunted the Animal Kingdom Enforcers. One was to get revenge against the Kingdom, to clip its wings and break off its fingers one by one. The other reason was to level up. He wanted to become strong enough to storm into Animal Planet, the capital of the Animal Kingdom, and massacre anyone who got in his way. He wanted to completely uproot the Kingdom, and to do that, his current power wasnât enough. Eva Solvig would pursue him the moment he appeared publicly.
Targeting Enforcers specifically was a strategic move. The death of each of them was a loss to the Kingdom, but each death by itself wasnât enough to truly rouse their suspicions. After all, they had hundreds of Enforcers. Due to the recent uprisings all over the constellation, these Enforcers were often sent on missions, making for easy, isolated targets.
Jack knew that the disappearance of the Animal Abyss would undoubtedly form connections to his name. They wouldnât believe he was still alive just from that, but it was vital that he hid his return for as long as possible to not give them time to prepare. The longer he could hunt from the shadows, the better.
However, this was too slow. He was a middle C-Grade now, and Enforcers were all at the early tier. They just didnât qualify to give him levels. If he wanted to reliably level up, he would need to pursue Elders, who were at the middle C-Grade and above, but the problem was that Elders were important personnel. They held prestigious positions at the center of the public eye. Killing one was easy, but doing so undiscovered was another matter entirely.
Even if he succeeded, the Kingdom wouldnât just sit by once its Elders began disappearing. It would request assistance from the Hand of God. Jack didnât wish to see that happen.
But what choice did he have?
âNever play, never win,â he muttered. He turned to Brock. âI think we should start hunting Elders.â
The brorilla thought for a bit. âI agree. We must take some risks. However, letâs consider our moves properly before we make them. Secrecy is our greatest weapon.â
âMy fist is our greatest weapon,â Jack disagreed. âSecrecy is just a bonusânice to have, but not something we canât afford to lose.â
âYou speak wisely. Good. Then, letâs search for a target.â
âLetâs.â
They flew into the starship and teleported away. The Blood Baronâs disappearance would only be noticed days later, when he never arrived at his destination.
***
âWhatâs going on?â the Animal Kingdomâs Grand Elder demanded to know. âFour Enforcers have gone missing in two weeks, alongside the Animal Abyss and Ancestor Emberheart. Someone is acting against us!â
âWho would do that?â another Elder replied. They were at an Elder Council hastily convened to discuss the recent disappearances. Thirteen Elders were currently in attendanceâthe rest hadnât been able to make it in time.
âSomeone give me a list of possible culprits,â the Grand Elder commanded. đđłâŻâŻđâŻđ«đđđđđ”.đ€đ°đ¶
An elef Elder stood up. âReporting to the Grand Elder,â she said calmly. âThe two incidentsâthe Abyss and Enforcersâcould be related or unrelated. If they are related, the powers at play are greater than what we can handle, but I donât think thatâs very probable. Anyone capable of unraveling the mysteries of the Animal Abyss wouldnât bother with mere early C-Grade Enforcers. The two incidents stand at very different levels of power. UnlessâŠâ She trailed off.
The Grand Elder raised a brow. âUnless?â
âUnless that manâŠis somehow alive.â
The Grand Elder banged his fist on the table. âImpossible! Stop spreading bullshit. Ancestors Emberheart and Lonihor both confirmed the death of Jack Rust, alongside two Hand of God Envoys. Are you saying they were all mistaken? That a middle C-Grade human could somehow escape their perceptions, survive in the Animal Abyss for a year, then find a way to make a black hole disappear? Get serious! Iâm busy enough with all the uprisings and disappearances, so save me your stupidity!â
âI misspoke,â the elef hurriedly acknowledged.
âThe most probable scenario,â the Grand Elder thought aloud, calming down, âis that the two incidents are completely unrelated. I have my suspicions for the disappearance of the Animal Abyss and Ancestor Emberheart: The Hand of God was recently made aware of the Abyssâs circumstances in the process of chasing Jack Rust. The Envoy must have communicated it to her higher-ups, tempting an Elder of the Hand to secretly arrive and investigate. That person discovered the secrets of the Abyss, whatever those were, shattered it to take all the treasures inside, then killed our Ancestor to silence all witnesses.â He clenched his leonine fists. âIt is regrettable, but this is the most likely explanation. We can only blame ourselves for being too weakâŠâ
The other Elders glanced at each other, then nodded in agreement. âThat man creates trouble for us even in death!â an Elder angrily exclaimed, referring to Jack Rust.
âAt least thatâs a thorn in our side gone,â the Grand Elder replied, sighing. âThen, onto the matter of the Enforcers⊠I see three scenarios. One is that enemy constellations are moving onto us. The dissolution of the Exploding Sun left a vacuum that many major factions are eager to fill. It wouldnât be strange for one of them to make power plays in our constellationâespecially the Wide Swirls.
âThe second scenario is that rogue cultivators of the Church are retaliating against our Kingdom because Artus Emberheart is guiding the purging forces. If this is the case, thereâs nothing we can do. The Hand will catch them eventually. As for the third scenario⊠That is that the recently-appeared terrorists, the Dark Ram, are upping their game.
âWhichever scenario is true, we are facing opponents at the middle or late C-Grade level. How do you all suggest we deal with this?â
The Elders glanced at each other. This time, nobody was in a hurry to speak upânobody wanted to risk the Grand Elderâs wrath. However, the Grand Elder didnât break the silence either.
A sharken Elder finally bit the bullet. âWe can temporarily limit the missions of our Enforcers to the minimum and have them move in groups instead of individually,â he suggested. âThe uprisings can waitâitâs more important to secure our Enforcers.â
Contrary to what everyone expected, the Grand Elder did not lash out. He gave the sharken Elder a glance of appreciation. âCorrect,â he said. Those Elders who had the same idea but hadnât dared voice it could only curse their lack of confidence.
The Grand Elder continued. âThat was my idea as well. Additionally, we will equip each group of moving Enforcers with escape mechanisms and remotely backed-up recording stones. That way, even if they are attacked, weâll know who did it. Thatâs the important part. If we can find proof against another B-Grade faction, their deaths will have been worth it.â He passed his gaze around the room. âAny objections?â
No one spoke.
âVery well. This meeting is adjourned. Enforce my commands at once!â