Starlight City, Southern Region.

  Level 38 Dawn Coast.

  As night fell, the moonlight cast a yellow glow across the deep sea's surface.

  At this moment, a group of players, levels ranging from 36 to 37, were teaming up to hunt level 38 monsters, the [Nightmare Turtles].

  Their IDs all began with the prefix [Blaze].

  Leading them was a level 37 archer, [Blaze Soul], who, after just shooting down a turtle, rallied his teammates with grand promises: "Brothers, let's work a bit harder tonight and pull an all-nighter!"

  "When our squad rises to the top, I'll make sure we live the good life! Wine and women!"

  The words were indeed enticing.

  However, what Blaze Soul was really thinking about was how to mobilize his team to quickly help him pay off the million-dollar loan he took out that afternoon at the black market to buy a tier-3 magic scroll!

  Just as Blaze Soul was lost in thought.

  A group of players suddenly rushed over from a distance.

  Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be familiar faces from the [Transcendence] and [Excellence] studios!

  Blaze Soul frowned.

  "Damn it, these losers again!"

  At this moment, level 35 warrior Excellence Little Tiger and level 35 assassin Transcendence Dream led a group of players over.

  Transcendence Dream pointed at Blaze Soul, shouting angrily, "Give me back my Yue Yue!"

  Blaze Soul deliberately pulled a level 34 priest girl, [Tea Color Yue Se], into his arms, impatiently saying to Transcendence Dream, "Are you done? Have some dignity."

  "For the last time, Yue Yue is my girlfriend now! Stop pestering her!"

  Held in Blaze Soul's arms, Ding Yue also looked displeased as she said to Transcendence Dream, "You can't give me the life I want, so you can't stop me from choosing better."

  "Li Xiang, we broke up peacefully, and I don't like you anymore. I hope you stop bothering me!"

  "No!" Transcendence Dream cried out in anguish, "This can't be true!"

  "Yue Yue, have you forgotten our vows?"

  "It's you!" Transcendence Dream pointed at Blaze Soul, furious, "You must have forced Yue Yue!"

  At this moment, Excellence Little Tiger, while comforting his good brother, pointed at Blaze Soul's nose and said, "Just wait! We've called for reinforcements, and when they arrive, I'll beat the hell out of you for stealing my brother's girlfriend!"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Blaze Soul laughed heartily, "You, a small-time squad leader who can't even support a dozen brothers, think you can call for reinforcements?"

  "Go ahead, call someone over. I want to see which big shot you can bring!"

  Excellence Little Tiger confidently replied, "Wait till my big brother arrives, and you'll be the one crying!"

  Blaze Soul sneered, "Oh, I'm so scared~"

  "Whoever cries later is a loser!"

  Just as Blaze Soul finished speaking.

  Two figures approached from afar!

  Seeing that it was Lu Ming and Qin Churan, Excellence Little Tiger quickly ran over to greet them.

  "Nether brother! It's those people!" Excellence Little Tiger pointed at the Blaze Squad players on the shore, angrily telling Lu Ming, "They're the ones who stole my brother's girlfriend!"

  Clearly traumatized by Lu Ming's earlier thrashing, Excellence Little Tiger was extremely polite to him.

  Of course, the politeness was also because he understood how strong Lu Ming was, knowing that with Lu Ming around, they could definitely stand up to the Blaze Squad.

  Having not witnessed Lu Ming's strength firsthand, only hearing from Little Tiger about how formidable Lu Ming was, Transcendence Dream looked Lu Ming up and down with suspicion, half-believing, "Are you really capable?"

  Lu Ming asked back, "Remember what you said before?"

  Transcendence Dream replied without hesitation, "If you can help me teach the Blaze people a lesson and get Ding Yue back, I'll immediately bring my brothers to join you! From now on, you'll be my big brother!"

  Beside him, Excellence Little Tiger muttered softly, "If he's the big brother, then what am I?"

  "You're my grandson!"

  Excellence Little Tiger: "..."

  Lu Ming smiled faintly, "Remember what you said."

  With that, Lu Ming walked towards the Blaze Squad players.

  Under the cover of night, Blaze Soul hadn't yet seen who was approaching, only vaguely seeing that the person was a Trickster, and his arrogance surged.

  The surrounding Blaze Squad players couldn't help but laugh.

  "Hilarious, I thought they really found some expert! Turns out they just got a Trickster to back them up?"

  "What good is a Trickster? Even if it's a level 50 Trickster, if the teammates are weak, they're still useless!"

  Blaze Soul raised his longbow, a wild smile on his face, "Let me see how he makes me cry!"

  As Lu Ming approached.

  Under the moonlight, when Blaze Soul saw Lu Ming's appearance and ID, the smile on his face froze instantly.

  He was stunned on the spot.

  Along with him, dozens of people who were with Blaze Soul that evening were also dumbfounded.

  Meanwhile, another group of Blaze players who weren't present that evening and hadn't seen Lu Ming before burst into even more arrogant laughter upon seeing him.

  "This is just a level 22 Trickster?"

  "Holy crap! Really?"

  "Are Transcendence and Excellence people crazy? Bringing a level 22 Trickster to back them up?"

  "Boss, you don't need to do it yourself, let me teach that kid a lesson!"

  Just as a level 35 warrior underling, [Blaze Hero], finished speaking and was about to draw his sword and approach Lu Ming.

  Blaze Soul suddenly kicked Blaze Hero to the ground, "Who dares touch my big brother!!"

  With that, Blaze Soul ran up to Lu Ming, his face full of excitement and enthusiasm, "Big brother, what brings you here!"

  Behind him, the Blaze Squad players were dumbfounded.

  On the other side, the Excellence and Transcendence players were also wide-eyed.

  "What's going on?"

  "Holy crap, could this Nether be in cahoots with the Blaze people?"

  For a moment, the players from both teams looked at each other.

  Feeling like they had walked into a trap.

  Lu Ming looked at Blaze Soul, calmly asking, "Was it you who stole someone's girlfriend?"

  Blaze Soul then realized that Lu Ming was the person Excellence and Transcendence had called!

  Recalling the scene from the evening where Lu Ming easily defeated over a dozen level 50 six-turn players.

  Blaze Soul couldn't help but shiver, not daring to offend Lu Ming in the slightest.

  "It's a misunderstanding, big brother! I didn't steal her! Ding Yue came to me herself!"

  To prove his sincerity, Blaze Soul immediately turned to Ding Yue and said without hesitation, "We're breaking up! Right now!"

  Ding Yue, also upset, pointed at Lu Ming and retorted to Blaze Soul, "He's just a level 22 Trickster, what are you afraid of? You're such a coward! I must have been blind to fall for you!!!"

  At this point, Blaze Soul couldn't care less about Ding Yue's feelings.

  He just wanted to hold onto Lu Ming's leg tightly.

  "Big brother, can I be your disciple?"

  "Take me under your wing! I promise that wherever you need me in the future, I'll go through fire and water for you!"

  Seeing Blaze Soul's eagerness, Lu Ming got straight to the point: "Alright, just join my ranks."

  Blaze Soul was overjoyed, "Thank you, big brother!!"

  Beside him, Ding Yue looked at Blaze Soul with disdain, "What a coward!"

  Behind them, the Blaze Squad players who didn't know what had happened earlier were also confused:

  "What does this mean? Why do we have to listen to a level 22 Trickster?"

  "Yeah, is that Trickster really that strong? I don't see anything impressive about him!"

  Meanwhile, Transcendence Dream was dumbfounded.

  "No way! Is it settled just like that?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Excellence Little Tiger chuckled, "I told you, he's super strong!"

  Transcendence Dream was unimpressed, "I think it's because they know each other! No wonder he was so confident."

  "Tch, I really thought he had real skills, turns out it's all about connections~"

  However, Blaze Soul's quick agreement left Lu Ming feeling unaccomplished.

  "There's no challenge, it's boring."

  Just as Lu Ming was thinking this.

  A commotion erupted from behind.

  Lu Ming turned to see a large group of shadows approaching menacingly from the darkness!

  Lu Ming felt a surge of excitement.

  "Time to up the difficulty?"

  Hey, y'all! If you're into this novel, do come to to give me a hand and I'll be able to update it quicker over there. Thanks a bunch!