In the middle of the night, Jiang Kai finally made it back to the main city of the Eighteenth District.
He had originally planned to return to the Lord God Guild, but thinking about it now — there were quite a few new recruits in the guild.
And he, looking disheveled, shirtless, covered in knife scars, and missing an arm —
That kind of image really didn't match the title of "Guild Leader."
After thinking it over, Jiang Kai decided to log off and go home first. That way, once he re-entered the game, his state would be restored.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since he last went home. He also missed Jiang Ying and wanted to ask if their big brother had come back at all.
"Little one, I'm going offline for a while. Are you going to the Lord God Guild, or somewhere else to wait for me?"
The little one jumped down from Jiang Kai's shoulder and pointed toward the direction of the Lord God Guild.
Jiang Kai nodded. "Alright, then you wait for me there."
After logging off, the guards at the login gate were a few people Jiang Kai didn't recognize.
He didn't see Su Lanlan, which was a bit of a shame — but it was the middle of the night, after all. People needed their sleep.
From the base, Jiang Kai rode a shared bicycle back to the Jingxin Lake Villa.
Last time, the military had rewarded him with two more villas, so now he owned three — all next to each other. The military had even helped him build a wall around the whole area.
"Probably Brother Lu Jun's doing." Jiang Kai returned to the first villa, pulled out his key, and unlocked the door.
Just as he stepped into the dark villa — a baseball bat came swinging straight at his head.
Jiang Kai was caught completely off guard, almost knocked unconscious.
Pa! The light flicked on.
Holding his forehead, Jiang Kai looked up in a daze — only to see Jiang Ying standing there, holding the bat, staring at him in shock.
"Yingzi, you…"
Jiang Ying hurriedly threw the bat aside and rushed over to help him up. "Brother, what happened to you? Who beat you up like this?"
Jiang Kai almost coughed up blood.
"You think I'm that easy to fool?" he said weakly. "What the hell were you doing! Don't we have security cameras? You couldn't see it was me?"
Jiang Ying lowered her head guiltily. "Brother, I was sleeping just now. I heard the alarm and came downstairs — you'd already opened the door. It was pitch black, and I thought it was a burglar, so I just…"
"I'll get you some ice! Let me get ice!"
Jiang Kai grabbed her arm. "Has someone been threatening you lately?"
"No, it's just that Brother Lu Jun told me to always stay alert…"
Hearing that, Jiang Kai finally relaxed.
Even though he'd just been whacked by her, he couldn't bring himself to blame his sister.
He and his older brother had both been away for months — leaving Yingzi alone at home made him feel guilty enough already.
"Brother, why are you coming home so late?"
Jiang Kai shook his head. "Don't even mention it. Got seriously injured on Ghost Star — lost an arm. I figured I'd log off and re-enter later, so I came back to check on you."
"Huh? Then stay home for a few days! I haven't seen you or big brother in ages."
"Big brother hasn't come back?"
"No." Yingzi shook her head, looking a little wronged. "He hasn't sent any word at all. I even asked Brother Lu Jun to help me check, but he said there's been no trace of him — like he disappeared from the world."
Jiang Kai sighed. "Could he have been caught by Xuanwu? …No, that can't be. If Xuanwu caught him, they'd definitely come to talk to me."
"Weird…"
Seeing her sad face, Jiang Kai smiled and patted her head. "Well, big brother's not here, so your second brother will keep you company for a while. This time I'll stay home for a whole month!"
"Brother, I'm going to Shangjing University in half a month. I got accepted!"
"Hiss… a real top student as always. Oh right, I actually know someone at Shangjing University. I'll go with you when the time comes." Jiang Kai suddenly remembered the Tech Guy. For his sister's sake, a visit wouldn't hurt.
"How are you getting out of the city? Can I come along?"
"There'll be a military helicopter picking us up. But they only take us there — no return trip."
Jiang Kai thought for a bit. Maybe he'd find a way back later. Worst case, he could stay in Shangjing City for a while and wait for a ride back with the military.
Either way, he was definitely sending his sister there safely.
The siblings talked deep into the night — after all, they hadn't seen each other in so long.
Yingzi's studies were going great — she'd gotten into Shangjing University through her own efforts, getting one step closer to her dream.
Meanwhile, Jiang Kai had already reached Extraordinary Rank 5.
"Brother, so you're a Heaven's Punishment Exile now? Sounds like… not such a great class."
"Ah, and you can manifest your attributes now, right? No wonder when I hit you with everything I had, you only got a bump! Your body's not human anymore!"
Jiang Kai's face darkened. "Big sister, it's not that my body's tough — it's that I'm lucky to still be alive!"
"I haven't manifested my attributes yet. I still need to ask someone how to do it."
"Uh…" Yingzi gave an awkward laugh and quickly changed the subject. "Brother, have you found a girlfriend yet? You've got so many fangirls now, you know?"
Jiang Kai shook his head. "I confessed to a girl, but she didn't respond."
"Ah!" Yingzi gasped like she'd just heard the biggest news in the world. "You actually confessed first? Who is she?"
"You don't know her. I met her on Ghost Star."
"Then what do you mean she didn't respond? She doesn't like you?"
Jiang Kai sighed. "I don't know. She probably just didn't have time to answer… But I did, uh, throw her away. Before that, while trying to protect her, I almost killed her by accident."
Yingzi stood there completely dumbfounded.
"Yingzi, do you think I still have hope?" Jiang Kai asked sincerely.
Yingzi looked at her brother's expectant eyes, not sure what to say.
"Uh… well, maybe… cough, never mind. Let's wait until big brother gets married first. As for you, honestly, I don't want to lie — I think you've got no chance in this lifetime."
"Why? I really like her! She looks a bit like Yasuko Sawaguchi — and when she doesn't talk, she's super cute!" Jiang Kai said urgently.
Yingzi shook her head. "Brother, you're also cuter when you don't talk."
As they were chatting, Yingzi suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, brother! There's an auction tomorrow night at nine — aren't you going?"
"What auction?"
Yingzi quickly grabbed her tablet and pulled up the notice from the Trading Center.
It was a nationwide auction, both online and offline, featuring class advancement materials — including many that were appearing for the first time.
Jiang Kai scrolled through the list of materials.
The nine major professions of Huaxia were all covered — even Rank 7 Fighter and Soldier materials — but there wasn't a single Heaven's Punishment item.
Looks like getting Heaven's Punishment materials was going to be extremely hard.
"Hm? There are Rank 5 materials for Drunkard and Fengshui Master?" Jiang Kai noticed.
"Nice — just what Old Hu and Ruan Yu need!"
"But it's barter-only… and I don't really have anything valuable to trade."
Just then, Jiang Kai suddenly remembered — he might've gotten something from that mining trip...
Thinking of that, he quickly checked the trading prices for Bloodstone and Sky Crystal.
To his surprise — there were no listings at all!
Then he checked the other roughly 500 ores he'd mined.
This time, there were records for a few — Dragon Gallstone, Dragon Heartstone, and others — going for about 20 million starcoins, or around 2 billion Huaxia credits.
Most, however, had no record.
"Damn it, not even a reference price?" Jiang Kai frowned.
"Wonder if anyone would trade for them…"