Where did that Small-fry brother of mine go?

"Uh…"

Dark Wolf Emperor was stunned for a moment, then glanced at the system log in the guild channel…

Sure enough, he saw the notification that he had been killed by Shadow!

"He really killed me?"

"But why didn't I respawn? Why am I still here?"

Dark Wolf Emperor looked around, then lowered his head to check his attribute panel…

Everything was normal!

What he didn't know was that in that brief moment just now, he had already been killed once by Qin Feng and sent to the Judgment Land!

Then, while he was unconscious, Qin Feng initiated a trial, obtained his memories, sent him back to the God Forsaken Game, and consumed Divinity to restore his 'player' status!

It was worth mentioning that if someone was kept in the Judgment Land for too long, their player status could not be restored even if they were sent back out.

After all, Qin Feng's restoration of player status was essentially a 'copy and paste' process.

If too much time passed, the copied data would dissipate.

"In a sense, this is also a form of resurrection."

"Especially… if I kill a target in reality and then put them back, it's even more like resurrection."

"If that's the case…"

"My resurrection ability is much stronger than White Sprout's."

"All together, it only costs twenty or thirty points of Divinity, which at most amounts to less than three hundred years of lifespan."

"She told me it takes hundreds of thousands?"

Qin Feng believed White Sprout's claims even less now.

Even if the Trial Authority was higher grade, the difference shouldn't be that massive, right?

Of course, Qin Feng's 'resurrection' ability had its limits; he could only 'resurrect' those he killed and sent to the Judgment Land himself.

If someone was killed by another person, Qin Feng's Blade of Judgment could not 'resurrect' them…

…

After Dark Wolf Emperor was released, he had absolutely no memory of entering the Judgment Land.

He just closed his eyes and opened them again, finding that he seemed completely unchanged…

If this had happened in reality, he wouldn't have noticed anything unusual at all!

Just like those four Sky Vault Guild youths who had been resurrected by White Sprout before.

Qin Feng didn't explain it to him either, but instead smiled and said, "I heard you've collected quite a lot of protection fees these past few days?"

Hearing this, Dark Wolf Emperor's expression immediately became serious. "Big Brother Shadow, these protection fees were all collected for you! A total of… 125,600 years. I didn't plan on keeping a single bit!"

"After all, from now on, our Harare Ruins area can only rely on your protection, Big Brother!"

"If it weren't for your intervention, that Legendary-grade vine thing would have been enough to wipe out everyone in Harare!"

"Thank you, Big Brother Shadow, for protecting our Harare Ruins!"

The middle-aged man was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Originally, he had intended to give some of the protection fees to Qin Feng and keep some for himself… In fact, if Qin Feng hadn't asked, he likely would have kept it all.

But, remembering how he had just been killed by Qin Feng once.

He hadn't felt a thing, and hadn't even respawned in his Hideout.

The situation was far too eerie!

This led Dark Wolf Emperor to believe he was being 'warned,' making him even more determined to fully obey Qin Feng!

As for Qin Feng, he didn't overthink it.

He could only say that Dark Wolf Emperor was good at flattery.

Even if he was slightly twisting the facts.

After all, that Legendary BOSS had only appeared because of Qin Feng…

"Alright, then continue collecting protection fees in the future."

Qin Feng nodded. "As we agreed beforehand, you can choose either three pieces of diamond equipment or one Epic-grade piece."

Either three diamond items.

Or one Epic-grade item.

Generally speaking, Epic-grade equipment would provide much more combat power.

But Dark Wolf Emperor didn't even think about it. "Thank you, Big Brother Shadow. I'll just take the diamond equipment."

"Why?"

Qin Feng asked.

Dark Wolf Emperor smiled and scratched his head. "There's only one Epic-grade item, and it wouldn't be right for me to hog it all. With three diamonds, I can distribute them among my brothers."

From this guy's memories, Qin Feng could see it too.

This middle-aged man was very loyal.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have so many loyal subordinates following him.

Even within the Wolf Pack Guild, there were many black-skinned local players. Any of these local players who had high combat power and fought bravely were given important roles by Dark Wolf Emperor.

"Alright, what class equipment do you want?"

Qin Feng discussed it with him briefly, then took out three Diamond-Level items and tossed them to him.

One was a Diamond-Level leather armor for Dark Wolf Emperor himself.

The other two were for his subordinates: a Diamond-Level longbow and a Diamond-Level magic book, which were weapons for the Archer and Mage classes respectively. They would be a huge boost for his men.

Following that.

Dark Wolf Emperor invited Qin Feng back to the Wolf Pack Hideout, which was that palace area.

He traded all of the stored 125,600 years of lifespan to Qin Feng.

During the trade, it was clear that the guy felt a bit of a sting.

But Qin Feng had seen his memories and knew that he had indeed handed over all the 'protection fees' collected over the past few days. He was being quite honest.

"I'm leaving. You have me on your friend list. If anything urgent comes up, you can notify me… but don't call me for every little thing."

Qin Feng glanced at him. "If it's a conflict with local players, handle it yourself. By the way, don't push people too hard, or the costs will outweigh the benefits."

Dark Wolf Emperor and his subordinates, such as the bespectacled youth, stood respectfully before Qin Feng.

Listening to Qin Feng's words, Dark Wolf Emperor fell into deep thought…

…

Qin Feng returned to the Evil Spirit Academy.

Opening his attribute interface and seeing a total of 433,000 years of tradable lifespan, Qin Feng let out a sigh of relief.

Most of this lifespan came from the protection fees Dark Wolf Emperor helped 'collect' on his behalf.

A small portion came from his own mob-grinding earnings, this week's revenue from Los Angeles, and the 'service fees' recently collected by NPCs from the Sky Vault Guild, official guilds, and others.

Things like buying 'Thieving Saint Talismans,' learning and upgrading 'Thieving Hand of the Saint,' adding 'Sound Attunement' to skills, and so on—these earnings were steady and long-term!

"The harvest has been bountiful lately."

"With this much lifespan, I can consider filling up my souls."

"Also… it's about time to pull in the net over in Sakura Country."

Qin Feng's Flesh Mountain Puppet had been in Sakura Country for four days now.

From the moment his puppet boarded the ship, Sakura Country's nightmare had begun!

By the time that cargo ship reached a certain port in Sakura Country, all the crew members on board had become part of the Flesh Mountain Puppet!

Furthermore, the Flesh Mountain Puppet was in a state of infinite invisibility…

It left the cargo ship as soon as it docked, leaving behind only an empty vessel and some bloodstains on the cabin deck, plunging the Sakura Country reception team into a state of terror.

What on earth had happened to this cargo ship?

Even more terrifyingly, incidents of people vanishing without cause soon became more and more frequent within East Capital!

By the fourth day, the matter had alarmed the highest levels of the Sakura Country official government.

In just a few days, over a thousand people had mysteriously disappeared within the East Capital area!

Therefore…

The Sakura Country officials assembled an investigation team composed of top-tier experts and sent them to East Capital to investigate the matter!

One member of the investigation team was Matsushita Xingyue, a Soul Reaper with the ability to see through souls.

She was a red-haired girl in a short skirt—the hair was obviously dyed—holding a lollipop as she followed the investigation team, her gaze calm and indifferent.

"I wonder where that Small-fry brother of mine went. I haven't seen him for so many days."

"He couldn't be dead, could he?"