Fairwind's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him.
Over the past two days, he had managed to kill a few hundred stone men—no easy task. But the hill that loomed ahead was covered with thousands of them, a dense army of rocky figures standing motionless beneath the sunlight.
And that wasn't even the most amazing part. Embedded among those stone men were countless treasure chests, glittering faintly beneath the dust and debris. Fairwind could tell at a glance that at least half of them were advanced chests, the kind he had never managed to open before.
He gulped. Each one of those chests could contain rare materials, items, or magical cores worth millions—maybe billions. Even without the contents, the chests themselves were enough to push him straight to Level 30 or beyond.
But before he could move, his attention was caught by the faint sound of groaning nearby.
Two students were lying on the ground at the base of the hill, their bodies bloodied and twisted in pain. A heated argument was breaking out between two groups standing not far from them.
One group was furious. "This must be the owner's treasure," one of them shouted. "Those giant ants belong to him—he's the one who saved us! Without him, we'd all be dead. How can you even think of touching his treasure chests?"
The other group was just as loud. "Saved us? He might've caused all this mess in the first place! This is an entrance exam, not a charity mission. Everyone has the right to take something from here!"
"Right! My friend Xiao Xiang died right in front of me! Why shouldn't I take a few chests to make up for it?" another yelled.
"There are thousands of treasure boxes here. He can't take all of them himself!"
The argument was growing louder by the second. Fairwind frowned, puzzled. These people had just barely survived a life-and-death battle, yet they were already arguing about loot?
Still, something didn't add up. Where was Ethan?
He scanned the area again. The summoned beasts—the sharp-edged worker bees and the giant ants—were clearly standing guard over the treasure hill. That could only mean one thing: this was Ethan's work.
Fairwind's chest tightened. If Ethan had sent his summons here, he must still be somewhere nearby—probably dealing with the lava stone man at the top of the mountain.
That would explain why he hadn't shown up yet.
The sharp-edged worker bees were crouched protectively around the treasure chests, their wings twitching with a metallic hum. Ethan had clearly ordered them to guard everything here. Fairwind remembered Ethan's strictness—anyone who dared to covet the treasure chests would get one warning, and only one. The two injured students on the ground were the result of someone ignoring that warning.
If anyone tried again, the worker bees would not show mercy.
Even so, greed had already taken hold of several students. Some people were desperate, others self-righteous, standing on what they called the "moral high ground."
Lily Winters, standing a short distance away, frowned as she studied the situation. She hadn't seen Ethan either, which made her uneasy. If these summoned beasts weren't his, that meant someone else powerful was controlling them—and hiding on purpose. What could their motive be?
As the argument escalated, Fairwind finally stepped forward. "Hey, you idiots," he shouted, pointing at the worker bees guarding the treasure. "Aren't you afraid of offending their master? You'll be crushed before you can even open one chest!"
He couldn't let anyone touch Ethan's things.
But to his surprise, the students only scoffed.
"So what? He saved us—it's his duty, maybe even part of the exam! He won't dare to kill us all. There are too many witnesses!"
"Yeah," another added, sneering. "If so many people die here, it'll be his fault, not ours!"
One student with a gold-ranked shield snorted and stepped forward. "Look at those two on the ground—they're not even dead! That proves he doesn't dare go all out."
Fairwind felt the pit in his stomach deepen.
The shield-bearing student took another step toward the treasure, muttering, "Two chests, that's all I need." He raised his shield and approached slowly, greed burning in his eyes.
Fairwind tensed, ready to intervene—but Lily Winters suddenly stepped in front of him, her long blade glinting under the sun.
"Move aside, woman!" Fairwind snapped. His patience was running out.
But Lily didn't flinch. "Even if those chests belong to Ethan," she said calmly, "do you really want to step in and reveal his identity now?"
Her words froze him.
She was right. Fairwind had been deliberately vague, never saying Ethan's name aloud. The last thing he wanted was to drag his friend into unnecessary trouble.
After all, people could twist the truth any way they liked. They could easily accuse Ethan of causing the secret realm riot in the first place. They could claim that his overwhelming power had disrupted the balance.
In a world driven by greed, truth didn't matter—only profit did.
"So what if the white is called black?" Fairwind muttered bitterly.
If it weren't Ethan's, if it were anyone else's, maybe even he would've been tempted by the sheer number of treasure chests piled up here.
Lily's voice snapped him back to reality. "There's no point in arguing," she said. "With those summoned beasts guarding the place, no one here can steal the treasure anyway. Instead of wasting time, why not help kill some of the stone men?"
Her words made sense. Fairwind suddenly realized she was right.
Ethan never did anything without confidence. If he'd left only a few worker bees to protect such a fortune, it meant he was completely sure they could handle it.
Fairwind nodded slightly. The giant ants they'd seen earlier were monstrously strong. The worker bees must be even stronger. There was no way these reckless students could defeat them.
He decided not to interfere—for now.
Lily Winters turned and walked away to hunt more stone men, her figure soon fading into the dust and smoke. Fairwind lingered behind, watching as the shield-bearing student crept closer to the treasure.
The worker bees stirred.
Shhhh~
A sound like slicing metal echoed in the air. The student froze, his shield raised instinctively.
A moment later, the worker bees attacked.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Their razor-sharp wings struck the golden shield with terrifying force, leaving deep dents across its surface. The student screamed as he was thrown backward through the air. His shield arm snapped with a sickening crack.
Still, even lying on the ground, he refused to give up. His eyes locked desperately on the glittering treasure chests ahead.
Then, gritting his teeth, he pulled a bottle of potion from his belt and swallowed it in one gulp.
Instantly, his entire body glowed with a crimson aura. His veins bulged. Skill activation—Charge!
With a wild roar, he dashed forward again, the broken shield barely protecting him as he lunged for the nearest chest.
The treasure was so close now—so close he could almost touch it.
Fairwind clenched his fists. "Don't do it…" he whispered.
The student's fingertips brushed the side of the chest.
Shhhh—
Something flashed.
A severed hand fell to the ground, still twitching.
Another slash followed—the shield was cleaved in two.
And before the student could even scream, a final blow struck his head.
Blood and brain matter splattered across the rocks, and silence fell once more over the treasure hill.
The worker bees returned to their posts as though nothing had happened, their wings humming softly in the wind.
Fairwind stood frozen, his face pale. Even from this distance, the brutality of that strike chilled him to the bone.
Lily Winters' earlier words echoed in his mind:
"With those summoned beasts guarding, no one can snatch the treasure."
She had been absolutely right.
Fairwind took a deep breath and turned away, heading toward the battlefield to help her deal with the remaining stone men. Behind him, the treasure hill remained untouched, the worker bees watching over it with mechanical patience—like executioners waiting for their next fool.
Some lessons, it seemed, could only be learned in blood.
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