"By the way, about how many people are there in your human camp, and what level is the strongest among them?" As they talked, Han Ming learned a great deal about this world from them. He was also eager to find out what had become of it.

"As for the population, there are tens of thousands, more or less. The strongest is supposedly the leader of the Peerless Battle Group. I heard he reached Level 20 not long ago!" Xue Yun answered Han Ming’s questions without holding anything back. Having a Level 20 expert in a small human camp like this was already quite impressive.

Still, Xue Yun and the other two were low-level, and they’d never traveled very far. Much of what they knew was only hearsay, so some of it was bound to be inaccurate.

In the game world, Level 20 was like having just left the starting village. The fact that someone at that level was considered the strongest here showed just how slowly this world was progressing. People who’d returned with their original levels, like him, were probably rare.

As Han Ming cleared away the weak monsters blocking their path, he chatted with the others. No matter how ferocious the creature, he could kill it with a casual wave of his hand without even giving it a proper look. He didn’t care for any of the monsters’ drops, either, aside from a few world coins. The three following behind him, on the other hand, were picking up loot until their bags were full. Just a few hours’ haul was worth a whole month of exploring!

"Then what level is the strongest person in the entire human world?" Han Ming continued, wanting to know the limits of humanity’s combat strength.

Xue Yun shook his head. "How could people like us know about those big shots? But I’d guess they’re at least Level 40 or 50. There was a rumor that a hero squad sent by the government killed a Level 50 super boss. They’d have to be around that level, wouldn’t they?"

Still too low. At the later stages of the game, Level 40 or 50 wouldn’t even count as cannon fodder. Here, though, that was the peak of human strength. No wonder monsters had taken so many cities, forcing people into an ever-shrinking territory where large areas were impossible to explore.

Just then, a large number of skeleton soldiers gathered around them, surrounding all four. Farther ahead stood a humanoid creature in a tattered cloak, holding a staff set with a red gem. It watched Han Ming and the others. It was a Level 15 boss: the Evil Spirit Lich!

"Brother Han Ming, that looks like an Evil Spirit Lich. It’s one of the trickiest monsters in this ruined city!" Many teams had tried to take the lich down, but it always managed to escape—and not before costing them plenty of people.

"An Evil Spirit Lich, huh?" It was a magic-type boss, skilled in dark magic and summoning the undead. It usually acted alone, but as soon as it entered combat, it would summon Level 10 Evil Spirit Skeletons one after another. Who’d have thought it would dare ambush him?

Too bad for it, its opponent was Han Ming. He slowly raised his pistol and aimed at the Evil Spirit Lich. He didn’t use a single skill. The bullet left the barrel and hit its target, killing the boss in one shot!

Then he glanced back at the others. "Go collect the loot. It probably didn’t drop anything I want."

Killing such a powerful monster despite the level gap gave the others a huge amount of experience, enough to level them up. But the game had a level-up limit: no matter how much experience a monster was worth, a single kill could only raise you by one level. Otherwise, a max-level player could quickly carry a Level 0 newbie all the way to Level 70 or 80, shortening the game’s lifespan.

"A blue drop!" Mo Li cried excitedly. The Evil Spirit Lich had actually dropped the weapon it was holding: a Level 15 blue-quality Evil Spirit Staff. Its special effect was to summon two Evil Spirit Skeletons to fight alongside its wielder!

Just as Mo Li picked up the staff, a spiky-haired man appeared from who knew where. "Hold on. You folks look pretty lucky. Our vice leader is about to reach Level 15, and he’s been looking for a weapon that suits him. Would you be willing to part with that staff and trade it to us?"

The three instinctively glanced at Han Ming. He gave the staff a casual look. "It’s yours. You decide what to do with it."

"So, how much are you offering?" You had to be Level 15 to use the thing, which made it awkward to hold on to for now. If they could trade it for world coins, they could buy themselves a full set of Level 10 gear once they reached that level. So Xue Yun was considering selling it.

"This staff looks pretty ordinary, but I suppose the quality’s acceptable. How about we buy it for five thousand world coins?" The spiky-haired man acted as if he were doing them a huge favor, as though offering five thousand meant he was taking a serious loss.

His attitude instantly infuriated them. Five thousand? That was almost the price of a Level 15 green-quality weapon! Not a single battle group in the camp had a full set of blue gear yet, which made equipment of this quality even more expensive. The going price started at ten thousand world coins, and this guy wanted to buy it for half that. He clearly had no intention of making a fair offer.

Mo Li put the weapon back in her inventory and coldly rejected him. "Five thousand? Do you think we’re beggars? We’re not selling!"

"I’m telling you, don’t get too greedy. I’m offering you a fair price right now. Once our leader gets here, he might not be so easy to deal with." As he spoke, the spiky-haired man deliberately showed off the emblem on his clothes: a skull with a dagger clenched in its teeth.

The moment Mo Li saw the emblem, her face went pale. "The Blade Skull Group! You’re with the Blade Skull Group!"

The Blade Skull Group was made up of humans with no sense of decency. They threw their weight around this area, and forced trades were the least of it. If anyone angered them, they’d take the first chance they got to kill them. They had a terrible reputation around here.

The spiky-haired man looked pleased by Mo Li’s reaction. "That’s right. If you’ve heard of the Blade Skull Group, then you know our leader is a powerhouse above Level 18. Be sensible and sell me the staff. If our captain comes over in person, you’ll get a very different offer."

"Is their offer unreasonable?" Han Ming had only recently returned to this world and had no idea what this kind of equipment was worth, so he asked Xue Yun beside him.

Xue Yun glared angrily at the spiky-haired man. "A Level 15 green-quality weapon can sell for two or three thousand world coins. Blue quality is a whole tier higher, so it’s worth at least ten thousand. These guys bully low-level adventurers all the time, just because they’ve got a big boss backing them up!"

Han Ming nodded. Things like this sometimes happened in the game world of Infinite Fantasy, too. But it was only a virtual world. At worst, you could walk away—and the other person had no way of knowing who you were in real life.

But things were different now. Even if the world had been turned into a game, everyone still had only one life. If you were killed, you were really dead. And since the guards couldn’t leave the camp under normal circumstances, these extremists had grown more and more brazen.

"You’ve got five seconds to get out of my sight. Otherwise, don’t blame me for what happens." Han Ming raised his pistol and fired casually. The bullet grazed the spiky-haired man’s face. If it had hit him by accident, it would’ve killed him instantly. Players had far less health than monsters.

Han Ming’s shot spooked the spiky-haired man. He hadn’t expected there to be an expert in this little group. Still, he wasn’t too worried. No matter how strong Han Ming was, he was just one person. It wasn’t as if he could wipe out the entire battle group by himself.

"You punk. We’ll remember this. Don’t let me catch you again!" After tossing out a threat, the spiky-haired man quickly fled.