The forest still echoed with the distant roars of unseen monsters, the st of pine mingling with the faint salt of the sea breeze. The t trees stood like a guardians, their shadows flickering in the soft light filtering through the dense opy above. The forest was vast, eerie, and unfiving.

  The annou echoed in their minds:

  “Bonus reward granted: First Kill – Rank 3 Monster.”

  Lapupu crouched down, his muscur frame radiating calm focus as he stabbed his Kampin into the ground and picked up the golden medalliohat shimmered faintly in his hand. His expression remained unreadable, the weight of the moment lost on him.

  Musashi, still leaning against a boulder, blinked as if snapping out of a daze. His sharp eyes locked onto the golden piece.

  “Did I just hear a voice…?” he thought.

  “That must be a bonus reward for the first person to kill that monster. Guess this pce runs on some kinda ranking system.”

  Musashi mumbled softly to himself, rubbing his .

  Beside him, Billy scratched his head, pieg things together.

  “Right… that means there are bonus rewards if certain ditions are met, like being the first to kill something…”

  Musashi turoward him with sudden realization. “Hey, wait a damn minute!”

  Musashi grabbed Billy by the colr, lifting him slightly off the ground.

  “You prick! You purposely didn’t fully blind that thing, didn’t you?!” Musashi growled, a vein twitg on his forehead.

  Billy, feigning innoce, whistled nontly while still dangling in Musashi’s grip.

  “Me? Naw… no idea what you’re talkin’ about, partner…”

  Musashi’s gre intensified.

  “I swear if I didn’t have this headache, I’d—”

  Before Musashi could finish, both of them turo look at Lapupu. He stood silently beside the massive corpse of the fur-covered T-Rex-like monster, his sword pnted firmly in the ground and his shield raised slightly, ready to bloy ining threats. In his right hand, the golden medallion piece glinted faintly, one of the three o reach the stage.

  Billy, still in Musashi’s grip, squi Lapu-Lapu.

  “Wait… how’d he get one already? Ain’t we supposed to find those things?”

  Musashi dropped Billy with a huff. “Didn’t you hear that voice earlier?

  Billy dusted himself off. “Kinda? I was too busy not dyin’.”

  Putting down Billy, Musashi crossed his arms. “I thi rewarded for being the first to kill that monster. Like a bonus or something.”

  Billy’s eyes widened. “So, you’re sayin’ if we pull off some crazy sh*t, we might get medallions without even findin’ ‘em?”

  Musashi nodded. “Seems that way.”

  Billy chuckled. “Well, ain’t that somethin’. Guess we just gotta show off, huh?”

  But the weight of what they had just learned hung heavy. The annou had also mentioned a Rank 3.

  Musashi narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.

  “If that was Rank 3… what else is out there? Am I getting rusty? Damirement!”

  Suddenly, the rustling of leaves interrupted their thoughts. All three men instinctively dropped into fighting staheir ons ready. The forest grew eerily quiet for a moment, then—

  Out from the shadows emerged Gee Washington, Fu Hao, and Jeanne d’Arc.

  Fu Hao, ever the loud one, smirked. “Oh hey, it’s the other sh*ts heads!”

  Jeanne shot her a stern look. “Mind your words. Aren’t you supposed to be a queen?”

  Fu Hao rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a queen, but we’re all stu this mess together, so who gives a damn?”

  Billy, waving both arms wildly, jogged over. “Well, howdy there! Look who’s back—my favorite gang of misfits!”

  He threw an arm around Gee, Fu Hao, and Jeanne in one swift motion.

  Fu Hao shoved him off immediately. “Ugh, get off me, creep!”

  Jeanne raised an eyebrow. “What happeo your arm?” she asked, notig Billy’s modified robotic left arm.

  Gee, ever posed, gave a relieved smile. “It’s good to see everyone alive. But what happened here? Musashi, you’re injured.”

  Musashi waved him off nontly. “Nothing serious. Got caught slippin’ is all. Still funal.”

  Billy, always eager to stir the pot, pointed dramatically at Lapupu. “Yeah, but get this—our boy here already got a piece of the medallion!”

  All three newers turned sharply toward Lapupu, their eyes flickering with a mix of admiration, caution, and undeniable jealousy.

  Lapupu, notig their gazes, stepped forward and held up the golden piece.

  “I got it from killing that beast,” he said simply, his toionless but firm.

  As they gathered around, Musashi, Billy, and Lapupu expined what had happened.

  Billy, in typical fashion, exaggerated every detail. “So there I was, dodgih left and right, bullets flyin’, cws swipin’. Then this big guy shows up outta nowhere and—BOOM—sends a freakin’ tornado of death at that poor beast. It spun in the air like a damn top! Coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

  Fu Hao, impressed, grinned widely and spped Lapupu’s back with enough force to startle a normal man. “Well, damta fight each other sometime, big guy!”

  Lapupu nodded slightly. “When we are not busy.”

  Gee, thoughtful as ever, rested a hand on his . “You received a bonus reward still colludes me.”

  The group exged fused gnces.

  Gee tinued. “If being the first to kill a Rank 3 monster earned Lapupu a medallion piece, then perhaps there are other criteria for earning bonuses.”

  Billy’s eyes lit up. “So you’re sayin’ there might be other ways to score these medallions without just findin’ ‘em?”

  Gee nodded. “Exactly. Uions, achievements… anything that might hit a certain point might be rewarded.”

  Musashi, leaning against a tree, muttered, “But we will be just relying on luck for just finding bonuses and might as well be dangerous. We o be smart.”

  Jeanne nodded. “It’s risky. If it’s all based on being the ‘first’ or meetiain ditions, we ’t rely on it.”

  Gee added, “Not to mention, none of us received a bonus for killing lesser monsters. That means someoside roup might already have one.”

  Fu Hao let out a frustrated sigh. “Great. As if this pce wasn’t bad enough.”

  The realization hit them all. This forest, vast and filled with uhreats, wasn’t just a battlefield—it was a remihat they weren’t alone.

  Suddenly, a massive explosion echoed through the forest, the shockwave shaking the grouh their feet

  “What the hell was that?!” Fu Hao shouted, turning toward the source of the explosion, a great distance, a huge smoke rising above from the treetops.

  Lapupu narrowed his eyes. “It’s from the roups… it must be their doing.”

  Musashi’s griurned. “Looks like the fun’s just getting started.”

  Billy reloaded his revolver with a chuckle. “Well, sh*t. Guess we better hurry before they take all the good prizes.”

  Gee tightened his grip on his sword. “We o move carefully. This is only the beginning.”

  Jeanne whispered a quick prayer under her breath. “May God guide us through this trial.” While holding a spear ed around with some type of soft fabric.

  Fu Hao cracked her knuckles. “Let’s see what those other sh*ts are made of.” While talking out a small jade color hand axe.

  And with that, the group prepared themselves for whatever y ahead, knowing full well that the true challenges had only just begun.

  At the source of the explosion, a massive crater spanning 50 meters in radius scarred the forest ground. The o trees had been reduced to splinters, their remains sm amidst the swirling dust. Smoke still lingered in the air, rising in thin, ghostly tendrils. The acrid st of gunpowder mixed with the unmistakable odor of charred flesh, the remnants of whatever unfortunate creature had met its end here.

  The forest around the crater was eerily silent, as if every living thing had recoiled in fear from the sudderu.

  Perched high above the devastation, bang effortlessly on the branch of a massive tree, stood a woman. Her figure oised, yet anding, her sharp gaze sing the aftermath with a satisfied grin.

  In her right hand, she held a gleaming cutss, but its hilt was unlike any traditional sword—it was circur in shape. In her left hand, she flicked a few gold s, the faint smell of gunpowder residue i hinting at the source of the explosive.

  Her fiery red hair, streaked with hues e, was braided tightly down her back, resembling the embers of a fire that refused to be extinguished. A tied-off cloth covered her left eye, givihe unmistakable air of a pirate who had seen tless battles and lived to tell the tales. A loose-fitting jacket, draped over her shoulders a open, exposed her colrbone and a portion of her chest, adding to her wild, untamed allure.

  Her lips curled into a wide, mischievous grin as she surveyed her handiwork.

  “Yes… this is going to be a bonus!” she decred, her voice carrying the thrill of a queror who knew no bounds.

  This was Zheng Yi Sao—the legendary pirate who anded a fleet so vast and powerful, it nearly brought a to its knees.

  And now, in this new world, she was ready to cim yet another empire.