The thieves froze at his sight, not knowing how to respond. It wasn’t a common situation for the thieves to meet another robber who wants to steal from them so they took a while to process it. 

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Red Nightmare questioned as his lips curled into a smile. “Is this guy really trying to rob us?” 

They all momentarily burst out laughing while the Red Nightmare jumped off the cart. He walked up to the front while his subordinates followed closely behind and he cracked his fingers. “It just so happens that the caravan’s guards were not willing to fight, so it’s nice that someone else came to entertain us instead.”

“You think I’m joking?” Liu Ye asked with a stern gaze. “I will count to three! If I don’t see your money, I will kill all of you!” 

His threatening words caused another wave of laughter and the Red Nightmare raised his palm, “Don’t worry boys, I got this. You just sit tight and enjoy the show.” 

The thieves immediately celebrated as if they had never seen their leader fight but Liu Ye wasn’t bothered in the slightest. He couldn’t ask for a better surprise knowing the thieves stopped right on top of his trap. It would be quite a struggle to catch them all while if they were moving but now it was a walk in the park in comparison. 

Liu Ye began to slowly unfreeze the water under the surface before glaring at the bald red-skin. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you! One!” 

“Look at this clown! He thinks he can look down on us just because we are thieves,” Red Nightmare called out confidently. “Even if you beg now I won’t spare your life.” 

“Two!” Liu Ye continued while his mind began to grow tense. He was pushing himself to his limits while trying to control the water and finally separated it right underneath each thief. 

The Red Nightmare only snickered at his counting and suddenly stomped on the ground to unleash his abilities. He frowned the very next second and looked down just as the hidden water began to resurface. 

“Watch out! It’s a trap!” The Red Nightmare announced while jumping away before the water froze on his legs but his subordinates were not as fast. 

Their whole calves froze within seconds and locked them to the ground. Liu Ye didn’t hesitate to spawn a curtain of water and start blasting them with Ice Bullets. The damage he caused didn’t even matter and Queen Luna came in the right time for the clean-up. 

Swoosh! 

She jumped from the tree like a silent assassin and shot twenty Ice Spears at the ten closest targets. The Red Nightmare wasn’t even able to react when the blood stained the dusty road. 

-1500

-850 

-1500

-850

Each target was pierced with two spears and died on the spot even though they tried to block it with their arms. Liu Ye couldn’t help but glance at his new notifications only to raise his eyes at the confirmation he wanted. 

[Ding! You killed the Red Desert Thief. You received 8500 Experience, 15 gold, and a bag of gold.]

[Ding! You killed the Red Desert Thief. You received 8500 Experience, 15 gold, and a bag of gold.]

100% experience! It could only mean Liu Ye was dealing with the NPC this whole time. He glanced at Queen Luna landing gracefully and all resentment he felt suddenly vanished. He couldn’t be mad at the character in the game flirting with him as that was just the game design.

Too bad, he couldn’t think too much about it as the battle had only just begun. The Red Nightmare was quick to counterattack as flames burst out from his fists at Queen Luna’s position. She was able to dodge the stream with ease but the lizard pulling the cart panicked. It sprinted forward, pulling all the cargo with it. 

“Damn, bitch!” The Red Nightmare cursed while dashing after the cart but multiple streams of air blocked his path. She launched herself up in the air and blocked his way with two Ice Gauntlets on her fist.

“Chase the goods! I can handle them!” Queen Luna cried out but Liu Ye was already moving after it. With ten opponents dead in an instant, he trusted Queen Luna could stall them until he was back. 

The lizard was quite fast and Liu Ye could barely keep up with it even though he was running at full speed which caused him to improvise. He created an Ice Spear and aimed at the metal wheels to stop them. Too bad, they either cracked or bounced off, forcing him to be more radical and hit the lizard itself. 

Reee!

After a third hit, it finally screeched and stumbled on its own feet before sliding on the dusty road. Liu Ye quickly caught up and snapped the ropes tied to the lizard’s back. It stood up and simply ran away free, but Liu Ye was more interested in the goods rather than killing it. 

It was filled with various crates containing herbs and crafting materials while Elemental Weapons filled the gaps between them. Liu Ye opened a few of them and was disappointed to see most of them were either uncommon or rare in quality. He began storing all rare items in his inventory to maximize his profit while listening to the sounds of the battle. 

The earth shook badly despite being far from the battle site so Liu Ye hurried up. He opened all his bags of gold to free some slots and received a total of 325 gold. His inventory quickly filled to the brim with items he didn’t even fully inspect when he spotted a tightly sealed chest at the bottom. Even though Liu Ye was full, he quickly cracked it open only to raise his eyebrows at his discovery.

The chest carried ten thin metal scraps. They had the exact same length and shape while they shone in the sunlight. 

“Knives?” Liu Ye guessed in wonder but discarded that idea after a brief look. There was no handle on them and when he tried to inspect them, nothing came out as if they were just normal pieces of metal. Many would think they are useless but after playing many games, Liu Ye didn’t hesitate to free 10 slots in his inventory to store all metal pieces. If something was kept in such a nice chest, it was bound to be special. He just didn’t know it yet.

Liu Ye glanced at his notifications as he was jumping out of the cart and sighed, realizing he didn’t claim any Experience for the rest of the thieves. Queen Luna was bound to kill some of them but he left their aggression zone which canceled his battle status. 

Bang!

Just as he started running back, Liu Ye heard an explosion with flames bursting out into the sky. He almost collapsed on the ground when the earth shook and he sprinted back towards the battle site. 

Liu Ye wasn’t worried about Queen Luna as she had a 65 level advantage but if the fight was still ongoing, Liu Ye couldn’t miss the free experience.. Being shameless was the fastest method to grind another level.