It seemed that all the data left by his father was completely accurate. The string of successes gradually built up Brian Carter's confidence—he had to become strong, so as not to let down his father's expectations while he was alive!

　　After putting his things away, Brian Carter immediately hurried toward the next target location. That monster was also an elite creature, but much harder to deal with than the venomous spider Aisara. Glancing at his backpack, he saw that ground spikes, flash grenades, and gravity javelins could all come in handy this time.

　　He sprinted across the Bloodshadow Plains. After reaching level ten, his movement speed was much faster than before.

　　As he was moving quickly, a voice prompt sounded again—it was Henry Clark! Henry Clark had logged into the game too! Brian Carter was delighted. He glanced at his chat tool; there were only a handful of people in his friends list, but all of them were friends he could truly trust. Henry Clark had grown up with Brian Carter since they were little kids in split pants. Later, because Brian Carter's family was deep in debt, most of their peers rarely interacted with Brian Carter, but Henry Clark was one of the few who never looked down on him. Their friendship was rock solid, and even the travel expenses for Brian Carter to come to Silver Sea had been cobbled together with Henry Clark's help.

　　Besides Henry Clark, Susan Harris was also online. Henry Clark had been chasing after Susan Harris for a while now—who knows if he’d succeeded yet.

　　"You actually bought a gaming helmet? That's rare! Looks like you're doing pretty well in Silver Sea, so I can stop worrying," Henry Clark chuckled.

　　"I just found a job, working for a game studio. The helmet was issued by the studio. The two thousand yuan I borrowed from you—I'll pay you back as soon as I get home," said Brian Carter. He had always been reluctant to borrow money from friends. Part of the two thousand yuan Henry Clark lent him had even been borrowed from others. After all, they were both still students and didn’t have much money, so Brian Carter had always kept this in mind.

　　"We're brothers—what's with all this talk about money? Pay me back after you’ve found your footing in Silver Sea," Henry Clark said carelessly. "You said you’re working for a game studio—which one?" He was quite interested in this.

　　"Windwing Studio," Brian Carter thought for five or six seconds before finally remembering which studio he was working for.

　　"Damn! Windwing? Not bad! Windwing is ranked pretty high among game studios. If you make it big, don’t forget about me."

　　"I’m just an external member, at best a cheap laborer," Brian Carter replied, secretly surprised. He hadn’t realized Windwing was so famous—even Henry Clark knew about it.

　　"So you’re an external member—that explains it. I wanted to become one of their external members too, but I didn’t have any connections. You really have to cherish this opportunity. If you can become an internal member of Windwing Studio, that would be awesome," Henry Clark said, looking a bit excited.

　　"Is Windwing really that great?" Brian Carter asked doubtfully.

　　"Of course! Windwing is one of the top three studios in Silver Sea, and definitely ranks in the top twenty in all of China! Do you know what it means to be in the top twenty? Last year, the government did a survey of the virtual gaming industry—there are over 26,000 studios in China!"

　　To be ranked in the top twenty out of more than 26,000 studios was truly impressive. But Brian Carter's goal was far more than just becoming an internal member of Windwing!

　　Brian Carter changed the subject and asked, "Where are you now?"

　　"Sonad Village in Leon Town," Henry Clark replied.

　　"The one next to Kerfield Town?"

　　"Yeah, why?" Henry Clark asked.

　　"Is Susan Harris there too?"

　　"Mm," Henry Clark nodded, looking a bit embarrassed.

　　"You guys should come find me at Tagit Village in Kerfield!" Brian Carter said excitedly. Henry Clark and Susan Harris's starting points weren’t far away, so that made things easier. He decided to help level up Henry Clark and Susan Harris as well. Dictator’s Sword was a game that valued balance—one person’s strength was ultimately limited. To gain a foothold in this world, you needed lots of companions. Friends made in the game could never be as trustworthy as Henry Clark and Susan Harris, whom he knew inside and out.

　　"Why? It’ll take at least three hours to get from Sonad to Tagit!" Henry Clark protested. In those three hours, he could level up a lot, but instead he’d be spending it on the road—it just didn’t seem worth it.

　　"Trust me, leveling up over here is way faster than in Sonad!"

　　"Really?"

　　"Have I ever lied to you?"

　　"You’ve lied to me plenty! When we were kids, you tricked me all the time. Once, you even tricked me out of my underwear and hung it on the tree in front of Su Yue’s house!" Henry Clark retorted mercilessly.

　　"That... that was when we were kids! No need to bring up old stuff!" Brian Carter blushed.

　　"Alright, I’ll bring Su Yue over with me," Henry Clark said with a laugh, picturing Brian Carter's embarrassed face. He understood that Brian Carter had no reason to lie about this. Even if Brian Carter did lie, he would still trust him unconditionally.

　　"Great, hurry over!" Brian Carter said. With his current understanding of Dictator’s Sword, helping Henry Clark and Susan Harris level up would be a piece of cake.

Chapter 8: Goblin Warrior

　　It would take just over ten minutes to reach his destination. Brian Carter sped toward the deepest part of the Bloodshadow Plains. The further he went, the denser the weeds became—some patches were even taller than a person, making visibility in the area very poor.