But Autumn Leaf did not hold back. Even the newly formed ice attribute rune was still shot out, striking Desert Lone in midair.

Kill!

Desert Lone, who was just one hit away from death, had his HP completely reduced to zero. At the same time, a piece of equipment fell to the ground along with his body.

The onlooking players were stunned for a moment before they realized that this duel was not taking place in the arena—it was an in-world PK. There would be experience loss upon death, and a chance for equipment to drop.

The chance wasn’t very high, but clearly Desert Lone’s luck wasn’t great. Not only did his equipment drop, but everyone could see clearly that the dropped item was his weapon, the orange-grade knuckle: Molten Fury.

Wealth moves the heart, and in games, nothing is more tempting than equipment.

In an instant, many people had already forgotten the thrilling duel they had just witnessed, forgotten the admiration they had just felt for the two masters.

Equipment!

Orange-grade equipment!

Orange-grade equipment obtained through arena point exchange!

Immediately, some people lost all sense and rushed forward. To snatch this orange-grade knuckle, they didn’t hesitate to attack Autumn Leaf. Obviously, Autumn Leaf was the closest to the fallen Desert Lone. No one was closer to picking up the knuckle than him. But at this moment, he only had a sliver of HP left, which undoubtedly boosted the confidence of these players. Even though they had just witnessed and admired Autumn Leaf’s superb skills, with so little HP left, they were fearless.

Ranged attacks were the first to rain down on Autumn Leaf. The players with the same goal even showed a certain degree of tacit understanding for a moment. But after just one second, that tacit understanding turned into mutual wariness—everyone realized that their competitors weren’t just Autumn Leaf.

“This is outrageous!!” Suddenly, an indignant voice burst out from the crowd. A Qi Master rushed out, moving toward Autumn Leaf while channeling energy with his palms.

Qi Barrier!

As the Qi Master stopped, he activated a defensive skill. The Qi Barrier, which could block attacks, opened up, shielding Autumn Leaf inside.

“Ah!” But right after, the Qi Master player cried out in surprise. He saw Autumn Leaf suddenly dash out, charging straight into the attacks aimed to kill him.

“Hey, you…” The Qi Master called out in a panic. Once the Qi Barrier was activated, it couldn’t be moved. Did Autumn Leaf not see his help and rush out of the shield on purpose? But before he could finish his sentence, the Qi Master was already dumbfounded—Autumn Leaf, in the blink of an eye, had slipped through the attacks coming from all directions, completely unscathed, and rushed to the fallen Desert Lone’s corpse. He quickly picked up the knuckle, then turned and, in a few steps, returned to the Qi Barrier.

“Thank you.” He heard Autumn Leaf say to him, but at this moment his gaze had already shifted to the other side, where a Gunner stood, holding dual pistols, his equipment quite shabby. But the Qi Master player knew very well that just now, it was this Gunner’s attack that disrupted the other players’ attacks, allowing Autumn Leaf to dodge and pick up the knuckle.

“Another expert…” The Qi Master player glanced at Autumn Brooks a few more times. As for those players who had been eyeing the equipment, seeing that it had already been picked up, they had no intention of taking further action and quickly dispersed.

At this point, James Carter had already given Autumn Leaf a health potion. With his HP slightly restored, he was no longer afraid of any further schemes and walked over to the Qi Master.

“Thanks for earlier.” James Carter expressed his gratitude again.

“Heh, it was nothing.” The Qi Master smiled and glanced at Autumn Brooks again. He knew very well that his Qi Barrier hadn’t actually done anything. Autumn Leaf only returned to the barrier after picking up the knuckle out of courtesy.

“Do you want this knuckle?” James Carter then asked.

“Huh? Me? I don’t want it. Shouldn’t it be returned to that guy?” said the Qi Master.

“I’ll ask.” James Carter replied.

Two seconds later, the Qi Master saw a message in the world channel.

“Desert Lone, do you still want the knuckle that dropped?” —Autumn Leaf

The world was in an uproar.

Autumn Leaf and Desert Lone, the two undefeated masters of the arena! Now Autumn Leaf was calling out Desert Lone by name—what was going on? What’s with the dropped knuckle?

“No.” Amidst the discussion, Desert Lone replied concisely, but many people saw it, including James Carter.

“He doesn’t want it. You keep it and use it!” James Carter sent a trade request to the Qi Master.

“I’ll stick with my gloves!” The Qi Master still declined.

“Then give it to me!” Ethan Brooks’s Autumn Brooks had already come over. At this moment, his voice came through both in-game and in real life as he turned to James Carter and shouted.

An orange item!

As research material, it was extremely rare. Although he often dismantled Autumn Leaf’s equipment for research, Ethan Brooks had never touched the two orange items on Autumn Leaf. He had his bottom line. If he ever wanted them, it would only be after James Carter discarded them!