Apart from the pyramid before them, there was nothing else to be seen in this place. Whatever the King’s sword was, it could only be somewhere on this structure.

The three men continued their ascent.

The scorching sun blazed overhead. The solid, smooth stone blocks grew hotter the further up they climbed — and the closer they drew to the sun, the more unbearable the heat became.

After an unknowable number of steps, they stopped to rest. Looking down from their height, they spotted Pan Xiaoxin still far below, huffing and puffing his way up the stairs. The men broke into laughter.

“Not bad for a little brat! How’d he manage not to tumble all the way down?” the tall, lanky man hollered.

Pan Xiaoxin froze mid-step, looked up at them, then looked away and rested in place.

He maintained a gap of over twenty steps between himself and the three men at all times.

“Hey!” The lanky man called down again with a mocking grin. “Kid! Aren’t you in a hurry? If you don’t catch up, we’ll snatch the sword first!”

Pan Xiaoxin ignored him, quietly pulling out a water bottle from his backpack and drinking — composed and unhurried.

This made the lanky man lose face. He scooped up a small handful of pebbles and raised his arm to throw them, but was stopped by someone beside him.

“Daniel,” a solidly built dark-skinned man said. “He’s just a child.”

“I know.” The lanky man grinned. “Just having a little fun~”

With that, he flung the pebbles —

The small stones skipped and bounced down the steps, scattering sparsely around Pan Xiaoxin. A couple of them struck him on the back. He glanced up at them.

Daniel — the lanky man — grinned wide, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

Pan Xiaoxin furrowed his brow. “Childish.”

Daniel: “…”

Pan Xiaoxin fished a collapsible umbrella from his backpack, opened it, used it to shield himself, and went back to resting.

Daniel clicked his tongue. “Little brat’s got some nerve.”

He had nothing else to do. He tipped his head back and squinted at the sky — the sun was scorching his skin, and the air was oppressively dry.

“If I’d known, I would’ve brought an umbrella in,” Daniel said, crushing his empty water bottle and rummaging through his pack. He had nothing to block the sun.

“Do you have any water left?” asked another companion — a man named Miutte — “I only brought one bottle.”

The dark-skinned man dug a bottle from his own bag and passed it over. “Why didn’t you bring more?”

“Who could have known we’d end up in a game like this? And the preparation time was so rushed…” Miutte tilted the bottle back and drank, trying to cool down. “I think we should slow our pace going forward. This tower is enormous, the sun is brutal — push too hard and we’ll destroy ourselves.”

Daniel disagreed. “There’s no shade anywhere out here. Go slow and you’re just asking to get sun-dried. Let’s keep moving and rest once we reach the trees.”

Miutte frowned. “But the trees are still very far away…”

Daniel pointed down below. “That kid hasn’t complained once.”

Miutte frowned and looked at the dark-skinned man. “Bruce, what do you think?”

Bruce said evenly, “We don’t have much water. Moving too fast drains our stamina — if someone gets heatstroke, we’re done. I’d say keep a moderate pace. It’s midday right now. Once the sun starts going down, the heat should ease.”

Miutte nodded. “Right. We can pick up speed after sundown.”

Daniel shrugged halfheartedly. “Fine. Let’s do that.”

The three rested a few more minutes, gathered their things, and resumed their climb.

Pan Xiaoxin kept watch on them the whole time. The moment they moved, he packed up and followed.

It kept getting hotter.

The stone steps, built from enormous blocks, radiated heat. And the distant, hazy outline of trees seemed to grow more and more unreachable through the shimmering waves of heat.

The three men ahead were soon drenched in sweat, their water running out fast.

Daniel looked down and found Pan Xiaoxin still trailing steadily behind them. Anger flared in his chest.

“Damn it, why is that little brat still following us?”

He stopped, shed his backpack, and produced a slingshot.

“What are you doing?” Bruce frowned. “He’s just a child.”

“He may be a child, but he’s still an enemy.” Daniel took aim at Pan Xiaoxin below, a smirk pulling at his lips. “Eliminating a future threat — isn’t that smart?”

—