It was a tiny stop in the desert.

1400 years ago, wandering Turkish people discovered an oasis here.

They gave thanks to the gods for their protection, drank water to their heart’s content, and soon left.

300 years later, a caravan from the Yan Kingdom passed this place.

The caravan carried jewelry, jade, cotton and silk brocade, accompanied by a diplomatic envoy.

The value of this person was worth more than the sum of the caravan’s goods, because he shouldered the important mission of traveling to the Western Regions, communicating and building alliances.

The merchants rested at this stop, and took off the next day.

But they never made it out of the Northern Desert and no one knew their whereabouts.

740 years ago, the Banyu nomads set up a camp here.

The patriarch told her people: 「Because of this water source, the Banyu people shall never have to wander again.」

100 years later, the Huns came from the north. They swept the Banyu village, killed all the old and middle-aged men, took all the women and young children, and went to the remote Western Regions.

…The oasis was left behind by the Huns, forgotten once more by the world.

Years passed by like flowing water, and the world changed rapidly.[\s]

Civilizations rose and fell; humans came and went, but they all sunk into the endless sands of the long river of history.

Looking up, the great sun was burning high above, its bright rays illuminating the earth. Looking around in the steaming heat, layers of sand dunes were like waves rippling endlessly.

The inhabitant of the oasis sighed beneath the shadows of the ancient wall.[\s]

He had seen the scene of this dull and sunbathed desert for three months now.

The man sighed again.

The desert’s heat and desolation were agitating him.

Looking around, everything in his vision remained the same;

the sun, the sky, the yellow sand… were all immobile and motionless.

Even the air was stiff, there was not a breeze around him.

In the distance, his companion responded by simply shaking his head, signaling nothing out of the ordinary was spotted.

The other man knew very well that the man was just starting a conversation to alleviate his boredom.

But in this desert, hot as an oven, talking was a luxury.

Opening his mouth would be a waste of saliva.

It wouldn't be worth the effort for the 「Golden Sand Gang」.

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NB:

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『*』represent swear words. To avoid adverse effects, they are represented here with these asterisks. The contents are left to your imagination. Or please ignore it.

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Characters in the story may utter curse words due to factors such as their origins, environment, and education. However, in order to respect the characters' personalities, some of these words are hidden in the novel. We hope that you understand.

He touched the closed door and licked his lips sadly. He was still a newcomer. It had only been a few months since he joined the 「Golden Sand Gang」, he had yet to learn all the rules. If he did, he would’ve known the value of water, would’ve spoken less, and would have stood still by the shadow of the ancient wall until the Boss comes back.

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NB:

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『*』represent swear words. To avoid adverse effects, they are represented here with these asterisks. The contents are left to your imagination. Or please ignore it.

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The man swore out of frustration.

His voice was so low, his companion couldn’t make out what he said.

…He knew very well that the Boss didn’t take him lightly just because he was new.

Normally, gang members take turns looking after their base, it just so happened that today was his turn.

Even though the Golden Sand Gang would still reward him all the same, despite him staying back to protect the base.

But- he was a fighter, a real killer.

Robbing, looting, kidnapping, murdering… These were what he signed up to do.

The clashes of blades and the slicing of flesh… Those were the real rewards he sought.

[em bold color=#ff0000]Battling[/em] and [em bold color=#ff0000]Killing[/em]; these were the things that the man valued.[\s]

No doubt about it, this man was the evil amongst the evil.[\s]

Not only did he bear no shame in this, he prided himself with this as proof of who he really was.

As a result, being left out of such a 「Big Fish」 made the man feel extremely

humiliated and angry.[\s]

It was this anger that frustrated him and made him talkative.

The frustrated man picked up his water pouch and drank without stopping. The man blinked. In front of him, a girl was walking towards them.

The man wasn’t hallucinating, this isn’t one of those "mirages" that appear in the desert.[\s]

The girl… she was walking slowly towards them from the other end of the desert.

His whisper quickly dissipated in the heat.

Without realizing, he had already made several big mistakes.

First: He lost his composure.

Second: He moved by himself.

If this was the Big Boss, he wouldn’t have made such a big deal out of this.

But, the 「Golden Sand Gang」 are the feared leaders of the Northern Desert.

They had never met a girl that walked up to them like this.

「Who is this girl?」「Is she crazy? This place belongs to the 「Golden Sand Gang」!」「Who dares look for trouble here? And crosses the path of the 「Golden Sand Gang」 path?」 …Questions after questions flashed across his mind like lightning.