Meanwhile, back in the Bastard Bandits' cave, an anxious bandit slowly entered Blazelle's room.
"Tell me you have good news," she said, threatening him. "Have we destroyed their Golden Road?"
"...gulp…"
Finally, the bandit was able to gather up some courage.
"...no, miss."
"What was that?"
"...no…we were not able to do that."
Blazelle got up from her throne made out of igneous rocks, still glowing with magma.
"We sent out half of our remaining forces. What do you mean they failed?!"
The bandit had no answer for that. Even he didn't know the full details. The only thing he knew was that the bandits who went on a mission never returned, just like all the bandits who attacked Reborn. They just mysteriously disappear.
"How are they doing this?! The weakest bandits on our roster are 4-star fighters! How are they winning against us?!"
Blazelle's hair was disheveled and her Flarecorp uniform was in complete disarray. She seemed to have aged at least ten years after all the stress from dealing with the Reborn company. She couldn't seem to win at least once against them.
"What about the tunnels? Why are they not utilizing it to its full extent? With those tunnels, you can get inside their base without problem!"
The bandit bit his nails. "That's the thing, boss…the Fairies…they're no longer helping us."
"WHAT?!"
The Fairies constructed those underground tunnels in the first place. They had been creating these 'portal' tunnels that helped the Bastard Bandits go anywhere they wanted in the forest.
But ever since the Reborn company arrived, the bandits could no longer access these portals.
"Damn it!" Blazelle cursed. Her anger was flaring up into real fire, with her Diva almost manifesting behind her.
She had to calm herself down. "Relax," she told herself. "At least now, I don't have to rely on these second-rate bandits."
Footsteps rang out inside the cave as an entire battalion of soldiers, all wearing orange armor came trotting inside Blazelle's room.
These were her personal escorts, warriors that had been trained by Flarecorp to protect and serve all of her needs.
These were top-notch soldiers, unlike the bandits. Their cultivation was at least in the 5-star realm.
"We apologize for the delay," the battalion commander said, kneeling to Blazelle. "We had some difficulties navigating this terrain, but we are now here ready to serve you."
The soldiers all stomped their feet on the ground at the exact same time, intimidating Wano and the rest of the bandits.
"I need some of you to go out into the forest and search for the Fairies. I want to know the reason why they aren't helping us!"
The battalion commander bowed, before pointing at ten men and commanding them to move out.
"You, you, you…go. Make Flarecorp proud."
…
…
…
After seeing what the girls were up to, Michael and the boyz were even more motivated to win.
Michael didn't want to become the plaything of the girls. Zion didn't want to lose against Sheina. Jaku didn't want to get forced to work for a whole week. Fudge didn't really care if they won or lost, but was loyal to Michael so he also wanted to win. Grieve was just going along for the ride.
"Let's hunt some more bandits!" Michael cheered out.
But just before they moved, Michael saw the appearance of a Shadow Orc, who kneeled to him as he reported the latest news.
"Boss, Michael. I have come to inform you that Blazelle has sent some of her personal forces to infiltrate the Fairies' hideout."
The Shadows of Reborn had many spies hidden on the outskirts of the Bastard Bandits' base. And because of the animosity between the Bandits and the newly arrived Flarecorp battalion, there was a lot of gossip and conversations regarding their mission.
It wasn't long before they found out what this ten-man group was tasked to do.
"I'm not worried about the Fairies," he said.
After all, nobody had ever found the Fairies' hideout except for him. Not only that, but the Fairies in that village had all immigrated to the Nation of Reborn, meaning that they would no longer find anyone left inside the village.
Except for one.
Virian, Vivi's mother, and who Michael guessed to be the Pixie Queen.
The Pixie Queen was supposed to be the strongest out of all Fairies, and equivalent in power to that of the Ocean King and the Draconic Queen.
But even so, Michael didn't want to leave her alone to fend for herself. It was because of him that there were no more Fairies left in their village to help.
"I'll check in with her, see if she needs any help," he said to the Orc.
"Awww! But what about us?" Zion said, kicking the stone on the ground, disappointed.
"You guys have to continue your hunt for bandits," he said to them. "We can't lose to the girls under any circumstance."
He shuddered at the thought of his mother getting a one-week pass to make him fulfill all her wishes. And at this point, it wasn't just his mother he was worried about, but all of them.
"I'll deal with the ten-man group for Virian and I'll catch up with you guys later."
He had his shadow clones attached to them anyway, so he could arrive next to them in an instant if he needed to.
"Alright, take care boss! We'll get back the lead for you!" Zion said, punching the air.
"Master! I'll collect more bandits, don't you worry!" Fudge said, though Michael wondered if he was doing it for the team or for himself.
"I'll try not to fall asleep, boss!" said Jaku.
"Hohoho…I won't not try to remember what I don't remember—I think…hohoho!" Grieve laughed, with his jaws cackling through the forest.
Michael had to trust that they would beat the girls all by themselves. But of course, he was still worried, so he wanted to deal with this problem quickly.
ChatJK4, activate the pocket dimension key, please!
[Certainly, Michael.]
A magic circle appeared around his wrist, and with a simple twist of a hand, a satisfying click resounded throughout the forest before Michael found himself transported into the land of the Fairies.
Just like before, the entire skyline was dark, and the only source of light was the illuminating trees and tentacle-vines in the ground.
ChatJK4 helped him navigate his way back to the Fairy village easily. In the middle of a clearing, he saw a land filled with giant mushrooms made to look like houses.
Beside this village, he saw the Mushroom King laying down with a sad look on its face. It looked like an abandoned dog whose owner had gone off to college.
And once it saw Michael's face, it suddenly jumped up and ran towards him with a big smile on its face.
"Woah, big guy!"
The Mushroom King hugged him tightly, giggling to itself.
"You had a change of heart, huh?"
As he recalled, the Mushroom King wasn't entirely welcoming of his presence. But it seemed that loneliness had softened its heart.
"Hey, is Virian here?" he asked.
The Mushroom King nodded, before using its mushroom cap arms to point at the lowest house in the middle of the village. The door was still closed, meaning that she was still busy engaged in her books.