Rita looked up towards Maple Cang, who was standing outside the protective barrier at the top of the tower. Maple Cang's gaze shifted back and forth between Rita and another wind hawk nearby, as if she couldn't look at them enough. Her expression remained calm and controlled, but after living with Maple Burn for so many years, Rita could easily recognize the overwhelming joy in Maple Cang's eyes.

Rita followed Maple Cang's gaze toward the wind hawk behind her. The orange-red light behind the wind hawk had already solidified into the bones of a right-wing. The bones, curved almost level with the wind hawk's head, formed four branches from large to small, resembling the shape of "7" from the shoulder armor. The tips of these wing bones reached down to the hawk's knees, with the glow growing less intense towards the lower half.

At that moment, the left wing bone also began to form, perfectly mirroring the right. Feathers made of orange-red light began to sprout from the bones, but unlike the feathers of other hawks, these floated loosely in the wind. The glowing feathers swayed gently in the breeze, moving in the same direction like flowing fire.

Rita could immediately tell that these wings did not belong to Maple Burn, but rather Maple Mu. That orange-red glowing wing on the wind hawk's back belonged to Maple Mu! Not a remnant consciousness of the Maple Mu spirit, but Maple Mu herself—was she a tower climber all along?

But every player had disguised themselves with the [Fake ID] skill before entering the tower, and no one could reveal their true identities—not even Rita's pocket watch could detect them. Three hundred years had passed, and she had long since forgotten the details of everyone's disguise. The only clue she could piece together was the wind hawk's distinctive skis.

Rita closed her eyes, a complex mix of emotions flooding her mind.

"I accept, I accept!"

She already had [Violent Moonlight], [Absolute Clarity], [Soul Resistance], [Moment of Reversal], and [You Wait, I'll Be Right Back]. She had so many ways to protect herself and manipulate the system, plus skills from her [Soul Catcher] that could alter the flow of the game. There was no way she would let go of the orange-red wings, and she wasn't about to lose.

The sensation of the wing bones slowly growing from her back was incredibly clear—she didn't need to learn how to use them. The three hundred years she spent as an owl had made her as familiar with the wings as with her own limbs. Her mind also quickly ran through the five skills of the [Cotton Candy] Divine Gift.

One skill stood out—one she wasn't too excited about.

[I Say Cotton Candy Has Not Expired Until It's Expired]: Revives a living being that has been dead for no more than one natural day. The casting time is 5 minutes, and the cooldown is 10 natural days (this cooldown cannot be shortened by any means; the cooldown begins only after successfully reviving a being).

This skill was entirely beneficial to her, but it wasn't one she would use often. It couldn't be used on herself, and most of the time she worked alone. The only person she might need it for would be Nivalis, but Nivalis always returned to Dragon Island as a dragon egg after death. Rita's 5-minute revival skill would be useless in that scenario.

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She considered turning it into a skill crystal and storing it with Nivalis for emergencies, but she wasn't sure if Nivalis's resurrection ability would be fast enough for the skill to be effective. Regardless, this revival skill was still the most valuable of the five, and Rita was content.

When the ritual concluded, Rita opened her eyes and saw that the six wind hawks had all accepted the light wings of the owl spirits. No one could refuse the power of the owl wings and the Divine Gift skill. The six of them each had an orange-red, black, green, blue, or white feather. The three major families—Peach, Maple, and Pine—had their wings gathered together, with the wind hawk on skis now bearing the green wings.

The luminous wings stretched across the backs of the six animals, swaying in the wind. Each wing was almost as long as the wind hawk's body, and once their true forms were restored, the wings would be even larger. When fully extended, their wingspan might reach nearly four meters. The wings, made of glowing feathers, looked out of place on the hawks' backs. It was as if a pet had sneaked into its owner's dinner attire—like a mongoose had accidentally stumbled into a miracle dress-up game.

After the ritual, Rita didn't notice anything unusual, either in her panel or her bodily senses.

The six wind hawks exchanged glances. All of them realized that the Moon Sand in the clock had emptied. The mission was over—could they clock out early?

But they couldn't use their skills within the protective barrier. Just as the "Hawk King" stepped forward to say something, all six hawks moved. They spread their wings and rushed out of the High Tower's barrier, scattering in all directions!

If they didn't escape now, when would they?

"Capture them alive!"

Owl spirits swarmed toward them, unleashing high-level skills. Even Maple Cang joined in, but most of the skills were focused on control. The last time the blood elves entered the tower, the Hawk King hadn't given such an order. This time, they were clearly after the Moon Sand. When the hawks accepted the wings, the Hawk King kept glancing at the [Fate Out of Sync].

Some players used their skills, while others shattered their teleportation stones. However, the Hawk King's abilities immediately interrupted the latter, forcing them to use skills to escape instead.

Rita had hoped to meet Peach Crisp in the real world after the mission and exchange her [New Monthly Additions] skill, but it seemed that Peach Crisp wasn't around.

Turning her head, Rita dashed forward, initially planning to save her skill crystals if the mission went smoothly. But as soon as she left the barrier, she was forced to use several skill crystals.

She used [I Can't Die Here] and [I Don't Want to Die at All], but didn't use her Rogue skill to leave. Her eyes were fixed on the wind hawk with the same orange-red wings.

After breaking through the encirclement, she followed the wind hawk with the same wings closely. Halfway through, the wind hawk disappeared for a short time using some skill, but Rita quickly caught up by using the [Hunter's Trail] skill she had obtained on the island.

The wind hawk sidestepped a falling island stone and glanced back at her, a thick smile on its face, reminiscent of when Maple Mu had guided her through the Forest Sea.

Rita shouted, "You look like a bicycle seat with dark circles under your eyes! Can you stop acting so elegant?!"

The wind hawk in front: "..."@@novelbin@@

Finally, the two mongooses stopped over a secluded floating island. Rita looked at the hawk and asked, "Who are you?"

"Maple Mu" smiled softly. "Maple Burn, don't you recognize me? I'm Maple Mu."

Rita immediately denied it, "Impossible, not so soon… they..." She was about to continue, but suddenly found herself unable to speak. Her mouth vanished for a moment, replaced by a smooth patch of skin with several flickering acorn patterns. A few seconds later, her mouth reappeared, and she hesitantly touched her lips, unsure of what had just happened.