Chapter 271: City of the Ancients
Wild Butterfly Plain, sunset.
The entire group of people just stood there, despite the fact that it was already ten o’clock at night.
“Is that all [Hero’s Mound] is going to do?” asked one of [Blood Contract]’s vice leaders, Who’s Blue.
Han Bei Song grimaces, “Not necessarily….”
I sheathed my Emperor Qin’s Sword and smiled: “Doesn’t matter; Ba Huang City, Fan Shu City and Jiu Li City were fated to be the three chaotic war zones. Where there are men, there are wars, and this saying holds true especially in this cold virtual reality game, where a lack of battle actually makes the game boring. I don’t know if [Hero’s Mound] will give up like that, but I do know that Wang Ze Cheng definitely won’t give up so easily.”
Matcha blinked a few times, “Furthermore… Q-Sword’s attitude was very ambiguous; he didn’t say how he was going to deal with the First Division. On top of that, [Hero’s Mound]’s First Division has already settled down. They’d be unwilling to return to Fan Shu City even if we wanted them to. There will be battles in the future; today’s was definitely not the last.”
Wan Er stood by my side as she lightly smiled, “I’ll go back to Fan Shu City to ask Q-Sword and find out exactly what his thoughts are on these events. If he’s truly trying to provoke [Zhan Long], Dong Cheng and I will leave [Hero’s Mound] in a heartbeat, bringing along with us the players loyal to us back to Ba Huang City. If not, then Dong Cheng and I will stay in [Hero’s Mound] for the remaining 24 days….”
“24 days, so long….” I murmured.
Wan Er couldn’t help but smile, “Okay okay, it really isn’t that long. I’ve been counting down the days…”
Dong Cheng Yue smiled at us, then tilted her head at me: “Boss, if Wan Er and I join [Zhan Long], what kind of positions would you give us?”
I mused aloud, “Wan Er and Yue Qing Qian can be my Vice Guild Masters, Dong Cheng can be an elder; though I apologize, you went from a boss at [Hero’s Mound] to only an elder at [Zhan Long]….”
Dong Cheng Yue blushed, and said with a mischievous smile, “Alright, seems like it’s even harder to succeed in [Zhan Long] than in [Hero’s Mound]. At least in [Hero’s Mound] I could pass off as a Vice Guild Master. Wuwu, Boss has to look after me more, and spoil me a bit……”
Old K’s face turned green, “What…what kind of attitude is that? ‘Spoil her more’, what does that mean? Why can’t I understand that?”
Wan Er was also speechless, “Alright alright, Dong Cheng, stop messing around. Look, you even made Xiao Yao’s face red….”
I lifted my head, “Oh, no that’s from being in the sun for far too long…..”
On the side, Matcha cautioned, “Hey, we should stop talking about these meaningless things. One hour ago, it was officially announced that tomorrow morning from 9-12, they will be conducting maintenance. At the same time, every major city will have a new city……”
“A new city?” I was shocked, “What does that even mean?”
Matcha chuckled, “Actually, it doesn’t exactly count as a city; it’s a ‘City of the Ancients’. At least that’s what this version is called. Every month, every major city will create a new City of the Ancients, and within each of these, there will be many different monsters to engage the players in siege battles. There will be a total of 10 different monster mobs, and players will compete to be the first to get within the city walls, as well as kill the strongest boss, for the chance to get the best reward. Also, there’s 100% chance that that player will get a City of the Ancients ‘God of Commerce Badge’…..”
“God of Commerce Badge?” Wan Er was also surprised: “Sister Matcha, what is a God of Commerce Badge?”
Matcha waved her hand and smiled: “It’s really simple. People with God of Commerce Badges can apply for a piece of land from the city’s ruler. This piece of land can then be used to open up a booth. These are the rumored player booths, where the popularity of a seller is dependent on the fortuity of the city. Looks like…. the first player to open a store in Ba Huang City will definitely be successful. At the moment, Ba Huang City has close to 2,500,000 players…. Everyday everyone is spending 1RMB, which means a player can earn 2,500,000 RMB in profit….”
“Tomorrow at 12?” I asked.
“Yup!” Matcha firmly nodded, “Therefore, our [Zhan Long] has to defeat this City of the Ancients. We don’t have any other options, hehe, Boss, do you agree?”
I strongly agreed, “We have to defeat it!”
Dong Cheng Yue was puzzled, “Why?”
Tears flowed down Wolf’s cheek as he said, “Because we’re too poor. Excluding [Blood Contract], [Zhan Long] the only guild in Ba Huang City that doesn’t give a monthly income to its main guild members. Our treasury is basically empty, and our players’ resources and equipment budget is practically 0. Every time our guild goes out of the city, the potions come out of the players’ pockets and not from the guild. If we continue this way, I’m afraid many of the players will revolt…..”
General Li Mu stood at one side and said, “Speaking of being poor, our Valiant Bravery is the poorest group in [Zhan Long]. Many of our brothers are bare butt naked, waiting to buy pants to wear. Even the monthly credit card bills are hard to pay! Let’s not talk about others, but [Prague], [Vanguard], [Flying Dragon], and [Wrath of the Heroes], all give their top 1000 players expense cards to use!”
Wan Er was expressionless, and she slowly said, “Looks like… [Zhan Long]’s victory over the City of the Ancients really is necessary. Well, all I can do is wish you guys a victory tomorrow. Get the God of Commerce Badge from the hands of [Prague], [Flying Dragon], and [Vanguard]….”
Dong Cheng Yue patted my shoulder: “Young man, rest early, and start preparing early tomorrow morning….”
I nodded, and turned around to talk to the crowd of people, “Qing Qian, Li Mu, you two separately command the Zhan Long group and Valiant Bravery group to restock on potions, and repair all equipments before logging off. Get online tomorrow at 12pm tomorrow; [Zhan Long] will be the first to find the City of the Ancients and get that God of Commerce Badge. Even if we don’t get the badge, at least for this City of the Ancients event, we’ll be the ones that reap the most benefits!”
Yue Qing Qian smiled and nodded: “Got it, Brother Xiao Yao!”
Li Mu made a fist: “Leave the logistics of Valiant Bravery group to me, don’t worry about it Boss!”
“Ok, then lets all rest up early!”
“Okay!”
……
Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue both took out a [City Return Scroll] and ripped it to shreds. Originally, I probably should have been worried about Wan Er’s plight with [Hero’s Mound]; after all, as its Vice Guild Master, she had actually helped [Zhan Long], she even organized a restraining team against the First Division. To an average person, this was a very serious situation, however, Wan Er, with that Fan Shu City girl’s personality, was very strong, and she did not buy Q-Sword’s story. Thus, I did not have to worry about her at all.
I took out a [City Return Scroll], activate!
“Shua!”
Returning to Ba Huang City, I repaired my equipment, and for the last time, I replenished my Lv 7 red potions and pills. With my red and blue pills fully replenished, all I had left to do was to wait for the event to start tomorrow. The God of Commerce Badge was another new concept; it looked like Ba Huang City’s resource and power struggles would reach intensify to the climax. Before, [Vanguard], [Prague], and [Flying Dragon] were at the top of the competition. However, now that a wildcard like the God of Commerce’s Badge had appeared, the victor could not be predicted, and who called the shots in Ba Huang City was dependent on who could fight all different kinds of battles and rise to the top!
For [Zhan Long] this battle represented our guild’s future; whether we are able to rise as the Kings of [Destiny] or whether we would fall into the depths of history. This was our chance, maybe our only chance. Thinking about this, my blood started to pump, as I began to feel my youthful impulsiveness. Who has never dreamed of dominating the world?
I have had such a dream before, except that it was defeated…..
……
After getting offline, it was 11 at night. Looking at my phone, I saw that I got a message from Wang Xin: “Li Xiao Yao, if you aren’t busy tonight, can you come to the office? I have something for you to see!”
The message came from half an hour ago, mm, I could go out!
Spreading my Yi Hai out, I made sure there wasn’t any suspicious qi nearby. I put on the suave outfit that Wan Er had purchased for me, and went out. Passing by the bottom of the girls dormitory, everything was calm. There were a few relatively stronger qi’s near the bathhouse and gym, all of which were familiar, as they were from the hidden bodyguards sent by Lin Tian Nan. As for the 40 year old bodyguard downstairs, he was a retired veteran that I recognized. His skills were pretty good, and dealing with anyone that was Royal Air level was not a problem.
Heading straight out of the campus, I lifted my qi as my boots rhythmically hit the ground. My body was light as I maintained an even breath, and jogged through the night onto the street. Not even 10 minutes later, I reached the Special Operations Unit of the Police. The sentry recognized me and nodded, “You’ve arrived!”
“Yup!”
In a flash, I entered the deep building, and stopped in front of a lit up conference room. Opening the door, I saw Wang Xin and a few other leaders surrounding a table. On top of the table was a map.
……
“Leader Wang!” I said as I walked up.
Wang Xin smiled, “Li Xiao Yao has arrived; you should recognize the people here, they are all fundamental players in Hangzhou Province’s Special Crimes unit. This is Li Xiao Yao, the face of our special operations unit.”
A team leader who looked around 50 years old turned his head over to look at me, and smiled: “Hello Face, we have heard about you before, but we’ve never had the chance to actually meet you. You are indeed young and handsome, it’s no wonder that so many of the police force’s young women have pined over you for many years…..”
Embarrassed, I said: “You’re over-exaggerating. What’s the situation?”
Wang Xin pointed at the materials on the table, and said: “Come see for yourself. Lately, we’ve confirmed a few cases committed by the Blood Scythe. Also, the mastermind of Blood Scythe has finally appeared…”
I scanned over the gory pictures of the crime scene. Soon after, I spotted an evidence folder, and took it out to look at it——
Blood Scythe’s Boss: Kui Fan, Han Zhou Province, 34 years old, Used to be a mercenary on the China-Myanmar border, After 4 years of hard work, he finally returned to the Mainland, and on Hangzhou’s Feng Yue Street and Blue Water Street, he battled out his own territory. He opened 5 bars and 3 nightclubs with his hands clean of any blood or crimes, as he was very close to an unknown high official.
……
“Kui Fan….” I furrowed my brows and said: “Why haven’t I heard of this name before…..”
“Yup, that’s the tricky part, none of us have any idea as to how we should investigate him.” Wang Xin said.
“Then what should we do?”
“We can only wait for him to trip up.”
“Isn’t that too passive?”
“We don’t have a choice….” Wang Xin grudgingly smiled, “From yesterday until today, I took 7 phone calls telling me to stop looking into Blood Scythe Gang’s recent activities. Hmph, thank goodness Sun Xiang is in the military to support me, otherwise I would’ve already lost my position as the head of Hangzhou’s Special Operations Unit…..”
I grunted, “Those bastards….. Blood Scythe’s people have harmed so many innocents; aren’t those lives as well?”