Chapter 679 - Rebound
Wan Er nodded, “Just ten-odd minutes ago, after we logged out, You Yi opened a new forum thread specially to provoke [Zhan Long]. Well, it’s pretty much an outright challenge……”
Dong Cheng blinked a few times and paused before speaking, “Then what should we do?”
“Retaliate! I refuse to believe the people from [Thousand Burial] can have invisible cloaks. Since they wanna play this game with us, [Zhan Long] will see it through to the end. THEN we’ll see who’s scared of who!” I made my decision without a single shred of hesitation.
However, Wan’er is still a bit uncertain, “One of the extra stats that the [Greedy Wolf Brigade] get is a [Movement Speed +20%]...... [Thousand Burial] has a large number of heavy melee players and almost all of them got a mount already. With that 20% boost added onto their riding speed, normal players simply can’t keep up with them. I’m afraid that even I will have to use [Vanishing Step] to do so……”
“Not so. I have my [Flying Scythe War Horse] and Matcha has her [Thousand Leagues Moonbeam]. Li Mu, Wang Jian and the others’ mounts aren’t bad either. If everyone switches on a pair of boots that adds movement speed, it’ll probably work out. We’ll know for sure after we go online. Wan Er, you and Dong Cheng will be responsible for gathering intel on the [Greedy Wolf Brigade] and their locations. We’ll kill as many as we can find.” I tried to put her at ease with a comforting grin.
And then Tang Qi butted in, “What about me?”
“You’re not even in [Zhan Long]!” I snapped back.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t help a friend or my goddess……” That foolish grin on his face…
Dong Cheng gave him a sharp glance, “And who is this goddess you speak of?”
“That would be mon mademoiselle!”
“The man I like is Li Xiao Yao so no game!’
“I’m fine with that. To truly love someone…... is to always be ready to become that person’s rebound……” It was a new low for Tang Qi.
I facepalmed, “What are you even talking about……? Whatever, let’s get online and hunt down those greedy wolves already. Can’t let them suppress any more of our momentum here in Tian Ling City.”
“En, let’s go!” Wan Er finally nodded.
……
We each returned to our respective rooms and logged into the game. Our enemy this time was not a formidable foe like [Heroes Mound] or [Legend] but nevertheless, was still a tricky opponent. The specialised stats granted to the [Greedy Wolf Brigade] made it difficult to get a hold of them. And on top of that, Wei Fan had recently recruited a large number of CBN rankers. No doubt, their overall battle strength had been increased a lot. Can’t really blame our branch guilds and individual teams for not being able to handle them.
Whooooosh!
Once online, I immediately teleported back to Tian Ling City; then called out my [Flying Scythe War Horse] and [Ancient Heavenly Tiger]. After that, I decided to take a look at the forums. At the very top was obviously You Yi’s thread. The contents were basically calling out [Zhan Long] for being too self-absorbed; its members for being arrogant and reckless all over the Tian Ling City area. And how we have pked numerous innocent [Thousand Burial] members out in the wild on many occasions. And as such, how [Thousand Burial] will now begin its retribution against this problematic adversary.
Towards these accusations, I made no rebuttals. [Thousand Burial]’s status with [Zhan Long] had always been “At War”; to meet in the wilderness was to kill on sight. This was generally agreed on by everyone. Looking it from this angle, it was also within reason for [Thousand Burial]’s [Greedy Wolf Brigade] to roam around killing lone [Zhan Long] players. Well in that case, nothing else needs to be said. You kill my people, I kill yours; we’ll kill our hearts out! My [Dragon Reservoir Sword] had been impatient to taste blood anyway.
In the guild channel, I heard Li Mu’s voice, “The Boss is on!”
“ Damn that cheap provocation from [Thousand Burial]! We really can’t hold back anymore! Boss, how do you think should we get even with them?”
I deliberated for a moment, then spoke, “First, form several parties of only our core battle force. Everyone else must group up in full 500 man parties before heading out to level. That way, even if you get ambushed by their ‘Greedy Wolf Raiders’, you can at least put up a fight. Now, I want every member from both the main and branch guilds that has a mount with at least 150% movement speed and boots that add at least 30% moore to gather up over at Tian Ling City East Plaza!”
“En!” The first to respond was Matcha.
“Then what about us Assassins?” Wolf inquired.
“Assassins will be following Wan Er. In ranks of at least 200 people, leave the city while invisible. Be actively on the lookout for traces of the [Greedy Wolf Brigade]’s movements. The Greedy Wolf Raiders might have a higher drop rate when killing us, but the reverse is also true! When you attack, spread out for wider coverage and aim for a one wave rush. Well, that’s the plan. Everyone split up when you’re ready. We’ll make this fast. Don’t let these guys impede our grinding any longer.”
“YES!” A synchronized response resound from everyone.
……
Armed and ready, I began my wait at the East Plaza. Before long, Li Mu, Matcha, Wang Jian, Old K, Cang Lei, One Second Hero, Yue Yao Yan, Tang Xin et al., began to show up one by one. In less than 10 minutes, approximately 300+ heavy melee players had gathered together. Every single one of them was part of our overall core battle force. Each and every one of them were seasoned veterans polished by countless conflicts; their combat ability was undisputed.
“How are we grouping the teams?” This came from Li Mu.
After I pondered for a bit, I laid out my plan, “We’ll split into three 100-man teams. You, me and Match will each lead one. The rest of the guild will assist in the search for the [Greedy Wolf Brigade]. Once we’ve located any, the nearest team should immediately rush them. But watch your mounts’ stamina. Make sure to leave some for chasing down their remnants.”
“Sounds good!” Li Mu’s grin couldn’t possibly stretch any wider.
“Don’t worry about that, Boss!” Matcha gives her horse’s mane a rub down to pacify its excitement.
……
We began splitting the people up. I pulled Old K, Cang Lei, Yue Yao Yan and a couple others into my group. Wang Jian and Bai Qi, naturally, joined Li Mu. One Second Hero and Tang Xin followed Matcha as she disappeared outside the city. The combat strength of each individual team was all up there. Even if faced with the enemy’s main force, they’d still be able to put up a hard fight. Also, we’re a purely high mobility unit. Wan Er, Dong Cheng, and Dancing Forest were leading groups of ranged class players that spread out all over the map; we can link up at any time.
This was a rare guild-wide event for [Zhan Long] so instead of anxiety, most people were feeling rather excited. Of course, there were also those whose friends were victims of the [Greedy Wolf Brigade] so their insides were already raging with the flames of vengeance as they made their preparations. As their guild leader, naturally, I should take action to appease them. Otherwise, the bottled up rage might even lead to a mutiny one day.
As I pulled back on my reins, I checked with my group; the slowest among us can only go at 325% of base movement speed. As such, I’ve set that as our standard speed. It should be enough to move at a bit over 3x the normal speed. To most people, it would already be like a gust of wind had just blew past. The noise of hundreds of mounts echoed throughout the plaza. Already, numerous other players were viewing this spectacle and discussed among themselves——
“HOLY ****! Isn’t that Xiao Yao Zi Zai? What’s he doing with so many elite cavalry!?”
“Who the hell knows……”
“Did you two not check the forums? Several thousands of [Thousand Burial]’s Greedy Wolf Raiders have been hunting down [Zhan Long]’s leveling parties all over the place. This is obviously their counterattack. Haha, with Xiao Yao Zi Zai and General Li Mu personally leading, [Thousand Burial] is in for the time of their lives……”
“Motherf*ck*ng crazy! So there’s gonna be a map wide guild war!? Just yesterday, it was Q-sword destroying Ye Lai in an arena match and today it’s this. Goddamn, this city never gets boring!”
……
Out in the wild, my lovable [Ancient Heavenly Tiger] marched alongside me, and periodically growled at any unseen threats as I rode at the very front. Occasionally, we would run into groups of random players but we left them alone. They weren’t our targets. After a while, we entered a patch of forest and around this time, people began to report their locations. Soon Qing Qian sent me a pm, “Xiao Yao-gege, about 700 meters straight south of your location is a group of 110 Greedy Wolf Raiders. They haven’t been alerted to your presence yet!”
“Got it!”
I pulled out my sword and held it up, “Alright men, follow me! Don’t worry about your mount’s stamina. Full on [Sprint]. They’re only 700 meters away!”
One after another, the people behind me pulled out their weapons as well. Only Yue Yao Yan, cautious by nature, asks me, “Chief, do you think this might be an ambush?”
“Not a problem. Even if it’s an ambush, we can still kill our way out! Besides, I doubt [Heroes Mound], [Vanguard] or [House of Prestige] will outright pick a fight with us right now. With our mobility, at this point, there shouldn’t be anything capable of holding us down other than a shieldwall of at least 10 times our numbers. It doesn’t like there’s such a combat force over there.” I calmly dismissed her worries.
Her apprehensiveness turned into a wry grin, “Okay then, let’s do this!”
……
It was a moonlit night. Under the night moon, amidst a galloping dust cloud, numerous glints of cold light glimmered like shiny stars that glowed in a fog.
After we passed through this patch of forest and more, just as Qing Qian reported, less than 200 meters in front of us was a band of [Thousand Burial]’s mounted heavy cavalry. Every one of their names were blood red. Next to their IDs was an icon of a wolf’s head; the telltale sign of the [Greedy Wolf Brigade]. This group did not appear to have a commander though. Their level range isn’t that high either, just around 105-110. But it was enough for bullying weaker players.
At this moment, one of their riders suddenly turned around. Upon seeing what was behind them, he was stupefied, “SHIT, it’s [Zhan Long]’s elites! I think I saw Xiao Yao Zi Zai’s ID for a second there; no mistakes, that is a CBN Top 100 emblem!”
“Fuck what do we do!?”
“RUN! What the hell else can we do? You wanna fight Xiao Yao Zi Zai!?” A Berserker from the sides berates him. “We have a bonus 20% movement speed so move your asses already. We’ll live as long they can’t catch up to us!”
“...Right! Let’s run for it!”
……
While these guys were still deliberating what to do, I had already given my order.
“KILL!”
A whole bunch of us immediately blitzed over like thunder; our speed accelerating all of a sudden. All of us were the elites among elites. Even if the opponent had that boost from being a Greedy Wolf Raider, we’ll still win in speed. Old K, flailed his battle axe, and was right on my tail as I charged into their rear. The brilliance of golden stars flashed for a second as I directly dispatched one of their low defense Berserkers with a [Combo].
Even as I pull my hand back, I set down a [Black Tortoise Realm] and instantly caugt dozens in its Slow debuff aoe. Old K, Yue Yao Yan and the others immediately swept right through them.
Quite a few of us had used [Charge] as soon as they were within 40 meters. Even if the target could dodge the initial hit, the gap in distance had effectively been nullified; and left them open to even more attacks.
So I didn’t hold back either. Triggering the Rage skill [Halberd Flame], I charged right into their midst; twin swords dancing. Dispatching people left and right, it is as if I had become invincible. At my side this whole time, the [Ancient Heavenly Tiger] also lets out an imposing roar and ran ahead with a [Burstfire Raid]. After that is a [Fierce Roar]; the shock wave slammed into the crowd. Then, it raised a single paw, a golden brand instantly butchered another heavy shield warrior, taking out over 20k HP in one go. [Ancient Fire Branding]. Impressive.
My [Flying Scythe War Horse] was actually faster than I thought. In almost no time, I had already penetrated right through them and passed the ones running at the very front. Then seeing as how they could no longer get away, the one who lead the escape brought up his lance; and furiously screamed, “Comrades! Since we can’t get away… let’s risk it! It’s not like we’re outnumbered! What’s there to be scared of!?”
……
Before he even finished speaking, my sword had already sent out a [Sword Tempest] and Old K followed up with a [Whirlwind Slash] helped clear out a path in the crowd. Dozens were felled in the blink of an eye; as if indirectly informing him that numbers don’t mean anything here.