After settling the matters on the battle, Nie Yan returned to the Cripps Stronghold. It was bustling with people. Thanks to the recent gold and guild contribution rewards, everyone was outfitting themselves with new gear, either exchanged from the treasury or purchased on the marketplace. The players who had fallen five levels were forming teams and setting off for various levelling spots.
"Hey, Little Su. How about we run the Sulgata Burial Ground together?"
"Sure."
"We're still missing a Priest. Know anyone in the guild that would be interested?"
More people than usual were looking to grind or run dungeons together today. Many had dropped levels and were impatient to get them back.
"Boss!"
"You're back, Boss!"
…
After spotting Nie Yan, the players ran up to greet him one after another. Their faces were filled with reverence and excitement. This was the joy of victory.
Nie Yan entered the guild headquarters. All the elites of Asskickers United had gathered here. They were having a lively discussion about the events of the recent battle. Seeing him walk in, they dropped what they were doing and walked up to greet him.
"Boss, we actually won!" Undying Scoundrel happily exclaimed. It was a hard-fought victory. Almost all the elites in the guild had ended up dying, with the Mages being a bit better off, since they were summoning the Crypt Lord and didn't actually participate in the battle directly.
Everyone was savoring their victory. This was like the rainbow after a storm. Their hard work finally bore fruit. Asskickers United had weathered through wind and rain and come out the other side still standing strong, defeating all their rivals and furthermore uniting Calore.
This was an indescribable feeling.
"Yeah, we won." Nie Yan faintly smiled. He could understand everyone's mood. "You all should focus on raising your levels now. From this day forward, Calore belongs to us! We're the rulers of everything in this territory. All of our enemies have been swept away. Those who remain obstinate will be killed until they're convinced! Those who don't will be treated justly without oppression!
As the de facto top guild in Calore, Asskickers United had to estbalish their authority and stamp out all opposition.
Hearing Nie Yan's words, everyone broke out in cheer. After struggling for so long, they had finally obtained Calore. This was definitely worth celebrating!
It would be smooth sailing from here on out.
All of Asskickers United was celeberating, especially the guild chat. Many people could hardly contain themselves. With Calore unified, they would naturally rise along with the guild.
Nie Yan took advantage of this moment to raise everyone's benefits. This was only a matter of course since the guild's position in Calore was secure. With this, the players below would feel appreciated and grateful.
Afterwards, Nie Yan arranged for Bladelight to lead an army of players in clearing out and capturing the remaining strongholds, which would generate considerable profits for the guild. Furthermore, he still had to help the War God Tribe capture more strongholds so that the Nie Family Financial Group could continue expanding.
Nie Yan handed over the Flamespitter Crossbow Blueprint to the Engineers in Asskickers United and ordered them to quickly start manufacturing. These crossbows were essential for siege defense. After setting them up, they could greatly increase the defenses of a stronghold, which would give pause to enemies like Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors who might otherwise try to attack again.
After this brief period of celebration, everyone in Asskickers United immediately got to work. They understood that this wasn't the time to be relaxing. There was no telling when Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors would attack again. They had to quickly level up, lest they suffer defeat because they were too weak.
Seeing everything running smoothly, Nie Yan felt reassured. In the near future, he could bring the elites of Asskickers United levelling with him. Then, every now and then, he would make trips back to the Underworld to raise funds. Besides this, he still needed to find the last fragment of Sulgata's Shadow, then he would have his first piece of Legendary equipment.
Sulgata's Shadow Boots!
After all three fragments were put together, Sulgata's Shadow would have extremely impressive stats. It could be considered a relatively powerful piece of Legendary equipment.
During this time, Nie Yan spent a long time recalling the locations of Legendary item fragments, Sub Legendary, and Legendary-grade equipment and writing them all down on a piece of paper, which he handed to a select few elites. If they could find a piece or two, the quality of their equipment would be greatly increased.
He also wrote down some of the Shadow Dancer techniques he had previously learned from the Glimpse of Darkness and distributed a few copies to some trustworthy Thieves in the guild. As they grew stronger and stronger, he hoped to give them a better chance of becoming Shadow Dancers in the future.
After settling these matters, Nie Yan could finally relax, whereupon he immediately felt something was a bit off. He hadn't seen Xie Yao this whole time. Checking his friends list, he noticed Yao Yao's name was grayed out. She had already logged off.
It was around 2 A.M. right now. It was rather odd for her to be offline at this time.
Nie Yan had a momentary premonition of doom, but quickly shook it off and laughed at himself. Xie Yao probably just had something come up, so she went offline.
Nie Yan really wanted to share in his present happiness with Xie Yao. Thanks to his efforts, the shadows of his previous life had gradually faded away. Victorious Return and Bloodlust Blades had already become relics of the past. He had also weakened the influence of the Century Financial Group inside Conviction. Although the future was still uncertain, he believed everything would be okay as long as he stayed true to himself.
That overhanging cloud was gone, so all that awaited him was a bright future. His future with Xie Yao would also be filled with joy!
Just as Nie Yan's head was in the clouds, he received a message from Xie Yao.「Nie Yan, there's strangers in my villa, and they've somehow disabled the security system. I'm scared.」
This was a text Xie Yao had sent from her cell phone in real life.
Xie Yao's parents had been busy, so they hadn't been home for a while. Xie Yao was currently home alone.
Nie Yan's heart immediately became wracked with worry. He quickly contacted Guo Huai.「Something came up. I'll be logging off first.」
「There's still a lot of matters that need attending to do. I just received a report about the War G-」Guo Huai wanted to inform Nie Yan that the Tuoba Family had organized their five guilds and were preparing to launch a counterattack after the War God Tribe intruded on their interests.
「I don't care! It can wait until I get back. Even if the enemy comes storming into the Cripps Stronghold!」Nie Yan flared. He hung up before Guo Huai could finish speaking.
Nie Yan got out of his game capsule. He put on some clothes, gathered a few things, then fetched his car in the garage and sped off towards Xie Yao's villa.
Cloudwater, this villa district, had the best security in all of Huahai. Their security systems were linked up with satellites. It was impossible for dangerous individuals to avoid the detection of these satellites without the help of some very advanced and specialized equipment.
Unless the other side was invisible to satellite detection, Cloudwater's management would be immediately notified as soon as the security systems were compromised, and the entire district would be placed on lockdown. This was a confrontation of technology. The satellites watching over Cloudwater were some of the most advanced. For the other side to avoid detection meant they had top of the line military-grade technology.
However, with some background, it was still possible to get those types of military-grade equipment.
If something were to happen to Xie Yao...
Nie Yan's chest felt tight. He immediately pushed this thought to the back of his mind. He would never allow such a thing to happen!
His car sped along the streets of Cloudwater. After turning a corner, he parked about 60 meters away from Xie Yao's villa. Any closer and he might end up alerting the enemy.
Getting out of his car, Nie Yan stayed low and stuck close to the shadows. This a habit that was ingrained into his very being from playing a Thief for so long. He would naturally gravitate towards cover.
Only now did Nie Yan somewhat understand why the federation was pushing Conviction. It could greatly raise the fighting ability of every player, like military training for the entire world. Ever since he started playing the game, he noticed a drastic improvement to his body in every aspect.
Looking at the security equipment installed in the area, it all appeared to be still working. However, they were probably hacked. He leaped over the wall of Xie Yao's villa and entered the garden. He hid within the bushes and made his way towards her house.
Before coming here, he had forgotten to bring dark clothes.
Xie Yao's villa was covered in a shroud of darkness. It was quiet to an eerie degree.
As Nie Yan approached Xie Yao's house, he noticed two shadowy figures arguing in the courtyard outside her front door. He was a bit flabbergasted. These were the strangers Xie Yao mentioned?
These two had likely come for Xie Yao. But why did it seem like they were only seconds away from coming to blows? Were they actually not on the same side?
Nie Yan put on his night vision goggles, one of the items he had casually brought out of his house. He didn't expect them to actually come in handy.
A flash of red light on top of a roof a kilometer away immediately caught Nie Yan's eye. My god! A sniper rifle! The person holding the sniper rifle was currently aiming at one of the people standing in the courtyard.
Just what the hell was happening? Was one of them actually here to save Xie Yao?