“I was once a soldier,” Qiao Yifeng mentioned softly. “My Awakened comrades are all my comrade-in-arms from the time when I was in the army. One day, something unexpected occurred and our entire squadron was sucked into an instance dungeon as Awakened ones.”
…
Just think about it. A squad of soldiers that had gone through the rigorous training meant for the military was sent into an instance dungeon. Even if they were only rookies, the combat prowess that these people exhibited would certainly exceed those of average rookies!
Thus, this group of Awakened ones immediately stood out from the rest, becoming veteran Awakened ones.
They came together to form their own guild and resolved to brave life and death together. United, they shall forge out a future for themselves!
However… in one instance dungeon, Qiao Yifeng was killed in action.
In the period of time after his death, the guild continued participating in the instance dungeons while Qiao Yifeng was refreshed to become an ordinary young man. And so, he went on with his life in this world.
It was at this time that things changed.
The guild gradually expanded and they came to the same decision as Chen Xiaolian. They felt the need for their own base of operations within this world. Rather, they required an enterprise of sorts.
That was because the strength of their guild had become extremely extraordinary. Thus, the blueprint for their plans was much bigger than Chen Xiaolian’s.
For that sake, they would require a substantial amount of financial power, resources, connections… etc.
Theoretically speaking, Awakened ones were existences who need not be concerned with money. However, while it was easy to acquire small amounts of money, the same could not be said about large amounts of money.
In the end, they simply could not pull out the weapons they acquired from the system to clean out the Federal Reserve’s vault.
Doing so would end up breaking the world’s setting, incurring punishment from the system.
Additionally, to get an enterprise going, they would require someone in charge of it.
Placing an Awakened in that position was not an option. They were people who will have to participate in instance dungeons at any given moment and could die on that very same day. Moreover, majority of their efforts had to be directed toward enhancing themselves and the studies regarding battle tactics when entering instance dungeons.
Thus, after much deliberation, they thought of a suitable person.
Qiao Yifeng.
A former comrade-in-arms who had been refreshed into an ordinary person.
They were familiar with Qiao Yifeng’s character and aware of his ability.
But above all else… they trust Qiao Yifeng! These people who had undergone the baptism of war in the battlefield could only place their trust in a comrade-in-arms who had fought alongside them!
Thus, one of them came to meet up with Qiao Yifeng.
And thus, a legend was born.
…
Back then, the young Qiao Yifeng was at a loss on how to react.
The initial phase of bewilderment, confusion, internal struggles… he went through all those emotions and more.
In the end, he chose to believe in them.
First, the person who came to meet him and showed him the video was someone he knew, a former comrade-in-arms from his soldiering days. Naturally, those days of fighting as Awakened ones were no more. Only the memories of them being soldiers before becoming Awakened ones were left. Qiao Yifeng believed that his comrade-in-arms would not deceive him.
Second… even if he still had any doubts, once that person displayed superhuman abilities capable of throwing the world upside down before him, whatever doubts he may have had vanished there and then.
Third… back then, Qiao Yifeng was still young. He had yet to have a family or any mouths to feed. He also did not have the desire for a stable life yet. He was a youthful young man who had once been a soldier, brimming with the ambition to accomplish something grand.
Therefore, a legend was born. A legend named Qiao Yifeng.
Just imagine, even if Qiao Yifeng was only an ordinary person… in his shadows lay a group of Awakened ones! In the eyes of this world, these Awakened ones were no different from a squad of Supermen!
Although they were many cases in which they cannot appear directly, all they had to do was to quietly give Qiao Yifeng some help from the side…
For this young entrepreneur, it was the equivalent of having acquired a cheat program! In the span of merely a few years, he experienced a meteoric rise!
With the cheat like help provided by these Supermen, earning money became a very simple matter.
One such example was in the area of capital markets. He only needed to know what plans were being concocted by the financial predators, details on how they plan on manipulating certain stock prices or funds… then, all that was left to do was to jump on the bandwagon.
There were countless ways to earn money!
It was as though God Himself was helping Qiao Yifeng!
In merely a few decades, he became one of the world’s wealthiest men with a powerful financial base, authority and network of connections.
However, it was more accurate to say that all of those belonged to the guild.
As for Qiao Yifeng, he was their representative, a manager.
Their relationship was a close and secretive one. On one hand, they were once comrade-in-arms with a deep bond of friendship. On the other hand, both sides need not worry about getting betrayed by the other.
Awakened ones do not require much money to get by… secular authority and pleasure meant little to them… because there was always the possibility of them dying within an instance dungeon, causing their memories to be erased.
Qiao Yifeng on the other hand would not betray them as well… or rather, he simply did not have the ability to betray them. Regardless of who it may be, in face of this group of superhumans… he will have no chance or room to betray them.
Additionally, after Qiao Yifeng amassed such a huge amount of asset, his guild gave him a funny nickname.
“Pension.”
Qiao Yifeng smiled softly. “Awakened ones will eventually die. After their deaths, they will be refreshed to become an ordinary person. They will become someone with no power or influence, becoming an existence akin to weed among the lowest layer within society. For any Awakened ones who had once wielded powers capable of summoning a storm, this conclusion was a truly miserable one!
“Just like the me from back then… even though I could no longer recall my days as an Awakened, the me after being refreshed, without their help, I would be no different than a weed.
“Thus, we came to an agreement. Regardless of which member it was, if they were to die and be refreshed as an ordinary human… after becoming an ordinary human, they will get to enjoy part of this wealth! This will ensure that after becoming an ordinary person, that person will be able to live a good and prosperous life! And not have to live like a wretched dog!”
Pausing, Qiao Yifeng laughed. “Simply put, I am their financial manager, the one in charge of their ‘pension funds’.”
In addition, that wealth also served other purposes.
As mentioned earlier, following the growth of the guild, they quietly founded several secret military bases around the world.
There were even some training sites!
They even started plans to nurture talents to become their successors… after recruiting those newly Awakened rookies, they could send those rookies to their secret bases for intensive training when the rookies were not participating in instance dungeons.
This would ensure a steady stream of forces for the guild.
…
Hearing about that part, Chen Xiaolian could not restrain himself and let out a sigh. “This enterprise of yours is done on such a professional level… compared to you, we are just a group of amateurs.”
“Not everything would proceed smoothly,” Qiao Yifeng slowly said. “Take tonight’s incident for example, you saw what happened with your own eyes.”
Chen Xiaolian’s face turned solemn and he asked. “Those trying to assassinate you… are Awakened ones? Who are they?”
“Another group, another guild.”
Qiao Yifeng pursed his lips to the side and answered. “Truth be told, guilds that are relatively powerful or smart would do something similar. They would set up agents within the secular world to help the guild gather wealth and build an enterprise for them.
“The world may be huge, but this world is small.
“Additionally, there would be friendship and hatred among guilds.
“You and I have battled each other inside an instance dungeon before. Now that we are back in this world, our hatred continues! I will go destroy your enterprise and assassinate your agents. At any rate, it involves causing issues for the other party.
“Naturally, it is sometimes purely due to business conflicts – generally speaking, guilds will not get into conflicts with one another due to some secular business matters. Money in this world holds little meaning to them. However, should that business conflict affect the development of my enterprise… then actions will need to be taken.
“The assassination attempt on me tonight is due one of those two reasons. Furthermore, this is not the first time I have encountered something like this. Naturally, this will not be the last.
“They sent someone to protect me. That bodyguard by my side is an Awakened, a young man with exceptional strength. I have several bodyguards. This time, it was his turn to protect me. Awakened ones have the need to participate in instance dungeons, making it impossible for them to always be by my side. Thus, the bodyguards protecting me do so on a rotation basis.”
“So, the people involved in this time’s assassination…”
“At present, I still cannot be certain. I can think of two possibilities. First, I had recently engaged in a very large-scale business. That business may have caused a conflict of interest with another guild. Thus, they sent someone to assassinate me. Second… I will need to go ask them. Perhaps they incurred someone’s wrath when they were participating in an instance dungeon, causing the other party to place the resentment on me. No matter, these things would quickly come to light once the investigation begins. It won’t take long.”
After saying that, Qiao Yifeng looked at Chen Xiaolian. “Tonight, the only source of surprise for me, was you! Chen Xiaolian! To think that you would be an Awakened… additionally, even my daughters…”
As he spoke, Qiao Yifeng suddenly pulled off the trench coat. Next, he slowly removed the bandage wrapping over his body.
After he finished unrolling the last of the bandages, it was revealed that the wounds on his body had been healed. The only thing remaining was a minor scar – however, a scar that minor would disappear in the near future.
Chen Xiaolian noted that Qiao Yifeng’s body was extremely robust. Considering his age, his body had no fat upon them. His body exhibited sturdiness and the outline of his muscles could clearly be defined.
Chen Xiaolian was willing to bet that those Awakened ones must have given him some medicinal substances from the system to enhance his body.
Additionally… the damage he took from the explosion earlier must have been significant!
They must have given him Healing Beast Bloods, furthermore, it might even be of the high class type!
Chen Xiaolian also noted…
Although Qiao Yifeng had told him much…
Many key points were not disclosed.
For example, the organization that Qiao Yifeng belonged to… which guild was it?
The names of the people involved, the name of the guild, none of those were said.
He was still being very cautious.