LC: Chapter 50

50. Three in One Go

Never assume the emperor’s far off because the mountain’s so tall. He has ears everywhere. Thus, word of this not-major, not-minor scheming attempt eventually reached HereticKing’s ears without XiaoYu knowing about it. There’s no doubting it spread from Robin’s mouth. He only mentioned it in passing to his boss, Desireless, while on break at work. Desireless then quietly told Egg_Tart about the incident when the other came to understand how things were going with the new healer. Thus, when the higher-ups met before the Guild Wars. Naturally, Egg_Tart, who’d been told to take care of XiaoYu, did his duty and reported it.

“Glory’s not strict enough. Someone’s actually using such despicable methods?” While those players were from the Wings, I_Am_A_Poor_Man wasn’t dumb enough to think Glory sent them to do that. This was just a coincidence.

“Do you want me to investigate?” Below_The_Moon would never get tired of playing detective. His family did own a detective agency.

“There’s no need. It’s fine that we know they’re from the Wings,” calmly replied HereticKing as he wiped down his precious sword.

“That’s right. It’s all fine since we know it’s the Wings.” It was as if I_Am_A_Poor_Man shared the same brain as HereticKing. He knew what the other meant.

“???” Below_The_Moon didn’t get it.

“Moonie, finally there’s something you don’t know.” I_Am_A_Poor_Man was so proud of himself. “Chief and Glory are going to duel each other. I think Chief’s planning on chopping at Glory directly for this.”

“I see.” At the sight of I_Am_A_Poor_Man being so proud that his tail was going to point straight up into the sky, Below_The_Moon turned to Egg_Tart and said, “Egg_Tart, let’s find a time to kill him together.”

“Yes,” Egg_Tart said.

“Hey, what’s the meaning of this?” Poor_Man exclaimed.

“Just what those words mean. Just you wait. You’ll be a porcupine. Hahaha.”

“Are there any parties who grind at the Pyramids regularly?” HereticKing was used to the bantering duo. He sedately finished wiping down his blade, then a thought popped into his mind.

“Do you want Xiao-Yu to follow along and get some experience? I’ll have a look.” Jiangshi are the Serica region’s specialty and most of the Wings are stationed at Serica. The best way to get XiaoYu avoid all that trouble with the Wings was to get him to swap spots. After all, the Heretic Demons can’t have someone grinding at the Jiangshi Cave with XiaoYu at all times.

“Right. Pass on the notice. Tonight, we’ll do our best to take down Prole-3.”

“Roger.”

XiaoYu wasn’t the kind to brood over something. Hence, the incident at the Jiangshi Cave was quickly thrown to the back of his mind. He touched the tiny round hat on his head. This was the gear Robin and he found while grinding at the Rebellion Base. (White Little Hat: Defence +40. Int +10. Regen 3 MP every 5 seconds. 2 slots. Level Limit: 50. Job Limit: Acolyte, Magician.) It seemed like his luck kicked in whenever he was in a party. Robin also found a Rebellion Hunter card which increased shooting speed. The other was so happy he kept kissing the card. He nearly kissed the lucky cat.

Egg_Tart had assigned the mission for today in the guild chat. All might on conquering Prole-3. That’s why half of the piloting healers in the airport were missing. Those with higher levels were assigned to the battlefield. For those with lower levels, all Teleport spots, except for those who had Prole-3 marked down before, were switched to the five great battlefields of Prole.

The markings on the ground were updated too. There was a new section for backup flights to Prole. That meant if there were too many players trying to get through the original portals, they can go through the backup. That made sure everyone can get to where they needed to on time, especially Prole-3 which was right in the centre of everything.

XiaoYu had a mark on Prole-3’s West Gate, so he’ll have a heavy workload today. I_Am_A_Poor_Man had pre-warned him. He spent 20 crystals to upgrade his Inventory again. He now had a steel bracelet with 100 slots.

It was XiaoYu’s first time experiencing what it meant to be busy. Usually, when there weren’t as many people, he could open a few Portals and rest to recover his MP. Now, he’s chanting out one portal after another and still there’re a never-ending stream of players stepping onto his flight to Prole-3. Portal after portal. Even his blue potions were downed as soon as they were off cooldown. Otherwise, he’d have to face the awkwardness of running out.

This went on for half an hour before the situation finally improved. According to the bits of discussion he overheard from passing players, XiaoYu knew the main forces of the Heretic Demons had pushed through the gates where the guilds were bashing each other up in a mess. Some of them stayed behind to stall the other guilds. These players were constantly replenished to ensure they keep the fight at the gates.

“Congratulations, Guild I Die For Riches, on conquering Prole-4.”

At the announcement, everyone’s feet froze. They stared up at the floating text in disbelief. Prole-4. That’s the first fortress the Heretic Demons conquered. A lot of them call it home. But this home was now being taken over by someone else.

“Don’t dawdle. Once we take down Prole-3, we can take Prole-4 back!” In all guild chats, the bright red text from the Guild Leader woke everyone up. Yes. They gave up on defences to attack Prole-3 with their full force. If they don’t get Prole-3, how could they face the home they lost? They want to make the Heretic Demons homeless? No freaking way!

In the world chat, some of the players with nothing to do were already mocking the Heretic Demons for losing Prole-4. They’re going to become stay ghosts with nowhere to go, they joked. However, that couldn’t affect the Heretic Demons at all. Unfortunately for them, each party leader ordered their members to shut off the world chat before battle. All so they won’t be affected by the outside world.

“Congratulations, Guild Heretic Demons, on conquering Prole-3.”

“Guild Heretic Demons has been awarded an additional reward: Guild Reputation +10,000.”

“The worst of the Four Great Seals of the battlefield has been unsealed. Keep it up, brave players!”

When the minute hand hit 9, the three subsequent announcements silenced every player on the server. For a few short seconds, all chat channels were silent. Once the impact was over, the world chat exploded. The amount of comments scrolling by was so much more than when the first Level 100 player appeared.

So the additional reward for the conquering the number 3 fortresses differ according to difficulty! The reason the Heretic Demons sacrificed their own fortress was to overcome the hardest seal! A series of praise, mockery and envy painted the world chat. Of course, the happiest of them all would probably be the game itself because, don’t forget, it costs money to talk in world chat  ╮(╯▽╰)╭.

“All members of Suicide Squad to Prole-4 now.”

“I repeat. All members of Suicide Squad to Prole-4 now.”

Egg_Tart typed out in the guild chat. The event wasn’t over yet. They didn’t have time to celebrate Prole-3’s victory. Remember. They still had a home that was taken away.

“Hi. Are you LuckyCat? The Healer Squad Leader would like you to replenish supplies at the shop. I’ll take over this spot for now,” a female healer who suddenly popped up beside XiaoYu said to him in a sweet voice.

XiaoYu thought it very strange. He still had plenty of potions and gems. He could be doubtful all he wanted, but he still obeyed. He didn’t know that he’d be rushed through the back door of the shop the moment he stepped into the building by I_Am_A_Poor_Man.

“I feel like a thief every time we do this. Huff…” Over ten Bibles clattered into XiaoYu’s arms from I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s inventory.

“Here. Aah…” Like clockwork, Below_The_Moon took out a pill and stuffed it into XiaoYu’s mouth.

“Sacrificial Chant!” casted a high-levelled male healer XiaoYu had never seen.

Sacrificial Chant: A Third Job healer skill. It reduces 50% chant time of the next 3 skills used by the targeted player. Consequentially, the chant time for the caster will be 100% longer for the next 10 minutes. Cooldown time: 10 minutes.

“Please, Xiao-Yu. One set each.” Poor_Man gestured to the ten players squeezed in the alleyway. These were the squad leaders and elites of the primary guild. Of course, they were all trustworthy members.

“Okay.” XiaoYu nodded and spoke no more. He chanted skill after skill. The alley was silent. Only XiaoYu’s clear voice rang out.

After getting buffed, the players disappeared into I_Am_A_Poor_Man’s Portal. One by one, they headed into the battlefield to reunite with their squads. They were getting ready to do something extremely dangerous.

HereticKing realised XiaoYu had a new headgear. It somewhat blocked his ability to pat the other on the head, so he moved his hand downwards and held that tiny cat face of XiaoYu’s.

“Thank you,” sincerely thanked HereticKing as he warmly looked into XiaoYu’s eyes. A 10% increase of all stats was more effective the higher one’s level was. Let’s say, for example, HereticKing. His health was raised by over 1,000. He could act as a tank for a few seconds while still being an agile knight.

“I-It’s fine.” XiaoYu’s cheeks blushed. He wasn’t used to being thank in such close distance.

“We’re off to do something evil, Xiao-Yu,” chuckled I_Am_A_Poor_Man. He was still as goofy as ever, but as soon as he stepped through the portal, he turned into a completely different person. Serious as can be. What they were going to do next was very risky. Even if all the leaders and elites of the guild charged in, they might not succeed.

XiaoYu didn’t know what they were going to do, but his intuition told him it’d be very dangerous.

Time slowly ticked by. There was five minutes left to the end of the event.

“Congratulations, Guild Heretic Demons: Suicide Squad, on conquering Prole-4.” The first subsidiary guild had succeeded. They’d snatched back their home on behalf of the main guild.

“Congratulations, Guild Heretic Demons, on conquering Sakura-3.”

If one called the first announcement plausible, expected even, then the following announcement blew everyone’s mind. The parent guild actually went for…revenge.

Soon, the game announced the end of the event and a cheer rose through Zhang Village. Quite a few players started tearing up in excitement. Three fortresses. This was something they could never have imagined happening after losing Prole-4.

XiaoYu was affected by the emotions in the air too. His eyes stung and glazed over. What a pity that he was dragged over to an isolated corner by I_Am_A_Poor_Man before his tears could well up.

The other opened up a portal and gestured XiaoYu in, “Chief wants to see you.”

Past the Portal was a huge lavish Japanese castle. This was likely Sakura-3.

There were no other players on the grounds when XiaoYu stepped foot in the building. After the Heretic Demons took control of the fortress, all non-guild members were forced out by the game. The only members left were in the Crystal Room.

It was a very spacious room. Completely bare except for a stone pedestal in the centre of the room, a large yellow crystal floating on it. Sitting right by the crystal and resting his eyes was HereticKing.

Most of the blood in the room had been wiped away. The only red left was a large puddle spanning from around the pedestal and on the Crystal.

XiaoYu softly walked up to the stone pedestal and stood before HereticKing.

The other opened his eyes as sounds of another being reached his ears. When he saw it was XiaoYu, he silently stood up and held the other tight in his arms.

XiaoYu didn’t know of the vicious battle that happened here between the avenging elite squad and the large forces of the guild I Die For Riches. He also didn’t know that when the elites were killed off one by one, it was HereticKing who shattered the Crystal with the last shreds of his health. When the Protection Crystal crumbled into dust, he had less than 100 HP.

This was indeed a very risky move, but they had to do it for the guild’s reputation.

XiaoYu didn’t need to know all that, but HereticKing knew that without XiaoYu’s special skills, he wouldn’t be able to hold on to the last second. When the Crystal was destroyed, all HereticKing could think of was just how grateful he was to the gods that XiaoYu was brought to his side.

“Thank you.”

XiaoYu, who was still being hugged very tightly, could feel just how emotional HereticKing was. He thought the forever calm HereticKing could never be so moved by excitement. As expected, war can make a man’s blood pump.

He closed his eyes and hugged HereticKing back. XiaoYu was feeling rather emotional too. Might as well keep this going until they’ve both calmed down.

Author’s note:

XiaoYu would only brood when it comes to his parents. As for his own matters? What’s past is in the past. He’ll just continue living his life out the next day. Thus, it’s not in him to squabble, fight, complain and enact revenge for every single thing. I can’t help it if you don’t like that personality. That’s what he was planned to be.

A saint? Impossible. He’s just being very calm and rational. He knows he can’t out-debate those sly people who like to twist words. If it’s someone of a higher level, then whatever. He’ll just focus hard on training and out-level them. If they dare come back to bully him again, he’ll be able to strike back then.

Weak? He now has no right to be strong. His levels aren’t as high as theirs. His equipment isn’t better. He’s still working on his technique. It can’t be just because he’s got a big guild backing him up, right? An adult (author says man here, but let’s not go into that territory) should solve their own problems. If a moment of tolerance is shown as weak, then it seems I’ve failed at portraying it. Please question my writing and not attack the character. Being called weak is his true sorrow.

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