Chapter 325 – Declaration of War
Liu Rui was a fellow who would take revenge for the smallest slight to his pride. Nie Yan had already sowed the seeds of hatred with him during their spar. Who knew when that fellow would try to settle the score? If this threat wasn’t thoroughly eliminated, Nie Yan wouldn’t have any peace of mind. With recent revisions to the law, anyone connected to the murder of a citizen would be prosecuted, including the mastermind. No one could escape their punishment! Thanks to the advancement of satellite technology, investigating a murder case was simpler than ever!
This was also why the crime rate saw a steep decline over the last several decades.
Nie Yan only dared to assassinate Cao Xu in the previous timeline because he was prepared to die himself.
Nie Yan had to carefully think of a way to deal with Liu Rui while still staying within the realms of the law. What put his mind at ease was that Xie Yao probably wouldn’t end up with Liu Rui in this life. He was making steady progress with her. At this pace, she would sooner or later become his girlfriend.
Nie Yan passed down an order to Guo Huai.「Keep watch over a player called Sky Piercer from Victorious Return. Send the Hundred Thieves to take care of him. I want him PKed back to Level 0. So long as he steps foot out of the city, I want you to send him back to the graveyard!」
Perhaps it was due to his father’s influence, but Nie Yan had always possessed this sort of fiery temperament. If he considered something his, no one else was allowed to touch it, especially if this thing was his woman! Father Nie used to be an army ruffian in his youth, getting into all sorts of escapades. Only after meeting Mother Nie did he mellow down. But that rowdy nature was passed down to Nie Yan. This was the so-called dragon begets a dragon and phoenix begets a phoenix.
Nie Yan was fine being called petty and selfish. He never claimed to be a good person in the first place. He believed in an eye for an eye. All the preaching about turning the other cheek was utter nonsense!
「Understood, I’ll get right to it!」Guo Huai nodded. This was the first time Nie Yan had ever given him such an order. This Sky Piercer fellow must have done something really awful to piss Nie Yan off this much.
Guo Huai naturally understood Nie Yan’s temperament. His brother was quite terrifying when provoked.
A scout from Asskickers United quickly tracked down Liu Ru and his group after following the directions Nie Yan provided. As soon as they stepped out of the city, they would be ambushed by a squadron of Thieves. A total of ten highly skilled Thieves were dispatched, three of whom were specifically assigned to Liu Rui!
When Nie Yan’s gaze fell on Yao Yao, he suddenly felt her and Xie Yao’s expression were awfully similar!
How wonderful would it be if Xie Yao and Yao Yao were one and the same? Nie Yan felt his heart race as several seductive scenes floated into his mind. He resolved to find out the truth no matter what!
Only now did Yao Yao notice the announcement post on the guild page. She turned to Nie Yan and asked, “Are we going to war with Bloodlust Blades?”
“Yeah.” Nie Yan nodded. “But this war is different from the ones before. Victory will be decided by who has the deeper pockets, and I’m afraid we’ll be the ones to collapse first. They have the backing of the Century Financial Group.” Asskickers United was currently hemorrhaging gold at a frightening rate. Between the time it took for him to get from the Central Auction House to Yao Yao, more than 2,000 players from Asskickers United had died due to being ambushed in the wilderness. However, these players couldn’t just stop going out to level; otherwise, the losses would be even greater!
Asskickers United couldn’t allow Bloodlust Blades to just do as they pleased. Giving them a taste of their own medicine was undoubtedly the best way to retaliate.
It was a competition of wealth! Which side would collapse first?
Over 16,000 players from the Union of Assassins had accepted the bounty notice issued out by Nie Yan. They all successively left for Glory City. He didn’t know how much success they would have. But considering their skills, they would definitely kill quite a few players from Bloodlust Blades. Nie Yan only worried about what to do when it came time to pay them.
Besides the bounty rewards, Nie Yan also had to provide monetary support to fallen guild members. If he didnt, they would be crushed under the pressure.
Asskickers United simply couldn’t catch a break. Right after settling one conflict, the next would arise.
Asskickers United was on the verge of a financial crisis. But they couldn’t afford to back out even if it meant bankruptcy. They absolutely couldn’t be the first to pull out in this game of chicken, lest they fell into a perilous situation where they were surrounded on all sides.
At this moment, a new post from Bloodlust Blades appeared on the forums.
「Asskickers United, do you dare to fight?」
Below were more provocations followed by Bloodlust Mad Blade’s declaration of war.
「Let everyone be witness to my words. Whoever is the first to remove their bounty notice is the other’s grandson. Mad Rogue, do you have the guts? Kill Count: 2,382」
This was a provocation from Bloodlust Blades! Only two hours had passed since they released their bounty notice!
Within seconds of the post going up, the guild chat of Asskickers United erupted out in a rage.
「Fuck those bastards! If they want a fight, we’ll give them a fight! Who the hell is afraid of them!? We’ve wiped the floor with Azure Falling Sky, Unhindered, Radiant Sacred Flame, and Victorious Return! What’s another name to the list!?」
「Boss, we’re not afraid of them! Let’s slaughter a path to Glory City!」
「The transfer fee to Glory City is 1 gold. We’d just be increasing the burden on the guild. Not to mention Glory City is the territory of Bloodlust Blades. Their guild has over 100,000 players. Combined with their branch guilds, they have at least 400,000 players in total! Do you think they’re easy pickings? We’d get completely overwhelmed! Listen to what the boss has to say!」
「Boss, isn’t this just a battle of who’s got more gold to burn? We have so many brothers in our guild. What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s just pool our gold together! We’ll drain their treasury down to the last copper! I have 3 gold! 」
「I have 2 gold!」
「I also have 2 gold!」
「The guild has done so much for us. It’s time for us to return the favour!」
…
One player after another chimed in, further igniting everyone’s emotions. Before long, the whole guild wanted to donate for this cause.
Seeing the fervent support in chat, Xie Yao gazed at Nie Yan. Just what was it that made him so charismatic? So many players were willing to empty out their pockets without the slightest hesitation for the sake of the guild. Even though Asskickers United did have some selfish players, those who watched on without lifting a finger were a miniscule minority.
Nie Yan looked at the guild chat. Every player firmly had his back! What was there for him to be afraid of? Even if Bloodlust Blades was 10 times more powerful, could they match this solidarity? No, of course not! The sense of camaraderie in Asskickers United was built up through countless battles. After facing one crisis after another, they only grew more united! It wasn’t something a guild like Bloodlust Blades which had expanded without facing the slightest hardship would understand!
This sort of tenacity allowed Asskickers United to only grow stronger with every war!
Would the ordinary players of Bloodlust Blades step forward bravely like the brothers in Asskickers United when faced with a similar situation? The answer was a resounding no! They would flee like rats!
Nie Yan’s eyes began to water after witnessing the passion of these players. He took a deep breath to settle his mind.
「What the hell? I take my eyes off the chat for a second, and you guys are already holding a donation rally. You’re planning a disaster relief for yourselves? Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse?」Nie Yan scolded in a joking manner.
「Boss, you’re here!」
「Boss, Bloodlust Blades has gone too far! We’ll pool our gold and see who lasts longer!」
The guilds members grew excited when Nie Yan showed himself.
「We receive support from the Dragonsoar Financial Group every few days. I can also still take out a few hundred thousand gold myself. Put away your gold for now. If we really can’t hold out any longer, I won’t stop you guys,」Nie Yan said. He had no idea how much gold Bloodlust Blades had in reserve.
「Wow, the boss is so rich!」Nie Yan’s revelation shocked them. Even though the Dragonsoar Financial Group had invested a lot of gold into them, most of it had been spent on providing them with mounts. They believed it would be impressive if he could even take out 50,000 gold. Who knew he actually had this much gold saved up!
Truthfully, Nie Yan didn’t actually have that much gold. However, his auction houses, the Starry Night Potion Shop, and his other businesses brought in a lot of gold every day. In a short amount of time, he could pool together quite a bit. If he added this to the support from the Dragonsoar Financial Group, he could barely scrape by.
Nie Yan did some calculations. The 20,000–30,000 gold he made every day wasn’t enough. He could sell off one or two plots of lands. However, this was a last measure since their value would only rise in the future.
Unless absolutely necessary, Nie Yan wasn’t willing to touch the gold of his guild members. After all, the 1 or 2 gold they had was their blood and sweat! In case something happened, they wouldn’t have any emergency funds!
Nie Yan was wracking his brain over how to make gold quickly. Capturing more strongholds was probably their best bet.
Seeing Nie Yan’s helpless expression, Yao Yao bit her lips. Only she could help him at a time like this! She sent a message to Yu Rui.
After a while, Nie Yan received an excited message from Guo Huai.「The Dragonsoar Financial Group has agreed to provide us 100,000 gold to tide us over during these difficult times.」
Nie Yan blinked. How did the Dragonsoar Financial Group react almost instantly after he came across a problem? He glanced skeptically at Yao Yao beside him. His suspicions that she was actually Xie Yao only grew. All the signs pointed to this being the case, and many inexplicable events would suddenly make sense!
「Send my thanks to the Dragonsoar Financial Group’s supervisor.」
「I’ve already passed it on,」Guo Huai replied.
This 100,000 gold couldn’t have come at a better time. Nie Yan felt reassured in winning this war of attrition against Bloodlust Blades!