Chapter 308 - Dusky Cloud, the Combat Veteran
Silver Moon and his men freely walked about in Baishi City, pointing and looking around as though they were tourists on a vacation. Gu Fei was supposed to log off earlier, but his desire to witness Silver Moon being stripped off his equipment had him staying online just a little longer.
Even now, he was still sneakily following Silver Moon, but that ambush he had been waiting for never came to be. The men of Young Master's Elite could no longer stand it and were about to contact Dusky Cloud when they spotted the man’s head poking out from a certain street corner. Dusky Cloud checked Silver Moon’s heading direction, turned his head toward the six men, and waved his hand in greeting.
No longer needing to send out a message, the six men quickly went to him. “Why haven’t you made a move yet?” They were a lot more impatient than Dusky Cloud, it seemed.
“It’s too troublesome,” Dusky Cloud explained.
“What do you mean?”
“Look,” Dusky Cloud pointed at the road leading toward the Thieves’ Union. “They are all players from Yunduan City.” Indeed, just as what he had said, the mercenaries from Yunduan City that had recently arrived to Baishi City slowly meandered down this street before heading over to the Thieves’ Union to register their characters. Basically, the whole lane was filled with Yunduan City’s players. “It won’t be good to strike now!” Dusky Cloud concluded.
“How many men have you brought with you?” Royal God Call asked.
Dusky Cloud glanced backward, “Not a lot. Just about three hundred!”
“Ahhh…” Royal God Call felt disappointed, “Why so few? Doesn’t the Ten Guild Alliance have over four thousand members?”
“We’re just trying to take care of Silver Moon; is there even a need for more?” Dusky Cloud asked back. Actually, Dusky Cloud was tempted to bring all four thousand of his men to surround Silver Moon, just so he could see the frightened look on his face, but it had really been a while since the guild war, and not many of their members held deep grudge against Silver Moon. In fact, most of the Ten Guild Alliance did not have an existing enmity with him, so they were quite unwilling to dedicate in-game time going over to another city in pursuit of Silver Moon. Because of this, Dusky Cloud did not force them all to partake in this mission and just contented himself with those who volunteered for it.
“You see, if you brought all four thousand here, you wouldn’t even need to worry about this whole street of Yunduan City players,” Royal God Call commented.
“Bro, you’re rather vicious… Why don’t you come over to Yueye City to expand?!” Dusky Cloud exclaimed.
“You’re the only one who’s vicious here!” Gu Fei countered, “What he meant is that no one would dare lend Silver Moon a hand if they were to see four thousand men lying in wait for him. Were you actually thinking of eliminating everyone all at once?”
Dusky Cloud had indeed misunderstood Royal God Call’s comment, and what Gu Fei had said was precisely Yueye City’s de facto overlord had in his extremist mind.
“Actually, although everyone is from the same city, that doesn’t guarantee that we will assist a fellow Yunduan City player if a fight breaks out,” Brother Assist said.
“That’s true. While we were all hired for this mission, we don’t really know one another before this. Plenty of conflicts occur between mercenaries in our line of work, so I don’t think anyone would be willing to assist him,” War Without Wounds concurred.
“Why don’t you try feigning an attack to see how these people would react before coming up with a plan accordingly?” Brother Assist suggested.
The six men surrounded Dusky Cloud and gave him suggestions all for the sake of seeing Silver Moon’s demise a little faster. They absolutely did not intend to spend the entire night following Dusky Cloud around as he looked for an opportunity to strike.
“In that case—” Dusky Cloud finally succumbed to the six men’s instigations and was just about to probe the surrounding players’ stance on the matter with an attack when a large group of men by the intersection behind them emerged. Silver Moon warmly greeted this approaching group of men and, soon after, he and his men joined them.
Now, not even the full force that Dusky Cloud had brought with him would be able to match up with the hundreds of men currently walking with Silver Moon.
“Oathless Sword?” The six men of Young Master's Elite exchanged puzzled looks.
“When did they begin working together? They look real chummy with one another now,” Brother Assist said.
“I can’t find information of this on the guild channel,” The spy Royal God Call reported.
“It’s not really surprising,” Young Master Han remarked, explaining, “Silver Moon’s party-wide skill plays a crucial role in large-scale fights; it would be even more surprising if Oathless Sword didn’t try to pull him over to his side. Considering Silver Moon’s hypocritical ways, and his ability to falsely make agreements without a hint of sincerity even with his enemies, he’d surely not pass up this chance to build a strong relationship with such a powerful entity like Traversing Four Seas. The way I see it, there’s a huge possibility of him becoming the fourth core member of Traversing Four Seas by the time we return to Yunduan City.”
“Can he still make it back to Yunduan City, though?” The men looked at Dusky Cloud when they asked this.
Dusky Cloud wavered, “We’ll have to find the right opportunity. We are at a really disadvantageous position as things stand right now. Since Silver Moon is with the employer for this mission, wouldn’t everyone here lend a hand if we were to initiate an attack now?”
The six men did not answer him, as what he had just said was apparent. If Dusky Cloud were to act now, Oathless Sword would surely intervene. Since it would involve Traversing Four Seas, the various mercenary groups in the area would surely move to help. With only three hundred men on Dusky Cloud’s side in this unfamiliar territory, was there even a possibility of success for them if they clashed against Yunduan City’s players?
Just because Yueye City’s players were passionate about PvPing did not mean that they were brain-dead. The combat veteran Dusky Cloud’s assessment of the opposing party’s strength was in fact more accurate than Young Master's Elite’s. Although he was unrestrained and pompous at times, Dusky Cloud would still not dare to strike like this, knowing how slim their chance of success was in this scenario. He was not stupid enough to fight a losing battle, after all.
Thus, under their unwilling gazes, Silver Moon leisurely walked further away with Traversing Four Seas in tow…
“Are we letting him go just like that?” The men of Young Master's Elite felt rather dissatisfied.
“I’ll send some bros he’s unfamiliar with to follow him,” Dusky Cloud assured them, explaining, “I’ll stop tailing him here. If Silver Moon turns around, he may discover me.”
“In that case… We’ll go do our things. Contact us if you make any progress!” the six men said.
“Of course. Go ahead and do your businesses. I’ll make sure to call you guys if anything exciting happens,” Dusky Cloud chuckled.
Young Master’s Elite did not promise to assist Dusky Cloud with the matter, nor did Dusky Cloud directly request Young Master’s Elite’s help. After all, Young Master's Elite’s hands currently were tied with them being with the Yunduan City’s players in Baishi City. This was not a convenient time for them to settle old scores, as all of them were temporary comrades for this particular mission. It was already unprofessional of them to stay on the sidelines when they saw a comrade being hunted down; they would likely rub many people the wrong way if they were to assist the offending party in taking Silver Moon down.
As such, Dusky Cloud merely told them that he would let them know if things anything exciting happened. Young Master’s Elite of course understood what he meant and nodded their heads in acquiescence.
Dusky Cloud went to set up his matter, while the six men went about their ways. The five men proceeded to tease Gu Fei, “Once you go offline, you won’t be able to see it if things unfold tonight!”
Gu Fei did not spend much time online, yet he was exceptionally skilled, his equipment was top-notch, and his level was not too far off from them… Such an anomaly in a game left these experts feeling rather disgruntled; they were looking forward to the day when Gu Fei would stay overnight, for that was the must-have quality of apex gamers!
However, Gu Fei merely shrugged his shoulders. “It’s fine if I can’t watch it happen. I’ll just slay him myself when I have time.” With that, he made his way toward the Thieves’ Union to log out.
In the end, Silver Moon spent the whole night grinding levels with Traversing Four Seas in one of Baishi City’s grinding maps. The men Dusky Cloud had sent to keep an eye on Silver Moon ended up falling asleep while lying on the grass. It was already morning in reality and in-game when these men woke up; the group of players was still grinding before them, but it was obviously time for them to leave, as they were already showing signs of lethargy and extreme fatigue from staying online all night long. After taking care of the last wave of monsters, this group moved to return to the city.
“There’s an opportunity!” The reconnaissance team that had slept through the night while doing the stakeout was still energetic when it informed Dusky Cloud of this.
“What’s up?” Dusky Cloud’s reply came fast, as this was an opportunity he had waited a whole night for.
“Seems like they are going to log off,” the reconnaissance team reported.
This was indeed an opportunity. After an entire night of monster grinding, players would usually proceed to auction off their equipment to collate their earnings, store their coins in the Bank, tidy up their items in the warehouse, repair their equipment, or even head over to a tavern to drink a glass or two. Players would have difficulties gathering up again for any group activity during this time, which made it a prime opportunity for any enemies to strike.
“Continue to observe and report the coordinates.” Dusky Cloud perked up when he heard their report and started gathering the comrades with him. Naturally, he was also feeling very tired after staying up all night.
“The target has returned to the city. He’s together with his team, probably entering from the west gate,” the reconnaissance team continued to report Silver Moon’s movement.
“What’s the nearest log-off point from the west gate?” Dusky Cloud hurriedly asked.
His brothers-in-arms that had done the research of Baishi City’s layout replied, “The Archer Range.”
“Prepare an ambush by that log-off point and get ready to start a fight. Rendezvous over at the Knights’ Barracks, but leave some fresh faces along the streets from the west gate to the log-off point for Archers. Send some men over to the nearest taverns, warehouses, smithies, tailoring shops, grocery stores, fruit stands, bakeries, Master Appraiser, and clinics. Don’t forget the Bank, Auction House, and Trade Exchange platforms, too,” Dusky Cloud skillfully passed down these orders to his men.
“Boss, is there really a need for all that? I’m already following him right now!” someone from the reconnaissance team reasoned.
“It’s easy for you to watch him since our target is moving with a large group. Once they enter the city and these hundreds of men disperse, can you still keep track of Silver Moon? Everyone is tired after staying online overnight; all it takes is a momentary slip-up, and all our efforts will go down the drain,” Dusky Cloud replied.
“Mmm. You’ve got a point, Boss…” The reconnaissance team member was naturally ashamed to mention that he had been sleeping on the hill all this while, so he was pretty much invigorated right now.
Time passed as Dusky Cloud and his men were yawning while they prepared their ambush.
“Everyone, our target has entered the city,” the reconnaissance team reported.
“I’m keeping my eyes trained on the west gate; I’ll surely spot Silver Moon when he passes by!” Although he had deployed his men all over the city as a precaution, Dusky Cloud was still the most confident of his ability to spot Silver Moon. After all, Dusky Cloud had rich experience when it came to PvP.