âGuess, will Q-Sword punish Ai Ye and Ji Yuan?â Dong Cheng asked as she killed a monster.
I shot another [Blade Spin] into the crowd of monsters and smiled, âI donât think he will.â
Wan Er asked, âWhy not?â
I explained, âItâs simple. Q-Sword also knows that you and Dong Cheng are going to leave [Heroâs Mound], so there will be even less people that he can use. Ai Ye and Ji Yuan are all elites. Even though they arenât as strong as Jian Tan and Sword Tears, they are still talented people. And so, why would Q-Sword stand up for two people destined to leave the guild, and punish two people who will later become capable generals? At least, from where I stand, I would never punish those two. Thatâll only disappoint the people of [Heroâs Mound].â
âSo it was like thatâ¦â
Wan Erâs Dragonâs Kiss swiftly killed a Forest Tiger. She smiled, âPeopleâs hearts are so complicated. Iâve never thought of these kinds of things before. Li Xiao Yao, how did you think of it?â
I patted my chest, âIâm older than you and Dong Cheng by 5 years. Those 5 years werenât spent doing nothing. Even though Iâm not as good as those wise old men, I at least know enough to not be ignorant anymore.â
Dong Cheng pursed her lips, âHmph, and yet you were still willing to offend guilds like [Flying Dragon] and [Vanguard] for some people that you donât know?â
âThatâs not the sameâ¦â¦â
I ducked to dodge the tackle of a Forest Tiger, then raised my two swords, and cut it into eight pieces before saying, âThere are a lot of things that I see clearly, and I know how to truly protect myself. But, I donât want to be that kind of person, so I will act, time and time again, against âcommon senseâ. Itâs really not a problem. As long as [Zhan Long]âs fist is hard, then Iâll make the rules of this virtual world myself!â
Wan Er couldnât help but grin, âAlright then. At least it sounds pretty impressive!â
Dong Cheng giggled, âIsnât this why youâre so charming?â
âIs he charming?â
I looked at her, âAlright already, go kill monsters. Letâs try and finish this quest within 3 hours. After that, we can sleep a bit earlier, and fix up our internal clocks.â
âOk!â
â¦â¦
Once we helped Wan Er finish killing the 3000 monsters, all of our weapons had been greatly damaged. After my Cold Iron Sword had repeatedly used [Blade Spin], it was down to only 27% durability, and had killed a countless number of monsters. On top of that, I had almost used up all of the mana pills that I had in my bag. [Blade Spin] and [Wall of Dou Qi] were all extremely high MP consuming skills. After using them continuously to train their levels, they had used up far too many mana pills in such a short amount of time. I needed to go back to the city to replenish them, or else next time I go out Iâll only last a minute before all of my equipment is hacked away.
I looked at the skillsâ stats. [Wall of Dou Qi] was already Lv 3, and could raise my defense by 60%; the Lv 3 stats were already terrifying, and the skill basically made it such that even against a crowd of Lv 85 Phantom Tier monsters, I still wouldnât be pushed back! My [Blade Spin] was Lv 4 already, and based on my calculations, I could make the sword spin back 4 times within the 60 second cool down. This would greatly increase my ability to kill at long range. On top of that, my [Blade Spin] would be a great support for any close combat duels. The fact that they complement each other would greatly augment my attack power.
I bid farewell to Wan Er and Dong Cheng, then took out a City Return Scroll, and went back!
âShua!â
I appeared in the middle of Ba Huang City. I took a look at my experience; I only needed 3% more before I would level up to 81. Looks like helping Wan Er kill so many monsters gave me quite a bit of experience.
Song Han and Matcha stood in the northern marketplace. They were recruiting new members for [Zhan Long]âs main guild. In the middle of the night was the best time as thatâs when all of the high level all nighter players came out. Thatâs why Song Han and Matcha were so busy trying to recruit.
[Zhan Long]âs main guild was already Lv 5, and was a top tier guild. We could take 10,000 people, and right now, we already had 4000. Of those 4000, we already took 1000 from each of the separate divisions. Finally, we had to recruit new members for the remaining 6000 spots.
With long swords on my back, I slowly walked over and smiled, âLittle Wolf, Matcha, whatâs the situation with recruiting new members like?â
Little Wolf turned around with a smile, âBrother Xiao Yao is here! Itâs alright, our requirements for entering the guild are somewhat high. They have to be higher than Lv 75, and on top of that, they canât be on for less than 10 hours a day, and they have to have at least 3 pieces of Purple Tier equipment. So, the recruiting process has been a little slow. On the other hand, everyone that we have recruited are true elites, and wonât dilute the guildâs talent.â
Matcha smiled, âBoss, I just recruited a CBN ranked 347 expert. Little Wolf also recruited a CBN Ranked Top 1000 person. Looks like our [Zhan Long] did get some prestige out of that City War. These ranked experts all came to join [Zhan Long] on their own. Thatâs extremely hard to find.â
I nodded with a smile, then lowered my voice and whispered, âYou have to make sure to check out their backgrounds. If thereâs anyone that has ties with any of our enemy guilds we definitely cannot take them. I donât want to take a whole bunch of spies into our guildâ¦â¦â
Little Wolf smiled, âBrother Xiao Yao, donât worry about it. Matcha and I arenât idiots, we will be careful.â
âOk.â
I turned around and faced a wall of Ba Huang City players, all of whom were staring at my face and ID. A few girls were filled with excitement, âWoah, isnât this⦠isnât this the Guild Master of [Zhan Long], Xiao Yao Zi Zai? He really is as good looking as the rumors. A dual sword specialist, heâs just too handsome. That cloak should be the newest one, the [War Swept Cloak] right? Too amazing, too amazingâ¦â¦â
One of the misses picked up a sharp knife and walked forward as she excitedly said, âXiao Yao Zi Zai, take me into your guild please! Iâm a Lv 76 Swordsman with 5500 health, 3200 attack, and 2200 defense. Please take me!â
I glanced at her ID. She had joined a small guild before this, so there didnât seem to be any problem with her background. Thus I gladly consented, and let her join [Zhan Long]. On top of that, recruited people are all on a probation list until they earn a certain amount of guild points. After that, they become official members. This way, we create a competitive environment, and the guild wonât come to a standstill.
Either way, I wasnât in a hurry to sleep early. I stood at the Northern Gate along with Little Wolf and Matcha and recruited people. Old K and Li Mu were at another gate recruiting people as well. After that City War, we needed to ride the waves of change. Truly strong people had broken free from their shells and metamorphosed. This was the perfect time to recruit. Plus, the earlier we fill up our main guild with people, the sooner we hit 14,000 members total, With the 3000 members from our Lv 4 First Division, and our 1000 members from our Lv 3 Second Division. Even if we donât make it, weâll easily have more than 12,000 members. With that, we wonât be easily pinned down by others. With 14,000 of [Zhan Long]âs elites, no matter where we are people will cower at our might.
It wasnât until 4 a.m., when we finally too tired to continue that we decided it was time to sleep. On my friendâs list, Dong Cheng and Wan Er had already logged off to sleep earlier on.
â¦â¦
I logged off and rested.
After waking up from my sleep, it was already close to noon. âDu duâ my phone rang. It was Wang Xinâs numberââ
âDo you need something, Captain Wang?â
âYeah, come to HQâ Wang Xinâs voice was heavy. He said, âSomethingâs happened.â
âWhat happened?â
Wang Xin said, âLast time, do you still remember Qin Meng? Thereâs some hints as to where he is. Shen Bingâs gotten pretty close with Wei Fan, and a person called You Yi in the game. From them, she was able to get some information. Qin Mengâs name was mentioned. It was in a list of failed products. Based on the records after he was injected with the medicine, his body underwent a sudden change. There was a 30% risk, and so all of the people that participated in that experiment were labeled as âEvolution Failureâ. Qin Tai was one of them. Weâre still not sure how Blood Scythe buried the bodies, butâ¦â¦ Shen Bing got some information from You Yi in the game. You Yi said that once every month, at 3 oâclock in the afternoon, theyâll deal with some failed experiments at a chemical plant south of the cityâ¦â¦â
âChemical plant?â I was puzzled.
âYup, so they can use the big furnace, and burn the bodies!â
âThisâ¦â I made a fist, âOnce we find the chemical plant, are we just going to clean it up?â
âYou could say that.â Wang Xin gave a frustrated sigh, âThere are some workers that are protesting at that chemical plant today. On top of that, it might get violent really quickly. The people up top are focusing on this event, and have already sent out some cops to maintain the safety there. Howeverâ¦I think that this might be some ploy by Wei Fan. Heâs probably using his contacts on the web, and trying to make the situation bigger than it is so that he can burn the failed experiments in the midst of the chaos. Who wouldâve thought that a place covered with so many Special Forces would have such a sinful act be committed, right under their noses?â
I squinted my eyes, âI understand. Captain Wang, you want us toâ¦â¦â
âExactly!â
Wang Xin said, âI need you to wear a Special Forces uniform, and go to the scene. I want you to mix in with the other Special Forces members, and investigate the specifics of the situation. I wonât bore you with any other details, just hurry over. How many people will you need?â
â10! And I need two Royal Air tier experts to go with me.â
âGot it!â
â¦â¦
I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face, then put on a clean set of clothes and walked out the door. At the school gate, a black and white car was waiting for me. The driver poked his head out the window, âHead, over here!â
I recognized him. He was one of the officers at HQ. I hurried onto the car, and quickly arrived at HQ. Shen Bing stood at the door, dressed in a crisp uniform. She welcomed me with a smile, âThis time we have to complete the task successfully. But, I canât go with you this time. Commander Wang said that I donât have enough muscle power, so going would just add to your troublesâ¦â
I laughed, âOk, where are the clothes?â
âIn the car! Change quickly!â
âOk!â
In the car, I quickly changed into the new attire. On my chest, rested my old police badge, the three words, Li Xiao Yao, were printed in silver. I thought, there must be plenty of other police officers like me, who were out there risking their lives for the sole sake of making sure that this holy police badge would never have dirt on it. Without a strong purpose, how else would people continue down this path?
â¦â¦
As we rode in the car another ten other officers rushed to the scene with me. Of them, there were two who were around 35-40 year old uncles that didnât say much. Their eyes belied a radiant light, and their aura was above average. These were definitely not normal people. This type of Qi control was not something that normal people had. It looks like these were veterans, but they were still not at the level of top tier Royal Air experts.
Apparently they were very expensive. Just two Royal Air tier specialistsâ annual income was around 2 million. Just thinking about it made me indignant. Godd*mnit, even my monthly income was only around 4000 RMBâ¦â¦ and to think that Iâm practically their commander!