Show Me the Money

Chapter 135 - Celestial Tier Boss

"Dang! What the heck?!" Fatty immediately straightened his body and pushed open the coffin's lid.

Whoosh! A creepy wind kicked up as a pale hand crept out from the coffin to clutch at a side. Creak… Another hand grabbed at the other side as well. Then, both hands pushed against the coffin's edge to leverage a humanoid boss upright. A golden crown sat atop the creature's head; a golden mask covered its face; and the figure wore full-body armor that, too, was golden.

Undead Marshal Lei Ting1

Celestial Boss

Level: ???

Celestial boss? How's that possible?! Fatty was appalled. The location was too close to Black Tortoise City to house a celestial boss. According to the meta, the region was intended only for players to farm; so, an advanced boss like the Phantom Messenger had already been outrageous enough! How could there be a celestial boss now?!

Ding!

System Notification: Player Money Grubber and player Purple Bell have awakened the celestial boss Undead Marshal Lei Ting. As this is a great threat to Black Tortoise City, 5000 Reputation will be deducted from each player.

Brave warriors of Black Tortoise City, prepare your weapons and venture to the Seventh Floor of Mass Graves. Slay the dreadful monster and defend your home!

The moment Fatty opened the coffin and the Undead Marshal stepped out, the system popped a notification for the whole CN region to see. Strangely, however, the two people it mentioned didn't get the message at all.

"What? A celestial-tier boss?"

"Oh, poor couple of schmucks, actually losing 5000 Reputation."

"Let's hurry to Black Tortoise City and kill the celestial boss!"

"Quick, quick! Before it's too late!"

"Aaah, Undead Marshal! It's really the Undead Marshal! Master, I finally get to meet you again!" The entire CN region was abuzz with excitement. Countless players flocked toward Black Tortoise City, causing its teleportation portals to flash continuously with light columns. Black Tortoise City had a huge amount of teleportation portals, yet all of them creaked beneath the onslaught, as if they were about to go on strike at any moment.

"Wind God's World, what the hell is this?" On the fifth floor of Mass Graves, Jiangdong's LittleOverlord raged at Wind God's World and grabbed him by his collar.

Raising his hands to push away Jiangdong's LittleOverlord, Wind God's World fixed his collar and replied somewhat awkwardly, "Bell has a skill that can teleport to a chosen location. I had her go down to see if the Phantom Messenger had fled to the lower floors. I never expected to unintentionally wake the Undead Marshal."

"Unintentionally? As far as I can see, you guys planned it," Xu Quan remarked icily.

"Money Grubber is down there as well. How did he descend?" Wind God's World hurriedly changed the topic.

"Damn Fatty!" Liu Lan couldn't help but feel anxious upon seeing the surrounding players' faces turn grim. "He just went down there without a word. What will people think of him from now on?"

——

"Lei Ting is out?" In the City Lord's Manor, Lord Lin Xi savored his tea while calmly conversing with Drucker.

"That's right, my Lord. It was that little fatty, Money Grubber, who released him."

"Hehe, he really knows how to cause trouble," Lin Xi mused, setting his teacup on the table. "After all, Lei Ting is still a hero of Black Tortoise City; he's made far too many contributions. Go extend an invitation to Grandmaster Jijilu, so that he might help Lei Ting rest in peace. Let no one disturb our hero."

The corner of Drucker's lips curled down briefly. If you hadn't thought to place the Guild Establishment Token with Lei Ting, would such ignorant people throw away their lives to come for him? Who knows how many people have died in the past few days already? But, Drucker didn't dare voice his thoughts. He sent for Grand Magus Jijilu, assembled a troop, then flashily whizzed toward Mass Graves.

——

"Big Brother Fatty, what's wrong?" Purple Bell hastily asked, watching Fatty's expression suddenly change. At the same time, she summoned the Yin Yang Manual along with her pet Butterfly Fairy in preparation for combat.

"This is a celestial-tier boss," sighed Fatty. He had no desire to fight now. Dragging Purple Bell several steps back, he shared the Undead Marshal's information with her.

"Uh, a celestial-tier boss? Over level 50?" Purple Bell stammered in shock. She hurriedly pocketed Butterfly Fairy. "Big Brother Fatty, should we still fight?"

"Fight? Of course we'll fight! Otherwise, establishing a guild in Black Tortoise City would only ever be a dream," Fatty answered with resolve. "But, we need to figure out a way to beat it first."

Bang!

The Undead Marshal rose completely and took a step out of the coffin. He was of a sturdy build and garbed in gold from top to toe. A golden cloak floated behind his back, and numerous magical runes flowed back and forth along the fabric.

The boss swung his hand. A golden corona fell, conjuring a skeletal horse from nowhere. The bony steed was different from those on the floors above. Also clad in golden armor, the horse had hooves covered in burning flames. Each step the mount took was beautiful, as if it walked upon fire.

Hellfire Stallion

Mid-rank Yao Monster

Level: 50

……

Notes: Undead Marshal Lei Ting's mount accompanied its master in death on the battlefield. Yet, the stallion's soul refused to perish, and the beast transformed into a Hellfire Stallion. Even now, the horse remains a faithful servant of Lei Ting.

"Neiiiigh!" The Hellfire Stallion let out a long whinny upon emerging. The beast stretched its neck and affectionately nuzzled Undead Marshal Lei Ting's body, like a kitten acting cute with its master. Lei Ting extended his hand to caress the Hellfire Stallion's neck. Master and pet leaned close to each other, appearing to have forgotten about the two players' existences.

"Big Brother Fatty, what now?" Seeing another monster, a mid-ranked yao Hellfire Stallion, Purple Bell grew even more anxious. Despite her powerful ability, she was only a 16-year-old girl underneath it all. She truly had no idea what to do when faced with such a situation.

"There's no other way. We'll have to gamble," Fatty muttered.

"Gamble? Gamble what?" asked Purple Bell, confused.

"Remember how I got the City Construction Token?" He replied with a question.

"You mean Stealing?" Purple Bell instantly understood. "But, the success rate of Steal is too low. It'd be even harder to Steal the Guild Establishment Token."

"That's why it's a gamble." Fatty's expression was dead serious. "I've just pk'ed TenStepOneKill, so my name is still red. I'll definitely drop a lot of stuff when I die. When the time comes, help me pick it all up. There's an especially important skill book that you must ensure I get."

"Big Brother Fatty, that's too dangerous! Maybe we could retreat and wait for the sixth floor entrance to connect. Then the six guilds can cooperate to kill it," Purple Bell suggested and tugged at Fatty's hand.

"Heheh! What's there to be afraid of?" Fatty consoled Purple Bell. "It's only dropping a level, not dying for real. No worries!"

"Then, you must be careful!" declared Purple Bell emphatically before she released his hand.

Undead Marshal Lei Ting had been mumbling something as he caressed the Hellfire Stallion. Suddenly, he flung himself onto the horse. "Neiiiiighh!" The beast let out another long whinny and burst into a racing gallop around the seventh-floor hall. Rider and mount plainly ignored Fatty and Purple Bell.

Ting! The sound of incoming message rang out. Purple Bell's expression changed upon hearing the message. She hurriedly informed her companion, "Big Brother Fatty, my brother sent me a message. The system posted a notification about us waking the Undead Marshal!"

"What?" Fatty was shocked. "It actually, really deducted 5000 reputation from us?! Damn it! Do they think Reputation points are so ubiquitous they're just found laying around?!"

"What should we do now? Jiangdong's LittleOverlord and the rest are interrogating my big brother. They might contact you soon."

No sooner had Purple Bell finished speaking, Fatty received a message via his communicator from Fierce Dragon TheTalent. "Brother Grubber, you're not playing fair," Fierce Dragon TheTalent chided in a low tone, as if repressing his rage.

"How is this 'not playing fair'? You guys come for the boss with my information, but that prohibits me from fighting it?" Fatty retorted.

Fierce Dragon TheTalent choked at the man's reply. Calming slightly, the guild master said, "We still helped you with your mission—"

"I also gave you guys the location of the Guild Establishment Token!" Fatty sharply cut him off. "You guys can't descend, so I'm not allowed to either?"

Fierce Dragon TheTalent suddenly laughed. "Alright, you win. Then, let's decide how we'll distribute the Guild Establishment Token if it drops."

"Same old rule: If it really drops, I'll hold an auction. Purple Bell and I each get half the money from the transaction."

Hearing Fatty's reply, Fierce Dragon TheTalent shrugged his shoulders and looked toward the rest.

Slouching nearby, TheFugitive turned away from flirting with the pretty girls of the Ice Rose Alliance to offer, "Rest assured, Fatty is a man of his word; I can vouch for him." Then, he returned to his wooing. The guild masters nodded and decided to wait for news from Fatty.

"Boss, the people above have started to attack again. I also heard Purple Bell and Money Grubber joined hands to kill a PK player called TenStepOneKill, who had reached the seventh floor as well. He's currently up above, convincing the guilds to disregard everything and come down to fight," a player at Fierce Dragon TheTalent's side whispered.

"Don't worry about them. We only need to guard this entrance well." Fierce Dragon TheTalent's gaze swept over the other guild masters who had elected him to take charge. "As for the matter down below, we'll leave it to Fatty," the guild master instructed his informant.

——

"What say you, guild masters? You must believe my words by now!" On the third floor, TenStepOneKill was wearing a cold smile as he looked at the gathering of guild masters.

"It's a celestial boss; can we really descend and fight it?" a guild master asked with a hint of doubt.

"Even if we are incapable, we cannot let others fight it!" another guild master protested.

"That's right! If we can't take it, no one else can either!" the rest of the guild masters chimed in.

"Then, everyone will take turns to attack. Don't stop! We'll chase them out and open the sixth floor entrance ourselves!"

An urgent voice suddenly cried out, "Guild master, there are people trying to get in from outside! There are too many of them! Our brothers can no longer hold them back!"

"Stop them if it's the last thing you do! Send people from the other five guilds as well. We can't handle this alone! Motherf*ckers! They want to take advantage of us? In their dreams!" Everyone quickly divided the tasks. The members from the five guilds tightly blocked the players from above while the remaining guilds began to attack the fourth floor in turns.

"Charge! Kill the celestial boss! Get the drops!" On the second floor of Mass Graves, more and more players furious shouted and continued stampeding downward.

1. Lei Ting means Thunder/Thunderous.↩