Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Chapter 85 - Removing the Firewood from under the Pot

The Past Deeds’ guild members were each assigned a role according to Young Master Han’s strategy.

According to this arrangement, everyone did not need to be overly vigilant and just had to get into position once Fugitive 27149’s coordinates started moving. They should not rush toward their respective positions either, as their hurried movement would only alert Fugitive 27149 that something was afoot. Therefore, the guild members would only block the entrance of Youye Valley after 27149 traveled quite a distance from it.

The thing they should note, however, was to not arbitrarily assault Fugitive 27149. Even if they bumped into him along the way, they must apologize and leave things at that.

“We need to lull him into a false sense of security. By creating such a scenario, we’ll already accomplish half of the work,” Young Master Han explained.

The Past Deeds’ guild members were thoroughly impressed. In fact, the top brasses Blue Ease and Vast Lushness already had thoughts of attracting Young Master Han into their guild afterward.

“This will be a battle of attrition!” Young Master Han said, “Since he has high PK value on him, killing him once would mean dropping him by two levels today. But I reckon he’ll immediately log off once he respawns at a safe zone. So we’ll need someone to stake him out until he returns online. Oh, yes, leave someone by the Bounty Assignment Hall. Let’s not give him any opportunity to turn himself in either. Find some men to seal off the exit to the other nearby designated log-off points as well, so as to guarantee that we can drop two levels off him today by killing him once without him managing to escape. I’m sure you guys know how slippery that guy is.”

“Yes, that’s right!” Vast Lushness promptly appointed a few more people to be in charge of ‘manning’ the various log-off points.

“Do you have any manpower issues?” Young Master Han asked.

“Uh… We can still manage!” Vast Lushness replied. In truth, it was quite a strain to distribute their forces to a total of ten places, namely Youye Valley, underground prison, Bounty Assignment Hall, and the spawn points of the seven main job classes – which served as safe zones and log-off points. More importantly, they were instructed not to fight back, making this setup all the more frustrating.

“It’s okay. These are just safety measures. My group will be close behind. Even if he escapes and manages to make his way to a safe zone, your people there just need to delay him for a while until we catch up, which I believe is not a problem for your guildmates,” Young Master Han said.

“Yeah! Not a problem!” Vast Lushness nodded her head.

“If that’s the case, I’ll leave the preventive arrangement to you, and you guys can leave the hunting issue to us! As long as he can’t hide in any of those places, he’s definitely dead meat. We’re professionals, after all,” Young Master Han smiled.

“Thank you! Thank you guys for all this!” Vast Lushness said, looking very emotional.

“Don’t worry about it!” Young Master Han had a very calm expression, “Since everything’s settled, let’s all split up for now. Once his coordinates start to move, you guys just have to head to the respective spots and defend those. Message me and we’ll begin our hunt of him.”

“No problem!” Vast Lushness shook Young Master Han’s hand, “Pleasure working with you.”

“Pleasure working with you, too,” Young Master Han revealed that warm smile of his one last time, as the guild members headed toward their assigned tasks.

Sword Demon and the rest of the mercenary group were standing by the side with blackened faces.

“We should go, too,” Young Master Han told them.

Royal God Call, who was about to say something, was patted on the back by Sword Demon. The latter then warned on the mercenary channel, “Don’t say a word.”

“Why?” Royal God Call felt puzzled.

“I saw a Thief enter Stealth mode not long ago. He may just be lurking near us, listening to our every word,” Sword Demon said.

“Oh…” Royal God Call understood. He quickly schooled his facial expression into an excited one and declared, “That guy’s dead for sure! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Tone your acting down! That's overly dramatic!” Brother Assist criticized on the mercenary channel.

Sword Demon wiped the dagger he was holding, exuding a murderous aura, “That’s right. He’s a goner.”

“Mhm. Sword Demon’s acting is neither too dramatic nor too lukewarm. Just the right level,” Brother Assist critiqued in the channel, as he went along with them and loudly exclaimed, “To think we could get the help of such a large guild, this should save us plenty of time.”

“Indeed, nothing can go wrong now!” War Without Wounds quipped.

The greatest actor of them all, Young Master Han, nodded his head in agreement and said, “Let’s find somewhere to grind our levels for now.”

The five left at a normal pace. Over by the Past Deeds’ guild channel, Vast Lushness was indeed questioning a few Thieves she had left behind to eavesdrop, “What did they say?”

“They believe the plan to be foolproof,” one of the Thieves reported.

Vast Lushness sighed in relief. With her final shred of doubt dispelled, she faced Blue Ease, “Seems like they can be trusted.”

Blue Ease nodded his head, “I got someone to appraise their equipment. They’re definitely topnotch even when compared to our guild. They won’t have any issues in terms of strength.”

“Let’s try to recruit them into our guild once this matter is settled,” Vast Lushness said.

“Yeah. We’ll discuss this with the guild leader once he’s out,” Blue Ease agreed. Guild Leader Silver Moon was still sitting in jail at the moment. There were still four hours left until his release.

“That dimwit,” Vast Lushness’ eyes reflected rare tenderness when Silver Moon was mentioned.

“I’ll go distribute our men,” Blue Ease began to calculate, “We currently have three hundred forty-six members online. Let’s designate thirty members into each of the nine locations mentioned before. As for the guarding of the tenth location, Youye Valley, we’ll be sending all our remaining men there since the valley entrance is rather large.”

Vast Lushness nodded her head, “Don’t forget to assign Priests to each of the locations. That’s very important.”

“Of course,” Blue Ease affirmed.

Young Master Han and the rest were already several hundred meters away from Youye Valley. Seeing as this was their first time here, they naturally did not know where to grind levels.

“Are there still Thieves following us?” Royal God Call asked on the mercenary channel.

“I don’t know. If only Miles is here,” Sword Demon vividly recalled Gu Fei’s ability to detect a Thief on Stealth. That event could even be said to be etched deep on his heart.

“What? What?” Gu Fei immediately called out on the mercenary channel. He had seen their exchanges on the channel, yet he did not butt in. This was because he had no idea what they were talking about. So when he saw his name being mentioned, he immediately asked after himself.

“It’s nothing. We’re setting up a plan for you to leave Youye Valley without anyone bothering you,” Young Master Han said calmly.

“What’s going on? How did you guys know I’m in Youye Valley?” Gu Fei was puzzled, “Are you guys in Yueye City?”

“That’s right. In fact, we’re even trying to resolve your current predicament,” Young Master Han said.

“Oh, what’s the plan?” Gu Fei asked.

“We’re removing the firewood from under the pot1,” Young Master Han replied.

“What does that mean?” Gu Fei asked for clarification.

“The people troubling you are mostly from Past Deeds. Your matter will be resolved if we eliminate that guild, right?” Young Master Han asked rhetorically, making everything sound very easy.

“Your boldness is truly admirable! I’ll wait for your victory announcement, then!” Gu Fei remarked.

“How are we doing this?” Royal God Call asked.

“Let’s find somewhere to discuss this matter with ease first, preferably a private place and not a rowdy place like a tavern,” Young Master Han answered.

“I know someone. You guys can look for her and she can provide you such a place,” Gu Fei said, adding “Her name’s Will-low.”

“Alright. Let’s split up. Sword Demon, lose our tail and find this Will-low person. And then, proceed onto the next step of the plan,” Young Master Han said.

The five split up. Sword Demon activated his level 30 skill, Fleetfoot, and sprinted away. There was no way that a Thief on Stealth could catch up to a Thief on Fleetfoot.

Gu Fei promptly added Will-low as a friend, “It’s me.”

Level 31, Mage. Will-low immediately knew who the player was upon reading the message.

“Ah, it’s you! I was just about to look for you... And by the way, don't leave Youye Valley for now. There’s a group of five men from Yunduan City hunting you. They’re working together with Vast Lushness. There’s no one outside right now, but I think they’ve set up a trap for you. I was going to eavesdrop, but a lot of people were there then. I couldn’t get near them,” Will-low anxiously narrated the situation to Gu Fei.

Gu Fei could already guess who those “five men from Yunduan City” were. Laughing lightly, he said, “Don’t worry. I’ve friends on their way to assist me as well. They’d like to borrow your house to discuss the matter. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course, it’s fine!” Will-low affirmed.

“Alright! A Thief called Sword Demon will contact you soon,” Gu Fei said.

“Sword Demon? THAT Sword Demon of Magic Domain?” Will-low quietly exclaimed in shock.

“Yup, that’s the one. Do you know him?”

“Who would not know such a glorious gamer?! To think I’ll have the chance to meet him…” Will-low gushed.

“Don’t get your hopes too high. Many have felt let down after seeing his appearance,” Gu Fei advised.

“I heard he’s really ugly. He he! That doesn’t matter to me. I’ll head to the house and wait for him,” Will-low said.

Gu Fei followed up on Sword Demon with the relevant information. Sword Demon on Fleetfoot very quickly arrived in Yueye City and got the coordinates to Will-low’s place. But before going there, Sword Demon had to look for someone first.

Outside the entrance of Yueye City’s Assassin Union, Sword Demon walked toward a Thief who was busy looking all around him.

“Dusky Cloud? Hi, I’m Sword Demon,” Sword Demon extended his right hand.

Dusky Cloud was stunned. He immediately recognized Sword Demon as one of the five people that had previously stopped him from killing off Vast Lushness back in Youye Valley. Dusky Cloud naturally would not think highly of Sword Demon after an incident like that, so he ignored the proffered hand and furrowed his brows, “Why’re you looking for me?”

“My friends and I have a large-scale plan in motion, which we think you’ll be very interested in taking part,” Sword Demon replied.

“Oh? What’s that?” Dusky Cloud asked, slightly taken aback.

“Let’s go somewhere private first, and then we’ll talk about this. Follow me,” Sword Demon led the way.

“How did you know I’m called Dusky Cloud?” Dusky Cloud asked curiously, as he walked alongside Sword Demon.

“Heard it from my friend,” Sword Demon answered.

“How’s that possible?” Dusky Cloud was perplexed.

“I have yet to hear a second Thief owning Zephyr’s Whisper,” Sword Demon explained.

Previously, Dusky Cloud had failed to kill Vast Lushness with Backstab in Youye Valley. After Young Master Han saved his life, he entered Stealth mode in an unusually fast rate. Upon seeing this, the expert Sword Demon immediately deduced that Dusky Cloud had activated the Vanish skill, which could forcibly activate Stealth mode for Thieves.

Everyone saw that Dusky Cloud had not taken out anything resembling a skill scroll, leading them to recall Zephyr's Whisper, the dagger owned by No Smile that possessed the same skill.

Although they could not be certain if it was the same dagger owned by No Smile, a possibility existed nonetheless. For No Smile to consign his best equipment to another person, it would definitely have to be a trustworthy friend. It was not actually a hard task to find that out, as all they needed to do was consult July of Amethyst Rebirth. After all, she used to be someone close to No Smile, so she would of course know who No Smile’s best friend was.

Young Master Han easily found out the Thief’s name as Dusky Cloud through Luo Luo. Following this, Sword Demon promptly added him as a friend. When Dusky Cloud claimed to be from Yueye City, the gang pieced the puzzle together.

Actually, they had done something unnecessary. If they simply asked Gu Fei whether a friend of No Smile was living in Yueye City or not, he would be able to tell them the answer. Unfortunately, none of them had considered the possibility of Gu Fei encountering Dusky Cloud in the city.

Whatever the case might be, they did find the person that they were looking for.

The two arrived at Will-low’s house after a short walk. Sword Demon checked the coordinates once more before sending a message to her.

Will-low readily opened the door and invited the two in.

“You’re that…” Will-low was shocked when she saw Sword Demon, obviously recognizing him as one of the five men outside of Youye Valley. At this moment, she could not understand the situation. Recalling that this was a request from Gu Fei, Will-low decided to have faith in his judgment.

“Nobody can eavesdrop inside here. Thieves nowadays are far too daring. Each of them likes to eavesdrop on others, knowing that there isn’t a skill that can detect Stealth yet,” Sword Demon criticized, appearing as if he was not guilty of such impolite actions. Dusky Cloud and Will-low felt somewhat ashamed of themselves, as they had done precisely that back in Youye Valley.

Dusky Cloud lightly coughed twice to reduce the awkwardness in the air, “Brother Sword Demon wants to discuss something with me, right? Is it related to that plan you mentioned before?”

Sword Demon nodded his head, “It’s a plan to eradicate Past Deeds. I think you’ll be interested in it,” Sword Demon and the gang were old slicks when it came to playing games, so they could tell that Vast Lushness was a top brass of Past Deeds. Dusky Cloud’s willingness to risk himself being hunted endlessly by Past Deeds for his attempted assassination on Vast Lushness showed how deep his loathing toward her. Hence, they decided to see if they could borrow his strength for this plan.

“Tell me more of this plan,” Dusky Cloud was a veteran player who had been through a lot as well. Naturally, he would not readily agree to a plan he had no idea of. Only a noob player would get excited just from being invited to take part in a scheme.

“How big is the Past Deeds Guild?” Sword Demon asked.

“It’s a level-four guild with five hundred members. About three to four hundred members get online daily,” Dusky Cloud looked over at Will-low as he said this, seemingly asking for the validation of his information.

Will-low confidently nodded her head, “That’s about right.”

Past Deeds was strong indeed. Traversing Four Seas, Yunduan City’s largest guild, was slightly inferior to it, being only at level 3 with three hundred members.

“I heard Past Deeds has a poor reputation around here. Many players must be holding a grudge against that guild,” Sword Demon remarked.

“That’s true,” Dusky Cloud affirmed.

“Is there any way to mobilize the public?” Sword Demon probed.

“Mobilize? Against Past Deeds?” Dusky Cloud laughed bitterly for a moment, “Are you thinking of using the power of the masses to overwhelm Past Deeds? I don’t know what you’re smoking, but most players here are afraid to move against them. They may cuss like bad*ss m*th*rf*ck*rs, but that’s it. They’re all talk and no action. F*ck! In the past, we made arrangements with a few other guilds in Yueye City to sweep a grinding map from Past Deeds together, yet only a handful of them showed up when it was time to act. All across the mountains and terrains of that level 30 to 40 grinding map were filled with Past Deeds’ players! What sort of sweep could we achieve with just that pitiful amount of people? Nowadays, almost all the experts in Yueye City are members of Past Deeds. If we don’t have at least twice or thrice their number, it’s impossible to achieve anything against Past Deeds. You’re looking down on the intelligence of Yueye City’s player base if that’s your plan. Do you really think that we haven’t thought of plans exploiting our superiority in number?”

Sword Demon smiled, “That means you can contact other guilds, right?”

Dusky Cloud nodded his head once more, “Of course, I do. After all, my current goal is to eradicate Past Deeds. If the others and I allow them to continue their arrogance, how will we hang our hats up here? I’m actually depressed right now. Today, Vast Lushness managed to have a good look at me. Once the matter with Fugitive 27149 passes, I will most likely be the Past Deeds’ next target! If only I have five hundred experts to lead against Past Deeds and annihilate them once and for all!”

“Can you find five hundred men?”

“I mean five hundred EXPERTS! Haven’t I mentioned how the players of Past Deeds can gather in a grinding map all at once? A wrong move on our part may invite a concentrated attack from them. We must at least have the ability to destroy everyone all at once to deal with them,” Dusky Cloud clarified.

“And yet, an opportunity happens to be present at the moment,” Sword Demon laughed enigmatically.

“What opportunity?” Dusky Cloud asked.

“Can you tell your buddies to come over here? I want to explain the situation to all of you in one go. I can guarantee that it’ll be the most enticing offer,” Sword Demon said.

“Are you for real?” Dusky Cloud had his doubts.

“I’m not one for jokes,” Sword Demon answered seriously.

“Alright, wait for a bit!” Dusky Cloud felt assured. He immediately sent a message to his friends along this line, “You m*th*rf*ck*rs! Get your *ss*s over here!”

In no time at all, Will-low’s house was filled with more people. Each of them had a look of suspicion on their faces. Dusky Cloud hurriedly addressed them, “Everyone, settle down first. We’re still missing some people.” The crowd began to settle down as they waited for others to arrive. Not long after, nine more players filed into the house.

“Ahem!” Dusky Cloud cleared his throat to begin, “Everyone, this player here is Sword Demon. I’m sure you guys are familiar with his IGN.”

Sword Demon was a legendary figure in the online gaming community. All these experienced gamers inside the room had obviously heard of him, so they immediately professed their admiration for him. Once this was over, they collectively asked Dusky Cloud, “Why did you call for us?”

“Silence, you b*st*rds!” Dusky Cloud cussed, “Brother Sword Demon is proposing a plan to annihilate Past Deeds, so I called you guys over to hear him out.”

“Annihilate Past Deeds? F*ck me! Brother Sword Demon, how large is the reinforcement you brought along?” someone shouted.

“Heard you’re from Yunduan City! Traveling this far just to assault Yueye City’s Past Deeds... No wonder everyone praises you. This brother here is thoroughly impressed!” another person exclaimed.

“F*ck, yes! There’s finally hope. We’ve managed to survive these trying times!”

After Dusky Cloud’s buddies expressed their opinions, Sword Demon laughed politely and said slowly, “We don’t have many people. There’re only six of us.”

All the players inside the room were stunned, exchanging looks with one another. Just as someone opened his mouth to speak, Dusky Cloud interjected, “You m*th*rf*ck*rs better shut your traps and let Sword Demon finish speaking.”

In the end, just one person mumbled, “In the end, it’s still the same case of asking us to risk our lives. If this ploy falls through, we’ll definitely suffer the wrath of Past Deeds!”

Before Sword Demon could respond, Dusky Cloud already scolded, “Celestial Pig, you m*th*rf*ck*r. What even is your sh*tty guild? You’ve got about thirty plus b*st*rds in it, and half of them are your family and relatives’ level 10 accounts. They don’t even come online anymore. Why’re you nagging so much when you can just gather your family again to nominate a new guild?!”

Celestial Pig laughed brightly, “A circle, though small, is still complete! It wasn’t easy for me to set up my guild! For the sake of meeting the required number to nominate it, my grandfather had to enter this VR game and struggle through the confusion of getting to level 10, nearly causing him to have cerebral hemorrhage. I won’t even dare to bother him again!”

Dusky Cloud continued badmouthing him, “Shouldn’t you be putting effort into this matter, then? You’re barely scraping by these days. Didn’t you get cuss out like dog poop by that b*st*rd Blue Ease at the Auction House yesterday? Looking at your cowardly mug, you still dare to mention your grandfather? To think you still have the face to look your grandfather in the eyes after he risked his life with that cerebral hemorrhage just to help you nominate a guild. Do you even have dignity? Grow a pair, will you? Just this one—”

“Alright, you m*th*rf*ck*ng b*st*rd! This bad*ss m*th*rf*ck*r will join you! Happy?” Celestial Pig nearly cried tears of blood.

“That’s more like it,” Dusky Cloud affirmed. He then said to Sword Demon, “Brother Sword Demon, don’t worry a thing. Even though these friends of mine are uncultured—”

“M*th*rf*ck*r, you’re the one who’s uncultured. Your whole family is uncultured!”

“Old Cloud, you’re a real m*th*rf*ck*r yourself! Stop acting like you’re a saint.”

The crowd eventually settled down after five minutes. Dusky Cloud resumed, “See how uncultured these cowards are? Every other word they say is punctuated by expletives—But!” Just as everyone was about to start cursing once more, Dusky Cloud hurriedly interjected, “Besides Celestial Pig, who has no backbone, the others are hot-blooded top players through and through. If you truly have a workable plan, give it to us. We promise not to wrinkle our brows and to carry out every task seriously!”

“Yeah, that’s much better, Old Cloud,” Everyone was satisfied, except for Celestial Pig who continued to howl, “You m*th*rf*ck*ng b*st*rd! G*d*mn, you s*n*f*b*tch!”

“Okay!” Sword Demon, who had been spurred by everyone’s expletive-laden verbal exchange, eagerly said, “With the help of such a band of brothers like you all, I’m sure that there won’t be any issue. Past Deeds’ strength lies in the high levels of its players and the large manpower it can mobilize. Furthermore, that guild’s players usually move in a large group or stay in the same grinding map together, making it difficult for others to attack them. Now, through our machination, all the online members of Past Deeds will split up into ten different locations.”

Everybody’s eyes widened. Being experienced players, they naturally knew what this meant.

“Do you have a map of Yueye City?” Sword Demon asked.

“I have one right here,” Will-low immediately took out a map and handed it over.

“Ah! There’s a flower among us. Why didn’t I notice before?” The lecherous wolves in the pack surfaced. “Hey, babe! What’s your name?” each of them seemed to say the same line.

“You f*ck*rs, this is her house! Settle the f*ck down and finish listening to what Boss Sword Demon has to say!” Dusky Cloud hollered at the unruly bunch.

Sword Demon swept his gaze over the map on the table and extended a finger to point out the ten locations on it one after another, “When the time comes, the Past Deeds’ players will split into ten groups. Each of the nine groups will man the entrance of the underground prison, Bounty Assignment Hall, and the seven designated log-off points. The last group will stay outside Youye Valley’s entrance.”

When people in the room heard this, they immediately understood what Past Deeds’ members were trying to do.

“They really plan to hunt down Fugitive 27149! They’re truly ruthless, not even giving him the chance to log off or turn himself in!” Dusky Cloud commented. The matter of Gu Fei hiding in Youye Valley’s level 50 grinding map had long spread throughout Yueye City.

Sword Demon continued, “Past Deeds will move into position once 27149 leaves Youye Valley. You mentioned before that their online count is always somewhere around three hundred to four hundred. Let’s assume that they have four hundred members right now. Youye Valley will need more people since the entrance is rather wide, which means that the nine locations in the city will have about thirty to forty players each. If we have five hundred men with us—uh, we do have five hundred players on our side, right?” Sword Demon asked the crowd.

The people started counting with their fingers, coming up with a final headcount after exchanging a few words with one another, “There should be over six hundred players, but some of them aren’t online right now. If we exclude the low-level and poorly geared players, there should be around four hundred men.”

Sword Demon nodded his head in acknowledgement, “Four hundred men. If these four hundred men are split into five groups, each group will have eighty persons. Against each of Past Deeds’ groups of thirty to forty players, we obviously have the advantage in number. We should be able to eliminate five of their groups without taking too long. But we shouldn’t stop just yet when that happens. The players on our side should continue to charge toward the nearest target, eliminating the members of the nine groups of Past Deeds in the shortest time possible. Past Deeds will suffer a huge loss if a majority of its members uniformly drop a level.”

Once they started discussing the serious matter at hand, the group of men no longer crazily cursed one another. Each of them now had a solemn expression on their faces as they quietly listened to Sword Demon’s battle plan. After he was done speaking, none revealed immediate excitement.

A few of them were deep in their thoughts. Suddenly, someone said, “If that’s the case, dropping the Past Deeds’ members by one level will just leave us in a stalemate. If we include Past Deeds’ reserve members in Youye Valley and their members who are still offline into the equation, the losses we will incur from this battle are actually greater. We’re still far off from toppling Past Deeds at that rate.”

All nodded their heads in agreement.

These people were rather calm. Sword Demon smiled, “Of course, merely sweeping through the nine groups once isn’t the end. There’re many fine details we can still exploit.”

“Please continue, Brother Sword Demon,” everyone listened intently.

“After the Past Deeds’ players are killed, they’ll revive at their respective job classes’ spawn points. This is the first detail that we can exploit. The battle will be conducted in front of the spawn points. In other words, dead players will revive at where they are affiliated. Take the battle occurring at the Thieves’ spawn point for example. The quickest enemy reinforcement to arrive at the clashing in front of the Thieves’ Union will probably be the Thieves that have been killed at any of the PvP fields. Currently, players are in the early stages of Parallel World. How well the different job classes will fare against one another is fairly obvious, considering that everyone is mostly at level 30 without much difference in skills. So the players who will attack the Thieves’ Union should mainly consist of Warriors, as this job class has the greatest advantage against Thieves,” Sword Demon elaborated.

Everyone immediately understood. They began to analyze everything thoroughly according to Sword Demon’s speech.

“I suppose Archers should be the main force in the Mage Academy?”

“Mages should be the main aggressors in the Warrior Encampment!”

“The Archer Range should be assaulted by Thieves!”

“There’re still three other job classes!”

Sword Demon continued to explain, “Warriors, Mages, Thieves, and Archers are the four main job classes with noticeable vulnerability to specific job classes. Out of the five groups we’re currently forming, four should have each of these four job classes as their main force. After using our numerical superiority of eighty players in each group to quickly take down the different opposing groups consisting of thirty to forty Past Deeds’ members each, we’ll take hold of the different spawn points. We will then leave sixty players, or maybe even just fifty, who possess an advantageous job class to each of the respective spawn points to maintain control over those areas. Exploiting the job classes’ vulnerability, engaging the enemies with a lower number of people that possessed advantageous job classes, and maintaining our dominance of these four specific spawn points of Warriors, Mages, Thieves, and Archers are three aspects that we need to take note of.”

Sword Demon paused for a bit, and then he addressed the crowd once more, “Everyone, take a look at the map. Yueye City’s seven spawn points are located around here. With this street right here as the point of radius, then the Mage Academy is at the one o’clock direction, Knights’ Barracks at three o’clock, Warrior Encampment at four o’clock, Fighters’ Dojo at six o’clock, Priest Academy at seven o’clock, Archer Range at nine o’clock, and Thieves’ Union at eleven o’clock. As for the underground prison, it’s in the city’s northwestern corner and is far from the PvP field. The Bounty Assignment Hall is in the street closest to the Archer Range.

“Our five teams can only conquer five out of all these locations at first, and I believe those enemy groups stationed at the remaining four places will most likely head over to provide support soon after. The locations of each establishment will be the second key detail that we need to take note of.

“According to our plan, we must seize the four spawn points for Warriors, Mages, Thieves, and Archers. Since the Warrior Encampment is situated between the Knights’ Barracks and Fighters’ Dojo, it will probably receive support faster than the other places. To ease the pressure of defending, we have to give up on seizing the Warrior Encampment from the very start. Our first three groups will begin their assaults at three of the aforementioned four spawn points, and the fourth group will need to start their assault by heading to the Knights’ Barracks to destroy the Past Deeds’ thirty odd players positioned there. Only after doing this will the fourth group proceed to seize the Warrior Encampment and defend it. The newly revived Knights in the nearby Knights’ Barracks will probably head over to the Warrior Encampment to assist their comrades there, so our fourth group will need to hold their fort over at Warrior Encampment and avoid distributing their own forces to help with the clashing over at the other spawn points.

“Our fifth group will need to be a team with high maneuverability. They will strike at the Fighters’ Dojo from the get-go! Currently, there aren’t many Fighters in-game since only a limited number of players chose that job class, so there’s no need to defend the Fighters’ Dojo once this group take care of the Past Deeds’ members over there. Once the opponents are killed off over at Fighters’ Dojo, our fifth group will need to head toward the Archer Range. The Priest Academy is along the way, but the Past Deeds’ members stationed in the Priest Academy will have already left to provide support at the battle in front of the Archer Range started by one of our first three groups. Priests essentially don’t have any ability to fight alone, after all. So just leave thirty or forty players to man the Priest Academy. The remaining members of the fifth group should then continue toward the Archer Range and join up with the group there. Together, they’ll obliterate the thirty-man reinforcement coming from the Bounty Assignment Hall, which is situated near the Archer Range. The joined groups will then make their way to the Thieves’ Union and continue onward to the underground prison to destroy the last Past Deeds’ group in the city,” Sword Demon drew a circle with his index finger on the map.

“By this point, five out of the city’s seven spawn points will be completed subdued. So it may be possible to pull the necessary manpower from the various groups to control the other two remaining locations. The excess manpower from each group should also prepare for the final battle with the enemy players coming from Youye Valley! Rest assured; our number is certainly more than the final Past Deeds’ group. In fact, after we take hold of all these advantages, many observing players may be willing to give us a hand. Past Deeds won’t have a chance to recover after this,” Sword Demon concluded.

Everyone pored over the map, pointing and discussing quietly. After some time, Dusky Cloud said, “Brother Sword Demon’s ploy is truly brilliant.”

Sword Demon accepted the compliment gracefully, “Naturally, what I’ve just described is the most ideal situation. When we’re executing the plan, quite a few things outside of our calculations may occur. But as long as we strictly follow our plan, the chances of us emerging victorious are high.”

Dusky Cloud nodded his head, “I have a question.”

“Speak.”

“I actually eavesdropped on the conversation between Vast Lushness and you and four others earlier. Does this mean you five have already planned to deal with Past Deeds from that moment on?” Dusky Cloud asked.

“That’s correct,” Sword Demon affirmed.

“Why? Why did you come here all the way from Yunduan City just to mess with Past Deeds?”

“We’re doing it for a friend,” Sword Demon said firmly.

“Friend?” Dusky Cloud was momentarily stunned, immediately following up, “Is it Fugitive 27149?”

Sword Demon nodded his head in affirmation.

Sword Demon’s confirmation made Dusky Cloud hesitate, “You do know that No Smile is my friend, right?”

“I do,” Sword Demon nodded his head once more.

Everyone saw Dusky Cloud begin to hesitate. Now, it was Celestial Pig’s turn to curse, “Old Cloud, you m*th*rf*ck*r! Why’re you suddenly so cowardly? We’re all aware that No Smile is your friend whom Fugitive 27149 has dropped by eight levels. But this and that are two separate matters. No Smile might have lost eight levels, but he’s got nothing to do with what we’re about to m*th*rf*ck*ng do to Past Deeds. If you’re a real man, you’ll know how to separate personal from business. If you really want to avenge No Smile, go challenge Fugitive 27149 to a duel! Don’t mix this huge matter with your petty personal issue!”

With that, Celestial Pig stepped forward and looked at Sword Demon, “Big Brother Sword Demon, I’ll take over if this coward backs out. I’ve heard of your character, so I’ll put my faith in you. Count my guild in.”

The house was silent, as no one spoke for a while.

Dusky Cloud looked about and suddenly burst into laughter, “Celestial Pig, you m*th*rf*ck*r! Your sh*tty guild only has a dozen or so players in it if one excludes your kin. Leave this to the professionals and get your *ss to the back of the line!”

Everyone immediately felt relieved. They came over to Dusky Cloud and playfully punched him, throwing a couple of insults for good measure, “You m*th*rf*ck*r, I was almost convinced that you’re about to turn into a coward. It’s a good thing that you didn’t disappoint us!”

“Do it! Let’s all do it!” everyone yelled.

“Do it! Let’s eradicate those b*st*rds of Past Deeds!” Dusky Cloud bellowed the loudest.

Sword Demon finally sighed in relief. He immediately sent a message on the mercenary channel, “Alright. We’ve found a gang of dependable brothers for this. Problem solved!”

Chapter Notes:

[1] Removing the wood from under the pot - More info here.

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