After exiting the twilight forests, Liam and the group traveled back north for a while and then headed to the west where the terrain became dry and barren.
The land was dotted with several mountains and craters, some of them being in an active volcanic state.
This was the location of the dungeon 'Molten Domain'.
However, just as the group was about to enter the vicinity, suddenly several dozen players started coming out of the adjacent forest.
"Liam, what should we do now? There are about a hundred players surrounding us. Should we run or fight?" Mia asked.
Not that she was afraid, but theirs was a newly formed guild, and without knowing who this enemy was, it wouldn't be wise to engage.
Also, she was no longer the person at the top. When Liam was around, it was best to consult him before acting.
So Mia clutched the staff in her hand and asked him while simultaneously gauging the strength of the people surrounding them.
However, Liam unexpectedly remained silent instead of answering her immediately. His eyes were fixated on the small emblem on the nearest player's chest.
Jade Mountain!
The emblem of the Gu family guild!
"Heh. You are right. There are indeed a lot of people here." Liam couldn't help but laugh as he looked around.
About a hundred or more people were standing around them, blocking their path.
From the looks of it, they should have prepared some sort of item to keep these many players hidden and suddenly ambush in this way.
"Guild Leader Mia!" A chubby young man sat atop a black panther and shouted, slowly walking out. "Fancy meeting you here. This must be fate."
He laughed loudly and walked with confidence in his strides. His two eyes arrogantly looked at the measly 25 players in front of him.
On the other side, Liam was also equally amused. It was definitely fate! He knew it!
Gu family's Jade Mountain was one of the top guilds in the Gresh Kingdom. So as soon as he created a guild of his own, this confrontation was something that Liam expected.
But he did not think that it would come this soon!
Mia was about to answer the person when suddenly Liam stopped her by raising his hand.
"Welcome, young master. Good to meet you. I wonder what business Jade Mountain has with our guild?"
His eyes at the same time tried to gauge the strength of the people surrounding them.
Their levels and their stats might be hidden but if one observed closely, these things could always be determined by the worth of the equipment they were wearing.
From what Liam could see, this was nothing much.
They wanted to take them out with just this much? With these numbers and this equipment?
Dream on!
"Business? Who said I came to do business? I am here to give you my first and final warning!"
"Surrender now and sign our guild contract. I will let you all live. If not… your equipment might not be the only thing you lose today!"
Hmph! He snorted haughtily giving a glance to either side.
The hundred players dressed in dazzling silver equipment all gave a collective cheer.
They looked as if they were ready to march into battle and tear everything apart at the snap of his finger.
The whole scene might have looked more fear-inducing if not for the fact that the panther under the fat boss currently had a pitiful look on its face.
The guy's weight was clearly too much for the beast to handle, yet the person had black-heartedly forced it to carry him.
"You! How can you be so heartless?" Not able to stand it any longer, Mei Mei stepped forward and shouted back.
"He He. Unfortunately, this game is indeed heartless. You kill or be-"
"What the hell are you talking about? Shut the hell up and get down at once!"
"Huh? What are you talking about? What get down?" Gu Donghai was slightly confused.
Here he was threatening them with death, and this woman was asking him to get down? Who the hell was this crazy woman?
This was not goddess Mia's voice!
"Brother! This guy is too stupid! I don't even want to waste time talking with him. Let's just kill him and save the panther."
Seeing this, Gu Donghai was now even more confused. What the hell was going on here! Why wasn't anyone treating him seriously!
And what was this about saving the panther? Which panther are they talking about?
Especially hearing the word stupid, he was completely triggered.
Liam on the other side was rubbing his temples.
"Slut! Pay attention when I am talking to you! You dare call someone from the Gu family stupid? I am going to end you today!"
"Men Attack!"
"When dealing with idiots, it's better to talk with fists first and words later!"
"We will kill them a few times, and then we will-"
"Your words. Not mine." Liam did not want to waste any more time with this bunch of idiots.
Before Gu Donghai could even finish his sentence, the person who was standing in front of him and talking, was no longer there.
Also, his head was already detached and falling to the ground.
AEK!
Gu Donghai screeched before the rest of his dead body also fell to the ground and disintegrated into light dust.
"LEADER!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
Only the ones at the front realized what happened and shouted. The ones at the back did not even understand what was going on.
There were also some still in a trance, and some took a step back hesitantly.
With the head cut off, the group of hundred suddenly looked extremely unsure of themselves.
Liam smirked. Should he spare them all because they had nothing to do with him in the grand scheme of things?
Unfortunately, that was not how the world worked. He did not stop there and swung his sword wildly.
Jumping off of his back, the white fox dashed around and took care of her share of carnage.
Something bright and shiny dropped with every person who died, so Luna absolutely did not hold back.
Bright reddish-orange bursts of flame popped up here and there amidst the crumbling army.
There was chaos and uproar everywhere and no one knew what to do. "This is the perfect lesson for having numbers without any structure."
Liam typed in the group chat while killing yet another opponent. The others also did not stand idly.
Derek crushed whoever was in his path. Alex slaughtered her way through. Mia dealt damage seeing that no one needed any sort of healing.
In just a matter of a few minutes, all the hundred players were completely decimated.
A few players at the back tried to escape and run away, but Liam did not allow a single one to leave and took care of every last person.
Only some thieves and assassins probably escaped because of their [Stealth] skill and Liam did not bother chasing after them.
Though even most of these players were exposed to friendly fire because of the complete and utter disorder in the group.
The only being that was still remaining, the last one standing was unexpectedly the pitiful black panther.
Mei Mei had saved the beast right from the get-go and protected it all throughout the fight.
When Liam noticed her, she quickly and shamelessly brought out her adorable puppy dog eyes. "Please, brother."
Standing next to her, the panther also had the same expression for some reason.
Watching these two, what else could Liam do? He helplessly shook his head. "Do whatever you want."
"He did not have the heart to break it to her. Beasts once tamed and bound to a player cannot be tamed again by another player.
It was because the beast's soul was typically branded when a contract was formed. If one tried to forcefully erase this contract, then the beast would only perish.
But Liam knew that Mei Mei was probably not going to do anything extreme like that. After a few tries, he expected her to give up.
Stretching his hands, he relaxed his body and prepared to watch the show.
However, unexpectedly, Mei Mei did not try to tame it?
"Sis Yue, quick, give me something you cooked. Meatballs or something."
"Huh?" Shen Yue was confused, but she hurriedly took some grub from her inventory and handed it to the young girl.
She, Liam, and also the rest of the group, curiously watched as Mei Mei fed the meatballs to the panther.
"Do you want to become my pet cutie?" she lovingly patted the panther.
"Eh?" Liam was shocked. The others were also equally shocked.
But the others quickly recovered as they did not expect anything less from the sister of their genius leader!
Like brother like sister!
Only Shen Yue and Liam who knew the truth watched the little girl in amazement.
They both watched the girl coax the panther. Will this even work?
Several played had tried the same method and beasts typically did not submit to niceties like this. They usually eat the food and then still remain hostile.
But… surprisingly… just after a couple of meatballs…
The panther was licking Mei Mei like a dog?
Just two meatballs were enough? It shifted its loyalty so soon? Even Mei Mei was surprised.
[Ding. You have obtained a new pet. Do you wish to name this pet?]
"Yayyyy! Yippee!" Mei Mei jumped up and down in excitement.
She did not use any skill, did not hatch any egg or use any other contract, and just like that, she received a pet! This was simply too awesome!
"Wait. what happened?" Liam asked.
"Bro, I got my first pet!" Mei Mei stuck her tongue out.
Liam opened and closed his mouth speechlessly. "Just what meatballs did you give? Give me some?" He asked Shen Yue.
"Ah… nothing special." She really did not feed the beast anything special.
Shen Yue embarrassedly showed Liam the meatballs and only after he confirmed it with his own eyes he believed her words.
The meatballs were not anything special.
"Did you really manage to tame the beast?" He asked Mei Mei again.
"Yes. Yes. See, I named him Plum!"