Chapter 243 – Please Count Me In
“Huaaa…”
The bushes shook, and our group of players from [Zhan Long] charged across the edge of the forest, quickly entering the depths of Arctic Fox Forest. Behind us, Fushen Thousand Blade pursued with approximately 200 players from [Vanguard]. Old K and Thousand Suns Over Snowy Lands carried their weapons and led some Mages in the rear. [Zhan Long] already had three third advancement mages and [Dimensional Leap]’s effect was enough to let them avoid being killed, not to mention that they had powerful spells to kill others. It was best to leave them at the rear.
“Qing Qian, how far are we from the blacksmith we are looking for?” I asked.
Yue Qing Qian bit her lips and said, “Not that far, he should be at the foot of that mountain, mining ores…”
“Yeah, alright…”
……
Our group of players entered the forest and quickly moved forward. The view of the endless mountain range had a stunning tinge of scarlet on the horizon. The scarlet tinge effect was from the Scarlet Copper minerals. This whole mountain was rich in minerals, ranging from Scarlet Copper all the way to Blood Gold. Therefore, it had become the place where people with [Mining] skills would grind their skill Lvs.
“It’s right over there, we’ll reach it soon!”
Yue Qing Qian pointed into the distance, as she grabbed my arm with her free hand. She smiled, “Big Brother Xiao Yao, let’s get there quickly…”
I was a full fledged Swordsman, so my movement speed couldn’t possibly match Yue Qin Qian’s, who put all of her stat points into agility. As she dragged me through the bamboo forest, Old K and the others readied their sharp blades and followed us. On the side of the bamboo forest, we could hear “Ding ding ding” mining sounds from afar. There were even Lv 62 elite wolves howling nearby, which really surprised me. Someone who would dare to mine here alone must be an extraordinary person!
The smell of fresh dirt filled my nose as Yue Qing Qian brought me to some nearby bushes. Looking in front, I saw a player wearing full body armor and wielding a hammer and a shovel, mining away at a silver ore node. This person seemed to be around 28 years old, his face brimming with sweat and unspoken stories. However, the way he swung his hammer was extremely accurate; he always managed to hit the weakest parts of the silver ore. “Keng keng” he dug away and in just a moment, he extracted a huge chunk of ore.
“Hi!” Yue Qing Qian moved forward and smiled sweetly, “I brought the person who wanted to meet you here…”
“Oh?”
The mining youth turned his body and a few lines appeared at the top of his head-
Palace Decree Lv 60 Golden Knight
City: Ba Huang City
Guild: Legendary Myth
Position: Junior Member
……
Palace Decree looked at me and laughed, “Xiao Yao Zi Zai, it really is you. I never would have thought that I would get to meet such a legendary figure that managed to completely turn Ba Huang City on its head!”
I laughed modestly, “Say what you will about me but I’m really just a wandering nobody that ends up being chased by everyone. But anyways, this time I was looking for you because I need you to help forge a sword for me….”
Palace Decree was astounded, “Oh? From what I know, the Sword Forging Blueprints and ores that players get nowadays are only for Lv 60 and below. In Ba Huang City, there should be countless blacksmiths with Lv 6 Blacksmithing.”
I shook my head, “Unfortunately, this blade of mine doesn’t require a Lv 6 blacksmith, it requires a Lv 10 one!”
“Ah? Lv 10…” Palace’s Decree’s eye flickered with some doubt, “Guild Master Xiao Yao, could you show me your raw materials first? To be honest, I don’t really believe that you’d really need a Lv 10 blacksmith at this point of the game to make a sword for you…”
I nodded, bringing out the incomplete Emperor Qin’s Sword and extended it towards him. The stats appeared in front of Palace Decree’s face as I said, “This is the item. I need a Lv 10 blacksmith, as well as 100 pieces of Lv 10 Qilin Iron Ore in order to reforge this sword and recover its lost glory!”
Palace’s Decree narrowed his eyes in thought, as the hammer in his hand began to tremble with excitement. “My god, what a great item! Ever since I started playing , I’ve never seen an item as great as this!”
I laughed and then asked, “Are you willing to forge it then?”
Palace’s Decree clenched his hand with determination, “I will, but my conditions are quite harsh!”
“Oh? Say it.”
“It’ll be like this…’ Palace’s Decree pointed at the mountain range, “My blacksmithing is only at Lv 9 right now. I still have 77% left to go until then, but at the moment, I can only mine Lv 8 silver ore so it’s hard to Lv. The best minerals to mine to increase my Lv are the Lv 9 gold ores in this mine here. Unfortunately, this mine is under the control of [Vanguard]. They’ve prohibited any non-members from entering the mines to excavate Blood Gold.”
Having said that, he sneered, “It’s quite ridiculous of [Vanguard]. The miners in that guild are at lv 7 mining at most. Although they have occupied the mine so that no one else can get in, I was actually planning on secretly entering the mines. But I saw how hard it would be, since Jian Feng Han is personally supervising a few people at the entrance of the mine. He’s not letting anyone else in …”
Old K walked forward with his battle axe, “We’ve already confirmed the layout of the area, [Vanguard] has the final say for the mines. Other guilds can only stare at it from afar and fantasize about the treasures inside.”
Palace Decree’s eyes shone with fiery hate. “That’s right. It’s only fair that the public resources in this game should be fair game to all. If your Lv is high enough, then you should be able to mine it. But what [Vanguard] is doing isn’t fair at all; they’re treating the mine as if it’s their own personal garden.”
“Guild Master, what shall we do?” Thousand Suns Over Snowy Lands asked.
I looked off into the distance and exhaled, “Since the situation is like this, we’ll just have to break open this place!”
“How will we do that?” Palace’s Decree began to look excited.
I answered, “Qing Qian, Old K and Matcha, you three contact Li Mu and Wang Jian’s group. [Zhan Long] will fight with our 700 members at Firestone Valley. We’ll enter the Arctic Fox Forest! Then… I will form a group with [Misty Palace], [Ruined Bones], and [Winds of Battle]. With our 4 guilds combined, we’ll see how [Vanguard] will defend against us!”
Old K slapped his leg and roared with laughter, “I’ve been waiting for you to say something like this; [Vanguard] has been too arrogant. They’ve been calling themselves the number 1 guild in Ba Huang City and bully others. Today will be the day our swords and spears do the talking!”
I nodded, “Hurry up and make contact with the others, let everyone know of the plan!”
“Okay!”
Afterwards, I sent a friend request to the leader of [Misty Palace], and immediately got a response back, saying–
“Xiao Yao Zi Zai?” Misty Clouds laughed, “I didn’t think you would be the one to take the initiative to add me as a friend. So, what’s the matter?”
I said, “Misty Clouds, Arctic Fox Forest with Jian Feng Han led to quite big losses to you three other guilds. Right now, I’m bringing 700 players to prepare to fight in the forest and force [Vanguard] to share the mine with every other player in Ba Huang City, so I thought I’d invite you and your guild [Misty Palace] to come and fight with us!”
Misty Clouds jumped, “[Zhan Long] is really going to fight with [Vanguard] at last?”
“Yep, would I lie to you?”
“Hahaha…” Misty Clouds roared, “I’ve waited for far too long for this, just you wait. In one hour, I’ll be done gathering everyone. I’ll notify [Ruined Bones] and [Winds of Battle] to bring some players over. Together, our three guilds would have around 2500 players, with [Zhan Long]’s 700 players, our chances of success are huge!”
I nodded, “Yea, hurry up and do that then. I’ll be waiting at the border of Arctic Fox Forest!”
“Okay!”
……
After, I immediately opened my friend’s list again, and contacted Han Bei Song of [Blood Contract].
“Xiao Yao Zi Zai? Haha, what did you call for?” Came his reply.
I nodded, “I’ve heard that yesterday afternoon, 50 players of your guild had their training spot and BOSS stolen and the players PKed by members of [Vanguard] in Magical Trace Forest. I just wanted to know what you thought about that?”
Han Bei Song laughed awkwardly, “What can I think? How could you not suffer beatings when adventuring out to the world? [Blood Contract] was just recently established, so getting bullied is perfectly normal. Otherwise how could we grow out of our irritating ways? I intend to find an opportunity to ask Jian Feng Han out to a six star hotel to eat a scrumptious meal and ask for forgiveness. [Blood Contract] shouldn’t have appeared on the same Ba Huang City map as [Vanguard] and become an eyesore – we want to ask their forgiveness for this!”
I replied indifferently, “Continue to be an eyesore then! [Zhan Long], [Ruined Bones], [Winds of Battle] and [Misty Palace] are planning a showdown against [Vanguard] over the rights for Firestone Valley. What do you think?”
“You guys!” Indignation filled Han Bei Song’s face. “Guild Master Zi Zai, you…what do you think we play this game for? We play to experience the joy of playing the game, not to kill others or get our joy from the suffering of others. This is a very selfish attitude, it’s also something that I, Han Bei Song, will never do in my life. With regards to you and the other three guilds joining hands against [Vanguard], and disturbing the game’s peace and fairness, towards this kind of vile attitude, I can only say four words – Please count me in!”
My mouth twitched, “Gather the elite players from your [Blood Contract] that are online immediately, we’ll start our attack in an hour. You should also form an alliance with the other three guilds, this way we can collaborate better!”
“Okay!” Han Bei Song showed an excited face. “Motherf*cker, at last, us underdogs have started to join together to fight that rich-ass Jian Feng Han. To express my joy and delight for this happy occasion, after finishing this Arctic Fox Forest battle, I will go to a bar and drink till I’m drunk…”
Me: “Remember to drive sober”
Han Bei Song: “…”
……
A cool breeze swept through the forest on the foot of the mountain, rustling the leaves on the trees, making a “sha sha” sound through the forest.
I wielded my Frost Rain Sword as I watched a group of people from afar. They were all [Vanguard] players, arranged horizontally, surrounding the the entire mining entrance as an emergency measure. Anyone that was not a player from [Vanguard] was prohibited from entering.
“Keng!”
Jian Feng Han stood in front of all of them and drew his Flaming Cloud Sword. He looked at me indifferently, “Xiao Yao Zi Zai, you are here yet again. What do you want?”
I stuck my Frost Rain Sword into the ground and leaned onto it. I said, “Jian Feng Han, in the long history of virtual gaming, the vilest thing to do is to use power to dominate the game’s training maps. The mine mountain behind you contains almost 70% of Firestone Valley’s minerals, yet you, [Vanguard], occupied it. If you do this, what will happen to the numerous other guilds in Ba Huang City?”
Jian Feng Han chuckled, “Is that so? Actually, some other maps: Ba Huang Forest, Plains of the Setting Sun, and Frost Lands are also rich in ores, so why don’t you choose to go there? Instead, you insist on hounding [Vanguard] here. Can I assume that [Zhan Long] is picking a fight with us?”
I sighed a breath and replied, “Let me tell you the truth. I’m trying to finish a quest to forge a sword. The quest required a Lv 9 ores for someone quickly rise to Lv 10 mining, but all the Lv 9 Blood Gold ores are almost all buried in the mining cave behind you. That’s why I’d like [Vanguard] to give us leeway and let our friend go in and mine the Blood Gold ores.”
……
Jian Feng Han stayed silent for close to a minute then suddenly raised his head and readied his sword, “Xiao Yao Zi Zai, when you have killed so many of our [Vanguard] brethren, did you think that you’d be able to ask me for a favor today? Let me tell you I, Jian Feng Han, want you to take responsibility for our brothers’ loss in Lvs and equipment. We will recover all the Lvs and equipment we lost to you one by one. Today is only the beginning; this is our first battle!”
As he spoke, he raised his sword and pointed it towards me. He smiled coldly, “You want Blood Gold? Sure, over my dead body. I’ll let you mine to your heart’s fill if you manage to defeat me! But will some kind of third-rate guild like [Zhan Long] be worthy enough to accomplish that?”