Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Deep within Red River Stronghold, the upper echelon of Bloodlust Blades led by Mad Blade anxiously discussed the issue of gold. At the start of the war, they felt assured of their victory. After all, they had ample capital after receiving over 500,000 gold from the Century Financial Group. This was why they dared to declare war against Asskickers United. No one had attempted something so audacious as putting up a bounty on a whole guild before.

A few thousand gold was generally the upper limit for a bounty on a single player. However, there was no such thing for a guild. Even so, Mad Blade was confident since he had almost 1,000,000 gold at his disposal. He refused to believe Asskickers United could match such a terrifying sum, even with the support of the Dragonsoar Financial Group. When it came to amassing gold, no one could compare to the Century Financial Group. The virtual reality industry was their bread and butter!

Calore was the domain of Asskickers United. Bloodlust Blades couldn’t do anything to them on their home turf. Just the same, Asskickers United wouldn’t throw caution to the wind and besiege Glory City. However, war by proxy was a viable alternative.

Mad Blade had first provoked Asskickers United on the forums, sealing off all paths of retreat for both sides. He believed Bloodlust Blades could easily outlast Asskickers United. However, he never expected them to show such resilience, lasting for so long. He believed victory was guaranteed, but his understanding of the overall situation was too shallow. He could never imagine Nie Yan owned the Starry Night Potion Shop, let alone numerous plots of lands, shops, and auction houses, which generated a wealth of gold for Asskickers United every day.

With every day Asskickers United still stood strong, Mad Blade started to feel increasingly anxious. Bloodlust Blades was struggling to make ends meet. Even though the Century Financial Group was sending over gold on a daily base, it was like trying to put out a house fire with a cup of water. Mad Blade was forced to sell a portion of the equipment in the guild treasury, earning them enough funds to hang on for another day or two. However, this move quickly incited the discontent of the guild members since it was tantamount to cutting their benefits. Add this to the fact that they were being hunted down like dogs in the wilderness, leaving them unable to level in peace, many of them believed this war with Asskickers United was a mistake and left the guild. It appeared Bloodlust Blades wasn’t having it easy either.

“Boss, I just received some news. Asskickers United obtained hundreds of thousands of gold from who knows where. They’re providing compensation to all their players and starting to rebuild their guild treasury,” an Elementalist informed Mad Blade.

“Hundreds of thousands? Just where did they get so much gold from? Are you sure?” Bloodlust Blades asked in utter disbelief. It was too strange. This was like something straight out of a story book. How did Asskickers United suddenly obtain enough gold to not only compensate their players but also rebuild their guild treasury?

“It’s the truth. I had someone investigate. Asskickers United has obtained at least 300,000 gold,” the Elementalist replied.

Mad Blade’s eyebrows started twitching erratically. 300,000 gold was no small sum. Since Asskickers United was willing to take out this much for their guild members, didn’t this signify they still had more gold sitting in the bank?

“Was it the Dragonsoar Financial Group?”

“Absolutely not. The Dragonsoar Financial Group’s gold farmers are being constantly monitored by the Century Financial Group. There’s no way they could take out that much gold.”

“Then where did it come from?” Mad Blade asked in bewilderment.

“Boss, are you aware of the Night Vision equipment that’s been popping up in auction houses lately?” a Fighter interjected.

“Yes, it’s a pity our finances are so tight; otherwise, we would’ve bought one or two pieces,” Mad Blade replied. He was at least up to date on this much.

“I’ve heard they appeared in every city across the Viridian Empire. Whoever’s behind this is a high roller. They’ve earned at least a couple hundred thousand gold selling all that Night Vision equipment,” the Fighter said.

Mad Blade understood what the Fighter was getting at. Could Nie Yan be the person behind the sudden emergence of Night Vision equipment? After thinking it over, it was the only logical explanation. How else could Asskickers United obtain so much gold?

“We don’t know how much Night Vision equipment he still has left. I estimate the current market will have no problem gobbling up 500 to 600 pieces. That’s an estimate worth of 3 to 4 million gold.”

The Fighter’s words were a bit sensationalist. However, Mad Blade understood this 3 to 4 million was absolutely the most conservative estimation. If Asskickers United really obtained so much gold, Bloodlust Blades might just as well surrender right now. However, he recalled the words he put on the forums. Whoever backed out first was the other’s grandson!

Mad Blade’s expression turned gloomy. “Send word to the people over at the Century Financial Group. We need more gold. If Bloodlust Blades falls, they’ll take a hit too!”

“Boss, they won’t like to hear that,” warned the Elementalist, who remained relatively coolheaded.

Only then did Mad Blade calm down. He knew they couldn’t afford to irritate the Century Financial Group. Helplessly waving his hand, he ordered, “Go. Discuss it over with them. See if they can provide us with more funds or some other method to deal with Asskickers United. If things continue on like this, we won’t last for much longer.”

Mad Blade’s mind was a mess. He couldn’t help but feel that Nirvana Flame would be the death of him someday.

The situation had progressed in a way where Asskickers United had seized the initiative. Their guild treasury had more than 100,000 gold, which was enough to last them for another day. They would be fine as long as Nie Yan sold the remaining items he brought back from the Underworld within the next five days.

Gold was no longer an issue, so Nie Yan wasn’t worried. He predicted Bloodlust Blades would collapse any time now. The resources Bloodlust Blades spent was the Century Financial Group’s, meaning he was also shaving away the Century Financial Group’s strength.

Nie Yan was perfectly content with going at it with the Century Financial Group like this. He could freely travel back and forth between the surface and the Underworld. When the market in the Viridian Empire was saturated with Night Vision equipment, he could simply switch over to selling equipment that increased other properties such as Focus. In any case, there were a million other things he could smuggle. This was one of the perks of working with a large guild like Fallen Angel. They could easily amass almost any type of item. If he had to do such work all by himself, it would be incredibly challenging.

With this source of income, Nie Yan could just watch the gold roll in. No matter how wealthy the Century Financial Group was, there was no way they could compete.

Aside from shaving away at the Century Financial Group, Nie Yan also planned to use the remaining gold to upgrade the equipment of his players or help them power-level.

It was important that the levels of the players in Asskickers United didn’t stagnate. As the opponent got weaker, they would grow stronger!

When money wasn’t a problem, many things could be easily resolved. In the previous timeline, the Century Financial Group had used their wealth to dominate the Viridian Empire, sweeping over all competition with the five major guilds under their control. In this life, Nie Yan wished to duplicate their success for his own benefit!

Nie Yan had starting laying out the foundation of his grand vision by acquiring both Holy Empire and Sapphire Shrine as well as investing in the War God Tribe. Furthermore, he had held initial talks with Battle Crazed Alliance and Radiant Sacred Flame, who both expressed interest in an alliance. However, all negotiations were halted when Bloodlust Blades declared war. Battle Crazed Alliance and Radiant Sacred Flame were watching from the sidelines. If Asskickers United was defeated, all his hard work would go up in smoke!

Nie Yan planned to amass a large amount of wealth, enough to acquire both Battle Crazed Alliance and Radiant Sacred Flame. This way, his alliance would comprise six major guilds. If he supported them with investments and allowed them to grow unimpeded, there would be no place left for Victorious Return in Calore. After this war was over, Bloodlust Blades’ strength would also drop by half. As for Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors, although they were strong they couldn’t compare to Asskickers United, Holy Empire, Sapphire Shrine, War God Tribe, Radiant Sacred Flame, and Battle Crazed Alliance in terms of growth potential. It was because these six guilds were situated in the top three most populated cities in the Viridian Empire. Surpassing Alliances of Mages and Divine Protectors was only a matter of time.

Nie Yan’s ultimate end goal was to create an invincible powerhouse by unifying the entire Viridian Empire! He already had a roadmap in his head. All he had to do was carry it out!

Nie Yan buried these thoughts deep in his heart. He wouldn’t reveal them until the day he achieved his aim.

Asskickers United had another source of gold. After the guild treasury was replenished, the guild members all started exchanging for new equipment. After going through a long period of hardship, everything was right back on track.

Everyone was surprised. Asskickers United was like a phoenix rising from the ashes, reinvigorated with new life.

The shocking news that Asskickers United had begun refilling their treasury and compensating its members spread like wildfire. Where had the guild gotten all that money from? Many people saw this as a sign: Bloodlust Blades would fall while Asskickers United stood tall. Some professional players who had hunted Asskickers United’s players even left Calore, moving to Glory City to earn their fortune there. Such was the world. The strong reigned over the weak. Many bounty hunters targeted Asskickers United when Bloodlust Blades put on an aggressive front, but now that Asskickers United seemed to have the upper hand, they knew better than to stick around and continue poking this massive bear.

It was as if a heavy rock had been lifted from the shoulders of the players from Asskickers United. However, the same couldn’t be said for the players from Bloodlust Blades.

Nie Yan deposited the Evil Faction equipment into his personal storage, then went to restock on consumables. He checked his Soul Pendant which had all 50 slots filled with Death Wave Scrolls. Each stack contained 20 scrolls for a total of 1,000 scrolls. He wondered how many levels he would gain by using up all of them!