The Great Thief

“There’s still around an hour left on the clock. Is that enough for you?” Lu Li asked after meeting Water Fairy.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. I have already scouted out the distribution of soldiers as well as the surrounding terrain,” Water Fairy said, then continued, “This mission must be completed by tonight, when the stars shine the brightest. After all, this was where Gadgetzan Water Survey was at their weakest.”

“You should’ve told me earlier.”

After mulling over the details of the quest, Lu Li proceeded to summon his mount along with Water Fairy, and rushed towards the Wastelands.

There was a huge contrast between the different parts of Darnassus that they had travelled through. One was blooming with greenery, while the other was a desert. There were still cacti dotted over the dunes, which was why Lu Li had thought that this was somehow connected to the underground water supply at Ungoro.

It was already nighttime, but they did not need to worry about visibility. This was because the moon had illuminated the entire area.

Steamwheedle Cartel was a small peaceful area that many small and large monsters dwelled in. These creatures spent most of their time either fishing, or fighting back against pirates.

They had developed some form of machinery to remove the salt from the saltwater, but this was only used occasionally. The one thing that was most dangerous about living in this area was the lack of freshwater. On the other hand, the residents did not need to worry about the abundance of food. This region boasted the best and freshest seafood that exceeded the standards of Rut’theran Village.

“What were the levels of the monsters there?” Lu Li asked.

“Around 45 to 50. There are a lot of them, and they can move freely around the map. They’re like real life pirates, but there was a story of two players treating them as normal monsters. They got annihilated,” Water Fairy answered. It appeared as though she had already prepared everything.

“Alright then. We’ll meet up later when it’s go time.”

Lu Li did not like doing these types of missions as they were often very frustrating.

According to the rich lady, they were not to treat these pirates as normal monsters. If they were not to do that, then how would they fight them? In a real-life situation, the best method was to call the police!

“Are you guys attempting the Stratholme Instance dungeons? Water Fairy asked as she rode her mount beside Lu Li.

Lu Li did not feel the need to hide this from Water Fairy.

“Yeah. We’ve already cleared the first few Bosses, but the last few are more difficult.”

He recalled that when he attended school, there were always a few students who had claimed that they did not do well on the test after comparing answers with each other. However, when the results were released, they all achieved 100%. He felt that this type of behaviour was extremely fake, so he hated it.

“A few… we haven’t even cleared the first one.”

“You guys are also going at it?” Lu Li was surprised, since he knew that Water Fairy was at level 46, and their Main Tank was at level 45. With those levels, even exquisite equipment might not be of much help at Stratholme.

Levels were the reason why Ruling Sword had been able to progress through the Bosses.

“Yeah of course. Other guilds have already started as well.”

Water Fairy knew that the players in her guild were not strong enough to fight Stratholme’s Bosses. However, when the other guilds began to prepare themselves, Drizzle Court could not just stand by and watch on. It would have damaged their reputation within the guild.

After all, the players wanted a guild that was constantly advancing, and not one that was retreating.

“I think that it’s best to wait for your Main Tank to reach level 48,” Lu Li advised, then stopped his mount upon spotting the Wastelands Bandits Camp.

After Water Fairy called back her mount, she had glared intensely at Lu Li.

“Level 48 isn’t that easy to achieve though. Furthermore, we lack in manpower right now. Unfortunately, all the elites were stolen by someone.”

Lu Li nearly choked on his saliva after hearing that.

“Are you not a man? Can you not own up to it?”

“I didn’t say that it was a lie. You also know that we need to consider a lot of things before we proceed.” Sweat began to bead on Lu Li’s forehead. He did not think, in a million years, that Water Fairy would interrogate him at a time and place like this.

On one hand, they were allies. On the other, they were friends. You could go as far as saying that there was a little hint of romance as well. Although neither side had confessed, they had kept their relationship as it was to prevent any hurt.

However, he had never thought of telling things like that to Water Fairy.

He would not have said those words, even if he had another rebirth. This would have affected Ruling Sword’s overall strength, which was a heavy price to pay.

Ruling Sword had fought the Gangnam Royals many times, which had come at a massive cost. It was difficult for guilds that were falling behind to regain their footing and advance forward.

It was estimated that the average level of elite squads of high-ranking guilds and organisations were approximately level 44, while Ruling Sword’s was around level 43.

Even if Lu Li was just an overall low-life, he would not underestimate the other guilds.

Water Fairy just ended the conversation, and decided to start on another topic.

“The Gangnam Royals would pay you money, but you can’t announce it to the world. How much would you be willing to take?”

Water Fairy was not in a position where she was able to demand Lu Li to do things for her. Being from a business background, she understood this well.

“Any amount really, but not being able to announce it…” Lu Li began to hesitate.

The reason that they had fought so much with the Gangnam Royals was not because they hated each other, or for the sake of revenge. Rather, they fought because they each had goals in the future. After all, Lu Li was a very logical and realistic person.

If they were not going to announce it, then the temporary truce would not have been worth much.

After all, other people would think that Ruling Sword were the ones that had surrendered.

“If you guys keep going at it like this, it’s still not a solution, is it? Although the Gangnam Royals are much weaker now, they’re still not pushovers. Even if you don’t announce it, other people will find out with other means,” Water Fairy said as she tried to convince Lu Li.

Gangnam Royals had invited her as a negotiator with Lu Li. However, her intentions were not to gain

for herself, but truly for Lu Li’s benefit.

Besides Ruling Sword, even guilds like Drizzle Court with Peerless City and Blue Universe as allies had joined the fight. Although they had all of these people, they still wouldn’t be able to topple the Gangnam Royals straight away.

Ruling Sword would certainly not lose against the Gangnam Royals, but they would definitely have an impact.