The Great Thief

Although Gale Legion had practically lost, it didn’t mean there wouldn’t be a second game. After all, there was still the theoretical possibility that they could win. They would have to steamroll through the individual rounds and not lose a single member in the team round.

After the fight against Gale Legion, there would be a 10-day break before Drizzle Court would have their second match against Glory Capital.

Gale Legion didn’t hurry back home after playing their match. Perhaps it was to eat away their sadness of losing to Ruling Sword, but they stayed in Jiangnan for 3 days. On those days, they would log on during their online time, but the rest of their time would be spent eating and enjoying themselves.

Ruling Sword was their host, so they paid for all this spending.

Lu Li looked at the long list of food and drinks and his expression turned dark. He had never met such a shameless group of people before.

After three days, Gale Legion rubbed their bellies and set foot on their plane to go home. Soon after, the battle between Glory Capital and Drizzle Court was to begin and the first championship in Dawn’s first competitive season was another step closer.

In fact, many teams were happy to get to where they did in this season. As part of the top 100, they had already received many bonuses, as well as revenue from the ticket sales. If their personal reputation was better, they would have earned even more. They might have even received an endorsement opportunity.

As the games were drawing to a close, the major clubs were also beginning to move.

Various head-hunters had been looking at the performances of this season’s players. They were looking for players to poach.

Ruling Sword was a guild that had particularly attracted the attention of these sharks.

Up until this point, the benefits received by a new team were quite average. These players who were new received a lower income due to the flawed regulations of the clubs, so they would naturally have hearts filled with grievances. As long as the head-hunters made some tempting promises, it was easy to get them to join a new guild.

There were three difficulties when starting a new guild. The first was starting it, the second was funding it and the third was finding talent.

When a guild was established, they would often find themselves suppressed by another more experienced guild. However, this was not the case for Ruling Sword, because they had been established in an unorthodox manner. They were a Mercenary Group that had won the Shadow Cup Championship before setting up the guild.

When everyone noticed them, they had already risen to the top and it was too late to suppress them.

However, the difficulties of funding were something that had been plaguing Ruling Sword. There was a lot that they wanted to do but were unable to. It was hard to make money, and they were always forced to spend what little they had.

There were many clubs that couldn’t withstand this difficulty, so they chose to accept a capital injection from foreign sources. This solved the problem to an extent, but it introduced a new kind of difficulty – interference from their sponsor.

Even Glory Capital was subject this kind of interference. The authorities that kept Sorrowless accountable were quite heavy handed, but he still had enough of a voice to prevent it from affecting the development of the guild.

With regards to the third difficultly, this was where Ruling Sword was struggling right now.

Although Square Root 3 told Lu Li not to worry, some people had seen Fat Monkey and others who were thought to be head-hunters drinking together. After they finished, they went to a karaoke session together. Cat Dad had also been entertaining many guests, and it was possible that he could be looking for another branch.

March Rain, Moonlight, Sakura Memories, Mu Qiu and a number of other celebrity players other than Lu Li had also been contacted.

When Square Root 3 was pouring water for Lu Li, his hands were shaking. He had expected this to happen, but he didn’t expect it to be so aggressive or at such a sensitive time.

Even if they were unsuccessful, it would still have a huge psychological effect on the players and their next match might be affected. Who could possibly remain unphased after rejecting an offer for receiving millions?

Moreover, Ruling Sword wasn’t perfect either.

When they had been established, the original members of the Mercenary Group held the shares. Since then, no more shares had been given out. It wasn’t because Lu Li couldn’t afford it – he still had a large percentage in his possession and it wouldn’t affect his control of the guild. However, once he started giving them out, he would have to give them out to everyone. Eventually, he would lose his absolute control.

It would also be impossible to regain the shares that had been given, as the cost of doing so would be very great.

It was his dream to build a top level club of his own.

For this dream, he was willing to work hard, but not necessarily to do whatever it takes. He wanted to spend his life doing what he wanted to do, but it was pointless if he had to change.

The clubs created through that method would also be pointless.

“Let’s have a meal; get everyone together,” Lu Li said, then after a pause added, “Call in Cat Dad too. He probably wouldn’t leave even if he was driven away; all he wants is a bit of fame.”

Square Root 3 opened his mouth to respond but slowly realized what Lu Li meant.

The Ruling Sword resident hall didn’t made any attempts to hide its grandeur, but it was also decorated in a way that made it seem quite solemn. Most players joked that this was the torture chamber, but it was where they ate and had meetings.

“Hey, the Boss is going to treat us to dinner. I can smell the food from the kitchen, and it’s probably the chef from Jinqulou cooking. I’ve eaten his food twice before and it was great, but it was very expensive,” Fat Monkey gushed as he licked his lips and swallowed his saliva.

“I thought you were on a diet? Aren’t you going to the clubs later as well? You can just sit by and watch us eat later,” Kitty Likes Meat said, trying to dampen his mood.

Both were the kind that really liked to eat, but the difference was that Kitty Likes Meat didn’t get fat when doing so. She had never been heavier than 100 pounds, but Fat Monkey was different. At the present moment, he looked like he weighed a ton. Fortunately, the game corrected his size – otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to compete.

“Don’t make things up; I would never go to a night club. I can’t believe you would say that,” Fat Monkey retaliated.

The others looked at Fat Monkey weirdly. He was actually quite handsome and refined, even though he did curse all the time. It was a bit out of character for him to go to a night club.

“If the Boss is asking to have dinner with us, something probably happened. He’s normally quite stingy,” Sakura Memories said as she shook her head.

“Yeah, there aren’t many opportunities for us to eat like this, so we have to have a have a good time and eat enough to make him cry,” Fat Monkey rolled up his sleeves and said excitedly.