The Great Thief

No one could attack Ruling Sword’s Stronghold again within a week.

They had gained a relatively stable period of development. After Gangnam Royal’s complete defeat, everyone else who wanted to challenge them had to count the cost. There was a full-scale live broadcast which demonstrated how fiercely Ruling Sword defended their Stronghold.

In the early days of the Stronghold System, all you had to was rain down attacks. Defending a Stronghold was not that difficult.

After a while, the System stop producing as many Strongholds and revised the System. At that time, the fight between the Strongholds would intensify.

“Open the door and start building the territory,” Lu Li said, giving orders for the next step.

Wandering had taken some people to fight the Instance Dungeon. They were even able to defeat the Bosses without Lu Li. After all, they were mostly already at level 60.

Ruling Sword players were generally higher-levelled than the other clubs, so Lu Li wasn’t worried about the others achieving the First Clear.

What he wanted to do now was to go to the party to sell some shops slots.

The most profitable part of Stronghold wasn’t in the money they earned from defending it. It was mainly from the commercial activities that took place within it. If Lu Li had enough money, he might have kept all the shops to himself, but this wasn’t going to happen because he desperately needed money. Moreover, it wasn’t good to just have single owner; a truly prosperous Stronghold was inclusive.

The preparations for the party started a few days ago, and the invitations had been sent for

some time now. Square Root Three had been busy with this for a few days.

When Lu Li arrived, the party had already begun.

The venue was simply the commercial plaza. Presently, there was just an outline and a fountain in the centre. This had been purchased directly from the System for a large sum of gold coins. Facing the square was a huge building. Actually, it was a bit of an exaggeration to say it was huge. After all, only the foundations of the building had been completed.

However, it could be said that it looked like it was going to be a huge building from its foundations.

The name of the party was the official establishment of the Stronghold. The professional circle, managers of the major guilds, club members and some people in the investment community were invited.

“Everyone who knows me knows that I am Square Root Three, not Square Root Four. There is nothing much more to say another than this will become a whole commercial street. Until the end of the next Spring Festival, shops here can operate completely tax free. Even after the Spring Festival, our tax rate will only be a third of the System city…”

When Lu Li arrived, Square Root Three was speaking on stage.

This open-air venue had many stone tables and stools laid out. There was wine and cooked food from all over the game. Dancers from the System Taverns were dancing between the tables while bards played and sung. It was truly a magical scene.

“Hey, I was wondering why the main boss hadn’t arrived yet. Turns out he was late. Come and take a seat,” Unforgettable Maple, the Party Leader of the Majin Temple, said, upon notcing Lu Li’s entrance.

“How are you, Sister Feng?” Lu Li asked as he walked over and shook hands with him.

“Unfortunately, PVP isn’t available here. Otherwise, you would be able to experience my new weapon.”

Unforgettable Maple hated that name, but there was nothing he could do about it. Ruling Sword’s Grey Valley Stronghold was set as an absolutely peaceful area. Even if two people wielded knives, there would be no HP loss.

“So, are you interested in the shops?” Lu Li asked as he sat down.

It didn’t matter when he came over today and where he sat. Majin Temple and Ruling Sword didn’t have much conflict of interest, so he could talk about anything.

“I’m looking at that one, but are you selling it?” Unforgettable Maple questioned, referring to the largest one next to the square.

“Nope,” Lu Li said with a laugh.

“I have great ambitions. I want to make it an auction house.”

Unforgettable Maple found it difficult to conceal his envy. One of the most promising projects to undertake in games was an auction house.

Although the System also had an Exchange Hall, the higher handling fees meant that good items wouldn’t enter it. Bad items wouldn’t go through it either, as most people would rather set up a shop than use the Exchange Hall. Once you put something into the Exchange Hall, you had no idea what would happen to the item.

“This auction house will only receive Exquisite Dark Gold, Epic, Legendary or Rare Materials of equal value,” Lu Li said.

“Ambitious, but the other guilds will start doing that too. Sooner or later, how will you compete?”

Unforgettable Maple squinted at Lu Li. He understood and was taunting Lu Li about the fact that Ruling Sword was poor.

“It doesn’t matter. If I am early, I will open the first auction house,” Lu Li said as he took a sip of the wine, which tasted quite mellow.

“How are you going to start? How do you have so many items?”

Unforgettable Maple was surprised. He thought that Ruling Sword wanted to sell some shops today to attract more people.

“Thanks to Gangnam Royals. They… are all very strong,” Lu Li said sincerely.

If it was Glory Capital attacking them, Lu Li would still be confident about defending the Stronghold, but he would not have the courage to get people out of the Stronghold to fight them on the ground. If they lost, they would lose the entire Stronghold.

“Dammit, Heart of War! That idiot!” Unforgettable Maple shouted as he slammed the table, then leaned over and whispered, “What did you get? How many pieces of Epic items did they lose?”

“40-50 items,” Lu Li answered calmly.

“Liar. This isn’t my first game. Even if it was half that number I wouldn’t be convinced.” Unforgettable Maple shook his head and did not believe that they had dropped 40-50 Epic items. If Gangnam Royals could drop 40-50 Epics in two hours, they would have had so many Epic items that they would be far stronger.

“I guess Sister Feng is not as brainless as everyone says,” Lu Li joked as he gestured with a glass of wine before standing up and leaving.

He didn’t actually lie when he said 40-50 Epic items. However, he didn’t say they had come from the Gangnam Royals. Many of them had come from Shen Wansan, and many were low level Epic items that people had replaced.

No one knew that the next System update would introduce a Special Effect Reduction System. As long as a level 55 Epic item had good properties, it wouldn’t sell for much lower than level 60 Epics. Moreover, because people were generally lower than level 60, the demand for level 55 Epics could be greater than level 60 Epics.

The so-called Special Effect Reduction meant that a level 60 player wearing a level 55 item would weaken its attributes and special effects to an extent.

Therefore, Lu Li intended to take advantage of this opportunity to sell as many level 55 Epic equipment as possible without affecting their Instance Dungeon clearing strategy. The money generated could then be invested in the Stronghold.

But now, Lu Li was going to find Water Fairy, just in case she decided to make a purchase.