The Great Thief

Although Glory Capital didn’t occupy a new stronghold, there was nothing wrong with the two strongholds they already had. They also received the benefits they were meant to get. At most, they were just angry at being tricked. Now, all they needed to think carefully about was who they needed to attack to get revenge, Blood Red War Flag or Ruling Sword.

Blood Red War Flag made themselves look really innocent, having had to pay damages of 30 000 gold. However, they still protected their stronghold.

Majin Temple made themselves look even more innocent. They had paid damages of 30 000 gold for false info, as well as the fee for attacking, the potion fee, and money for lost equipment.

Ruling Sword proved that no one was more guiltless than they were. Hiring mercenaries, wasn’t it normal for me to go into the Barrenlands? what makes you think, Glory Capital, that you can come into my land and I can’t go into yours? What’s wrong if I come into your land and don’t attack? I can just do that to have some fun if I have the money. Majin Temple came to attack us and we fought back, that’s completely normal. It’s your own fault you’re useless.

At the end of the day, the final winner was Ruling Sword. Firstly, they had captured Blood Red War Flag’s stronghold. It definitely wasn’t because they had a good chat with Jade Flower Lover and then became friends on the same page. At the moment, Blood Red War Flag only had a single stronghold, and Glory Capital already had two. As soon as Blood Red War Flag lost their stronghold, they’d have to look for a new target. Ruling Sword’s power certainly wasn’t at its peak, and they had two strongholds to defend, so they could easily become a target.

But as soon as Glory Capital got a stronghold, they would have three. Next time, they could even seize their fourth.

Glory Capital had enough people to seize a fourth and fifth stronghold, but Ruling Sword didn’t. If they had a chance to block Glory Capital’s steps, Lu Li certainly would consider it. Even if they benefited from their loss, Lu Li wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice for it, much less profiting from these transactions.

They just hadn’t thought that Jade Flower Lover would be so shameless! Too shameless!

Secondly, Ruling Sword earnt the most money they ever had in this stronghold war. They got 20 000 gold just from the Barrenlands. They got a lump sum fee as income from those entering the Black Sea Coast Stronghold, as well as a lump sum fee from getting equipment. There was also an income from the Grey Valley Stronghold, and they got a fair bit of equipment as well.

All they had to pay for the war was simply some potions.

This was how this big, elaborate palace drama came to an end. Everyone had their little idea about who profited and who lost. The next stronghold war would definitely be even more interesting.

Oh, but Lu Li still had other rewards.

“I represent Ruling Sword, to welcome brother Ant into our club. From here on, we are in the same boat, working and creating for our glorious future together!” Square Root 3 announced.

“I am willing to join Ruling Sword,” Crippled Black Ant responded without being pretentious. The purpose for receiving the list was just to get to know Ruling Sword better, then afterwards, over the process of working together, he could find a chance to join. He never thought It’d be so straightforward.

Then Square Root 3 went to find Big Dog Li, giving his invitation as per his original words.

“You’d better be willing to pay!” Big Dog Li warned resentfully.

“I…how could I not?” Square Root 3 stuttered, finally understanding why Lu Li was hesitant. He really wanted to throw a piece of gold at him and send him away.

“If I’m paid, that’s fine. I’ll join, I’ll join,” the Minstrel Big Dog Li sighed, “Ugh, they don’t really like me in the Gangnam Royals. I don’t even know why they always wanted to kill me, so I just casually killed a few of them. Can your Ruling Sword deal with this pressure?”

“I also want to kill you,” thought Square Root 3, internally cursing at him.

“We should be able to handle it,” he weakly replied.

“If you can handle it, then good. If you can’t deal with it, let me know. I, Big Dog Li, will never implicate you,” Big Dog Li promised righteously, slapping his chest.

This guy was despicable, he could make you rage with just a few words. Deep down, Square Root 3 suspected he was doing it on purpose. He could already imagine how pitiful the players that encountered him in the guild will be.

In actuality, Big Dog’s days in Ruling Sword weren’t pitiful at all. With so many people in Ruling Sword, he easily found a few people he got along with. The later called themselves the Four Ruling Gentlemen—though everyone called them the Four Scoundrels.

The other Berserker that Lu Li was talking about was called Purple Dandelion. The name sounded really sophisticated and refined, but actually he was a really crafty old fellow. He definitely wouldn’t refuse the chance to enter a large-scale club.

These three players who joined were members of the Elite Group. After they performed well they would enter into the Core Elite group.

Among the remaining seven strong mercenaries, as soon as they heard that they’d only be ordinary members when they joined, four refused on the spot and left after taking their pay. However, the other three agreed to be absorbed in.

Lu Li couldn’t treat them too well right from the beginning, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to the older players in the guild.

Actually, these people were really strong. As long as they were decent people and loyal to the club, they could easily be promoted to a higher ranking. The key was patience.

Six top mercenaries had entered the alliance, which confirmed that Lu Li’s strategy was completely feasible.

After the successful recruitment, you could often see hiring ads from Ruling Sword in the mercenary hall. Sometimes they were looking for people to complete quests, sometimes they were looking for people to go into Instance Dungeons, and sometimes they were even looking for people to train with.

Even Majin Temple, Azure Guard and other clubs started to follow Lu Li’s recruitment strategies.

Once again, the mercenary hall had become lively.

Very soon, they welcomed in another patch update. This new patch brought in new content. There were three main changes.

First, players had complete freedom to choose their own role to develop. This allowed for those with talent to change their attributes. Some relatively special quests or NPCs still had a small chance to have the service of increasing or decreasing Skill Points.

Second was the release of a new Instance Dungeon. The Insect Instance Dungeon was released on the gaming arena.

The last was about a change to the Alterac Valley battlefield. This battlefield was intercommunicable throughout the whole world. This also meant that any player from any server could meet here and fight with you side by side or they could fight you; they could even be a player from a foreign country.

There were also some minor changes to the roles.

Mages were strengthened – everyone just skipped over this.

Thieves had some stats increased and decreased; it was basically the same as before.

Lu Li didn’t really like or was particularly good at being a mage, which was why he chose to be a thief. As a godson of the system, although he hasn’t been buffed like the mage, at least he had never had major nerfs.

Paladins were still overpowered.

The Berserker’s Ignition was buffed, but its Endurance was nerfed. The increase in Defense had been cut down, which meant that you were more vulnerable after a whirlwind. Priests had been slightly buffed. Shamans’ heal was weaker, but the Shamans had been strengthened considerably in other areas.