Chapter 46: When The Battle Begins
Outside the City of Light Chasing, at the Broken Cliff Ridge.
As night fell, on the mountain ridge full of withered trees, in bases built from stacked cargo boxes, groups of winged youths patrolled in small teams, constantly circling around the tens of thousands of square meters of blood essence rice planted inside the base.
Inside one of the cargo boxes, five middle-aged men and women wearing White Feather Gang captain armbands sat together, eating rice cooked from blood essence rice while tasting beast meat, making the patrolling members outside drool.
This food called blood essence rice was something that only a few people could enjoy even in the City of Light Chasing, and although beast meat was far inferior to monster meat in terms of energy, compared to the synthetic food eaten every day in the city, it was far more delicious and advanced.
“Boss Lante, do you think the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop is really willing to spend three hundred thousand to ransom someone?” A triangular-eyed man, broad-shouldered and burly, over 4 meters tall and wearing alloy armor, bit into beast meat while eyeing Luo Qi, who was tied to an iron table not far away. “This woman has decent looks among the human race, but I remember the shop owner of the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop seems to be from the Three-eyed Tribe, and every Three-eyed Tribe person is as shrewd as a monkey. For him to be willing to spend such a high price, could this woman be that old shop owner’s illegitimate daughter?”
“Maiti, you bastard, are you thinking there is more profit to squeeze out of this?” Sitting in the middle, the tall, dark, strong man named Lante glanced at the triangular-eyed man, a hint of greed in his eyes.
“I don’t know either.” The triangular-eyed man shook his head slightly. “I just feel that when we previously opened the lion’s mouth at the Green Sparrow Gang, it was to make the Green Sparrow Gang fall out with the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop. Then even if we killed that weapon shop’s employee, although the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop would hold a grudge against us, they probably wouldn’t cooperate with the Green Sparrow Gang anymore. After all, if they can’t even protect their own staff, how can they cooperate in the future?”
“But I didn’t expect that the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop would actually be willing to ransom her. If you say this woman has nothing to do with that old guy, I’m afraid no one would believe it.”
“Indeed. When people from the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop arrive later, see if we can squeeze more out of them.” Lante looked at Luo Qi with excitement. “The three hundred thousand reward from the vice gang leader was giving me a headache on how to raise it, but now it’s all covered. It can be considered compensation for that batch of lost goods. If we can get even more, that will be our income.”
“Boss Lante, didn’t you have your eye on that set of A6 armor from the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop?” A wild winged tribe woman eating meat beside him teased. “Why not have the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop throw in one more set this time? With an A6 armor, you could completely compete for the sixth vice gang leader position this year, and when that time comes, we can all benefit from your success.”
“One set of A6 armor?” When Lante heard this, he swallowed, his gaze on Luo Qi growing even hotter.
Right now, his physical fitness was only that of an intermediate apprentice, with strength over 400 kilograms and a speed of 15 meters per second.
Relying on his A4 armor, he could barely tangle with advanced apprentices without armor, but if he could get the A6 armor worth over one hundred thousand, he could definitely stand on equal footing with those advanced apprentices.
Competing for the sixth vice gang leader position the gang leader set up this year would be completely possible.
In the White Feather Gang, strength was everything. The higher the status, the more benefits one could gain. The blood essence rice and beast meat that only captains like them could eat were nothing to a vice gang leader.
A vice gang leader of the White Feather Gang could often eat monster meat, occasionally receive martial skill instruction from the gang leader, and command two hundred subordinates. That was on a completely different level from a planting base leader who could command only fifty.
As for Luo Qi, who was tied up, she was in utter despair.
She did not know why the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop would use three hundred thousand bit to ransom her, but for an ordinary employee like her, even if she were emptied out completely, she could never repay such an amount.
“Boss, someone is outside saying they’re here to ransom her.” A regular member of the White Feather Gang suddenly rushed in to report.
“They’re finally here. I’ve been feeding this woman for free for so many days. We must make the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop bleed.” Lante abruptly stood up, glanced at the triangular-eyed man beside him, and said, “Bring some people. Come with me to take a look.”
The other four White Feather Gang captains all laughed, took Luo Qi with them, and followed.
Outside the White Feather Gang’s planting base.
Lante strode out from the barbed wire-enclosed base with a group of subordinates. At the gate of the base, a tricycle was parked. There were three people in total, each less than two meters tall, looking like they had not even entered middle school, which instantly darkened his expression.
“Is there no one left at the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop? How could they send you brats over?” Lante glared at Lin Qi and growled in anger.
He had thought Luo Qi might be that old shop owner’s illegitimate daughter and would surely be highly valued.
But now, seeing three level-two cripples, what profit was there to squeeze?
Behind them, Luo Qi, bound and dragged along, saw the three and her eyes widened in shock, unable to believe it was real.
She had imagined many people who might come with money to ransom her, but she had never expected it to be Lin Qi.
“We’re only here to ransom her, nothing else,” Lin Qi said calmly. “We hand over the money and you hand over the person. You had better not play any tricks. If word spreads, your White Feather Gang can forget about surviving in the City of Light Chasing.”
Lin Qi knew these vagrants who operated outside the city all too well. They could squeeze oil out of a lazy toad. If they saw even the slightest chance to extract profit, they would never let it go.
“Since our White Feather Gang has stated three hundred thousand to ransom her, it is three hundred thousand to ransom her.” Lante impatiently glanced at the triangular-eyed man beside him. “Maiti, release her.”
“Yes.” The triangular-eyed giant man nodded and untied Luo Qi.
Out here in the wilderness of the City of Light Chasing, and right outside their White Feather Gang planting base, they were not worried that Lin Qi and the others would take her and refuse to pay. Judging from the three of them, reaching quasi-apprentice level would already be impressive. There was no way they could outrun apprentice-level legs.
Lin Qi looked at Luo Qi as she walked over and signaled Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei to take the metal box containing three hundred thousand bit from the tricycle and hand it over to the White Feather Gang.
“Exciting! This is just too exciting! As expected of a team dungeon, there are so many people!”
“Why couldn’t Master of the Pavilion choose me to go along?”
Hiding in the dead forest, the twenty-eight Twilight of the Gods players looked at Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei two hundred meters away with indescribable envy.
For this extermination task, the first priority was to rescue the hostage, and the second was to eliminate all members of the White Feather Gang.
Based on previous observation, there were quite a few people at this White Feather Gang planting base, roughly more than forty. To prevent them from escaping, the best time to act was during the ransom handover, when the people were most concentrated.
So they set the extermination plan: first have Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei start the fight and draw monsters over, causing a commotion that would gather the monsters. Once enough monsters had gathered, it would be time for the others to act.
Unfortunately, luring monsters required high strength and skill, and they could not send too many people, so in the end only Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei were chosen.
For a while, all the players hiding in the dead forest stared intently at Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei, waiting for the signal to act.
Outside the White Feather Gang planting base.
As Luo Qi walked to Lin Qi’s side, Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei, each carrying a metal box, stepped one by one toward Lante and the other four.
Thirty meters…
Twenty meters…
Ten meters…
When Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei were less than five meters from Lante’s group of five, the two suddenly burst into action.
Luo Wu Shang pulled a pitch-black black steel arrow directly from the side of the metal box, and Zhang Qing Wei did the same, each drawing out a black steel arrow and swinging at Lante and the triangular-eyed giant man respectively.
“How dare you!”
“Courting death!”
Lante and the others roared in fury when they saw Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei attack, then were stunned when they saw the weapons in the two women’s hands.
Arrows?
What did they intend to do?
The White Feather Gang members in the back were also dumbfounded.
They had seen many fierce people in the wilderness, but never such fierce, such arrogant women, charging in with just an arrow in hand. It was as if they did not know the meaning of the word “death.”
But before they could recover from their shock and astonishment, the black steel arrow in Luo Wu Shang’s hand turned into six streaks of black light, and the black steel arrow in Zhang Qing Wei’s hand turned into three black shadows, striking straight at Lante and the triangular-eyed man.
Quasi-Martial Artist level Martial Skill Point Star!
Quasi-Martial Artist level Martial Skill Rippling Wave Saber!
Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qing Wei moved so fast that even Lante and the triangular-eyed giant man, whose physical fitness had reached apprentice level, could not react in time. Fortunately, both of them were wearing alloy armor.
Six deep arrow marks appeared on the chest armor over Lante’s heart, and he was forced three steps back before he could steady himself. As for the triangular-eyed giant man beside him, his A3 armor caved in, blood spurted from his mouth, and he crashed heavily into the nearby barbed wire.
“How is this possible!”
This scene left all the White Feather Gang members present utterly stunned.
Two level-two crippled human women had, with just an arrow in each hand, forced back the base leader and severely injured the apprentice-level captain Maiti. It was as if reality itself was mocking them.
