Chapter 99: The Storm Is Coming
City of Light Chasing, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
Two medium transport vehicles and two tricycles drove all the way into the martial arts hall, making many players who had been training on the training ground gather over at once. When they saw Fang Zhen and the others stepping down from the medium transport vehicles, they were all stunned.
“Brother, what is going on with you guys? Where did these two medium transport vehicles come from?”
“Damn! Your equipment! A6-grade armor!”
“You didn’t rob the martial arts hall warehouse at Crimson Moon Mountain, did you?”
The newcomer players present looked at Fang Zhen and the dozen or so others getting off the vehicles. Each of them wore at least a full set of A5-grade armor, while Fang Zhen and five others were equipped with A6-grade armor. Although there was quite a bit of blood on the armor, their eyes were filled with indescribable shock and envy.
Whether it was A5-grade armor or A6-grade armor, at present, players basically had no chance to equip them unless the martial arts hall launched a plot battle. Just being able to redeem an A4-grade weapon was something to secretly celebrate, let alone armor, which was even more expensive than weapons of the same level.
“What are you thinking? We just ran into a robbery on our way back to the city. All of this is loot,” Saiwai Qiangke said proudly as he looked at the crowd gathering around.
“All of this is loot?” The newcomer players looked at the armor on Saiwai Qiangke, then at the two medium transport vehicles, and their eyes burned with desire.
None of them had expected the new map to be this satisfying.
These newcomer players were doing well if they could earn one hundred points a day right now, while even the worst A3-grade weapon cost fifteen thousand points, and an A5-grade weapon cost fifty thousand points. Only veteran players heading to the new map could earn that many points; for newcomers, it was just a dream.
Yet Fang Zhen and the others had just encountered one robbery on the way back to the city in the wilderness and managed to get full sets of A6-grade armor and weapons. Even more unbelievable were the two medium transport vehicles. It was simply more profitable than doing the robbing.
“Damn it! If only I could run into a robbery when heading to Crimson Moon Mountain.”
“Wake up. It’s not that easy to run into a robbery, otherwise everyone would be rich.”
“True, but from now on, if we can run into one robbery out of ten trips to Crimson Moon Mountain, that’s still a big profit. With so much loot, not to mention the two medium transport vehicles, just those A6-grade weapons and equipment alone would take an unknown amount of time at Crimson Moon Mountain to earn.”
Some players whose strength had reached apprentice-level looked at Fang Zhen and the others constantly unloading loot from the vehicles. While they envied Fang Zhen and his group, they also wished they could encounter some robbers on the road to Crimson Moon Mountain in the future. They did not expect to get vehicles, but at least hoped to secure a full set of weapons and equipment.
“Everyone, if anyone is interested in joining our Dawn Squad, I won’t say anything else, but at the very least, the price for purchasing A5-grade weapons and armor will definitely be half that of the martial arts hall,” Fang Zhen said loudly as he saw more and more players gathering. “In addition, anyone who joins our Dawn Squad now can borrow an A5-grade weapon when transporting items. If you want to join, you can come register with me right now. At the moment, I am only accepting apprentice-level.”
With Fang Zhen’s public announcement, more than five players who had just reached apprentice-level signed up on the spot, while many others who wanted to sign up felt regret because their strength had not yet reached apprentice-level.
Just as many newcomer players who lacked sufficient strength were envying the apprentice-level experts who could join the Dawn Squad, an exceptionally striking figure stepped down from the medium transport vehicle.
It was a woman over two meters tall, with a green eye on her forehead. However, this three-eyed beauty was tied with ropes, and her arms were twisted, clearly crippled.
“Brother Zhen, are you out of your mind?”
“Brother Zhen, you’re insane! I never thought you could play like this!”
Everyone present stared at the three-eyed beauty brought down by Fang Zhen with their mouths wide open.
The three-eyed beauty in front of them was clearly an NPC. They had thought Fang Zhen and the others were crazy, but they had not expected this level of crazy. They actually dared to kidnap an NPC. This was playing way too big.
“What are you thinking?” Fang Zhen rolled his eyes at the players with strange expressions and explained, “She is one of the leaders of the robbers. She said she has important information to tell the hall master, so I brought her here.”
Even though Fang Zhen explained, the players still looked at him with admiration. Of all the things to mess with, he dared to mess with an NPC. He was not afraid of getting his account banned by the game manufacturer.
After the rise of the virtual era, considering some players with issues, any player who acted inappropriately toward NPCs would be permanently banned. As things developed up to now, anyone who had played virtual games for several years did not dare act recklessly.
Now that High Martial Arts Descend was becoming more and more popular and might become the human race’s Second World, if someone got permanently banned, their life would basically be ruined.
But Fang Zhen dared to tie up a beautiful NPC and bring her back. That kind of courage was not ordinary.
Fang Zhen could not be bothered to explain further. He directly led Yaklo toward the hall master’s lounge.
“So this is the headquarters of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall?”
Yaklo quietly observed the players on the training ground and found that these players were clearly different from members of other gangs. Not only did they show no awe toward the strong, they even privately teased monsters like Fang Zhen and the others. If this were in other gangs, people like Fang Zhen would have slapped them to death long ago.
But what shocked Yaklo the most was that the players present were all extremely envious that Fang Zhen had encountered a robbery. The sincerity and longing in their eyes, from the perspective of Yaklo as a limit quasi-martial artist, were definitely not fake.
The more she thought about it, the more her scalp tingled.
She felt that the people of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall were even more ruthless than rogues like her. They were like born battle fanatics who only craved blood and combat. Thinking about the leader of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall who managed these people, she did not dare imagine what would happen to her.
“Master, I have something to report,” Fang Zhen said loudly as he knocked on the lounge door.
“Come in.” A low and deep voice sounded from inside the room.
Fang Zhen immediately opened the door and took Yaklo into the lounge. Meanwhile, on the training ground, a large number of players surrounded the lounge, curious about what Fang Zhen intended to do with Yaklo after bringing her inside.
Inside the lounge, Lin Qi had just finished sorting out all the rewards related to players’ self-created martial skills. As he stood up, he saw Fang Zhen come in with a bound three-eyed tribe woman and was momentarily stunned.
“What is this guy planning to do?”
“Redeem points?”
When it came to Fang Zhen’s actions, Lin Qi almost instinctively thought of some Blue Star players who always liked to act recklessly, and Fang Zhen’s way of thinking was always different from others.
Bringing back a bound NPC like this was not impossible for him.
“Master of the Pavilion, this person is one of the bandit leaders who robbed us on the road. She said she has important information to report to you, so I brought her here,” Fang Zhen immediately explained.
After hearing this, Lin Qi instantly understood. He nodded and said, “Alright, I get it. You can go now.”
Encountering a robbery in the wilderness was normal, especially since Fang Zhen and the others had been transporting energy ore, a precious item worth one hundred bit per kilogram.
Given Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s current status in the wilderness, Lin Qi did not think they had enough influence yet to keep all the wilderness gangs from targeting them.
Fang Zhen was stunned for a moment, then left the lounge helplessly. He had originally hoped to hear some hidden plot, but it seemed he had been overthinking.
After Fang Zhen left the lounge, Lin Qi began to size up Yaklo, the three-eyed tribe woman.
Although Yaklo was seriously injured, her dense blood qi showed that she should be a limit quasi-martial artist. Limit quasi-martial artists from the three-eyed tribe were rare.
“Poison Rose Yakro, is it?” Lin Qi asked softly as he looked at Yaklo.
The three-eyed tribe was also a major race in the City of Light Chasing. Among the wilderness gangs, there was a three-eyed tribe gang ranked in the top ten. But among the unregistered nomads, there were not many who had reached limit quasi-martial artist level. Lin Qi had heard Qin Mu introduce each of them.
The only one who matched was the outsider rogue Poison Rose Yakro.
“That’s right, that is me,” Yaklo straightened her body and replied as calmly as possible. “It is my honor to meet Hall Master Lin today.”
Yaklo had already thoroughly investigated Lin Qi’s situation.
Lin Qi was extremely mysterious. He had appeared inexplicably in the abandoned area of the human race and, in less than a month, had established the now powerful Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
What was truly terrifying, though, was Lin Qi’s brainwashing methods on his subordinates, turning them into cold-blooded monsters one after another. It was easy to imagine what kind of person Lin Qi was.
He was definitely ruthless and merciless, more of a demon than a demon.
Facing someone like Lin Qi, Yaklo knew she had to remain calm and respectful. Otherwise, who knew what he might do to her.
“Enough with the nonsense. Tell me what important information you have,” Lin Qi said calmly as he looked at the badly injured yet still composed Yaklo. He understood that she must have some information important to Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. “If your information is truly important to me, I can consider sparing your life. But if it is not, then I can only send you to join your companions.”
Letting Yaklo go was impossible. Competition among wilderness gangs was fierce, and it was not a place where reason prevailed. If other gangs found out that someone robbed Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s convoy and still walked away alive, there would only be more gangs targeting Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in the future.
“Will you really spare my life?” Yaklo quietly let out a breath. The situation was slightly better than expected, but she did not dare fully trust Lin Qi’s words. He might promise to spare her one moment and order his subordinates to kill her the next, or send her to a nearby hospital for some surgery. She continued, “Respected Hall Master Lin, I can provide that important piece of information to you for free. After I recover, I would like to discuss an important business deal with you. I am sure I will not disappoint you.”
She did not believe Lin Qi’s promise, but for any gang, profit came first. As long as she could prove her value, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would likely not discard her once she outlived her usefulness.
“Alright, speak,” Lin Qi nodded, feeling that Yaklo was worthy of the title Poison Rose. Since she did not trust his words, she chose to use profit as leverage.
“Hall Master Lin should know the Great Ape Gang, ranked twentieth,” Yaklo said slowly after taking a deep breath. “We rogues were hired by the White Feather Gang to deal with Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Now that we have failed, the White Feather Gang should also realize they have alarmed Obsidian Martial Arts Hall and are worried you will be on guard in time. The Great Ape Gang, which cooperates with the White Feather Gang, is their next move. At most within a day, the Great Ape Gang will attack Crimson Moon Mountain. Is this information useful to you, Hall Master Lin?”
