Hearing Xiao Buli’s question, Zhu Changfeng was momentarily stunned. He didn’t immediately answer Xiao Buli’s doubt; instead, he started talking about something else on his own.
"Heh, I didn’t expect you to ask such a question. But frankly speaking, it’s not surprising to me that you would ask. In fact, you’re not the first person to ask me this. Not long ago, someone asked me the same question. Coincidentally, he was also working for a Great Guild, just like you. That guy was called...
what’s his name..."
"His name was Wang Wei." Suddenly, Cao Shuai chimed in.
"Oh right, now I remember; that person was indeed called Wang Wei, the ace cleaver of the Awesome Empire, Swordsman Wang Wei. Heh, that guy was really humorous. It’s such a pity."
(Awesome Empire? What kind of person would give their guild such a name?), Xiao Buli thought to himself with some internal ridicule, clearly seeing that Zhu Changfeng was prompting him to ask more. So, Xiao Buli went ahead and asked, "Why is it a pity?"
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"Because he died later in a boss raid, ordered by the guild to cover their retreat forcefully, and then he was done for. When I think about it, it’s really such a pity; the guy had quite decent gaming skills."
Xiao Buli was taken aback by Zhu Changfeng’s words.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Nothing much," Zhu Changfeng said. "I’m just curious, with your abilities, why bother slaving away for those people? What’s it for? It couldn’t be for that measly monthly salary of a few million, could it? Is money that important?"
A few million? Xiao Buli thought to himself that if it were a few million, it wouldn’t be so bad, but he didn’t pay much attention to the figure. In the face of the truth, the difference between tens of thousands and millions seemed irrelevant.
"Why not join our Iron Blood Brotherhood? Don’t look down on the Iron Blood Brotherhood despite our small numbers; our guild is made up of solo players. We are fair and just, united and cooperative, sharing weal and woe without exploiting one another, free from all kinds of messy stuff. How about it, interested? If you’re willing to join us, I wouldn’t mind telling you the origin of this game."
Xiao Buli sighed. If he had a choice, this indeed sounded like a good idea, at least much better than his current circumstances. But it was clear that he didn’t have a choice, at least not at the moment.
"I’m afraid I’ll have to decline," he replied.
Zhu Changfeng didn’t insist further and simply said, "Then I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell you where this game really came from. But if you’re interested in joining us in the future, you’re always welcome."
"Anything else you want to ask? As long as it doesn’t involve real-life issues, I can still tell you."
Xiao Buli glanced at Yang Mushi, "The move he used just now was pretty powerful. What skill is that? Of course, if it’s not convenient, never mind."
"Telling you isn’t a problem. That skill is called ’Summoning Storm of Thunderclouds,’ an exclusive ability of the Thunder Summoner, which can only attack targets within a fixed area and requires an extremely long time to cast. It’s specifically for boss fights.
Since the Thunder Summoner is a Mage Profession that can easily advance, and their output is very powerful, any slightly larger guild would groom one. Don’t you have a Thunder Summoner in your guild?"
Thunder Summoner, a thought flashed through Xiao Buli’s mind. He seemed to have heard about this Profession before. After thinking back briefly, he remembered that Wu Min’er had told him that she had clues about the Thunder Summoner’s advancement quest.
Moreover, according to the equipment submitted, there was someone in the Qilin Group who was good at Thunder System spells; it seemed very likely to be a Thunder Summoner. It looked like he had gathered a bit more intelligence on the Qilin Group.
Xiao Buli asked a few more questions about the Thunder Summoner, and Zhu Changfeng answered them all, seeing as the abilities of the Thunder Summoner Profession were already an open secret among all the Great Guilds and nothing worth hiding.
After inquiring about the Thunder Summoner, Xiao Buli asked Cao Shuai about another member of the Qilin Group, a warrior wielding a Two-Handed Sword. It seemed that he might find some clues from Cao Shuai.
There was even less to hide about this. Compared to Mage Professions like the Thunder Summoner, the Two-Handed Sword Swordsman was essentially a low-tier Profession, far from any secret.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Xiao Buli then asked, "Where do you plan to go next?"
"Of course, the further away we get from this damn place, the better. We’ve been mingling around here for over a month, and we’ve come to understand the behavior of the Demon Clan. These demons definitely won’t let it go—soon, they will launch an attack on the nearby towns. Have you ever played ’Space-time Rift’?"
Xiao Buli said, "I have."
When he first quit ’Jiuzhou Domination,’ he had tried many new games; he had swarmed through that one as well, but then he realized it wasn’t suitable for their studio to get involved, so he gave it up.
Then Zhu Changfeng said, "This Six Realms Gate system is actually a bit like the Rift Invasion system in Space-time Rift, only more difficult, more dangerous, with stronger invading monsters, and a longer invasion period.
In fact, we have already encountered two similar events before—one was an invasion from the Demon Race of Kunlun Demon Realm, and the other was from the Ghost Race of Nine Nether Underworld.
Generally, if the problem isn’t nipped in the bud at the beginning of the invasion, once these Alien Races gain a foothold, they will flood in like a tide until they become a powerful force capable of influencing the operation of the game. According to my estimation, the strength of Nine Dragons City is definitely not enough to stop the Demon Clan.
If I were you, I would make arrangements early, otherwise, you’ll be in trouble sooner or later. And don’t think that you can just go invisible; there are countless monsters in the Demon Clan with the Reveal ability, like those Saber-Toothed Wolves controlled by the Demon Clan’s Beast Tamers that can detect invisibility."
Zhu Changfeng seemed unwilling to give up on persuading Xiao Buli to leave and spoke earnestly.
Although Xiao Buli knew that the other party had ulterior motives, he still responded politely, "Thank you for the reminder; I’ll be careful."
However, he felt a sense of urgency in his heart. It seemed the uprising had to start soon. Otherwise, once the war between the Demon Clan and Nine Dragons City broke out, who knew what kind of ridiculous tasks the dimwitted leaders above would assign? Whether to act or not!
Moreover, now that he had advanced to become a Cursed Swordsman, he stood out like green amid a swath of red. Hiding was no longer an option. If he became a target for special attention, it would be even more inconvenient to accomplish anything in the future. He might even be marked as a threat and erased directly.
Although this sounded far-fetched, it wasn’t entirely impossible—haven’t novels and movies with conspiracy theories depicted similar scenarios?
Seeing that Xiao Buli wasn’t taking the hint, Zhu Changfeng seemed to understand something and did not insist further. He said goodbye, "Well then, see you, buddy. It was great to know you. I hope we’ll meet again. If you want to find us, just head to Cloud Raksha City. That’s Iron Blood Brotherhood’s turf; if you don’t know the way, simply head northeast.
You’ll reach it after Winterfell."
After speaking, the members of the Iron Blood Brotherhood turned and left.
Xiao Buli sighed, "Things are really getting more and more complicated. Can it get any more complicated?" he muttered to himself, putting on the ’Betrayer’s Dark Vision’ and looking toward Thousand Pines Town. There were no signs of black aura approaching, meaning there were no demons nearby; it seemed to be safe—for now.
"Hey, shouldn’t we report what happened here to our superiors? The offline location of the raid team is still near Thousand Pines Town."
Li Jian came over and casually asked. Xiao Buli nodded, but as he turned around, he suddenly froze. In the black and white screen, Li Jian’s body was enveloped in a thick dark aura—a distinctive mark of the Demon Clan. How could he have that on him?
Could it be that he was stained with demon blood? But that’s impossible! He wasn’t the only one who got splashed with blood during the battle—no one else had undergone such a change. Was Li Jian a human disguised as a demon or had the demons transformed him into a demonized human?
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Xiao Buli’s mind was in chaos, regardless of the reason, it seemed too bizarre. Li Jian had become a ticking time bomb in his eyes.
(Wait a second, why am I worrying about this? Even if he is a ticking bomb, he is Qilin Hall’s problem, isn’t he? I want to overthrow the company, so isn’t it a good thing for someone to throw everything into chaos?)
"Hey, are you going to say something?" Li Jian said impatiently.
Xiao Buli finally snapped back to reality, his mind a mess which he couldn’t untangle, but for now, he decided it was better not to bring it up. Startling the snake never ends well, which countless films and TV shows had already taught him: "Oh, yes, I also think we need to report this as soon as possible.
Let’s meet at the door and go report together." While speaking, Xiao Buli found a secluded corner in the garrison to log out. He was afraid that if the demons attacked again, at least in that corner, there would be no monsters, and if he faced danger upon logging in, he’d have enough time to escape using Fleeting Light and Shadow.
Then he left the gaming room, still uncertain about Li Jian’s transformation, and went to the lounge. Almost at the same time, Li Jian also came over from the White Tiger team’s room, wearing his trademark sunglasses.
He seemed no different from usual, exuding confidence and a mature and steady demeanor as always. Xiao Buli tried not to let his suspicions show, greeting Li Jian naturally.
"What a chaotic night, isn’t it?" he said.
Li Jian nodded, "Yeah, who would’ve thought? It’s just one night, and yet the world has already turned upside down." Li Jian seemed quite emotional. Just then, the lounge didn’t seem so dark anymore. Both men looked toward the window; from their height, they could clearly see the early morning sunlight slowly rising from the horizon at the edge of the city, extraordinarily brilliant. (To be continued.
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