Chapter 136 - Level 30 Elite!
Tang Yao stared at Nie Yan with a strange expression of disbelief. A brief moment later, he burst into laughter and said, “You’re joking, right? Why would we ever start a guild?”
“No, I’m dead serious. We’ll be contesting for the top spot,” Nie Yan replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Ehh, that sounds like a pain in the a.s.s... I mean, right now, we get to hunt mobs and chase after girls to our heart’s content; isn’t that enough already...?” Tang Yao perplexedly asked.
Nie Yan sank into thought after hearing Tang Yao’s words, then burst out into laughter as well. Apparently the grand ambitions of others actually meant nothing to this brother of his. After contemplating awhile longer, he concluded that the timing did seem a little too early for establis.h.i.+ng a guild. He still didn't have enough trustworthy people by his side, and there was no way he could handle the task of running an entire guild all by himself.
Even though Nie Yan’s father was presently smuggling goods at the borders of the country, the man had already long set out plans for his future company from its name, how it would operate, to the types of machinery needed for manufacturing. In fact, he had already struck several undisclosed deals with neighbouring countries on the western and northern border. As a result, the profits reaped would be immense, but the risk was all too high. If any of these deals ever fell through, then the company would be toast because the trade contracts he owned were extremely coveted by others. Hence, in order to mitigate some of this risk in the previous timeline, Nie Yan’s father had heavily invested into the game known as humanity’s second world, Conviction. After recruiting experts for his newly established gaming organization, he had founded a guild that became immensely popular for a time called the War G.o.d Tribe.
Thanks to the enormous financial backing from his father, the War G.o.d Tribe nearly rivalled Victorious Return in power and influence, and the elites under his control were numerous beyond compare. However, as a consequence of the guild becoming powerful enough to contest their position as overlord of the Viridian Empire, Victorious Return began an intense string of counterattacks. They besieged land under the War G.o.d Tribe’s control, seizing two Strongholds in quick succession, and ruined many of their businesses. Having set foot in the game so late, their foundation was severely lacking which was shown by the fact that they owned only one influential property, an auction house opened by one of Nie Yan's cousins. Thus, they eventually crumbled under the fierce attacks launched by their enemy.
Truthfully, after the War G.o.d Tribe’s initial strikes, Victorious Return had actually shown visible signs of decline. If they had pressed on a little further and organized several more powerful counterattacks, Victorious Return might have ended up on the losing side instead. In fact, were it not for several other guilds joining the fray, such as Radiant Sacred Flame, Bloodl.u.s.t Blades, and so on, the War G.o.d Tribe wouldn’t have fallen. Under their combined a.s.sault, his father’s wealth became meaningless.
Reality was harsh and cruel. If his father’s guild hadn’t lost their strongholds and defeated Victorious Return instead, they would have seized thirteen strongholds—each of which would generate astronomical revenue—numerous shops, auction houses, and other properties, and the resulting wealth would have been enough to allow his family to prosper for many generations to come.
In the end, the company his father had built from the ground up through painstaking efforts suffered a crus.h.i.+ng defeat, an outcome that could only be attributed to fate not being on their side. In this lifetime, however, Nie Yan would make sure that the War G.o.d Tribe wasn’t built atop a shallow foundation which was the main factor for their defeat. The several properties he had purchased so far were enough to allow the guild to gain a firm foothold in Calore. With this source of income, they would expand even more ferociously than before, letting the War G.o.d Tribe grow into an unshakeable oak that would reach new heights.
Nie Yan originally wanted to wait for his father to establish the War G.o.d Tribe before entering the spotlight and merging his a.s.sets with his father’s because—after his father pulled in his old comrades, colleagues, trustworthy friends, and hired talented management staff—he would have no need to worry about running the guild. However, considering recent developments, if he waited any longer, wouldn’t it already be too late?
Even though he was given a second chance, he was still subject to the tides of fate. He could only slowly build his influence a step at a time because if he rushed things too quickly, he was p.r.o.ne to failure. After all, he was only one person and the power he possessed was limited.
Nie Yan smiled at Tang Yao before shaking his head and said, “You don’t understand. Often when you’re alone, you won’t be able to protect yourself nor those close to you. An individual's strength, no matter how powerful, is meaningless in front of many.”
“I don’t understand. I’ve never gotten into a serious conflict with any guild. Why would they go after me?”
“At times, even if you don’t go looking for trouble, trouble will come looking for you.” Nie Yan shook his head, a bitter smile on his face, and then continued, “Establis.h.i.+ng a guild is tedious and difficult work. How about we put this discussion off for some other time? For now, we can still afford to hunt monsters at a leisurely pace.”
“Oh, alright. Let’s keep levelling then...” Tang Yao replied, sounding a bit distracted. Why did he suddenly bring up the topic of creating our own guildwhen we were happily going about our business?
Nie Yan knew that Victorious Return now had their sights on his head. However, as long as he stayed careful, then they probably wouldn’t be able to do any harm to him. After all, spotting and surrounding a lone player in the wilderness was an extremely difficult task, to say nothing of a Thief as skilled as him who only hung around high-level zones.
Although Scaled Frogs appeared clumsy because of their large size, once they spotted an enemy, they would act with incomparable speed. Of course, that was only if they had a target to go after. If they didn’t, then even if they were attacked for half-a-day, they would be helpless to react.
Scaled Frog (Elite): Level ??
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