Chapter 183 – Ash Cloaked Heretics (1/2)

Chapter 183 – Ash Cloaked Heretics

The crowd of players stepped through the entrance, promptly arranging themselves in an orderly fashion within the courtyard. They were an entourage of Warriors, all armed to the teeth, with an awe-inspiring appearance. The person at the center was the tallest among them, as well as the owner of the voice who had called out earlier. This was Aqua Smoke Stub, a brawny man in his thirties. He was clad in dark golden armour with a horned helmet over his head. He radiated an imposing aura which made people feel a heavy, oppressive pressure.

If the guild members of Asskickers United encountered one or two people in full sets of Gold-grade armour walking down the streets of Calore, they usually wouldn’t feel particularly amazed, aside from the slight gaze of envy. After all, anyone who could wear a full-set of Gold-grade armour was a top-tier player in the game.

But now, several dozen such players had appeared right on their doorstep! How could they not be surprised?

“Excuse may, may I ask why you’re looking for Watchful Snail…?” Zhao Li stepped out to receive them. He couldn’t help but feel a little apprehensive. He had never seen such a large band of formidable players before. A crowd of players showing up in full sets of Gold-grade equipment… this was practically telling everyone that they were here to pick a fight!

The guild members around Zhao Li also felt nervous. They whispered among each other, trying to guess the purpose of the other party’s visit.

Who knew where this mysterious group of players had cropped up from?

“Hey, Boss. Where do you think these guys came from…?” a guild member beside Zhao Li whispered into his ear in a nervous tone.

Zhao Li shook his head in response. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“We’re here to join your guild. Tell him to hurry up and come out,” Smoke Stub announced.

As if a single stone had triggered a thousand waves, his words created a huge disturbance among the guild members in the area.

Heavens! This intimidating lot of players had actually come here to join the guild? The guild members closest to Smoke Stub’s group stared on in shock. The armour they wore was so dazzling, it made everyone feel a little faint.

“Please wait a moment. He’ll be with you shortly,” Zhao Li said after finally calming down.

“The commanding leader is here.”

Guo Huai arrived less than a minute later, having rushed over to the guild headquarters from elsewhere in Calore.

“I’m really sorry for not arriving here sooner. I was busy applying for a guild quest,” Guo Huai said apologetically to Smoke Stub.

“It’s fine. You can start adding us to the guild now,” Smoke Stub replied, waving his hand.

“Alright.” Before Guo Huai got to work, he turned to the surrounding guild members and shouted, “What are you all standing around for? Go off and level!”

The crowd of spectating guild members quickly dispersed. Some of them were given yet another shock when they walked out of the guild headquarters, only to see several hundred players on standby in the plaza outside. There were players of every class, all arranged in neat, orderly ranks. The equipment they wore was bright and colourful. Although they couldn’t compare to those people inside, anyone could tell with a glance that they weren’t run-of-the-mill players. Evidently, they were all part of the same group.

What was going on today? Why were so many strong players suddenly joining their guild?

It was as if an exhibition of high-quality equipment was being held in the plaza. As the ordinary guild members squeezed out of the headquarters to check out what was going on, they were all filled with an indescribable sense of joy and amazement.

After a while, notices began popping up in the guild chat.

Aqua Smoke Stub has joined the guild.

Withered Leaf Fashionable has joined the guild.

….

Before long, notices flooded the entire screen. These new people were all assigned to a sub-group called Withered Leaf. After putting two and two together, some of the more knowledgeable guild members immediately recognized them. Surprisingly, the third-ranked person on the professional player rankings, Aqua Smoke Stub, had decided to join Asskickers United with all of his subordinates in Withered Leaf! This was quite an unexpected development since the reputation of their organization alone was more than enough to establish a formidable guild themselves.

The guild members all began wondering just what sort of background their guild leader possessed. For him to recruit all of Withered Leaf into the guild… this wasn’t something that could be accomplished merely with wealth!

Withered Leaf joining caused a huge stir in the guild. From the moment they entered, they could sense the explosive pace of the guild’s development. As for whether it would grow to rival a goliath like Victorious Return in the future, not only them but every player in the guild was waiting to find out.

After entering the guild, Smoke Stub was surprised to see the treasury filled with so many pieces of Level 30 Silver and Gold-grade equipment. He didn’t expect them to have collected so much high-level equipment.

“Your treasury is pretty well-stocked,” Smoke Stub praised. He didn’t think a fledgling like Asskickers United could establish a treasury that impressed even the likes of him. From his point of view, the quality of this treasury didn’t differ much from those of some larger guilds.

Thanks to the great effort put in by the guild members, along with the continued support from the Starry Night Potion Shop, Guo Huai could hardly imagine the resources and manpower that had to be spent to get the treasury to where it was now. It was full of all types of equipment, with no less than two thousand pieces in total, and at least another three thousand were currently being used by the players in the guild.

“Nirvana Flame told me he would buy all of the equipment you don’t need at market price to bolster our guild treasury,” Guo Huai said. Withered Leaf and Asskickers United were only temporarily collaborating. With the formidable financial backing of the Starry Night Potion Shop, he spoke in a tone full of confidence.

Smoke Stub sent Guo Huai a trade request, then said, “We only have one hundred and sixty pieces of Silver and Gold-grade equipment for now.” He estimated that the value of the equipment should at least be 30 gold. Very few guilds at this time were able to take out such a sum at once. He was trying to probe out the other side’s financial resources.