Chapter 874 - Commerce Empire (1/2)

With Xie Yao completing the set, Nie Yan had one less worry on his mind. She was like him now; standing high atop a peak far out of reach of any of her rivals. Including Nie Yan, there were at most 10 who could match her in the entire Righteous Faction.

Angels Corps and Asskickers United had both accumulated continuous losses over the last couple of days. Most players were on the battlefield. Only a few had the time to get some levelling done. As a result, there was practically no change in the strength of both armies. This was the reality of war, where both sides simply threw bodies at each other.

Under Nie Yan’s command, Asskickers United was also fighting on the economic front against Angel Corps, leveraging their enormous capital to buy up all the medicinal plants and many other raw materials required for war, including those required for making siege machines. The prices were driven up higher and higher. For the sake of replenishing their resources, Angel Corps had no choice but to pay up to five times more than before. This simply wasn’t sustainable. Both Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group would have no choice but to invest even more real-world capital into the game in order to buy enough gold to sustain their heavy war spendings.

This was precisely what Nie Yan was aiming for. By doing this, he would at least put some sort of pressure on the Century Financial Group’s financial state. With them suffering defeats on all sides, their pockets would eventually become strapped.

The Thieves Nie Yan dispatched to the Fate River reported back. They had discovered the location of the dragon’s den. However, after spotting eight adult dragons closely guarding the place, they didn’t dare to get a closer look.

Knowing the exact location of the dragon’s den was good enough. The rest Nie Yan could do himself. Though eight dragons protecting the place far exceeded his expectations. It seemed this easy task wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped.

Looking at his experience bar, Nie Yan was disappointed to find it had only risen by 5% over the past several days. This levelling speed was truly too slow.

Nie Yan headed toward the Starry Night Potion Shop. He rarely had the spare time to visit, so he hadn’t been here for quite some time already.

After walking for 10 minutes, a large 16-storey building appeared in his view. The Starry Night Potion Shop had undergone a complete renovation. It looked nothing like the building in his memory. The white walls were solemn and stately. It was the tallest building in all of Calore. Many players visiting the city for the first time would make a point to stop by here and take a few pictures. It had become a local landmark.

In front of the Starry Night Potion Shop was a large, 30 by 30-meter square with a fountain in the middle. The statue of a Thief in black cloak stood in the center of the fountain. His features were hidden by the cloak, no matter from which direction you looked at it. Waist bent, he held a dagger in each hand, looking like a cheetah ready to pounce on its prey—the typical form of a Thief. The only things that stood out were the two daggers; the Bloody Dagger and Slaughter Edge. Their ominously curved blades gave off a dense killing intent.

Everyone who played the game could tell who this was a statue of.

Orc King City had 10 statues of Soaring Angel. Meanwhile, Calore only had one statue of Nie Yan. Still, it had 10 times the fame any one of Soaring Angel’s statues had.

Because it was placed in front of the Starry Night Potion Shop, it was more than just a statue of a legendary existence. It was the statue of their founder!

Nie Yan had built up Asskickers United from nothing to the leviathan of the Viridian Empire it was today. In terms of businesses, he had the Starry Night Potion Shop which enjoyed a monopoly on the potion market. Beyond the position he had in his guild, or the many businesses he owned, most people knew him for his personal strength. The man who has never suffered defeat!

Nie Yan’s name represented an undying legend. Many people chatted about his exploits enthusiastically every opportunity they got.

Seeing the statue, Nie Yan couldn’t help but wryly smile. At the time when Guo Huai and the others suggested they build him a statue, he initially refused; only caving to their collective insistence later on. They had their own reasons. Angel Corps had statues of Soaring Angel all over Orc King City. How could Asskickers United lose out? Building this kind of statue held great meaning. The number of people who were qualified to have their own statues in a city was only a handful. This was a special type of honour.

What was unexpected to Nie Yan was that this statue had increased the traffic of people coming to the Starry Night Potion Shop. He was pleasantly surprised by this.