The Great Thief

Before travelling to the Revenant Lands, Lu Li had already planned to take on the wasteland’s Howling Caves. However, he knew that it was going to be very difficult, so he was meticulously making preparations.

The higher the level of an Instance Dungeon, the more difficult it was. A ten-player Instance Dungeon like the Howling Caves would teach the players the true meaning of despair.

But this time, it would be different, as the Xin Xin Mercenary Group’s members were mostly at least LV20. Azure Sea Breeze was already LV21, so he would not receive bonus damage from the first three Bosses due to their level difference.

Despite this and the fact that they had enough players, they couldn’t simply take on the Howling Caves.

Lu Li wanted Wandering and the others to attempt their Profession Upgrade Quests, as players who had completed these were generally stronger.

While they did this, he was going to practice his Forging Trade Skill. His Engineering had already brought him substantial returns and surely, the highly-regarded Forging Trade Skill would not disappoint him.

At that moment, a System Prompt sounded in his ear.

This was accompanied by brightly-colored text appearing on all the channels. Every player in Dawn had received this announcement.

System: The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming and we would like to spend this festive time with you! On the 27th of September 2215, Dawn will be hosting a series of events: 1 – Mooncakes from the sky – the whole map will randomly drop Mooncake Gift Boxes. 2 – The Shadow Cup PVP competition will begin. 3 – All the craftsmen NPCs in all towns and villages will refresh. 4 – …

There were 10 events altogether, ranging from PVE to PVP and Combat professions to Trade Professions. Even Data Collectors and casuals could take part in them. As long a player participated in some way, they would receive the rewards.

It was needless to say that the most important events were the first three. At the very least, Lu Li would put his effort the first three.

The first event was open to all players. Most players were likely to find a Mooncake Gift Box, which had a chance of dropping Potions, Equipment, Materials, toys, Mooncakes etc.

Moreover, there was a chance that a monster could drop a Mooncake Gift Box. This chance was higher when fighting a Boss.

As the name of the second event suggested, it was a PVP event. In fact, this was the event that all of the experts were interested in.

The Shadow Cup was a historical gaming tournament. It was started 160 years ago by Shadow and had quickly become an integral part of entertainment culture.

It was said that this cup was the creation of one senior player. Players watched as he had decided one day to start the Shadow Cup, which he then persisted to host for over 100 years.

His slogan was intimidating: As the Shadow never dies, so will this event never end!

All his descendants had to declare that statement before they could take on any tasks for the Shadow Cup.

Shadow had also suffered some career lows in the past 100 years, but whenever these occurred, countless players would flock to the cinemas to support him.

As technology developed to the point where food could be synthesized and factories had become fully autonomous, human resources were eventually freed. Anyone, rich or poor, could now support the entertainment industry and the influence of the Shadow Cup naturally rose again.

The most important thing was that the winnings of each Shadow Cup totaled tens of millions of dollars in real money.

The third event was also for all players, as anyone could accept the quest. However, as the NPC would only give out Trade Skill related quests, it was considered a Trade Skill event.

“That sounds awesome,” Azure Sea Breeze grinned.

“Tch, what could you possibly participate in?” Wandering glanced at him with disdain, which successfully sent the Main Tank into a rage.

“You talking about me? Do you remember when you last asked me for help? If I didn’t bring the appendicitis medicine, you would have just laid in bed in pain. You called me and cried out to me to save you because you thought you were going to die,” Azure Sea Breeze retaliated.

“The events will start next week. Which events would you guys like to participate in?” Lu Li quickly cut them off. If they fought each other out here in the wilderness, one of them would die and lose EXP.

“Can’t we participate in all of them?” Hachi Chan’s eyes lit up, feeling like her time had come.

“You could, but it would be better to just focus on one. We can split into small groups to work out which of these events are the most cost effective.” Lu Li couldn’t find a way to tell them that the first three events were the best and could only make tact recommendations.

In reality, all of the rewards were quite good, but it was more difficult to win a prize in the last seven events.

For example, the “I love Dawn” photography contest had a $1 million prize that was offered by a photography company. However, the Xin Xin Mercenary Group probably didn’t have anyone who could do that.

“What do you plan to participate in?” Moonlight asked.

“Anyone can participate in the first one as long as they are in game – it just depends on their luck. But, I plan to pick up a quest for the Third event. I’ve practiced my Engineering and it’s almost at Expert Level. As for the third event…”Lu Li paused.

“Let’s do it together.”

Moonlight wasn’t his usual calm self; he was actually showing some excitement.

“Why? Are you interested?”

“It’s a professional event – aren’t you interested?” Moonlight’s eyes were shining, which made him look inexhaustibly eager.

“I once heard of someone who the online world considered as a great God of gaming. His name was Blood Demon,” Wandering said as he inserted himself into the conversation and continued, “He and his team had taken many positions on many ranking lists and had even become champions of the Shadow Cup. But, rumor had it that they had some internal conflict which sent them downhill. Eventually, they had a complete falling out in a game called Shadow Realm…”

Upon hearing the name Blood Demon, Moonlight’s expression changed a little. He waited until Wandering finished his ramble before wryly adding, “That’s right, I am Blood Demon. Brother Wandering seems to know a lot.”

Wandering smiled sneakily and said, “Actually, I’m Guessing.”

“You damned blind rat,” Azure Sea Breeze attacked. “Lighty, I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about him.”

“Ah, let’s not revisit things in the past.”

Moonlight shook his head, obviously unwilling to talk about his past and instead asked, “Lu Li, are you interested in participating in a Professional Competition with me, a failure? We’ll go in and take home the grand prize.”

“I’m not like you,” Lu Li refused, shaking his head.

Moonlight looked a little distressed. Would he have no way of starting over ever again?

“I’m not like you – I don’t have any interest in taking home the grand prize. However, I am very interested in the rewards that are involved in winning the grand prize. There’s no way I’m not participating in the second event,” Lu Li seriously said.

Moonlight didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. He rubbed his face as he said, “We are still down by one person. Shadow Cup matches are 3v3.”

“Hrm, this is no easy task…” Lu Li laughed.

Wandering immediately straightened up; he had to be the one.

“March Rain can be our Healer.”

Lu Li immediately picked March Rain. This little Priest was already good enough to be the main Priest of the Champion team, based on the memories of his past life.

Her talent could easily be seen from the PVE situations that they had been in.

Within the short period of one month, he had watched the little noob, who could only look on as her brother died to the Wolf, grow into a Priest who could independently heal an entire party, before finally becoming the main force behind the First Clear of the Death Mines on Difficult Level.

Lu Li had solo’ed Bosses time and time again, so he was always in the limelight. Azure Sea Breeze was the Main Tank, so he was perceived to be the core of the team. As for the Healer, not many players paid attention to her, so they never really appreciated her importance.

Most players just thought that you just needed to keep on healing and that there was no technique to it.

Lu Li suddenly felt expectant that March Rain would improve while in PVP. She would definitely be better than in PVE.

Although Wandering was a good player, he didn’t have much PVP ability, much like Azure Sea Breeze. If Lu Li and Moonlight had to pick one other player, they wouldn’t pick them.