The Great Thief

Lu Li thought the previous incident was just an accident, but the events that followed after were out of what he had expected. People constantly appeared in this empty area to interrupt him.

This was Misty Valley of Stranglethorn Vale; players rarely came here because there were no minerals and herbs. Not to mention, these gorillas weren’t easy to deal with either.

Even if these players had come to complete quests, Misty Valley was a big place, so there was no reason to specifically run into this area.

If they were Alliance players chasing after Horde players, it would make sense. The Alliance players would just be surprised to run into him, but if it was the other way around, the Horde players would attack him without the slightest hesitation.

With his assassin gear, Lu Li was capable of handling the situation while the intruding numbers remained in small groups, but when their numbers increased, the situation became different.

In the end, he had to escape with Gale Steps, but also meant that he broken the consistency kills for his assassin gear. Lu Li needed to vent his rage, so he followed behind and devoured these intruding players one by one.

These players dropped a few level 30 Silver equips which could be sold to make up for his maintenance fees. However, this was still not enough to make up for Lu Li’s losses.

It seemed like he had been looked down on; he just wanted to level up!

Lu Li then continued to encounter a wide variety of players. They were all battling each other and they were clearly divided by their factions.

Since players from the same faction were able to fight each other, most of the time, they never bothered to check. It was normal for players to be caught in a conflict and raise their weapons at each other.

While he was caught in between the confusion, Lu Li ran into his greatest threat today.

Why was Gaze here? He wasn’t by himself either. When Lu Li saw Cloudy Leaf and Wendelian with him, he felt the urge to curse a million times.

It wasn’t just these three players – there were others too. There was a total of 30 to 50 of them, not including the other Stealthed classes that were probably hiding to the side as well.

Gaze had risen to the peak of his fame last year when he sold himself out for four million dollars. Lu Li had encountered him a few times and wouldn’t dare look down on his technique.

Warriors naturally countered Thieves, and as Lu Li’s level increased, he could felt this more and more.

Not to mention, Lu Li didn’t expect all of these players to hold up to any level of sportsmanship.

Both parties almost reacted in the same instant. Lu Li rolled towards the bush beside him as Gaze directed his Charge towards him. Cloudy Leaf flashed and immediately casted Frost Nova.

Nobody else used any skills, but they all made their best reaction.

A Charge and a Frost Nova was enough. If Lu Li didn’t cast Gale Steps, he wouldn’t have been able to make it out alive. If he used Gale Steps, then it didn’t matter how many spells they casted; it was better for the rest of them to stay put and block his escape routes.

However, Lu Li’s reaction surprised them.

Lu Li’s rolling motion to the bushes was only a bait. He bounced himself from the ground below him as he landed right back at his original position.

Gaze had already charged out and Cloudy Leaf had already flashed; they all ran ahead of Lu Li.

Lu Li ran away in the opposite direction. When he passed Wendelian, he didn’t even hesitate to kick her in the stomach, which successfully interrupted her Soul Shriek.

All of this happened in an instant. All four professional players reacted based on their best judgement.

As for the average players, they might have only just understood what had happened, but their technique and reaction time prevented them from taking any actions. They could only watch as Lu Li brushed past them.

With his Shadow Cloak, the special effect from his boots and Gale Steps combined, he disappeared as soon as he appeared.

”Don’t worry about it. Don’t chase. We can’t catch up,” Wendelian called out as she calmly flicked off the dust and shoe print on her white Priest gown.

”Such a shame,” Gaze sighed. ”It was such a great chance.”

”There wasn’t much hope to begin with anyway. He is very confident though, to travel alone by himself in an environment like this,” Wendelian said as she shook her head. She didn’t feel any remorse for Lu Li’s escape.

The number one figure in the Horde faction was Sorrowless. As for the Alliance faction, most thought that the number one player was Lu Li. Although he had a weak foundation, his level was too high.

After Lu Li made his escape, he didn’t walk around fearlessly anymore. He hid in the shadows and investigated his surroundings as he moved in Stealth. He also opened the area channel, the channel that he had blocked for a long time.

”My ***, I died again, fight me one-on-one...”

”Killing Alliance dogs. Team of four missing one player. Need to at least have half Silver grade gear to be considered.”

”HAHA, keep talking you Horde pigs. Why aren’t you talking anymore? It must be fun losing all that experience. What happened to all the big talk when you guys killed me? I’m onto you guys; don’t come if you’re scared.”

Lu Li instantly lost track of the conversation from the spam in the area channel. Why was everyone so fiesty today?

Although Stranglethorn Vale and Southshore were the areas where most of the fights occurred, it had never been like this before. This place was worse than the street markets.

In Dawn, players weren’t allowed to talk in any channel whenever they wanted.

The World channel was the channel that most people saw. To talk on it would cost players a certain amount of money, and they would also be restricted with the number of times they could talk. Players were also banned from swearing and advertising. Otherwise, it would be too hard to play the game in peace when Dawn’s population was so large.

The Trading channel was specifically made for trading purposes, while the Faction channel was limited to players in the same faction. The Area channel was restricted to players on the map, and also required players to spend money.

Besides these, there was also the team channel (5 players), raid channel (more than 5 players), current channel, guild channel, system channel…

These were all free, but came with their own restrictions.

Although the payment for talking on the area channel wasn’t as high as the world channel, most people wouldn’t talk on it. There was no reason to spend unnecessary money.

Soon, Lu Li figured out what had happened; he didn’t even need to ask his friends.

A dark red crow flew across the sky of Stranglethorn Vale, its feathers glistening under the sunset. The crow saw with its own eyes the various battles that were going on between the Horde and Alliance players.

There was a massive war in Stranglethorn Vale!

After a month’s worth of hate festering on both sides, the first major war in Stranglethorn Vale had finally broken out.

Some players were reluctant to fight, but not everyone was this considerate – they just rode in and attacked. As such, it was only normal that everyone held grudges. Some were even killed in front of girls they had a crush on, so they held a greater grudge. Other players had their siblings, friends or relatives killed.

Stranglethorn Vale always had its own reasons for players to hold a grudge against one other.

Hence, on this very day, countless players joined in and spilled each other’s blood in all corners of the map.

Lu Li searched for his own army. Ruling Sword was part of the Alliance faction, so there was no way they would miss out on a war of this scale.

This had become an area where no solo players could tread.

Skills flew around everywhere; it wasn’t a surprise to be suddenly hit by a cold arrow. Even Thieves were forced to stay with the troops.

Lu Li never felt like he was invincible, but if he was knocked out from his Stealth, he could escape with Gale Steps. However, if he was knocked out from his Stealth after his invincibility expired, he could still die if he was unlucky.