The Great Thief

”We risk our lives for Lakeshire and this is all you offer?” Lu Li asked angrily. He was getting ready to beat up the old man, but Water Fairy held him back.

Of course, this was all an act.

Solomon was a friendly NPC, so he could not attack him if he wanted to. Even if he was able to, he wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

”The limit on this quest is 15 gold; there’s nothing I can do. The bonus 5 gold is coming out of my pocket,” Solomon pleaded, then added, ”I’m just the mayor of a small town, not some wealthy aristocrat.”

He was telling the truth this time; Lakeshire barely had any natural resources in its surroundings. Even so, Solomon had managed to build up his town and provide peace and happiness to his people. He was definitely not a corrupt and greedy scumbag.

”Fine, what about the EXP?” Lu Li cared more about the EXP than the gold.

Solomon gave him a number that Lu Li calculated to be around 4% of his EXP bar. This was actually quite decent for his level and there were very few quests that would give him this much, but Lu Li wanted more.

Players who completed quests that involved protecting something or escorting someone were often rewarded based on how well they completed the task. The rewards were not set and players could bargain with the NPC to raise them. Solomon, being the cheapskate he was, would never offer anything higher than the minimum, which was why Lu Li was pushing him so hard.

Lu Li continued to pester him until he finally gave up and agreed to a larger number. He was afraid that Lu Li would abandon the quest.

Lu Li thought about it again and calculated it out to be around 9% EXP. This was his absolute maximum – if Lu Li was going to abandon the quest and return back to Stormwind, he wouldn’t have cared anymore.

20 gold plus 9% EXP.

Solomon offered no other rewards like equipment or materials, but he did offer him stacks of dried fish, to which Lu Li declined. They were disgusting and almost rotten to the point that Remnant Dreams would not even feed them to her pets.

”I sent a scout there yesterday; please go and contact him,” Solomon said quickly.

All he wanted was for Lu Li and Water Fairy to leave.

”One last thing,” Lu Li said, remembering something. ”When we finish the quest, you have to give Keeshan and the others a proper job. They’re soldiers capable of protecting the town. Take this as a lesson – next time, don’t neglect those who can protect you because you’ll end up having to go around begging for help again.”

Magistrate Solomon’s face turned red from the embarrassment and remained silent.

After Lu Li left, the old man happily returned to his storage and looked at his collection. It was no longer filled with dried fish – instead, there were stacks of Seaforium Bombs, armor, weapons, leather, fur, ore, rare materials and gold. Lakeshire was a busy town, so there was no way it could be as poor as he had described.

The reason why Lu Li was so easily convinced was because of his personality and how rich he already was. Once people got to a comfortable point financially, they tended not to waste so much effort on a few extra pennies.

Lu Li rented a small boat because he did not bring his portable one.

Lakeshire rented out tour boats at a rate of seven gold for five hours of fun.

When Lu Li and Water Fairy returned, Keeshan and the others were waiting by the lake. They had been responsible and did not overdrink at the pub and were suited up in their newly repaired armour.

The Hunter Keeshan, Mage Messner, Paladin Jorgsen, Warrior Danforth and Thief Krakauer, as well as Lu Li and Water Fairy joined a single party. There were Three thieves and no healer. Although their team composition didn’t make much sense, it was actually more suitable since it was a stealth mission.

”Can we use this at all?” Lu Li asked as he threw the Tank onto the ground to show the others.

”Good stuff – this is a CTF-2 Goblin Tank. You can use this Danforth, but you have to fix it first,” Keeshan said as he examined the tank, clearly pleased with its condition.

The usually-quiet Danforth inspected the tank and listed out some Engineering materials.

Lu Li could find most of them because he was an Advanced Engineer himself.

The repairing process was quite easy, and with a blink of an eye, the tank came to life. Besides being a skilled Engineer, Danforth was also an excellent driver.

”If you want, I can teach you how to fix things with your Engineering. It’s not always that useful though,” Danforth offered kindly.

”Of course. Thank you.” Lu Li was overjoyed.

Danforth handed Lu Li a book and the system notified him that he had learned the Engineering Repair skill.

This skill used up a certain amount of materials to repair broken items crafted by Engineers. It could only be used by Advanced Engineers and there was a chance of failing.

The more skills he learned, the more opportunities he had to make money.

Because of his rebirth, he knew plenty of locations where there were old, broken-down machines that could be repaired. If he managed to find some and repaired them, he would make quite a bit of money.

Lu Li then brought out the Seaforium Bombs.

”Forty-six Seaforium Bombs – you guys did it!” Keeshan exclaimed as he took the bombs and pushed the rental boat out onto the water.

Lu Li smiled and followed behind.

Messner was in charge of steering the boat, using his fire Mage skills to propel it at a high speed. He was clearly experienced with doing this as the boat was very stable.

”Once we’re done with this mission, I should just retire and become a fisherman,” he joked.

”I’ll probably become a farmer like my father and my grandfather. They both raised up their family that way.” Although he was wearing a suit of bright silver armor, the Paladin wanted to be a farmer deep-down.

These comments sparked a conversation about their plans after retirement.

Keeshan stared at the surface of the lake and zoned out. After some thinking he said, ”I… I’ll probably become a boxer or something.”

”There’s no need – I made sure that Magistrate Solomon would guarantee you guys a job after this,” Lu Li said.

Lu Li thought that he had brought them good news and that everyone would cheer in excitement. However, they all shook their heads quietly. Keeshan saw that it had become awkward and patted on Lu Li’s shoulders saying, ”Brother, thank you. It’s the thought that counts.”

As they spoke, Stonewatch Fortress had been invaded.

Stonewatch Fortress used to belong to the Alliance, but was occupied by the Blackrock Orcs in the Second War. It was situated on the East side of Lakeshire and provided many strategic advantages. The Blackrock Orcs that resided there would often raid passing travelers and harass the borders of Lakeshire.

Even the Horde merchants and players would be attacked as well.