The Great Thief

“Respected Mr. Ed Harris, do we leave now?” Whinging Hollow asked.

“Of course not. I still need to prepare a few things,” Lu Li shook his head, then continued saying, “I think you guys should go and prepare yourselves. We’ll leave at last light. How’s that?”

“That’s good.”

City Smoke and Whinging Hollow both nodded their head in agreement.

If they had to leave now, then even a super club like Glory Capital would feel a little underprepared and nervous. However, with the NPC giving them a little over two hours until then, they had enough time to pick out the elites in the club to complete this escorting quest.

An Enhancing Skill Book was definitely worth mobilising large numbers of players for.

Lu Li arranged a rendezvous point, which was the entrance of the Valley of Spears. The Valley of Spears was where the large-scale Instance Dungeon Maraudon was situated. This area was the territory of the Centarus, while the Mok’Nathal spirits dwelled in the deeper parts of the Valley.

Rexxar didn’t like these Centaurs very much. Whenever he crossed their territories, he would always leave a trail of dead centaur corpses in his path.

The Maraudine Centaurs were furious, but they didn’t dare to do anything about it. When the sun began setting in the west, the Centauri warriors became cowards. Each and every one of them hid inside their tents until the last sliver of light disappeared from the Valley of Spears. Then, they would breathe a sigh of relief.

This unspoken rule was already implemented unconsciously.

Naturally, the Maraudine didn’t like this. They held a deep hatred for Rexxar and his gigantic pet bear. They were thinking of killing both of them at all times, but unfortunately for them, Rexxar was too powerful. Even if they mobilised the whole army, they wouldn’t even be able to touch a single hair on his body. The most they could do was to paint this dark red-coloured land into a brighter shade of red.

“What? No way.”

Whinging Hollow stood in the middle of a meeting room in Orgrim, clearly angered.

“I know it’s unfair. But you have to understand that this benefits the guild a lot more. It would be much more worth it to give it to Blood Dagger instead,” City Smoke said, expressionless.

“You do know that if I wasn’t there, you guys wouldn’t have been able to continue with the quest, right?” Whinging Hollow angrily replied.

“Then you should also know that if I didn’t want to negotiate with you, I wouldn’t even be talking about it now. I would’ve waited until the quest was finished, and then I would have forced you to hand the book over. However, we are a team, and you’re one of the core members in the club. You should be prioritising the benefit of the club over your own.”

“Is this what the Boss wants? Or did you make the decision by yourself?” Whinging Hollow questioned, glaring at City Smoke.

“I hope that you would give the book to the professionals,” City Smoke said then went quiet for a while, after which he continued, “However, I have sought the boss’ opinion on this matter. At the end of the day, it was the boss who made this decision. He told me to compensate you the best I can.”

“How can this be? How can it be?”

Whinging Hollow slumped into his chair, having seemingly lost all his energy.

The belief in his heart was shattered. He worshipped Sorrowless. Sorrowless was a god-like figure in his heart. Since Sorrowless was like a god, shouldn’t he have been just and fair? Why was he so cold? Could he have not given him a chance?”

“The Boss told me to compensate you to the best of my ability,” City Smoke assured him, then continued to say, “Therefore, I’ve decided to not only give you all the rewards and Epic items from the quest, but the club will also give you two other Epic items. I believe that the addition of all these items would strengthen you much more than the single book would.”

“Much more?” Whinging Hollow furiously roared. “An Enhancing Skill Book would increase my strength forever, but equipment is only a temporary increase. Who are you trying to trick?”

“Hollow, calm down. Have you lost your mind over one skill book?” City Smoke was feeling a little frustrated by now. “I ask you, when you signed that contract to be an elite in the club, did you not sign it knowing that the contract read to prioritise club benefits over your own? I ask you again. If the club did not give you a chance to infiltrate Stormwind, would you have triggered the quest? You wouldn’t be able to finish this quest on your own in the first place. Would you have dared to go into the Valley of Spears without the guild’s support?”

Whinging Hollow finally calmed down.

City Smoke was right. When he had first signed the contract, there was indeed something written like that. It wasn’t just mentioned in passing either; it was heavily emphasised.

He also wouldn’t have been able to infiltrate Stormwind City without the help of the guild.

It was the last sentence that was the most soul-crushing. He wasn’t brave enough to enter the Valley of Spears by himself, let alone fight against the spirits of the Mok’Nathal Ogres. It was only with the support of the guild that he had a chance at completing the quest,

No one would dare to confront those spirits. Not even the mercenary groups who called themselves invincible.

“Alright. I promise. However, on top of the four Epic items, I also want 2 million dollars.”

Whinging Hollow was obviously reluctant; his rage hadn’t dissipated at all. However, after calming down, all his energy went to claiming benefits for himself.

“No problem. The 2 million can be transferred into your bank account first,” City Smoke agreed, accepting the proposal without any hesitation.

It was only 2 million dollars. For a mega-corporation like Glory Capital, it was nothing at all. City Smoke didn’t even need to ask Sorrowless or White Westhill.

One core elite team. Four elite teams. On top of these, there were also tens of Glory Capital’s top players, with White Westhill and Blood Dagger leading them. Glory Capital had already sent out their best to complete this quest. This was on the same scale as fighting a powerful Wild Boss.

The 2 million dollars soothed Whinging Hollow’s emotions a lot more. Then, he brought his people and marched into the Desolace.

The Desolace was a part of a mountain and looked like an enormous wasteland. It was said that within the boundaries of the wasteland, there was something created by the demigod Cenarius’ son and an Earth Elemental princess. Although the Desolace was fortunate enough to not be destroyed by the wars with demons, it still ended up being ravaged due to the battles of the centaurs.

It was situated in the western coast of Kalimdor with Feralas to the North. Mulgore was to the west side and the Stonetalon Mountains to the South.

The colour of the terrain was an ashy grey. Most of the soil in the area was barren besides the soil nearer to the Feralas’ Trolls and the Stonetalon Mountains’ Alliance camp, as they were experimenting with building a town there.

This place seemed like it was struck with a curse. The skies were constantly grey and dull with regular storms and lightning.

The time to meet up was quickly upon them as the sun set in the west. Whinging Hollow and his helpers also arrived at the outside of the Valley of Spears. They quietly waited for the arrival of Ed Harris, the Thief mentor.