The Great Thief

Dragon Flame’s target was to be the best newcomer in the Donghua Cup. As long as he could win against Fat Monkey, this was almost guaranteed. Although now, Fat Monkey wasn’t a celebrity competitor, his strength was on par with that of the other competitors. He and Kitty Likes Meat had defeated celebrity competitors many times before.

These intentions were swept away along with Dragon Flame’s decline and fall. In the end, he still hadn’t defeated Fat Monkey.

The second one to enter the stage from Glory Capital was Happy Scrolls.

There was a long love-hate relationship between Thieves and Mages. Both wanted to say they were better than the other. Happy Scrolls’ way of fighting wasn’t like Blood Dagger’s at all. He acted stupid but was actually quite effective; his actions seemed slow but everything still seemed to fall into place.

Fat Monkey hated this sort of dawdling opponent, but his opponent was a Thief, so he didn’t have control of the fight at all. Fat Monkey could only respond and follow along.

“He’s really such a patient competitor,” Lu Li said with shame.

“Looks like he has control over the monkey,” Square Root 3 responded with a nod. He was also watching the competition, sitting at Lu Li’s side. Being an important figure within the guild, he rarely had time to relax. Even if he was relaxing, this was the way he would relax. He really was a workaholic.

“Monkey still needs to cultivate himself,” Lu Li said.

“What do you think of these Glory Capital competitors?” Square Root 3 asked. They weren’t here to know the result of the competition, but rather were here to observe at Glory Capital’s new players, as well as how their own new members were going.

“They’re all damn good. Glory Capital’s hidden talent is coming out strong. Before, they always went on about how they had their hidden talent and traditions, but now we know what it all actually means. This is a big, heavy burden, Three,” Lu Li lamented.

“But there’s no need to be discouraged. We’re already doing a great job,” Square Root 3 replied.

“Still not great enough, I’m planning to increase the training program. Hopefully more people will assure us the victory the next time we have a Stronghold battle,” Lu Li said, his gaze cast away.

“That’s gonna be hard. Even Glory Capital’s been defeated by us – who do you think would dare to attack our strongholds?” Square Root 3 questioned painfully. The scene in front of them seemed to reflect this. Glory Capital had been thoroughly defeated twice. Other clubs just had to think about it and they’d know that they wouldn’t be able to make it.

They could predict what the next Stronghold battle would be like. Everyone would skip over Ruling Sword’s stronghold. No one would be willing to pay the high price to try to attack and pillage it.

Deception!

Lu Li suddenly had a toothache. Sorrowless really was an idiot, doing nothing but looking hard at how his own club was going.

“Do you want to do something a bit dodgy?” Lu Li asked, suddenly thinking of an idea.

“Dodgy? How, how can you do that here?” Square Root 3 cried out, showing that his goodness limited his imagination.

“Aren’t there a lot of people here who want to buy a Stronghold from us? We can sell it to them, then after, we can attack…Um, what’s this expression you’ve got? You don’t think my plan will work?”

“Lu Li, this would be too damaging,” Square Root Three said, speechless. “When people sell things, they’ve got to have some after-sales service, but not you. You’re just selling it, then snatching it back. Who’s gonna ever buy from you again? Even if you want to do something else, you’re going to give people a bad impression.”

“Hehe, it’s just an idea, that’s all.”

Even so, Lu Li still felt uncertain deep inside. If they did it once, it would actually make them a lot of money.

If one Stronghold was going for 50 million, countless clubs would be rushing for it. He would choose a club of average strength, then he would simply fight for it back.

As for whether it would impact their reputation, he really didn’t care.

“We’re people with a name. We can’t keep going in this way,” Square Root 3 said, solidly against Lu Li’s shameless plan.

“Then what do you say we do then? How about we don’t spend any money?” Lu Li suggested.

“Should we spend, or can we spend? As long as we leave a little behind it’ll be fine.”

Square Root 3 looked at the scene, where Fat Monkey had been drawn into a passive battle. He then continued, “Lu Li, what do you think about this Sky’s Darkness here? He’s actually really on my mind.”

“Not bad at all, but not as good as March.”

In Lu Li’s mind, March Rain was the model priest.

“Isn’t that nonsense? How can you even compare them,” Square Root 3 said.

“But he’s still pretty good. Their three new players this time weren’t bad at all either. They’re stronger than ours,” Lu Li said, hiding a bit of discontent in him. How could the new members of his team lack this combative spirit? He didn’t think about how long his Sharpening Centre had been established. The two new players had to receive training, but on the other hand, they had to dedicate so much to level up at the Instance Dungeons.

“Of the five new people, two of them are orphans. Did you realise?” Square Root 3 reminded.

” I only know Sky’s Darkness was like this, born in an orphanage to unlucky parents. He shouldn’t be the child of a big family – that’s what all the TV dramas are like, like Dynasty and all that,” Lu Li said, his imagination blossoming.

“Oh, can you not always watch those damned TV dramas,” Square Root 3 sighed.

“I watch them with my sister. So what? You’re just jealous you don’t have a sister. Xin’s so happy when she watches those shows,” Lu Li said, defending his rights. He usually played games by himself, and Lu Xin usually went out doing stuff, so there was rarely the chance for the two of them to just get together and relax.

Just watching shows at home!

“Fine, fine, let’s not talk about this anymore. What I mean is, we don’t have to set our sights so high. We can’t raise a normal child,” Square Root 3 said.

“I get it, three, you’ve got your sights set on the crazy kid.”

“Damn you!” Square Root 3 swore, giving him the finger.

“Actually, I’ve thought about this before too. I grew up in the Common District, so I know what it’s like. What you say is right, but a lot of kids there have issues, so it’s hard to take care of them.”

Evidently, Lu Li was just joking then.

“I still believe people are good at heart.”

“You’re an idealist, Three. Over there, good people can’t survive, especially the orphans you were talking about. I don’t like people with no bottom line.”

“We’ve got so many trainers. I’ve seen them; I think they’re pretty free most of the time. Butterfly Dancer hates to see bad things done. Teaching them wouldn’t be a problem at all,” Square Root 3 countered.

Ruling Sword’s training camp for newbies was officially called the Sharpening Centre. There were four instructors with Cat Dad being the leader. He was the veteran there, having done the most for the Sharpening Centre since it was established, and his daughter also contributed to Ruling Sword. They were all valuable parts of the team.

Then there was Dawn Peak. He was an instructor for real combat, and was even greater than what people described him as.

Butterfly Dancer was a mature girl, with a much better temperament compared to Dawn Peak. It was just that she really detested evil, like a proper married woman. She would really teach a lesson to those she didn’t see eye to eye with.

Lastly, there was an old friend of Cat’s dad, Han Lengxian, an expert on game theory.

He had come from Glory Capital’s Green training camp, but lost his job after graduating, so for over 10 years he had been researching theory behind the game.

He was the Sharpening Centre’s theory expert. Lu Li had seen his training material and other resources, and it was all watertight. He also had a knack for summarizing the outcomes of battles.

Now, Ruling Sword’s Sharpening Centre had 12 students altogether. There were originally 14, but two dropped out because they thought it too hard.

Not only were there 4 instructors, but Ruling Sword had also hired a couple aunties to help out. It really was a waste for them to look after 12 students. Looking after 30 or 50 would be fine, after all, they could do a lot of things by themselves.

If they couldn’t take care of themselves, how could they compete on the stage?

“I’ll find someone to try it out,” Lu Li said. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with giving it a try. if it really didn’t work out then they’d just chase them away.

Recently, he had been watching TV with Lu Xin, and often saw how the main characters were independent. Those orphans raised from birth were so loyal and devoted. He could only curl his lips and smile coldly. It was really too naïve.

At the end of the day, human nature was the most complex.

On the arena, Fat Monkey had already been defeated.

Happy Scrolls was overjoyed, but this quickly turned when he saw that the entering the stage from Ruling Sword was Soulless Grass.

Fighting with another melee player, especially a big, brawny Berserker, would not be advantageous for a Thief.

In the current patch, a Thief basically had no way to win against a Berserker of the same level, unless there was a significant difference in their mechanics. After a short while, he was killed in Soulless Grass’ Whirlwind.

Soulless Grass was extremely calm but bold in battle. He had defeated an opponent, but he immediately turned into a shy boy afterwards.

His still stature made all the audience around Lu Li adore him. Everyone seemed to like the new kid. At the end of the day, this world focused on appearances more than anything.

If it was am ugly person in the same position, it would be the complete opposite!

Soulless Grass could definitely be a good poster boy.

Originally, Wandering was nicer, but it was a shame this handsome lad was crazy and his mouth was too dirty. Apart from his diehard fans, others couldn’t stand him and would shower him with vitriol if they got the chance.

“Wandering, I really like you! I like you so much my heart breaks.”

“You didn’t bring an umbrella when it rained. Hey, your brain is full of water! Take a look at your ugly face – who are you to like me?”

Soulless Grass wasn’t like this. He was young and handsome, looking heroic in his armor. He was gentle and polite when speaking with others, as well as a little shy…