Chapter 232 Golden Era's First Move
The Golden Era guild was living up to their name as locusts of the gaming world. The effects of their presence in the game could already be felt 10 days after the new patch was introduced.
It came in the change in the top 20 to top 50 players on the leaderboards of each continent. Many of the players who had long held their place on the boards were replaced by new names that were previously beyond rank 100. And they were all the vanguards of the Golden Era guild.
The change would have gone unnoticed if it happened to only one or two old players. But dozens of players being replaced on the leaderboard across all four continents within the short span of 10 days was something that simply could not be ignored.
The major guilds have started to feel the peril knocking on their doorsteps. And even Ye Ci who was in the Forest of Mist could sense danger looming ahead. She decided to contact Green Hill's Moon.
As an information broker, Green Hill's Moon saw every other player as a gleaming pile of gold, with Ye Ci, who gave him a helping hand in his most dire hour, the only exception. He was someone who would acquire any sort of information as long as he was paid.
And business was booming for him.
He was so busy that Ye Ci's call went into his voicemail. "Hello, thank you for calling me! If you wish to know something about the Eastern Continent, press 1. If you seek information about the Southern Continent, press 2. If you need information about the Western Continent, press 3. For information about the Northern Continent, Press 4. If you're just here to talk to me, please hang up the call now..."
"You have 10 seconds to return my call, Green Hill's Moon. If you do not do that, I will post what you did in the past to the forum." Ye Ci left a message for the man, and began counting down.
It did not even take 5 seconds for Green Hill's Moon voice to ring out in Ye Ci's ears, "Ahhh! Mercy Gongzi You! Aren't I here now? As long as you have a need for me, I will come to you even if I'm in the middle of a roller coaster ride!"
Ye Ci snorted at his words. Who knows how many people he had repeated the same line to.
"Say, what do you need?" Green Hill's Moon felt awkward when Ye Ci expressed her disbelief, and immediately changed the topic. He knew that Gongzi You did not call him for an idle chat. And he also knew that he was also not someone who Gongzi You would engage in an idle chat. She was here for business, and an important one.
"What's with the leaderboard in all the continents?" Ye Ci went straight to the point.
"You're talking about Golden Era's move?" Green Hill's Moon had already accepted many requests recently, and they were always questions about a player's location, skills, equipment, and strength. The players who were replaced on the leaderboard would also seek information from him.
"Yup." and this was why Green Hill's Moon was someone that Ye Ci enjoyed talking to. He could guess her intentions clearly just by listening to her words.
"You want to know how Golden Era players were able to climb the board so fast in such a short window." Green Hill's Moon knew that Ye Ci was someone highly intelligent, and he knew what information she needed.
"Green Hill's Moon, do you know what I like the most about you?" she smiled.
Green Hill's Moon chuckled in response, "Don't tell anyone that you like me. I don't want to have a bounty placed on my head as well. Admire is a better word."
But his words were ignored by Ye Ci, "You're smart. You always know what I want. It's not tiring talking with you."
"It's my highest honor to receive such praise from Gongzi You." and after a short conversation with Ye Ci, Green Hill's moon proceeded to provide her with the information she sought, "I've received a lot of requests from Golden Era. they were never here alone. They must have a department of sorts for things like this." and he continued after a slight pause, "Oh by the way, I've moved to the Middle Continent. I'll be staying here from now on. You can come find me if you're free."
With the rapid development of Green Hill's Moon business, staying only in the Eastern Continent will severely limit its growth. This was why he immediately moved to Hero City when the new patch was released. This enabled him to receive requests from players from all four continents.
And Green Hill's Moon continued, "They bought information of players from me. Information like their levels, equipment, skills, pets, and their current location. I thought of it simply as a group of players seeking revenge on someone, so I did not ask questions. Their pay was quite high as well. But requests like this kept coming. I would get dozens of them a day. I was starting to feel that something was up, but nothing was happening, so I did not look further into this matter."
Green Hill's Moon let out a long sigh, "But things began to change on the 4th day the patch was released. The players whose information that I sold were dropping from the leaderboard left and right. I was shocked, and I sent some of my people to find out what happened. It seems that those players were assassinated by a group of unknown assailants."
"They were very discreet, and were doing a very good job in hiding their identities. They did not entirely zero a player, but they would hunt a victim down until his or her level had dropped by 10, loot all their good gear, and disappear."
"Won't the players who were attacked receive notification about their assailants' identity?"
Ye Ci voiced out her question, "They were all from major guilds. Why do these guilds not fight back?"
"Have you heard of August Cherry?" Green Hill's Moon smiled.
August Cherry?! Ye Ci was shocked. The name was so familiar to her, and yet she could not remember who the person was, "No, I haven't."
"She's a Higher-tier Tailor who was previously not well known. But she found a limited edition blueprint."
"What sort of blueprint?"
"Have you heard of something called a 'Secret Cloak'?" asked Green Hill's Moon.
Ye Ci would of course know what it was. The cloak was sold at the price of as high as 1 million gold in her last life, and only a hundred of them existed in the game.
It was a normal accessory item, but it had the stats that were said to be game breaking.
It could hide the name of a player's would-be assassin.
This meant that a player who was attacked by players equipped with Secret Cloaks could not identify their assailants, and not even the system would reveal their names.
Of course, it was a knowledge from Ye Ci's last life, and she could not answer his question truthfully, "Nope. What is it?"
Green Hill's Moon explained the function of the Secret Cloak to Ye Ci and said, "These cloaks were made by August Cherry. She's a member of Golden Era."
Ye Ci was stunned. She did not know that August Cherry was part of Golden era, "This is a bug! If August Cherry can make one for every member of Golden Era, we won't be able to fight against them at all!"
"Something like this would of course have a number limit." Green Hill's Moon could find himself relating with Ye Ci's surprise, "Only a hundred of them can be produced from that blueprint. Which means that there can only be 100 Secret Cloaks in Fate."
Ye Ci found herself frowning, "What are the classes of these assassins?"
"Most of them are Rogues, and sometimes a few Hunters or Rangers. They are always classes with high speed and are very hard to deal with. They would always attack with 10 players who were working well as a team. It seems that they have been practicing for a long time. That's probably why very few of their victims were able to escape. I think even you would have trouble against such an attack." and Ye Ci knew very well that Green Hill's Moon was simply analyzing the situation objectively.
Chapter 324 Assassins
"Even you would have trouble handling their attack." Ye Ci was able to guess that Golden Era's men would be at the level of level 58 to level 60. With their ability to work as a unit and the expected quality of their equipment, Ye Ci knew that she would not be able to gain the upper hand if ten of them went after her.
It was apparent that Golden Era had been planning for this for a long time, and they were even more prepared than she had anticipated. She thought that she could limit Golden Era's growth by securing the Mithril ore veins, but she was too naive.
"Oh, one more thing." Green Hill's Moon sighed after a long silence from Ye Ci.
"What is it?"
"They have started to collect information about you." he said in a low voice, "I did not give them your complete information, and I have even provided them with some fake ones. I do not know if they will send someone else to buy information about you from me, but they did it once yesterday. With how they do things previously, their assassins will be going after you within 3 days. And since it's you, I think they will be sending 20 of their men." Ye Ci raised an eyebrow. So they're not going to just leave me alone after all. She had expected them to make a move, but never in her wildest dream did she anticipate for them to come for her so soon, "Have they bought my location from you?"
"They tried, but I told them that you're in an unknown map that I can't reach. I think they will try to acquire your whereabouts through other means. Be careful out there" said Green Hill's Moon, "I remember you still have the bounty of the 3 major Northern Continent guilds on you. They have a lot to gain for killing you."
"I will." Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. She was no pushover. Even if Golden Era were to come after her, she would give them a run for their money.
"Oh, there's something else that you should know as well."
"What is it?"
"They have also bought information about Lethal Poison, Fleeting Time, and Spotless Autumn as well. But they were unable to locate Spotless Autumn. Even I do not know where that guy is hiding. He should be safe at the moment. Lethal Poison on the other hand had already been attacked."
"How did it go?"
"They failed. He took out three of them. Rumor has it that a Secret Cloak was dropped by one of his assassins." as the best information broker in Fate, there was little that Green Hill's Moon did not know.
"And what about.." a frown appeared on Ye Ci's face at the thought of that person, and she did not finish the sentence.
But Green Hill's Moon knew what she was about to ask, "Fleeting Time's information was bought 3 days ago. If my estimations are correct, they might be fighting even as we speak. I do not know how it will end, but I will contact you once I have information. You're both Hunters, so the outcome of his battle might be of use to you."
"Alright." Ye Ci nodded.
"You'll be in danger if you stay in the Mist Forest. Be careful." Green Hill's Moon spoke to Ye Ci as if she was an old friend, and disconnected the call.
She was sitting on the branch of a very tall tree, and Ol' Six was slowly munching on a piece of roasted beef beside her. The Dragon was now the size of a horse and was at level 35. It was starting to look more and more like a proper Dragon. But because he has not evolved into the next tier, Ol' Six still looked silly to Ye Ci.
Meat was plentiful in the Mist Forest due to its high population of beast-type monsters. Despite Ol' Six's current size, he was still a cub, and was still not able to be used in combat. It could only be sent into battle at Tier 7, but Ye Ci had not found a way to ascend her pet yet.
As Ye Ci rested against the trunk, Green Hill's Moon's words were replaying in her mind. Is Fleeting Time under attack now, or will he soon be attacked? She took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Even she herself had not realized that she was worrying for Fleeting Time.
But she was quick to redirect her attention somewhere else. They were players from different continents, and there was nothing she could do to help him. Even if she wanted to warn him, she did not have the means to contact him. All she could do was to wish him the best of luck. And she was confident that Fleeting Time would fare better if not as well as Lethal Poison. There was really nothing to worry about.
Ye Ci descended from the tree once Ol' Six was done with his meal, and fired off an arrow at the nearest monster. Ol' Six flapped its wings clumsily and followed after Ye Ci, casting its only skill, Intimidation at the monster.
The two had been leveling up following such a training regime for some time. Ol' Six was not interested in fighting, but with its loyalty already at 100% and the enticement from Ye Ci's roasted meat, he was more than happy to throw itself into battle.
Tan Polang had almost fallen asleep on the bus on his way home. He was satisfied with his performance in the exam, and he was one step closer to securing his scholarship. The hot afternoon sun shone down on the ground on his face.
The urge to sleep washed over him once again. It was a 1-hour trip from school back home. With nothing else to do, the trip was a long and arduous one.
His phone beeped just when he let out yet another yawn. One glance at the sender of the message was able to wash away his fatigue.
It was a message from Fleeting Time.
The man had made a long call to Tan Polang after getting his phone number. The 2-hours long conversation was mostly Tan Polang catching up with Fleeting Time, but he had also made his intentions clear.
Firstly, he liked Gongzi You.
Secondly, he needed to know the relationship between Tan Polang and Gongzi You.
And thirdly, he wanted Tan Polang to play matchmaker between him and Gongzi You.
His requests were all accepted by Tan Polang who saw gossipping as his life. He completely sold Ye Ci out to Fleeting Time.
Fleeting Time did betray any reaction after receiving the information from Tan Polang, but their conversation had also opened up a window for him to communicate more often with the boy. Tan Polang would always receive a message from Fleeting Time without fail on his way home from school. Today was no exception.
But what he received today was very peculiar. "Has Gongzi You been assassinated recently?"
Assassination? That's scary! Tan Polang was shocked. Did something happen to Sister Ye when I was away? "Are you talking about the bounty? Who else other than you can take her on?"
"I wouldn't have asked if it's just that. Try finding out when you get home and tell me." Fleeting Time did not divulge more information.
"Oh, alright then." Tan Polang would never refuse a request from Fleeting Time especially when it also benefits Ye Ci. He did not know what was going on, and interpersonal communication was not Fleeting Time's strong suit. Tan Polang's only source of clue was Bai Mo.
Zuo Xiaolan and Ye Nantian were preparing dinner when Tan Polang arrived home. He was told to take a shower and to call Ye Ci and Bai Mo down for dinner. Bai Mo was climbing out of his gaming cabin when Tan Polang returned to his room after taking a shower. And the boy began asking Bai Mo about events that happened in game. He was quickly able to piece together the intention behind Fleeting Time's question.
It came as a huge shock to him, "No way, Golden Era is acting that boldly?! Won't that make them targets for retaliation?"
"It's still not widely known yet. It's still all rumors and speculations at the moment. Nobody could prove that Golden Era was behind it. But I think the major guilds will be acting soon." Bai Mo put on a change of clothes and continued, "Be careful whenever you're online. Don't go anywhere alone especially when you're not in a city."
Tan Polang nodded, and he asked after a slight pause, "But isn't Sister Ye alone? Do you think she'll be safe?"
"Let's just hope that she'll be careful," Bai Mo let out a long sigh.