Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Hidden Lurker also knew that the Quan Zhen Sect was even more difficult to deal with than he had ever imagined. Therefore, he immediately mustered everyone to block off the exit of the forest.
United Alliance had a total of about two thousand players. Currently, about one thousand of them were online. In addition to the players from Berserk Heavenlaw, there were about six thousand players.
How big of a crowd would six thousand players form?
After getting into formation, every training area from Ironcliff Fortress to Thunderstorm City was filled with players from these two sects.
Even they themselves would never imagine that they would send out such a large formation just to capture eleven people.
With that many people searching for them, even the small monsters of the training area will not survive the sweep, let alone eleven people.
Seeing the size force brought by Berserk Heavenlaw, Hidden Lurker felt much better. With that many people’s help to deal with the Quan Zhen Sect, they would undoubtedly not be able to fight back. After all, no tactics would work in the face of absolute dominance in terms of manpower.
At the same time, Hidden Lurker was still feeling slightly uneasy. The motive behind why Berserk Heavenlaw went full force to catch the Quan Zhen Sect was based on the groundless secret letter the Quan Zhen Sect was supposed to have.
But that plaything was made up by Hidden Lurker. If they were to find out that there was nothing like that, given the temper of those players from Berserk Heavenlaw, even Nian Liuyun might not be able to save the United Alliance.
At the thought of this, Hidden Lurker couldn’t help shivering. He bit onto his lips as he wondered how he was going to explain himself…
“Boss Hidden Lurker, what are you doing?”
“I didn’t mean to…”
Hidden Lurker’s mind was wild with thoughts and when he suddenly heard a voice, he was so frightened he started mumbling nonsense.
“Eh? You didn’t mean to do what?” Berserk Thundergod asked.
“No, nothing.” Hidden Lurker panicked, “Boss Thundergod, what’s up?”
Berserk Thundergod laughed and said, “Even though the quest isn’t ours, we sent so many people here to help. Naturally, I don’t expect us to help for free…”
“Of course, I am certain you will be satisfied with the money I’m going to give you once the quest is completed.” Hidden Lurker said.
“No, I do not want gold.” Berserk Thundergod continued, “You and I both know that the Quan Zhen Sect’s players are extremely wealthy. I suggest that the items dropped by them later on will be kept by whoever picks it up first. What do you think?”
Hidden Lurker pondered for a moment before nodding, “This… Of course!”
“Great! Then it’s a deal!” Berserk Thundergod smiled craftily as he instructed his subordinates to cooperate with United Alliance’s search team.
Six thousand men started combing upwards from the foot of the mountain.
Because they had been ambushed by the Quan Zhen Sect before, the two guilds were not only extremely thorough with their searches of bushes and blind spots. They were detailed in their search on top of trees too.
Any hidden living organism was discovered by these people.
Even after so many people combed from the foot of the mountain to the mountain walls, they couldn’t find a single person from the Quan Zhen Sect.
“This is impossible. We’ve looked through the top and bottom of trees and even if they knew [Stealth], we would have uncovered them… How come we couldn’t find anyone at all?” Hidden Lurker was getting increasingly anxious when he received more updates from his subordinates.
What seemed to be a surefire search was currently so disappointing.
Berserk Thundergod furrowed his brows as he asked, “Could they have escaped?”
“That is impossible too…” Hidden Lurker replied, “Eleven of them are not small targets… We would have seen them if they went past us. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless they went offline?” Hidden Lurker suddenly thought about it.
To be able to hide so well, going offline seemed to be the most viable reason.
“Offline! Yes, they must have gone offline!” Berserk Thundergod instantly agreed to Hidden Lurker’s reasoning.
“So what do we do now that they went offline?” Berserk Thundergod asked in frustration.
Regardless of how many people they had, it wouldn’t matter if their opponents were offline. They couldn’t possibly go offline to PK them, right?
Hidden Lurker replied, “This isn’t good! They are extremely crafty, they must have gone online while we were searching for them. They might be running towards Thunderstorm City now.”
“Ah? This can’t be possible right… If they’re not online, how will they know when we’ve searched?” Berserk Thundergod looked confusingly at Hidden Lurker.
Going offline would cut off all connections with the game. If there were definitely no signs of the Quan Zhen Sect here, wouldn’t it be too mysterious if they could still know the movements of their enemies even after going offline?
“You don’t understand those fellas. Hurry up and return to defend.” Hidden Lurker said in a hurry.
Back then, Hidden Lurker was friends with the Quan Zhen Sect for a period of time. He was well aware of the abilities of the Quan Zhen Sect, especially Spring Halo’s calculations and judgement.
If not for the fact that the Quan Zhen Sect didn’t know how to appreciate his kindness, Hidden Lurker would have managed to win over them even if he gave up Solitary Ling’s equipment.
“Alright, let’s hurry back…” Berserk Thundergod gave his commands.
Just when Berserk Thundergod instructed his men to return, Wang Yu, Fearless and co. came online one after the other.
Looking at the quietness in the surrounding, Fearless laughed coldly, “I knew they would search for us in a large-scale manner. Now they would have realised that we went offline and will definitely come back. Let’s escape now!”
“Which side?’ Vainglory asked.
“Ironcliff Fortress!” Fearless answered.
“No way! You want to force our way through? Are we not going to head back to the city?” Crotch Lord asked.
Ironcliff Fortress was the old lair of Berserk Heavenlaw. Would they not be sending themselves into the enemy’s net by heading there after all these? Wasn’t it more plausible for them to head back to Thunderstorm City in such a situation?
“I believe that heading to Ironcliff Fortress is the right choice.” Wang Yu, who never had many plans in his mind, suddenly mentioned, “I’ve been to this map before. It is not considered very big or very small. If they want to search for us in an effective manner, they need to call upon a lot of people. Therefore, I doubt there will be many people at the Ironcliff Fortress now.”
Fearless smiled, “Old Bull, I’m starting to see potential in you! Indeed, if Crotch Lord can think about returning to Thunderstorm City, Hidden Lurker will definitely be able to think of that too. While they are returning to defend their city, this is the perfect opportunity for us to barge through the fortress. If we miss this opportunity, we can forget about crossing once we formed this eternal feud with Thunderstorm City.”
“But that is still their encampment… Will we be able to barge through?” Crotch Lord asked again.
Ironcliff Fortress was the stronghold between two factions. The road leading to the Dark Faction road was through Ironcliff Fortress. Without the permission of Berserk Heavenlaw, forcing their way through was the only way to get on the other side.
Ironcliff Fortress was known to be a stronghold that even the Dark Faction was unable to break through. Even if there were no one to guard, it was impossible to break through before the Berserk Heavenlaw’s players returned.
“Hehe.” Fearless chuckled before looking at Wang Yu, “Crotch Lord, did you not know? As a system stronghold, Ironcliff Fortress is not like any other encampment. As long as we have Old Bull, we will be able to make it through.”
“Me? But I’m not from Berserk Heavenlaw.” Wang Yu didn’t know what else to say.
“But you can jump really high…” Fearless smiled.