Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World - Chapter 195

Chapter 195 – Hundred Thief Task Force

Nie Yan swept his eyes over the fired up crowd. They were the cream of the crop, the best of the best, and suited with the best gear the guild had available. Even when compared to the top-elites of Victorious Return, they wouldn’t be found lacking in any respect. They were some of the most highly-skilled players in Calore!

A group like this was enough to execute his plan!

Nie Yan turned to Guo Huai and said, “Beside the Anti-Paralysis Potions, tell Bird hand over anything else, Intermediate Health Potions, Intermediate Mana Potions, Intermediate Invisibility Potions…” He continued, “Today, we’re going to spill a river of blood!”

Guo Huai nodded. “Alright, I’ve informed the subordinates making the errands.”

“What exactly are you planning to do?” Zhao Li asked.

“With too many people going, our forces will end up getting dragged into a quagmire. We’re better off sending a select few,” Nie Yan replied. There were certain advantages in smaller numbers, particularly in the aspect of mobility. He was going to oppose Unhindered by employing guerrilla tactics. It would allow him to properly teach them a lesson.

“With only you guys?” Zhao Li stared at Nie Yan in shock.

“Yep, just these people are enough,” Nie Yan said. Instead, too many people would make them larger targets.

“A lot of guild members are still levelling outside. Do you want me to call them back?” Guo Huai asked, slightly worried the number of people in Nie Yan’s group wasn’t enough.

Nie Yan shook his head. “No need. Let them continue levelling.”

Seeing that Nie Yan had made his decision, Guo Huai knew any further attempts at dissuading him would prove fruitless. With a helpless sigh, he said, “Alright, please be careful then. I still feel it’s extremely dangerous for you to go with such little numbers.”

Nie Yan turned around and said in a strict tone, “There won’t be many of us on this operation, and it’ll be very dangerous. Those of you who don’t want to take part can leave now. Those who are willing to stay, state your names!”

“Blowhard Summer Bug!”

“Leader Young Seven!”

“Undying Scoundrel!”

“Young Sparrow Hawk!”

“Blue Yarn Thread!”

…

Nie Yan looked over the crowd. None of them had shrunk away from the task. He gave a satisfied nod. “Good! I’m glad to know that we don’t have cowards in my guild!”

“Boss, what are we going to do?” Undying Scoundrel asked.

“Go prepare first. We’ll be getting a delivery of potions soon. I’ll explain my plan then. If you need to resupply before we set off, make sure to buy extra. We’re going to have a very long and hard battle ahead of us!” Nie Yan said. He wanted to stock up on Intermediate Flash Powder and other items that might be of use as well. On a different note, he could now wear the set of Level 25 Gold equipment he’d gotten from Withered Leaf. Its stat bonuses would give him enough Dexterity to finally equip the Scarlet Poison Ring.

“Young Sparrow Hawk, stay here. You don’t need to take part in this operation,” Nie Yan said to Tang Yao.

“But why?” Tang Yao asked in an unwilling tone.

“We can’t afford to have you dying and dropping levels,” Nie Yan replied. He was a Thief. Under normal circumstances, he felt confident in his ability to survive. He couldn’t say the same for the players who played other classes in the group, especially the Mages. The difference was that if the other members died, their equipment could be replaced, and their levels could be grinded back without suffering many repercussions. However, if Tang Yao died, it would shake the entire guild!

Tang Yao stayed silent for a moment, then let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine, I understand…”

Nie Yan did a headcount of the people here: Resplendent Bladelight, Leader Young Seven, Undying Scoundrel, Monochrome, Blue Yarn Thread, Blowhard Summer Bug, Miracle Dancer, and Edgeless Including him, there were nine members altogether. Bladelight was a Fighter. Young Seven was a Priest. Undying Scoundrel was an Elementalist. Blue Yarn Thread was a Paladin. Blowhard Summer Bug was an Arcane Mage. Miracle Dancer was a Holy Mage. Finally, both Monochrome and Edgeless were Berserkers.

Guo Huai, Zhao Li, and Hao Cheng definitely couldn’t take part. They weren’t high enough level. Even if they did go, they’d only be throwing their lives away.

Nine people were already enough.

In the previous timelines, they were all players who had received the peak titles for their respective classes!

Just as Nie Yan had finalized all of the members of the strike force, a person burst through the doors of the meeting hall.

“Big Brother! I heard we’re going to duke it out with Unhindered!” Sun asked, panting for breath.

“Right, we’re going to give them a taste of their own medicine!” Nie Yan said with a faint smile.

“A taste of their own medicine? Are all of the guild members going?” Sun asked in surprise.

“Nope, just us few.”

“Let me go too! I promise I won’t drag you down!” Sun said.

Although Sun couldn’t compare to his peak self in the previous timeline, he was already displaying astonishing skill. After receiving Nie Yan’s personal guidance for so many days, he had shown remarkable improvement. Previously, he was able to take on three equal-levelled players from Victorious Return before dying. Now, he could manage that without even breaking a sweat. On top of that, he was a Thief, so his self-preservation abilities were definitely passable. Nie Yan nodded his head. “Alright, you can come.”

“Is there anything else you need me to do?” Guo Huai asked. Asskickers United had always been forced on the defensive. The players of the guild had been bullied for far too long. Nie Yan’s group had no choice but to dive into danger to settle the matter.

Nie Yan’s eyes filled with a frigid coldness. He originally wanted to avoid directly coming to blows with Victorious Return, to wait until the guild had grown enough to deal a decisive strike. However, since they’d moved against him repeatedly, he had no qualms about executing his plans ahead of schedule. Otherwise, they really would start to believe that his guild was easy to bully. He turned to Guo Huai and said, “I want you to monitor Victorious Return and Unhindered’s forces closely. So long as you discover any movement, immediately report it back to me. Other than that, I want you to pick a hundred of the most skilled Thief players in the guild. They have to be completely reliable. Assign them the best equipment, and order them to repeatedly launch ambushes on the players from Victorious Return!”

Nie Yan had a special purpose for setting up such a task force. Thieves held an absolute advantage when mounting sneak attacks, engaging and retreating as they pleased. Even if there were many of them, they were still extremely adaptable. They could be split up into smaller groups to take on multiple operations at once, as well as gathered back together to deliver a frontal assault on the teams of Victorious Return and Unhindered. It would be even better if they could locate the main team of Victorious Return. More often than not, a thousand players wasn’t necessary to annihilate a rival guild’s elite team. A hundred Thief players could do the same job!

Guo Huai’s eyes lit up. “We can turn this hundred-Thief task force into the ultimate weapon of the guild! By proving them the best skill books, equipment, and other resources and benefits, the players will treat joining the task force as an honour!” He really was worthy of his family’s business background. Despite Nie Yan only briefly touching on the subject, he immediately realized the benefits of this proposal.

“I’ll let you handle the arrangements. In the future, they’ll have priority on all the Thief equipment in the guild. If they end up dying during an operation, make sure to handle the matter properly by giving them enough compensation,” Nie Yan said. He had a lot of confidence in Guo Huai’s ability to handle the tasks given to him.

“Don’t worry. I already know what must be done. I’ll make sure that other guilds will cower in fear whenever our guild’s hundred Thief task force is mentioned!” Guo Huai confidently declared. Asskickers United might be small in size, but they weren’t inferior to any major guild in the number of experts. Even if other guilds followed suit and created similar task forces later on, he’d make Asskicker United’s the most renowned!

Nie Yan made his decision. In the future, Asskickers United wouldn’t become the largest guild, but it would definitely become the guild with the most top players! It was only because they had focused their efforts on recruiting talented individuals into the guild that they were now able to form a powerful hundred Thief task force and still have some manpower to spare.

The group began making their preparations. Nie Yan headed to Tasoyi Village to buy several batches of Flash Powder. He gave at least five pouches each to every member. Furthermore, the potions from the Starry Night Potion Shop had arrived.

Intermediate Health Potions, Intermediate Mana Potions, Junior Magic Amplification Potions, Anti-Paralysis Potions, etc… there were six to seven hundred bottles in total. The sheer number of expensive potions was enough to daze everyone in the room. Nie Yan divided the potions equally among the group, with everyone receiving sixty to seventy bottles each.

Each member of the group had already finished their own preparations, stocking up an excess of consumables. Nie Yan got Guo Huai to give skill books to everyone, the two Mages in particular. They received a few long-range spells that would definitely prove useful.

Nie Yan also put on the set of Gold equipment. It was an ability-based set that consisted of gloves, leg guards, cloak, and leather chest armour. It boosted his speed considerably and added 37 points to Dexterity, allowing him to equip the Scarlet Poison Ring without a hitch. His attack power soared to 502 points. It had reached such a terrifying degree that he’d be able to deal almost 400 damage against cloth-armoured classes. Even against thick plate-armoured Warriors, he’d still be able to deal 200–300 damage.

He also received a set bonus—Erase Presence +10%, Movement Speed +20%, Critical +12. It could be considered very formidable.

Even the members of the guild were unaware that Nie Yan had quietly set off with his special strike force. Each of them moved separately. Twenty minutes later, they converged just outside of Link Town.

The party of ten quietly advanced toward Kiln Fire Woods, staying completely out of sight of other players.

At present, Kiln Fire Woods was unusually lively. Around eight thousand players from Unhindered had set up camp here, driving away all other players. Their members could be seen levelling everywhere in groups of fifty to sixty, or a hundred.

Back in Calore, everyone was paying close attention to the movements in Kiln Fire Woods to see the response of Asskickers United. After all, Unhindered had struck a nerve with this newly-arisen superpower by ambushing their main team!

With them being so arrogant, would Asskickers United dare to answer their provocations?

Everyone was watching intently, but there were no movements from the other side. Reportedly many players from Asskickers United were still levelling outside. None of them had been recalled to the guild headquarters.

If Asskickers United truly did turn coward, all of its members would suffer the disdain of the playerbase, and in the future, not a single person would want to join the guild.

There was a lava cavern just outside of Kiln Fire Woods. Its entrance was shrouded in a pitch-black darkness, allowing no one to peek inside. It emanated a sinister feeling.

As of late, no players dared to enter this cavern. It was labeled as a region of death because of the players that had ventured inside, not a single one made it out alive.

Nie Yan’s group entered the lava cavern. They travelled further along the tunnel, occasionally hearing odd noises echoing from deeper within.

“Boss, are you sure we can get to the Kiln Fire Forest from here?” a somewhat hesitant voice rang out.