Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World - Chapter 368

Chapter 368

Chapter 368 - Underground Dungeon

Nie Yan’s assortment of special items could practically fill a museum exhibit by this point . These accessories didn’t need to be worn all the time, so he could just leave them in his bag until he needed them . He certainly wasn’t short on inventory space!

Radiant Gems were special materials used to craft or upgrade special items . Some of Nie Yan’s special items were due for an upgrade, but he would first need to find a suitable Jewelcrafter .

After quietly looting everything in the chest, Nie Yan snuck out of the hole and proceeded toward the throne .

Pygmy Transformation lasted an hour . He still had ample time .

He stuck close to the wall while slowly making his way towards the throne .

When Nie Yan saw the Bloodthirsty Thief walking over in his direction, he immediately halted his footsteps and ducked into a corner, not daring to make even the slightest movement . The Bloodthirsty Thief swept through the surroundings with an ominous gaze, then turned around and walked further and further away .

Seeing the receding figure of the Bloodthirsty Thief, Nie Yan took advantage of the opportunity to rush behind the throne . There he saw a hole with a staircase leading downwards .

Descending the stairs a damp coldness suffused the air along with the foul stench of blood .

The dungeon was dark and gloomy .

The floor of the dungeon was a mess with hay bales scattered about . A narrow passageway ran down the center, surrounded on both sides by rows of prison cells . Guarding them were Evil Hounds, Level 70 Elites that could spit out Soul Fire .

Every cell was filled with commoners and nobles . Their clothing albeit dirty and unkempt was made out of high-quality materials .

Saving all the hostages via the normal method—taking down the Evil Hounds one by one while coping with their Soul Fire—would take a minimal of 12 hours to upwards of several days . But none of that was necessary with Pygmy Transformation still active .

Nie Yan easily snuck into one of the prison cells by slipping through a gap between the bars . He saw a commoner in tattered clothes anxiously pacing back and forth . He tossed an Instant Transfer Scroll onto the floor .

When the commoner happened to look down during a sad sigh, he noticed the Instant Transfer Scroll beside his feet . A joyous expression appeared on his face . He cautiously surveyed his surroundings but saw no one around . He activated the scroll and teleported to safety with a flash of light .

Nie Yan took advantage of his small size to slip past the Evil Hounds and deliver Instant Transfer Scrolls to every cell .

The hostages quickly teleported away after receiving an Instant Transfer Scroll .

A while later Nie Yan checked his quest progress .

Nie Yan was steadily approaching his goal . His movements were light and agile as he bypassed the Evil Hounds undetected . With their low intelligence, they had no idea how the hostages in the prisons cells were mysteriously disappearing .

Saving one person after another, Nie Yan finally reached the end of the dungeon . His quest progress was at 99 out of 100 hostages rescued, missing only a single person . However, he couldn’t find them even after scouring the entire place .

After searching around some more, he eventually discovered a damp tunnel with a staircase which led deeper underground .

Just when he was about to descend the stairs, his body started growing until he returned to his original size .  

The hour is up . Nothing I can do except continue exploring… Nie Yan gradually proceeded deeper into the narrow tunnel, with nothing in his vision save for darkness and mud walls .

He had no idea where this tunnel led to .

Nie Yan thought back to the Ashen Punisher Set . He believed the only way to obtain the remaining three pieces was by clearing out all the Dusk Thieves in the throne room . But it was impossible for him to accomplish this by himself .

An expedition team composed of Bladelight and his team would have no problem clearing out those Dusk Thieves . It would prove troublesome to deal with the Dusk Thieves using conventional tactics, but Nie Yan had thought of a suitable plan . By using a combination of vines and ice walls to guard the entrance of the throne room, they could freely bombard the enemy with area-of-effect spells .

Asskickers United currently had 17 Mages capable of casting Advanced Magic . Nuking these Dusk Thieves to oblivion would be easy . As for the likely sole survivor, the Bloodthirsty Thief patrolling around the throne, he would figure out a way to deal with it when the time came .

Given the gear quality of Bladelight and the others, Nie Yan was confident they could handle a Level 70 Lord .

Generally, a Fighter with average gear could tank an equal-level Lord, a Fighter with somewhat decent gear could tank a Lord up to 10 levels above them, and a Fighter with top-quality gear could tank a Lord as much as 30 levels above them . This was why outstanding expedition teams could regularly hunt down much higher level Lords . Furthermore, all the top Priests in Asskickers United could cast Junior Revive, and three of their Paladins had learned Protect, a skill which allowed the Priests to leave the combat zone without attracting any aggro . Like this they could avoid wipes . Of course they would still suffer some losses .

Nie Yan passed down his coordinates to Guo Huai . Bladelight and the others were currently hunting a different Lord, so they would come over a little later .

The players of Asskickers United were still too weak . When they were a bit higher level, Nie Yan planned to take them to hunt a Level 100 Lord .

「How’s your class advancement quest going?」Guo Huai asked . He knew beforehand Nie Yan had chosen to do his class advancement on Expert . He couldn’t help but admire the courage Nie Yan displayed . Most players didn’t even dare to do their class advancement on Normal, let alone Hard or Expert .

「I’m one hostage away from finishing it,」Nie Yan replied .

「Already?」Guo Huai blurted out in surprise . Most players took at least several days to complete their class advancement quest .

In fact, Nie Yan’s class advancement quest would take other players more than two weeks to finish, if not longer . Finding the hidden entrance behind the throne alone was already difficult, requiring players to blindly search around the Nilan Colosseum for at least 5 days .

「Mhmm . Has there been any movements on the side of Bloodlust Blades?」Nie Yan asked .

「I heard the Century Financial Group handed over another 700,000 gold to them, so they’ve started paying out compensation to their players too . They also made an announcement saying if we were willing to admit defeat, they would let bygones be bygones . 」Guo Huai chuckled . 「Although I do believe the Century Financial Group gave them some gold, I don’t think it’s anywhere near that much . I refuse to believe the Century Financial Group has 700,000 gold just lying around!」

「They definitely won’t last much longer . Reply on the forums saying as long as Bloodlust Blades stands, Asskickers United will never take down the bounty on them!」Nie Yan said . Bloodlust Blades was already running on fumes . This was the perfect opportunity to take them down; otherwise, they would cause endless trouble in the future after fully recovering from this war .

「You sure are ruthless!」Guo Huai remarked . 「I bet the players from Bloodlust Blades will despair after seeing this announcement, and any remaining thoughts of staying in the guild will vanish . It’ll be Bloodlust Blade’s largest mass exodus of players to date!」

「Be careful of Bloodlust Blades making a final desperate attempt at a reversal . Pay attention to their every movement . If they come to Calore, immediately report back to me . After all, we need to show our guests some proper hospitality!」Nie Yan’s lips curved into a faint smile . If an intercity war broke out, Bloodlust Blades would be at a huge disadvantage . Asskickers United’s position in Calore was unshakable . Even if they encountered trouble, they still had Holy Empire, Sapphire Shrine, Radiant Sacred Flame, War God Tribe, and Battle Crazed Alliance to back them up!

「Understood!」Guai nodded . He wasn’t worried at all about Bloodlust Blades coming to Calore .

Nie Yan continued chatting with Guo Huai for a bit before hanging up .

Guo Huai posted up Nie Yan’s announcement on the forums .

「As long as Bloodblust Blades stands, Asskickers United will never take the bounty down!」

All the players on the forums sucked in a breath of cold air . Asskickers United had basically cut off all paths of retreat . How ruthless! Everyone could sense the absolute confidence in these words . Could Bloodlust Blades withstand this fierce counter from Asskickers United?

At this time, everybody was reminded of Bloodlust Mad Blade’s words: Whoever backed down first was the other’s grandson!

Bloodlust Blades was stuck between a rock and a hard place . Were they really going to continue competing with Asskickers United? The number of players hunting them had recently increased dramatically . Over 6,000 players had died in just two days . This was a huge blow to the morale . At this rate, more and more people would withdraw from the guild . Add Nie Yan’s announcement to the mix, and their situation was becoming exceedingly grave .

Nie Yan felt relaxed . After the guild’s funding issue was resolved, they no longer had to worry about paying out the rewards for the bounty . He had the free time to complete several quests . In a few days, he would return to the Underworld . The profits from the second round of trades with Fallen Angel would completely transform Asskickers United!

As he traversed the dark tunnels, Nie Yan began noticing a distant rhythm that seemed like breathing . Waves of searing-hot wind flowed through the tunnel in sync with the rhythm, bringing wisps of white steam out of the depths .

As this heatwave brushed over Nie Yan’s skin, he felt a scalding heat . Thankfully he had the Kilnfire Heart which greatly increased his Fire Resistance and could even make him immune to fire damage for a certain time .