Nie Yan’s mind trembled when Guo Huai informed him that Li Rui wanted to meet up . It appeared Li Rui had something important to tell him . Unfortunately when Li Rui came to him last time, he had no time .
Nie Yan contacted Li Rui . 「Where are you right now? I’ll come to you . 」
「I feel like I’m being watched . I think it’s better if we don’t meet up and just talk through private chat . Guild Leader, I have some important matters to talk to you about,」Li Rui said in a prudent tone .
「Don’t be a stranger . We’re classmates! Just call me Nie Yan like usual,」Nie Yan said . He had always viewed Li Rui as a close friend of his . In the previous timeline, he shared a deep bond with Li Rui, Zhai Hao, and Li Xuchen . Even if their current positions were worlds apart in this life, he wished for their friendship to be exactly the same .
「Something has been nagging at the back of my mind for quite some time now, and I hope you can clear my doubts . You gave me, Zhai Hao, and Liu Xuchen the opportunity to join Asskickers United, and for that I’m really grateful . I’m aware I’m not as talented as Zhai Hao and Liu Xuchen . I can only amount to a run-of-the-mill junior captain at best, that much I recognize . I’m not great at running dungeons, nor am I an expert at PvP . I also know that people like the executive guild leader don’t have a favourable opinion of me . That’s not a problem . What I wanted to know is . . . how do you view me?」Li Rui asked . Nie Yan’s answer would decide everything .
Nie Yan simply chuckled . 「Conviction is just a game . Everyone has something they’re good at . Some people are good at the game . Some people aren’t . That’s normal . Asskickers United has an ironclad rule . Everything has to be earned . You can’t favour some people over others . I’m really happy that Zhai Hao and Liu Xuchen were able to rise to the top of the rankings with their own strength . As for you not being able to, I also understand . At the end of the day, though, this is still just a game . You, Zhai Hao, and Liu Xuchen are equal in my eyes . You’re my fellow classmates and some of my closest friends . 」
Nie Yan confidently spoke from his heart . The reason his faith in Li Rui was so unwavering was that he had a deep understanding of Li Rui’s personality . This was because of the close friendship they shared for more than eight years in his past life . So, when Guo Huai informed him that there was a possibility Li Rui had betrayed Asskickers United, he’d sooner believe that pigs could fly .
「With those words, I’m satisfied . Honestly, being a junior captain isn’t all that bad,」Li Rui chuckled . He was deeply moved . 「Here, I have something for you . 」He sent over a document to Nie Yan .
「What is this?」
「It’s data I’ve collected from the Century Financial Group . It might be useful to you . I also have to apologize for something . Sesame Cake and the others leaving was due to me . After I found out they weren’t satisfied with their salary here in Asskickers United, the Century Financial Group had me persuade them with all my power . I was left with no other choice if I wanted to gain their trust . Still, I didn’t expect for things to end up like this,」Li Rui explained .
「Its fine . Those who want to leave will eventually end up doing so anyway . There’s nothing you can do about it . I don’t blame you, don’t worry,」Nie Yan said . Glancing at the document Li Rui sent over, he was flabbergasted . It contained incredibly sensitive and difficult to obtain information . He had no idea how Li Rui got his hands on something like this .
「If you put it like that, I don’t feel as guilty . Thanks . 」
「Where did you get this information from?」Nie Yan asked . The more he looked at it, the greater his shock .
「A few guys I know work as higher-ups at the Century Financial Group . I got this information from them . I hope it’ll be of use to you,」Li Rui said . Hearing Nie Yan’s elated tone, he was happy his efforts hadn’t gone to waste .
As Nie Yan continued looking over the document, many of his doubts were cleared . Much of the information contained inside was never revealed in his past life . Furthermore, all of the Century Financial Group’s activities related to Asskickers United were described here .
Until now, everything he knew about the Century Financial Group was only what they showed him . Anything more was covered by a dense layer of fog . He knew they were strong . As for exactly how strong, that was difficult to say . However, this document removed all the guesswork . Everything about the inner workings of the Century Financial Group was laid out here .
The document was well organized . Important bits of information were divided and bolded . One could tell at a glance that it was written with great care and attention to detail .
Nie Yan had no doubt in his mind that Li Rui would do well working in the intelligence department . He seemed to have a knack for this kind of thing .
From the document, Nie Yan learned, that amongst other things, the Century Financial Group had a total of 11 auction houses, 51 properties, and 20 large shops spread out across multiple cities, such as Blaze City and Moonlight City . The exact revenue of these businesses was unknown . Everyone already knew they controlled Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors . In fact, aside from those two, they also controlled 16 other guilds . They really couldn’t be underestimated . Lastly, they also owned two gold farming organizations, both over 100,000 players in size, which provided them a ludicrous amount of gold every day .
These were only the Century Financial Group’s operations in the Viridian Empire . As far back as the defeat of Victorious Return and failed acqusition of Asskickers United, they had started shifting most of their financial resources to the Satreen Empire . They controlled a significant portion of Angel Corps, allowing them to influence the decisions of the guild . Furthermore, they had another 30 guilds under them, both large and small, whose total strength couldn’t be estimated . The number of assets they owned in the Satreen Empire was comparably fewer, a total of five auction houses, 20 properties, and three 100,000-man strong gold farming organisations .
As for how much gold the Century Financial Group raked in every day, Nie Yan had no way of estimating . The extent of their strength shook him to the core . The fact that they could take over the entire Viridian Empire back then wasn’t without reason!
「This information changes everything . Truly, I can’t thank you enough, Li Rui,」Nie Yan said .
「It’s no problem . Also, this is just something I heard . I’m not sure if it’s true, but recently a financial group from South America has been putting a lot of pressure on the Century Financial Group . After entering Conviction, they started recruiting people like mad . So far, they already have six gold farming organisations and a large amount of shops across the Viridian and Satreen Empires . They’re rapidly accumulating power but are operating in the shadows . Barely anything is known about them . Besides that, there’s also several other powers, I’m not sure about their movements, but they’ve been aggressively expanding into the Century Financial Group’s market . I can’t confirm this information for myself . It’s just something I heard in passing from the Century Financial Group’s people,」Li Rui said . His source of intelligence was limited . He had no way of confirming this rumour .
South America? Nie Yan raised an eyebrow . He suddenly recalled a certain someone, Qin Han who had offered a toast to him in the classroom during graduation day . That fellow said he would be entering Conviction . With all these new powers entering the game, it seemed like the future of the Viridian and Satreen Empires would be anything but dull .
「In order to gain the Century Financial Group’s trust, I provided them with some non-vital information . I received a total of 160,000 gold and some money for it . I had Zhai Hao deposit everything into the treasury,」Li Rui said . The things that didn’t belong to him, he wouldn’t take .
「Take the money for yourself . Perhaps it’ll come in handy . Just treat it as a budget to fund your intelligence gathering . 」Nie Yan smiled . Li Rui had definitely put in a lot of effort to obtain this information . He couldn’t shortchange him .
「This, how is this okay? If I take this money, I’ll have really become a spy for the Century Financial Group,」Li Rui chuckled, tactfully declining .
Nie Yan chuckled . Li Rui was the same in his past life . He hadn’t changed one bit . 「How about this? From today onward, you’ll be helping Guo Huai with gathering intelligence for the guild . 」
「Wait, what? That’s definitely not a good id—」
「Well, it’s okay with me . So, it’s decided . I’ll let Guo Huai know,」Nie Yan said .
Learning that Nie Yan wanted to have Li Rui join him in overseeing the intelligence department, Guo Huai voiced his adamant disapproval . However, after seeing the document that Li Rui provided, he was completely floored . Even with the combined effort of Asskickers United’s entire intelligence network, they couldn’t obtain information as detailed as this, especially since this was concerning the Century Financial Group . This organization was too secretive, which was why Nie Yan and the others hadn’t obtained any concrete information on them until today . He didn’t expect it to be obtained by Li Rui of all people, not to mention the information was authentic at a glance .
「Are you sure he's trustworthy? Could this be a plot by the Century Financial Group, using this information to access our inner circle?」Guo Huai voiced the doubts in his hearts . He still couldn’t let go of his suspicions against Li Rui .
「I trust him,」Nie Yan said with absolute confidence . Guo Huai’s doubts weren’t without merit . However, they were mostly unfounded . Many things contained in this document were extremely disadvantageous to the Century Financial Group, to the extent of threatening their foundation . If it was really to allow Li Rui to infiltrate Asskickers United’s inner circle, they would never allow such information to be leaked . They would be better off spending some money to find a spy .
「Since you trust him that much, I won’t say anything else . I’ll trust in your judgement as well . From now on, I won’t doubt him anymore either . Send him my apologies . Before, I held some prejudice against him, so my attitude toward him wasn’t great,」Guo Huai said . Li Rui would soon become a fellow colleague in the same field of work . So goes the saying, “Trust those you work with . Suspect those who don’t . ” If he still continued suspecting Li Rui after this, the intelligence department might as well cease operations .
Nie Yan passed on Guo Huai’s words . Li Rui graciously accepted the apology . The two had fairly agreeable personalities . He trusted they would get along just fine . After saying a few words, he left Li Rui in Guo Huai’s care . If they ever ended up getting into an argument, he could still mediate .
Guo Huai picked out a few useful pieces of information from Li Rui’s document . Starting now, Asskickers United would be launching their counterattack against the Century Financial Group, from impeding their activities to targeting their key businesses . All sorts of plans were set into motion .
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