Conflict Escalates

Seeking revenge, the two avoided Wandering Souls from afar whenever they encountered them. As they advanced, they indeed found the two women and one man at the entrance to the Ghost Mountains who specialized in stealing monsters and killing Players.

The sight of the three made Li Tianxia grit his teeth in hatred. He was about to rush over when Wu Guoyi stopped him.

"Brother Li, don't get worked up. They stole our monsters, so we'll steal theirs. We have the advantage of being hidden now—let's lie low and wait for a chance to ambush them!"

Li Tianxia found that quite reasonable, and it would be even more satisfying this way.

The two followed the trio from a distance, occasionally using cover to hide themselves.

With a blue weapon and two more days of gameplay than most Players, Wu Guoyi was still ahead of the pack in terms of level. He was confident in taking them on two against three.

Ye Xue'er and the others naturally had no idea that two people seeking revenge were following them. By now, they were completely addicted to killing people and stealing monsters, eagerly searching for other "prey."

As they neared the Ghost Mountains, there were noticeably fewer Players around. Still, they found two Players working together to kite a Warrior of Wreckage. The trio immediately revealed malicious smiles and quietly approached, preparing to steal the monster and kill them at the critical moment.

Time passed bit by bit. Just as the Warrior of Wreckage was about to die, Ye Xue'er and her group made their move.

As before, the berserker charged ahead to block the two Players while the two female assassins circled behind for a sneak attack.

The tactic worked just as well. The Players, focused entirely on the Warrior of Wreckage, failed to notice them at all. They were all knocked to the ground, then Ye Xue'er and the other assassin swiftly closed in and struck their vital points, killing them.

But before the three could celebrate, two berserkers wielding greatswords suddenly leaped out of the nearby bushes.

Under their astonished gazes, the two berserkers rapidly closed in and slashed at their berserker.

-18

-7

Two damage numbers appeared. Their berserker was instantly killed and collapsed limply to the ground.

While Ye Xue'er and the other assassin were still stunned, Wu Guoyi landed a Heavy Slash on the Warrior of Wreckage, stealing the monster's experience. He then exchanged a glance with Li Tianxia before charging at the two women.

Ye Xue'er had clearly not expected to be ambushed herself. By the time she reacted, Wu Guoyi and Li Tianxia had already rushed right up to them.

Yet Ye Xue'er did not panic. She raised her dagger and stabbed at Wu Guoyi's neck, since he was in front.

To her surprise, Wu Guoyi did not dodge. Their attacks struck each other at the same time.

-12

-21

The two damage numbers appeared simultaneously.

Seeing the blue-glowing greatsword in Wu Guoyi's hand, Ye Xue'er inwardly cried out in alarm. But darkness was already closing in around her, followed by a death notification.

After killing Ye Xue'er, Wu Guoyi immediately turned around and helped Li Tianxia kill the other female assassin. The two then burst into laughter and raised their middle fingers at Ye Xue'er's corpse.

Watching the screen, Ye Xue'er trembled with rage and secretly swore that she would take revenge.

Inside a manor villa in Jialan City, a woman in a pink gown sat quietly on her bed. Her long purple hair spilled over the bedside like a waterfall, and she was ravishingly beautiful.

After sitting there blankly for a moment, Ye Xue'er came back to her senses. Her little canine tooth showed as her face filled with fury.

She turned and glanced at the Virtual Helmet beside her, feeling utterly unable to swallow this insult.

Revenge! I want revenge!

Furious, Ye Xue'er immediately took out her phone and dialed a number.

Before long, the call connected.

"Xue'er? What is it?"

Having worked hard all night, Ye Chen asked weakly.

"Brother, your little sister got bullied, and badly at that!" Ye Xue'er said angrily.

Hearing this, Ye Chen froze. Rage surged from the depths of his heart. Ye Xue'er had always been the jewel of their family—someone had actually dared to bully her? They must have a death wish!

"Xue'er, tell me who it was. I'll tear him apart!" Ye Chen said coldly.

"They're very strong. Bring more people. I'll wait for you at home!"

"Alright, wait for me. I'll call some people right away!"

After hanging up, Ye Chen pushed away the woman still clinging to his arm. Under her puzzled gaze, he rose and quickly got dressed.

Once he was dressed, Ye Chen took out his phone and contacted all his friends from the streets.

I don't care how damn strong you are. You dared bully my sister? I'll make you pay!

After leaving home, the furious Ye Chen gathered his street brothers outside a club. After discussing things, and to avoid accidentally hacking their own people, they each tied a strip of red cloth around an arm. Once they had prepared their blades, they got into their vehicles and headed for the manor villa.

When he arrived home, Ye Chen's aggressive manner immediately stunned the Butler.

Ye Xue'er had already been waiting in the hall.

Seeing Ye Xue'er, Ye Chen hurried over with concern. "Xue'er, are you alright?"

"No, I'm very, very angry!" Ye Xue'er replied gloomily.

"I brought everyone. Tell me who bullied you, and we'll go hack them up right now!"

Ye Xue'er was stunned as she looked at the nearly hundred people behind Ye Chen, all carrying blades. "That many?"

"Didn't you say they were strong? I called more people in case we can't beat them!"

"As expected of my good brother!" Ye Xue'er smiled with narrowed eyes, then pointed at several metal boxes in the distance beside the Butler. "Uncle Mu, hand these out. One for each person!"

"Little sister, what are these? We already brought weapons!" Ye Chen asked, somewhat bewildered.

"The problem is, blades are completely useless. We need these instead!"

Hearing that, Ye Chen's heart tightened. He thought his sister had gotten hold of some kind of restricted weapon for revenge. That was no small matter.

But when everyone received the Virtual Helmets that were handed out, they were all dumbfounded.

Even Ye Chen was stunned. They needed Virtual Helmets for a fight now?

"Little sister, can you tell me what exactly happened?" Ye Chen asked with a look of utter disbelief.

"Oh, two shameless guys stole my monster in the game and killed me too. Isn't that infuriating?"

"Infuriating... very infuriating."

"Exactly, it's outrageous! Are you going to help me or not?"

At that moment, Ye Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry. But when it came to his willful little sister, all he could do was indulge her.

"What are you all standing around for? Get in the game! Pick your classes, gather up, then follow my sister to hack people up! If you don't help my sister vent this anger, you'll answer to me!"

Ye Chen glared and shouted at the crowd staring at one another.

Relying on their overwhelming numerical advantage, Ye Xue'er led her revenge squad after respawning and successfully found, surrounded, and killed Wu Guoyi and Li Tianxia.

However, the two big shots of the gaming world could not swallow the insult either. They gathered some employees and recruited a group of Players who had also been killed in the game, forming a revenge organization and launching retaliatory actions.

Thus began Battle Online's first large-scale Player conflict. During it, both factions grew larger and larger, and both sides fought until their eyes were red with bloodlust.