When Battle Began

Outside City of Light Chasing, Cliffbreak Ridge.

Night fell. Across the mountain ridge filled with withered trees, bases built from stacked cargo containers stood one after another. Groups of winged young men patrolled the over ten thousand square meters of Blood Essence Rice planted within the bases.

Inside one cargo container, five middle-aged men and women wearing White Feather Gang captain armbands sat together, eating rice cooked from Blood Essence Rice and savoring beast meat, leaving the members patrolling outside drooling at the sight.

Even in City of Light Chasing, Blood Essence Rice was food only a small number of people could enjoy. And although beast meat was far less energy-rich than monster meat, compared to the synthetic food eaten every day in City of Light Chasing, it was vastly more delicious and high-class.

"Boss Lante, do you think Azure Crystal Weapon Shop is really willing to spend three hundred thousand to ransom her?" A triangular-eyed man with the back of a tiger and waist of a bear, over 2.4 meters tall and clad in alloy armor, bit into beast meat while sizing up Luo Qi, who was tied beside an iron table nearby. "This woman is pretty decent among humans, but I remember the owner of Azure Crystal Weapon Shop seems to be from the Three-Eyed Race. Those Three-Eyed Race fellows are all as shrewd as monkeys. For them to be willing to spend such a huge sum, could this woman be that old shop owner's illegitimate daughter?"

"Maiti, you think there's more oil and water to be squeezed out of this?" The tall, burly, dark-skinned man seated in the middle, Lante, shot the triangular-eyed man a glance, greed flickering in his eyes.

"I don't know either." The triangular-eyed man shook his head slightly. "I just think that when we previously asked the Green Sparrow Gang for an exorbitant price, it was because we wanted the Green Sparrow Gang to fall out with Azure Crystal Weapon Shop. Then, even if we killed Azure Crystal Weapon Shop's employees, Azure Crystal Weapon Shop might hold a grudge against us, but they definitely wouldn't cooperate with those Green Sparrow Gang people anymore. After all, if they can't even protect their own employees, what cooperation could there be afterward?"

"But who would have thought Azure Crystal Weapon Shop would actually be willing to ransom her? If this woman has nothing to do with that old fellow, I'm afraid no one would believe it."

"Indeed. Once Azure Crystal Weapon Shop's people get here, we'll see if we can squeeze out some more oil and water." Lante's gaze toward Luo Qi brimmed with excitement. "I was originally worrying over how to scrape together the three hundred thousand bounty the deputy gang leader offered. Now it's all saved. It can count as compensation for that batch of goods we lost earlier. If we can trade for even more, that'll be our income."

"Boss Lante, weren't you eyeing that set of A6 Grade Armor from Azure Crystal Weapon Shop?" The wild winged woman beside him, also eating meat, teased, "Why not make Azure Crystal Weapon Shop provide another set this time? With A6 Grade Armor, Boss, you can absolutely compete for the position of sixth deputy gang leader this year. Then we can all bask in your glory."

"A set of A6 Grade Armor?" Hearing that, Lante swallowed, and his gaze toward Luo Qi grew even hotter.

At present, his physical fitness was only at the Intermediate Apprentice level, with strength of over four hundred kilograms and a speed of fifteen meters per second.

With a full set of A4 Grade Armor, he could barely tangle with an Advanced Apprentice without armor. But if he had A6 Grade Armor worth over a hundred thousand, he could absolutely stand shoulder to shoulder with those Advanced Apprentices.

Competing for the sixth deputy gang leader position the gang leader had created this year was entirely feasible.

The White Feather Gang valued strength above all. The higher one's status, the more benefits one could obtain. Blood Essence Rice and beast meat, which captains like them could eat, were nothing at all to deputy gang leaders.

The White Feather Gang's deputy gang leaders could eat monster meat from time to time, occasionally receive martial skill guidance from the gang leader, and command two hundred subordinates. They were simply beyond comparison to a planting base leader who could only command fifty people.

Luo Qi, tied up nearby, was utterly despairing.

Though she did not know why Azure Crystal Weapon Shop would use three hundred thousand bits to ransom her, three hundred thousand bits was an amount that she, an ordinary employee, could never repay even if she were stripped to the bone.

"Boss, someone's outside. They say they're here to ransom the person." An ordinary White Feather Gang member suddenly ran in to report.

"They're finally here. I've fed this woman for so many days for nothing. I have to make Azure Crystal Weapon Shop bleed a little." Lante abruptly rose to his feet and glanced at the triangular-eyed man beside him. "Bring her. All of you, come with me and take a look."

The other four White Feather Gang captains present immediately laughed and followed after him with Luo Qi.

Outside the White Feather Gang's planting base.

Lante led a group of subordinates out of the base enclosed by wire fencing in long strides. At the entrance stood a Big Three-Wheeler, with three people beside it. Every one of them was under two meters tall, looking as if they had not even entered middle school yet. His expression immediately darkened.

"Does Azure Crystal Weapon Shop have no one left? Why did they send little brats like you?" Lante glared at Lin Qi and growled angrily.

He had originally thought Luo Qi might be some illegitimate daughter of that old shop owner and would surely be highly valued.

But now they had sent three second-class cripples. What oil and water was there left to squeeze?

Behind him, Luo Qi's eyes widened as she saw the three of them, unable to believe this was real.

Luo Qi had considered many people who might bring money to ransom her, but she had never imagined it would be Lin Qi.

"We're only here to ransom someone. The rest is none of our business." Lin Qi spoke calmly. "One hand over the person, one hand over the money. You'd better not try anything. Once word gets out, your White Feather Gang can forget about making a living in City of Light Chasing."

Lin Qi knew these drifters who scraped by in the wilderness around City of Light Chasing all too well. They could squeeze oil from even a lazy toad. If they saw the slightest bit of oil to be squeezed from his side, they would never let it go.

"Since our White Feather Gang said three hundred thousand to ransom her, then it's three hundred thousand to ransom her." Lante impatiently glanced at the triangular-eyed man beside him. "Maiti, release her."

"Yes." The triangular-eyed giant nodded and untied Luo Qi.

In the wilderness outside City of Light Chasing, and even more so outside their White Feather Gang planting base, they were not worried that Lin Qi's group would take the person and refuse to pay. No matter how one looked at it, the three of them would be fortunate to have Quasi-Apprentice-level strength. They could not possibly outrun Apprentices like them.

As Lin Qi watched Luo Qi walk over, he signaled Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei beside him to hand the metal case containing three hundred thousand bits over to the White Feather Gang.

"Exciting! This is simply too exciting! As expected of a team dungeon—there are actually so many people!"

"Why couldn't Dojo Master choose me to go over with them?"

Twilight of the Gods and the other twenty-eight players hiding in the dead woods gazed at Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei two hundred meters away, each of them green with envy.

For this extermination mission, rescuing the person was the first priority, while killing every White Feather Gang member was the second.

According to their earlier observations, there were quite a few people in this White Feather Gang planting base, likely over forty in total. To keep them from escaping, the best time to strike was during the ransom exchange, when the people were most concentrated.

Thus, the extermination plan was set. Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei would act first to lure the monsters, causing them to gather amid the disturbance. Once the monsters had gathered in sufficient numbers, it would be time for everyone else to act.

Unfortunately, luring monsters demanded great strength and skill, and too many people could not go along. In the end, only Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei were selected.

For a time, all the players hiding in the dead woods stared fixedly at Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei, waiting only for the signal to act.

Outside the White Feather Gang planting base.

As Luo Qi arrived beside Lin Qi, Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei carried the metal cases and walked step by step toward Lante's group of five.

Thirty meters...

Twenty meters...

Ten meters...

Just as Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei came within five meters of Lante's group, the two women suddenly sprang into action.

Luo Wu Shang directly drew a pitch-black Black Steel Arrow from the side of the metal case, while Zhang Qingwei likewise drew a Black Steel Arrow. They each swung at Lante and the triangular-eyed giant.

"You dare attack!"

"Courting death!"

When Lante and the others saw Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei charging at them, they were first enraged. Then, upon seeing the weapons in the two women's hands, they were stunned.

Arrows?

What were they trying to do?

The White Feather Gang members behind them were dumbfounded as well.

They had seen plenty of fierce people in the wilderness, but they had never seen women so fierce and so arrogant—each charging in with a single arrow in hand, as if they did not know how the word death was written.

Yet before anyone could recover from their shock and bewilderment, the Black Steel Arrow in Luo Wu Shang's hand transformed into six streaks of black radiance, while the Black Steel Arrow in Zhang Qingwei's hand became three black shadows, striking directly toward Lante and the triangular-eyed man.

Quasi-Martial Artist-level martial skill—Point Star!

Quasi-Martial Artist-level martial skill—Surging Wave Blade!

Luo Wu Shang and Zhang Qingwei were so fast that even Lante and the triangular-eyed giant, whose physical fitness had reached the Apprentice level, could not keep up for a moment. Fortunately, both men wore alloy armor.

Six deep arrow marks appeared directly on the armor over Lante's chest. He staggered back three steps before steadying himself. As for the triangular-eyed giant beside him, his A3 Grade Armor caved in on the spot. He spat out a mouthful of blood and crashed heavily into the wire fence.

"How is that possible?!"

The White Feather Gang members present were all stunned by this scene.

Two human women who were second-class cripples had used nothing but arrows—one to force back the base leader, the other to severely injure Apprentice-level Captain Maiti. It was as if life itself were playing a joke on them.