Group battle

In Northern Desert City, Hell Messenger watched the video featured in the forum post for a while, then sneered. "He just overwhelmed them with stats. There wasn't any skill involved-he couldn't even dodge a Brutal Charge. He lucked into a good talent early on, so he's ahead for now, that's all. Once everyone gets geared up, he won't be anything to fear."

In Giant Deer City, God's Left Hand stood beside Divine King as he watched the video several times. "Divine King, this guy relies entirely on overwhelming stats. His gameplay is a complete mess. We don't need to pay much attention to someone like him, do we?"

Divine King smiled. "In a game, stats are the clearest measure of strength. Besides, are you sure his gameplay is poor? What you see isn't necessarily the truth. Perhaps he deliberately made it look that way."

In Autumnwater City, Dreamlight Dance was also watching the video on the forum. An unreadable expression crossed her face as she murmured, "He only used one speed-boosting skill from beginning to end, and everything else was basic attacks. Were you deliberately hiding something? Or were they simply not worthy of your full strength?"

The leaders of the other major guilds also carefully studied the fight in the video, reaching different conclusions about Dustseal. Whatever they thought of him, however, he couldn't affect their guilds' development at present. Once their guilds grew stronger, how could one person, no matter how powerful, stand against an entire guild?

Instead, they began to sympathize with World-Proud Heroes. Its members had yet to build up their strength, yet it had already picked a fight with Dustseal while he held such an overwhelming lead. World-Proud Under Heaven really had no brains.

Wu Shaozhen had no idea how this PvP battle had affected the outside world. He had already begun hunting down Jungle Tigers in large numbers.

Unfortunately, Jungle Tigers weren't social animals. He had to find and kill them one at a time, with no way to farm them in groups. His efficiency dropped sharply, and he spent most of his time searching for monsters. Still, there was nothing he could do. He had confidently promised to help clear out these tigers, after all.

Besides, if he wanted to find the Jungle Tiger King the city lord had mentioned, he would just have to put up with the slower pace. He wasn't in a hurry to level up anyway.

In a large private room at Jinling City's biggest restaurant, all the senior officers of World-Proud Heroes had gathered. Every one of them wore a grim expression.

Seated at the head of the table, World-Proud Under Heaven spoke first. "Give me a tally of our losses in this battle."

"We suffered 236 deaths in total. Everyone lost a level, including us. As for equipment, the other members only dropped some white-grade gear, which doesn't matter. He put the equipment we dropped back up in the Auction House, and we bought it back. That cost us another three hundred thousand and change," World-Proud Jueqing said angrily.

"The levels and equipment we lost are still acceptable, but this battle dealt a huge blow to the guild's morale. Even the small guilds we used to keep firmly under our thumb now dare to stand against us. Just thinking about it pisses me off," World-Proud Lone Peak added.

World-Proud Under Heaven's expression darkened further. "Hmph. Now every nobody thinks they can challenge World-Proud Heroes. Looks like we need to make an example of someone. Aside from us, which guilds in Jinling City are relatively strong?"

"Based on our investigations over this period, there are three other guilds in Jinling City whose strength shouldn't be underestimated: Cold Moon Pavilion, Turbulent Times, and Storm Across the Sky. Their combined membership already exceeds ours, so we shouldn't touch them for now. Any of the other guilds are fair game," said World-Proud Fang Yu, who was in charge of gathering intelligence.

"Also, it seems Xue'er, the first player to complete her class change to Mage, is in Jinling City too. Some of our people clashed with her. She's very strong, and her equipment is excellent. Almost all our people were killed in one hit. Since they were the ones who harassed her first, we couldn't really intervene, so I kept the matter quiet," World-Proud Fang Yu continued.

"A Mage who can already one-shot people this early? Looks like this Xue'er really does have some ability if she was the first to complete her class change. Is there any way to recruit her into our guild?" World-Proud Under Heaven asked.

"I'll give it a try later. Also, boss, if we want to make an example of someone and restore our momentum, there are two suitable guilds," World-Proud Fang Yu continued.

"Which two?" World-Proud Under Heaven asked.

"Su Group and Madmen Gang. Both are slightly above average in strength, and more importantly, both have had conflicts with us. Madmen Gang in particular has been mocking our people ever since this incident. I think we can start with them," World-Proud Fang Yu said.

World-Proud Under Heaven tapped the table. "Good. We'll start with them. It's time these people learned what happens when they offend World-Proud Heroes. And keep a close eye on that Dustseal. Let him swagger around for a few more days. Once our people have their equipment and levels up, I'm going to kill him all the way back to level 0."

After the senior officers' meeting ended, Jinling City's first mid-scale group battle officially began. Fights kept breaking out across the wilderness. World-Proud Heroes had plenty of members, but Madmen Gang and Su Group were no pushovers either. The two sides fought nonstop, and flashes of white light kept appearing at the respawn point.

"Damn, the servers have only been up for three days, and they're already pulling this? Are they going to let anyone level up?"

"Exactly. We can't even kill monsters in peace. There are fights everywhere."

"I bet World-Proud Heroes got wrecked by the mighty Dustseal, but they can't beat him, so they're taking it out on everyone else."

"Fuck. They're like rabid dogs, biting anyone they come across."

This group battle affected many players and naturally provoked widespread resentment.

But no matter how many people complained, World-Proud Heroes kept doing as it pleased, seemingly determined not to stop until it had broken up both guilds.

The group battle lasted from afternoon until night. World-Proud Heroes showed everyone in Jinling City what a major guild's strength looked like. Thousands of members from Madmen Gang and Su Group were killed all the way back to Novice Village, while the remaining members hid in the city, not daring to come out again. Although World-Proud Heroes also suffered considerable losses, they weren't much for a guild with tens of thousands of members.

World-Proud Heroes' strength and ruthlessness did frighten quite a few people. Many who had been badmouthing the guild shut their mouths, restoring some measure of its dignity.

Jinling City's respawn point was packed with people. Members of Madmen Gang and World-Proud Heroes were still trading insults. PvP wasn't allowed inside the city; anyone who broke that rule would be arrested by the guard squad and thrown in prison for at least half a month. By the time they were released, who knew how far behind they would be? So no matter how deep their hatred ran, the two sides only dared to fight with words.

Meanwhile, several senior officers of Su Group had gathered to discuss the situation.

"Uncle Liu, what do we do now? If this keeps up, we won't even be able to leave the city to level up," a young man said to the middle-aged man standing in their midst.

Uncle Liu's brow was tightly furrowed. He had no idea why World-Proud Heroes had suddenly targeted them. He had thought they could steadily develop their business in the game, never expecting World-Proud Heroes to come after them.

They weren't professional gamers, after all. Although they had recruited quite a few skilled players, the gap between them and a major guild like World-Proud Heroes was enormous. Its membership had been built up over years across multiple games.

"Why don't we tell the young lady? She'll find out when she logs in shortly anyway. Besides, with her strength, she might be able to turn things around," another senior officer of Su Group said.

Uncle Liu shook his head. "The young lady is only one person, after all. She can't have much impact on the situation unless she can do what Dustseal did."

As soon as Uncle Liu said that, his eyes lit up. "I'll log out and speak to the young lady. Stay in the city for now. Don't go outside."