Welcome to the Deadmines

He looked at the twilight dragon ravager in the sky, then at the Shadow Lord on the ground, and quickly grew nervous again. Both of their names were reddish-brown, meaning they were neutral but leaning hostile.

Sky World wasn't a game of simple binaries, with everyone either good or evil. Players weren't the only ones with hostile relationships; monster factions weren't a united front either. He was genuinely afraid these two were planning to rob one of their own.

But after taking a closer look at the two of them, Xiao Yu suddenly noticed something strange: Dark Rod bore a striking resemblance to Black?Rod. Curious, he cautiously asked a question.

"What's your relationship with Black?Rod?"

"He's my cousin," Dark Rod said. "I heard from him about what you did in Nightwhisper Village. I have to say, you've got guts. So, are you interested in joining our Defias Brotherhood?"

So he wants to recruit me, Xiao Yu thought. He had already planned to join a monster faction, so this was perfect. Besides, the other side had just saved him. He was about to agree when a powerful gust suddenly swept down from the sky. The twilight dragon knight was slowly descending, though he didn't land, instead looking down from six or seven meters in the air.

Angmar (twilight dragon ravager): "If I were you, I wouldn't agree so quickly. What future does the Defias Brotherhood have? It's just a small regional faction. Why not join our Twilight's Hammer instead? We're a huge faction with a presence throughout Azeroth and Kalimdor. A little brotherhood like theirs can't compare!"

Angmar's words surprised Xiao Yu even more. Xiao Yu had naturally heard of the famous Twilight's Hammer. If the monster factions in Sky World had to be ranked, Twilight's Hammer would at least place among the top three tiers, and might even be a first-tier faction. Although Twilight's Hammer hadn't shown much strength so far and didn't have many impressive bosses, its ultimate boss behind the scenes was said to be the Old Gods. He still didn't know what the hell that meant, but the name alone sounded exceptionally impressive. It was bound to grow tremendously in the future.

The Defias Brotherhood, on the other hand, was a secret organization formed by a group of renegade Stormwind City agents. It was currently affiliated with the Defias Brotherhood and had some renown in the Western Wilds, but hardly anyone outside the region knew of it. It was just a small regional faction.

There was no need to think about which of the two factions was stronger. What's going on? Xiao Yu wondered. Since when did I become so sought after that even a huge faction like Twilight's Hammer would send someone to recruit me?

He was still wondering how to answer when Dark Rod burst out laughing.

"Come on, brother Angmar, can you stop blowing hot air? I admit our Defias Brotherhood can't compare to Twilight's Hammer, but the Defias Brotherhood belongs exclusively to our Shadow Dynasty guild. This whole patch of the Western Wilds is our territory. How much influence does your Twilight Star guild have within Twilight's Hammer? As far as I know, there's more than one player guild under Twilight's Hammer right now. There are three or four with names worth mentioning alone. Your guild hasn't even raised a single Twilight Lord yet, and you've got the nerve to talk to me about the future? Even someone borrowing another's might shouldn't take it as far as you do."

Xiao Yu was stunned again. There was a lot of information hidden in those words. He vaguely felt as though he had grasped something. Clearly, player guilds were starting to reach into monster factions. The news undoubtedly surprised him. Monster templates couldn't compare to adventurer templates at all, so few studios had ever invested in that direction. The most famous player bosses at present had all been raised by independent players. Compared with the adventurer world, where studios ran rampant, the monster world was refreshingly free of studios and the like. Were those days finally coming to an end?

Twilight Star had clearly joined Twilight's Hammer, but hadn't gained control of the faction. It wasn't hard to understand why. For a large monster faction like Twilight's Hammer, whose boss behind the scenes was the Old Gods, its leader had to be a skull-level boss at the very least. Raising one wouldn't be easy.

So the other side's recruitment offer came from their studio, not from Twilight's Hammer itself. Once he understood that, Xiao Yu was no longer puzzled.

Angmar seemed to grow angry with embarrassment at having his weakness exposed.

Angmar (twilight dragon ravager): "Don't get too cocky. Once our Twilight Star takes control of Twilight's Hammer, you'd better watch out. You'll be the first ones we deal with."

Dark Rod (Shadow Lord): "Heh, then wait until you have control before you talk. For now, you'd better get lost. Or you can come down and try a few moves against me, and see whether I've earned my title of Shadow Lord."

"Hmph!" The twilight dragon ravager didn't dare actually descend. This was the other side's territory, after all, and both were prominent figures. If they really fought, they might be killed off by the plot. Knowing he wouldn't gain anything today, he yanked the reins, rose into the air, and flew away.

Dark Rod curled his lip disdainfully as he watched the twilight drake fly away, then looked at Xiao Yu. "All right, follow me."

"I'd be honored!" Xiao Yu bowed slightly and followed Dark Rod onward.

In the darkness, blurry shadows emerged from time to time. There really were many stealth monsters all around. They weren't detected because their stealth levels were too low, but because Xiao Yu had a boss template, which gave him a greater detection range against stealth units. Even so, Xiao Yu was surprised that a monster organization had so many stealth units under its command.

It looks like this Defias Brotherhood is pretty strong. I'd barely even heard of them before. They really kept their strength hidden.

He felt reassured instead. With the other side this powerful, they clearly wouldn't rob one of their own for a few reputation points and pieces of equipment.

They crossed desolate wheat fields and walked along silent paths. Under the moonlight, the Western Wilds had a desolate beauty all its own.

All the monsters they saw along the way turned out to be members of the Defias Brotherhood. They saluted Dark Rod as he passed, making it seem almost like his kingdom. To have developed a monster faction to such an extent, Dark Rod was no ordinary man.

As Xiao Yu was thinking this, an earthen mound appeared before him. It wasn't high; a hillock would have been a more accurate description. Strange, jagged rocks and numerous ore veins dotted it, and it seemed to be a mining area. After they went around it, a mine entrance appeared, just as expected. When they reached it, Dark Rod extended a hand in invitation, and the group headed deeper into the mine.

The mine was deep and complicated, twisting and turning like a maze. Like most mines on the continent of Azeroth, it no longer belonged to the Alliance or the Horde. Instead, monsters were everywhere.

Among them were kobold miners, goblin miners, and gnoll miners, all digging ore under the direction of several Defias overseers.

No wonder I didn't see any other monsters along the way, Xiao Yu thought. They were all captured and put to work as slaves. I suppose their monster factions were destroyed and absorbed earlier.

"I hope you don't feel uncomfortable," Dark Rod suddenly said.

"What?"

"Those goblins. Seeing your own kind enslaved, you don't feel uncomfortable, do you?"

"Ha, are you kidding? It's just a game," Xiao Yu said, somewhat amused.

Dark Rod: "That's good. I was really afraid you were one of those RPG-type players."

Xiao Yu asked curiously, "Oh, why did you think that?"

Dark Rod: "Because my research showed that many of the more successful players using non-adventurer templates right now are RPG-type players."

Xiao Yu nodded. "I do know a little about that. Ordinary players are used to playing those cookie-cutter online games from before, and they bring those habits into this game. Even if they use a monster, guard, or mercenary template, they still essentially think of themselves as traditional adventurer players. That's why they don't do well. But RPG-type players are different. They put themselves into their roles: a monster is a monster, a mercenary is a mercenary, and a summoned creature is a summoned creature. If you choose a beast character, you even have to play like a beast. That's the only way to succeed."

Dark Rod nodded. "You're right. In fact, I only discovered that after repeated research and investigation."

While the two were talking, they reached the end of the mine.

A massive stone door appeared before them, with a recess beside it. Dark Rod pulled out a diamond-shaped crystal and placed it in the recess. As the crystal lit up with pulses of blue light, the stone door slowly opened, revealing a pitch-black opening covered by a curtain of blue light. Xiao Yu was startled. This was actually an instance.

Dark Rod extended a hand in invitation. "Welcome to the Deadmines, Eric. Don't worry, this is our territory. You're safe now that you're here."