Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

“This doesn’t look good,” Fat Monkey groaned. He scratched his head as he watched the enemies get closer and closer to the stronghold. In the end, he couldn’t resist going down to face them.

“What doesn’t look good? Can you recognise those people? This time Azure Guard and Majin Temple are working together. We were almost ambushed but it’s a good thing we had prepared earlier. They probably didn’t think that our main forces would show up here,” Lu Li smirked with a hint of self-satisfaction. Secretly, however, he was wiping away cold sweat.

“But you promised Jade Flower Lover that she would lead the attack against the Barrenlands,” Fat Monkey said.

“I’m will attack the Barrenlands. I already sent people there,” Lu Li replied as he gazed at him. With an arrogant shake of his head, he continued, “The art of war is the way of deception. Do you understand? If you don’t, stop whining. People are coming soon, aren’t you going to welcome them?”

“Ugh, you stinky pleb! Come fight us you cowards.” The enemies below destroyed two arrow towers and are right underneath the stronghold. Surprisingly, the person mocking them was Unforgettable Maple.

“Hehe, Sister Maple, don’t think you’re safe. I remember you were from Majin Temple. How did you get mixed up with Azure Guard?” Lu Li asked, leaning on the top of the wall and taunting the people below. There was plenty of time so neither side were in a hurry.

“Weren’t you helping Blood Red War Flag attack the Barrenlands?” Unforgettable Maple asked. It made sense for Maple to ask this question. Jade Flower Lover had tricked Lu Li into attacking Glory Capital. Then the info that Ruling Sword was going beginning a full-scale attack on Glory Capital was given to Majin Temple, which led Majin Temple to attack the Black Sea Coast while it was empty.

Jade Flower hated Lu Li for not being as obedient as Wings of Dawn, which was why he decided to trick Ruling Sword. And giving info to Majin Temple covered half of his loss of 60 000 gold. Regardless of the result, they weren’t going to get the short end of the stick.

The star player of Majin Temple was Unforgettable Maple. He was experienced, calculative, and well-known for being treacherous within the circle. He wouldn’t simply believe Blood Red War Flag’s words. He formed an alliance with the Azure Guard, and the two would work together to divide up the spoils of the Black Sea Coast. Who would’ve known that Lu Li was personally commanding the Black Sea Coast Stronghold? If this was a movie, it would be an intense romance drama. Actually, it’d be an elaborate, scheming, full-scale drama comparable to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

So, who were the people attacking the Barrenlands? Unforgettable Maple stared at the players around Lu Li. He realised that there were a lot of new faces that he didn’t recognise. Then, with confidence, he laughed coldly, “I thought you were playing some sort of trick, but it turns out it this was just an Empty Fort Strategy. You’re making the enemy think that the empty stronghold was a trap. Wandering is leading the group. The main forces have gone to attack the Barrenlands, leaving you with a bunch of small fry to receive the enemy?”

“it’s enough to handle all of you. Last time Wandering almost kept Elevenless and Dream 13 bedridden for a fortnight. Do you also want a try? It’s not worth his time to deal with you,” Lu Li mocked, pretending to have exposed himself. He remained tough on the outside, hiding his timidness.

“Haha! So, we’re on the same page then? Attack!” Unforgettable Maple laughed, commanding the allied armies to begin the attack on the stronghold.

Wandering didn’t actually go to the Barrenlands. He was bringing Azure Sea Breeze and the team to personally garrison Grey Valley Stronghold. They had the trump card of the Ancient of Lore there, as well as a group of smiling Dryad sisters who had been assembled on this side of the stronghold wall. Theoretically, there was already no fear about this stronghold being attacked no matter how powerful the enemy.

The reason he chose to be garrisoned at Grey Valley was very simple, to save energy!

That’s why he didn’t even look at the people coming to attack Grey Valley Stronghold. No matter how powerful they were, it wouldn’t change their fate of having to return home in defeat.

The club that snatched the opportunity to attack was called Strongest King. They also complained a lot about their plight. They were a newly formed guild, part of a financial investment business in real life.

Those finance groups may have felt that the gaming industry grew more and more popular, so they couldn’t help but set their foot in it.

Sugar Pear, who they asked to be responsible for setting up the new club and guild, was an experienced old player. He had been a player for over ten years and was competitive for two. Of course, he wasn’t oblivious to the game’s mechanics. With careful planning and order, he began to set everything up.

However, he couldn’t stand the people above him pushing him. His only option was to conquer some land. However, there was a problem with gaining a piece of land. A group of people from the company board studied it for hours before choosing the Grey Valley Stronghold. They chose this piece of land for its strategic advantage. If they set it up here, they could get a bird’s eye view of all sides. They could fight whoever they wanted to fight.

Besides, Grey Valley Stronghold had already been developing quite well. If they defeated it, it would save them a lot of development time.

After Sugar Pear protested to that idea in vain, he firmly chose to go all-out. He brought the main army line-up of Strongest King and begun the long journey of attacking Grey Valley Stronghold. As the saying goes, when a friend asks for a hand, you do the best you can. Since it was already decided, they’d go up and fight a good battle.

At the same time, he showed the people on the company board, who had been living under a rock, what it was really like to be a top club.

The one going into the Barrenlands head-on was Sky Moon.

This newly rising boss of Ruling Sword had gradually shed off his initial immaturity. He looked into the distance and saw that the Barrenlands’ strongholds weren’t too well-defended. He lifted his hand to stop the chariots rolling forward. The distance of the first arrow tower was only just a stone throw away.

The battlefield of the Barrenlands was had a moment of deathly stillness. Both sides were separated by two arrow towers, looking at each other from a distance.

One could say that the Grey Valley’s battlefield was extremely tragic. The main forces of Strongest King attacked the stronghold wall in waves, the bright light of death continuously glistening. But Grey Valley’s stronghold walls still didn’t budge. The half-asleep Wandering at the very top of the wall looked like he would fall asleep at any moment.

On the other hand, the Black Sea Coast, where Lu Li was, had entered into a deadlock.

The Dryads and the Ancient of Lore weren’t here. The core players had also separated to three places. Apart from a few core players here, there were ten hired mercenaries.

They had picked players out of the main forces to go and find some strangers to hire. There was a big reduction in the group’s power. Compared to the allied forces set up by Majin Temple and Azure Guard, they couldn’t show that they had any sort of overwhelming advantage. Under Unforgettable Maple’s command, the allied forces already reached the stronghold wall.

“Luckily you’re shameless, boss,” Fat Monkey joked with lingering fear in his heart.

“This is called strategy, something that old fellow doesn’t have. Monkey, quick, you can One Shot him,” Lu Li said, referring to Unforgettable Maple.

“Boss, you hold the wall first. The stronghold wall is going to fall. I’m going ahead,” Fat Monkey said, flashing before Lu Li’s eyes before flying down.

“Damn you, you just know how to run,” Lu Li cursed, before following him down. When he landed, he turned into a leopard. After he stood up, he hid himself in the shadows.

“Haha, where did you find these mercenaries from? That’s not cool at all,” Unforgettable Maple laughed loudly.

His 80 players were almost all of the most core Elite players of Majin Temple and Azure Guard— two reputable, established guilds. Even if Lu Li had his strongest battle line-up here, it still would not outdo them.