568 Chapter 568 - Prepare for the Operation (1/2)
”It is impossible under normal circumstances, but what if Thousand Miles Drunk's around?” Flame Singed Clothes asked.
Southern Lone Blade glanced at him. Out of the seven, he was the one who was most afraid of Gu Fei. It was most likely because he shared the same job class as that man, so just from comparing himself to the man, he already had a hard time figuratively lifting his head off the ground. Southern Lone Blade patted him and said, ”Thousand Miles Drunk is but one man.”
”Just one of him is able to match with all seven of us!” Flame Singed Clothes countered.
”No, what I mean to say is that… We can split up and flee…” Southern Lone Blade felt that he should retract what he had thought moments before; Flame Singed Clothes was not as frightened of Gu Fei as he had thought, for he was still thinking about taking him on! It was Southern Lone Blade himself whose first thought was to swiftly make their separate escapes.
”But they still have other strengths. There's a good possibility that we fail to escape by splitting up,” Glue said.
”Which is why we need to make some sacrifices to stall Thousand Miles Drunk,” Southern Lone Blade said.
Blackwater and Flame Singed Clothes stood out with decisive resolve. The two of them were not even level 40, so the loss from their sacrifice would be relatively small. Southern Lone Blade's party of seven was a true team in every sense of the word. Each of them had absolute faith in the team, and only the strength of the team as a whole mattered.
The other five were not about to be courteous with the two, but they still expressed their gratitude and were moved by the two's action. Deep down, they could not bear with this reality, but this was something they had no choice over. If it were not for the necessity, would any of them need to do something as brutal as sacrificing themselves?
The seven were solemn, as if they were observing a memorial service in advance for Blackwater and Flame Singed Clothes before they made their move. That was when Glue suddenly thought of something, and that expression of distress abruptly gave way for one of glee as he happily cried out, ”I've got an idea!”
”What idea?”
”A marvelous idea.” Glue was elated.
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The topic of the magic staff continued to dominate the conversation of Baishi City, even as it made its rounds over to the forums. Priests from other cities even made the long trek over to Baishi City for it. The very fact that they braved the distance alone was a testament to the determination these Priests had to acquire the item. This dealt quite a blow to the Priests in Baishi City, as what had been a city-wide competition for the Utopian Magic Staff instantaneously became a worldwide struggle…
The price for the magic staff climbed unceasingly to dizzying heights as time passed. Vast Lushness and the rest went to have a look at the Auction House after an overnight grinding session, only to find out that the price had risen up to 3424 gold, 58 silver, and 40 copper coins, and the increment bid limit had risen to 50 gold coins.
For an item's price to reach such levels, there was no doubt that this was a never-before-seen bidding war to purchase this item. After all, the period when the real bidding would begin had yet to arrive; these were nothing more than the bids that were tossed out in passing, yet all this probing had already raised it to such a sum. All this only made the final price all the more unimaginable.
”M*th*rf*ck*r. Now that's what I call a piece of real top-grade equipment!” Sakurazaka Moony exclaimed in awe. As the self-proclaimed number-one trap expert of Yunduan City, he called plenty of the Hunter gear he had on him as top-grade equipment, yet there was no way they could compete with the Utopian Magic Staff. To give the simplest example: if anyone searched for the Utopian Magic Staff in the auction panel available on the premise, only a single result would be shown, but if anybody keyed any of the names of the pieces of 'top-grade equipment' Sakurazaka Moony had on him, the results would fill many pages.
”We should not call it 'top-grade equipment', it should be called exceptional equipment', instead,” Fireball commented.
”That's a good way to put it,” Sakurazaka Moony agreed. The man glanced over to Vast Lushness, who had been standing beside him, only to see the lady's eyes looking somewhat vacant. He reached out and waved his hands before her eyes. ”Hey, you're not tempted to really sell it off, are you?”
Selling such exceptional and peerless top-grade equipment and using the profits to outfit herself with more typical top-grade equipment would surely see a significant boost to a character's combat power. Plenty of players who emphasized on maximizing their experience gain would definitely make such a choice. However, such exceptional equipment would represent a sort of individuality, and in a world where it was easy for someone to own something others already have in their possession, individuality was something that was hard to pursue. Vast Lushness happened to have something that could achieve this individuality, and it was apparent she did not wish to let this go. While she was frightened by just how this price was steadily rising, she was indeed guilty of toying with the idea of selling her staff off for real. Sakurazaka Moony's question, however, caused her to drop such a thought abruptly, shaking her head in response.
”Looking at how quickly it's going, it seems that we may have to raise more money. We need to set a price at the last minute that no one will dare to even touch. Otherwise, at the rate of this surging price, we may be unable to snatch it back for ourselves,” Sakurazaka Moony said.
”Would it kill you to say fewer words?!” Blue Ease blurted out.
”Did I say something wrong?” Sakurazaka Moony was nonplussed.
Blue Ease swept his gaze around the crowd vehemently. Sakurazaka Moony looked around and realized his folly; discussing this out in the open like this was definitely inappropriate. Thankfully, most of their men were swarming this auction panel, so no one should have caught what he had said. Nevertheless, Sakurazaka Moony did not wish to risk it as he swiftly stopped talking.
”Let's leave,” Vast Lushness said. The crowd nodded and left the Auction House together, discussing this matter over their private channel as they each went their separate ways.
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That night, when Gu Fei got online, the first thing he received was a message from Eternal Dominion. ”I'm here!”
”Okay,” Gu Fei answered. Asking Eternal Dominion where he was, it turned out that the man had also gotten online not too long ago and was not too far off from the designated log-off zone himself. Thus, Gu Fei went over to fetch him before finding out where everyone would be gathered today. It was still the same tavern as yesterday, so he brought Eternal Dominion along there.
It was about ten past six at this point, and it was still at least 20 minutes away from the time Young Master Han had told everyone to meet up. However, a good half of the players were already in the tavern; it seemed that everybody was rather enthusiastic regarding this matter here.
”That's almost everyone!” Young Master Han said when he saw Gu Fei and Eternal Dominion enter.
Everybody exchanged greetings with one another. Blue Ease had not met Eternal Dominion before, so he peppered the usual praises and expressions of admiration after they were properly introduced. Eternal Dominion smiled genially, ”You're being far too polite. I've never met you before, brother. Are you someone from Baishi City? Do you have any concerns?”
”Ah? Concerns?” Blue Ease was confused.
”Is there anyone that has made you unhappy or such?” Eternal Dominion gave one such example.
”Oh!” Blue Ease finally caught on, making the link back when Gu Fei recommended him to kill someone. It sounded as if he were a hitman! Someone that had made me unhappy… As Blue Ease pondered on this, his eyes involuntarily went to Sakurazaka Moony.
”F*ck! What are you looking at me for?” Sakurazaka Moony was also very astute.
”Hey, it seems that the relationship between you two aren't exactly on the best terms.” Eternal Dominion appeared to be very eager.
Everyone stared at the man.
”Whoever can pay a higher fee, I'll help take care of the other person,” Eternal Dominion declared.