Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

A single trip to the underworld netted them 1,200,000 gold. This was unimaginable for other guilds, but it was perfectly normal for Asskickers United. Nie Yan estimated this haul was their last big profit from this venture. With the opening of Judgement Valley, players would definitely think of different loopholes to smuggle goods between the two factions and saturate the market.

However, the parternship between Asskickers United and Fallen Angel was only getting started.

They shared a common enemy in Angels Corps and the Century Financial Group. So, they would launch a joint-attack.

Nie Yan and Plenty got in touch with each other. After discussing the details of their cooperation, Asskickers United also dispatched over 100,000 players over to the Satreen Empire. A total of 300,000 players started stirring up trouble in the territories controlled by Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group. 

After handling these matters, Nie Yan messaged Guo Huai.「Have Sun, Xie Yao, and them all come meet me in Barthe.」

Nie Yan still had to deal with Phantom Princess Ina. He couldn’t take her on alone.

「Shadow Killer just completed his class advancement quest. He became a Shadow Stalker,」Guo Huai said. 

Nie Yan was happy to hear of the progress Shadow Killer made. Not too long ago, they were strangers linked by a bet. After killing Soaring Angel, Nie Yan had Shadow Killer assassinate Cao Xu. A piece of cake for this veteran. But this also ruptured what little good blood was left between both sides. Infuriated, Cao Xu used Shadow Killer's friends where it hurt most. A small betrayal here, a larger one there. Thousands upon thousands of Thieves chased after him every single second the servers were online. It took him everything he had just to survive. Abandoned by his friends, allies, and even the very organization he founded, a quiet rage bubbled up inside of him. However, he couldn't take Cao Xu on himself, that was a fool's hope. He needed allies. Joining Asskickers United was the only logical next step. As he came to this conclusion, Guo Huai sent another one of his periodical messages to which he replied for the first time. They came together and shared their thoughts, after which they decided to work together under the banner of Asskickers United to bring down Cao Xu and the Century Financial Group.

Shadow Killer becoming a Shadow Stalker was incredibly exciting news. Asskickers United now had six Shadow Dancers: Nie Yan, Sun, King of the World, Mistaken Smile, One Strike Vow, and Shadow Killer. Among them, Nie Yan, Mistaken Smile, and Shadow Killer had special titles. All the best Thieves were in Asskickers United. However, Nie Yan felt a little conflicted because of the changes his interference had brought about. The Luminous Dancer, Shadow Strifer, and Shadow Stalker titles were all unique. His snatching away the Luminous Dancer title from Mistaken Smile had caused a chain reaction to occur. Mistaken Smile obtained the Shadow Strifer title this time around, and Shadow Killer the Shadow Stalker title which belonged to Sun in the previous timeline.

Nie Yan cast these thoughts aside. Whether it was Sun or Shadow Killer that obtained the Shadow Stalker title, it didn’t matter. They were both members of Asskickers United anyway.

Asskickers United had consecutively produced six Shadow Dancers. Everyone else was left to look on in admiration, especially those who played the Thief class. They all agreed on one thing, and that was that any skilled Thief worth their salt would join Asskickers United. Apart from Angel Corps with Butcher Sark, no other guild had produced a top Thief.

「Have him come over too.」

Before long, Asskickers United’s Masters arrived in Barthe.

Nie Yan passed by a street and spotted an expedition team of 300 players from a guild called Moonchaser Sword in his path. Most of them were around Level 120-130. They were slowly making their way towards a tower. Several Fighters were at the front, drawing the aggro of a few Desert Giants.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The Desert Giants lumbered forward and attacked the Fighters. They raised their thick, solid arms and slammed down with their fists. KLAAANG! The Fighters were pushed back by the force, but they immediately charged back into position.

“Fighters, draw them to the side! Mages, focus your firepower!” a Thief called Drowned Fish shouted. He was likely their leader.

A barrage of magic rained down on the Desert Giants. The Mages in the back unloaded their skills. The coordination of this group was pretty good.

Any group that could explore Barthe wasn’t simple.

Nie Yan took a detour around them and continued onward. He could already see the walls to the inner district off in the distance. As he wondered where he should start searching for that NPC named Morphest, he noticed that the deeper he ventured into the city, the greater the mob density was. Desert Giants were everywhere. This would definitely be a decent levelling spot.

Nie Yan chanted out an incantation. With a flash of light, Lil’ Gold’s enormous figure emerged by his side.

Lil’ Gold’s appearance immediately alerted the nearby Desert Giants. They came charging over, flailing their arms to attack.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The flurry of attacks triggered consecutive Explosive Counters. Powerful whirlwinds erupted from Lil’ Gold and swept away the Desert Giants.

Nie Yan pulled up Divine Recruitment and also summoned Paladin Lafus.

Man and dragon immediately started clearing out the area. Nie Yan remained in stealth, collecting the loot off the ground as he pressed forward.

A white light enveloped Lil’ Gold, signalling a level up. Nie Yan checked Lil’ Gold’s stats. A Level 130 dragon with 170,000 health! He was an unrivalled powerhouse among pets.

Lil’ Gold also learned a new skill, Blaze Armour. When this skill was toggled on, it’d deal continuous fire damage to all surrounding enemy units.

Many players had attempted to obtain pets that could rival Lil’ Gold, but they all failed. Finding a pet with high potential was still possible, there were plenty who did. However, realizing that potential proved incredibly difficult. As for Evolution Crystals, though there’d been others who found one, they were a limited few. Due to this, the number of players who could gather both were perhaps no more than a handful, and they wouldn’t necessarily be willing to use the Evolution Crystal on a pet. Not to mention a pet that ate an Evolution Crystal at Level 0 was completely different from one that ate it at a higher level.

As a result, Lil’ Gold still occupied the position as the most powerful pet. Taking care of these Desert Giants was a piece of cake for him.

After learning Blaze Armour, any Desert Giants that got near him would immediately start taking 6,000 fire damage a second. 

As soon as Lil’ Gold’s health started dipping, Paladin Lafus would immediately top him back up. With this kind of super healer supporting him from the rear, there was no need to worry about running out of health.

The duo swept through everything in their path, leaving behind a trail of corpses in their wake.

About 10 minutes later, a white light enveloped Nie Yan. Level 127 already! This levelling speed was quite good.

「Are you guys here yet?」Nie Yan asked in voice chat.

「We just arrived in Barthe. Boss, where are you?」Undying Scoundrel asked.

「I’m hanging around near the inner district at 289.800.880,」Nie Yan replied.

「Alright, we’ll be there in a minute.」

Nie Yan looked around. The silhouette of the inner district was already within view. It was shaped like a square with many buildings erected inside.

The expedition team of 300 players from Moonchaser Sword finally arrived in the area where Nie Yan started clearing mobs. The sight before their eyes left them completely dumbstruck. There were literal piles of Desert Giant corpses scattered everywhere, stretching out to the far end of the street.

“Boss, who did this!? A 1,000-man expedition team? No way, right? We never left the area. If such a large group of players passed by, we definitely would’ve noticed,” a player gloomily said. The corpses still hadn’t despawned, signifying that whoever was behind this hadn’t gone far.

Drowned Fish shook his head in confusion. He also couldn’t understand what was going on. This street was too narrow. How could a 1,000-man expedition team possibly pass through?

“You guys wait here. I’ll take a few people with me to take a look. Lil’ Seven and the rest, come with me,” Drowned Fish said.

“Understood!”

Five Thieves joined Drowned Fish to investigate. As they made their way forward, their shock only grew deeper. As far as the eye could see, there were Desert Giant corpses scattered everywhere.

“Boss, I picked up two gold.”

“Boss, I found a Level 150 Silver-grade chestpiece.”

These Thieves discovered many of the items on the ground had been left there. Nie Yan didn’t have the time or energy to pick up everything by himself. Besides, he couldn’t even be bothered to pick up most drops.

Drowned Fish knitted his brows. They were trailing a small group! Large groups would sweep everything clean. They would never leave so many drops behind.

Following another curve in the street, Drowned Fish and the other five Thieves gazed up ahead. A giant golden dragon entered their vision.

“It’s a golden dragon! My god! That’s Nirvana Flame!” one of the Thieves cried out in shock.

Drowned Fish felt his blood freeze over. The carnage and destruction they saw on their way here was all carried out by one person!? How was this even possible!? Nirvana Flame was too frightening!

“So, it was Nirvana Flame! No wonder!”

Everyone suddenly felt this all made sense.

Drowned Fish observed Lil’ Gold. He was just standing there, seemingly waiting for something. Who knew what Nirvana Flame was doing.

“Calm down. Let’s go and take a look,” Drowned Fish said. Nirvana Flame triggered the release of Barthe. He had probably received some kind of special quest. The curiosity in his heart spurred him to go over and investigate.

The six Thieves activated their stealth boosting abilities, then slowly inched closer toward Nie Yan.

10 seconds later, they found a hiding spot about 100 meters away from Nie Yan. The enormous Lil’ Gold was like a small mountain, giving off a stifling pressure. Nie Yan was standing right next to him, his appearance hidden by a cloak. There was also a tall NPC beside Nie Yan.

「That’s probably the Paladin Lafus everyone’s talking about!」

「What’s Nirvana Flame just standing there for?」

「No idea.」

Their hearts were filled with confusion and curiosity. Getting to see Nirvana Flame out in the wilderness was really something else. They couldn’t help but feel their hearts race. At this moment, they were only about 100 meters away from him. Although they felt they were safe, their hearts were still wracked with tension and nervousness. 

Nie Yan was currently waiting for Sun and the others to arrive. At this moment, he suddenly sensed something and shifted his gaze over to the other end of the street.

There were several Thieves hiding in stealth over there. However, Nie Yan didn’t pay them any mind. Since he could spot them from so far away, they couldn’t possibly pose a threat to him.

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Translator: LittleShanks (Follow me on Twitter)
Editor: Sietse

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