Chapter 747: The Butcher Shakk

For a guild to be truly powerful and united, the personal charisma of its leader is very important.

Su Youyou looked at Sanjie Buliu and said, “Brother Sanjie, if you agree, we are all willing to contribute.”

Sanjie Buliu nodded and said, “Alright, actually establishing a guild isn’t particularly difficult.” With Nie Yan as the financial backer, everything would be easy to handle.

They signed the agreement.

“What should the guild’s name be?” Nie Yan asked.

“I have an idea. How about ‘Heavenly Melody’? It was the name of a team I previously established,” Sanjie Buliu replied.

“Heavenly Melody?” Nie Yan was momentarily stunned, revealing an expression of disbelief.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this name good?” Sanjie Buliu asked, puzzled by Nie Yan’s surprised reaction.

“It’s fine. Let’s go with Heavenly Melody,” Nie Yan said. His surprise wasn’t because there was anything wrong with the name Heavenly Melody. He recalled that in a past life, there was indeed a guild named Heavenly Melody in the Saturn Empire. It rose to prominence later and once reached the top three rankings in the Saturn Empire, controlling more than twenty fortresses at its peak. However, it was later defeated in a war against the Angel Dominion and disbanded. It was said that in a competition, the guild leader of Heavenly Melody had once defeated Angyi Tian Shi (Soaring Winged Angel).

As for whether the leader of Heavenly Melody was indeed Sanjie Buliu, Nie Yan couldn’t remember. He hadn’t paid much attention to the affairs of the Saturn Empire back then, focusing instead on grinding monsters for gold.

Nie Yan’s involvement had already altered history. With the support of the Bull Man Tribe, would Heavenly Melody still collapse as it did in his past life?

“Heavenly Melody sounds pretty good,” Su Youyou said, expressing her approval of the guild’s name.

Nie Yan hadn’t expected that he had inadvertently participated in the founding of Heavenly Melody.

The corpses on the ground gradually respawned. After a while, one by one, the shamans arrived.

“Sanjie, why did you call us here?” A tall, thin shaman walked over, patted Sanjie Buliu’s shoulder, and asked. His gaze inadvertently swept over Nie Yan. Suddenly finding Nie Yan somewhat familiar, he stared at him for a long time, his mouth opening wide enough to swallow an egg. Pointing at Nie Yan, he stammered, “He… he… he…”

He could hardly believe his eyes.

“Chenlun, what ‘he’?” Another shaman wearing a gray priest robe arrived and slapped his hand away. Glancing at the person he was pointing at, he froze, his eyes widening.

“Kuang Zei Nieren (Maniacal Thief Nie Yan)?”

“I must be dreaming.”

Nie Yan looked around and saw that all ten shamans had arrived. He smiled and greeted them, “Hello.”

“You… hello,” the player named Chen Luan was the first to recover, his voice trembling with excitement.

“Sanjie, is he really Kuang Zei Nieren?”

They still couldn’t believe it.

“Of course,” Sanjie Buliu chuckled. Seeing their reactions, he felt a bit more balanced, as his own reaction earlier had been similar.

Upon confirmation from Sanjie Buliu, they were all shocked.

“What did you call us here for?” They asked Sanjie Buliu. With Kuang Zei Nieren present, they keenly realized that Sanjie had summoned them for something important.

“I need your help with a task. It should take about a day.”

“Is it dangerous?” Chen Luan asked.

“Very dangerous. We’ll probably wipe multiple times. The payment is two thousand gold coins per day, and compensation for wipes will be based on market prices,” Sanjie Buliu replied.

Two thousand gold coins per day was a very generous payment for them. At their current level, a typical daily task payment of five hundred coins would already be considered quite decent.

They couldn’t help but be amazed. Indeed, Kuang Zei Nieren was different from ordinary employers.

“I’m in.”

“Count me in too.”

They didn’t haggle further. Two thousand gold coins was already a very high price. It would seem greedy to negotiate further with Nie Yan.

Sanjie Buliu looked at Nie Yan and said, “They are all close brothers I know well, absolutely trustworthy.”

Nie Yan nodded. Although he hadn’t interacted with them much, he had a clear understanding of Sanjie Buliu’s character. Since Sanjie considered these people trustworthy brothers, they should be fine.

“With a word from you, we’d have to give our all,” Chen Luan said with a bitter smile.

After a while, more and more human thieves arrived, and the crowd grew to about two hundred people. These were the top thieves of the Bull Man Tribe. Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Xiao Rong Bu Wei Wo were not present; Sun and Wang Zhe Tian Xia were still underground and hadn’t returned, while Xiao Rong was on a mission. Luo Nan De Qing Wa and Wu Dao were present. Many thieves from the Bull Man Tribe weren’t well-known outside because Nie Yan and others were too dazzling, overshadowing their fame. When players mentioned the Bull Man Tribe, they would inevitably think of Nie Yan, Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, and Xiao Rong Bu Wei Wo, rarely noticing others. However, although these people were obscure and ranked second-tier within the Bull Man Tribe, their skills weren’t inferior to many top thieves outside. After all, their techniques were learned from Nie Yan, Sun, and others, and their equipment was also excellent, with nearly half of them wearing high-level reduced requirement gear.

“Nie Yan Leader, we’re here,” Luo Nan De Qing Wa approached and said.

“Nie Yan Leader.”

A group of thieves greeted Nie Yan, each visibly excited.

Nie Yan nodded and said, “Start forming teams. Each team should consist of nineteen thieves plus one shaman, making ten teams in total.”

Everyone immediately got busy.

Nie Yan had someone purchase some Rebirth Emblems from the Orcish Capital of the Saturn Empire and distributed them to each shaman. The Rebirth Emblems could set a respawn time, reviving in as little as ten seconds or as long as half an hour, though revival would leave them with just a sliver of health. Additionally, after one use, the Rebirth Emblems required a fifty-second cooldown.

Thus, ten teams would still be no match for the level 130 Demon Butcher, but they should be able to hold it off for a few minutes. Nie Yan would personally retrieve the treasure. Whether he could escape the Demon Butcher’s pursuit with the loot would be a significant test for him.

“Let’s go in.”

They headed toward the center of the Dark Elf Tribe.

Meanwhile, in the Orcish Capital, Angyi Tian Shi had already received news of his team’s defeat and was furious.

“Where is Kuang Zei Nieren now?” Angyi Tian Shi asked. He felt deep helplessness toward Nie Yan. He had seen the video where Qing An used herself as bait to set a trap for Nie Yan, yet even in those circumstances, Kuang Zei Nieren had survived.

Nie Yan was being so arrogant on his turf, yet he was powerless to do anything, which was the most frustrating part.

“It’s said he’s still in the Dark Elf Tribe. Should we send someone over?” Lie Yan, beside him, asked.

Angyi Tian Shi shook his head and said, “Just send a few thieves to follow them and see what they’re up to.”

Angyi Tian Shi frowned in thought. It was very difficult to eliminate Kuang Zei Nieren using conventional methods. As the Bull Man Tribe grew stronger, the advantage of the Angel Dominion was gradually being eroded. If there was no breakthrough, the Angel Dominion would eventually fade into obscurity.

“Boss, Sha Ke has just completed his advanced class transformation into a top-tier profession,” Lie Yan reported new information.

“Alright, have him come to the guild headquarters,” Angyi Tian Shi nodded, slightly comforted that the Angel Dominion now had five top-tier professions, although their numbers were still far behind the Bull Man Tribe.

“He just received a task and can’t come,” Lie Yan explained.

Inside the Dark Elf Tribe, Nie Yan and his group advanced along the streets. The paladin Lai Fusi swung his greatsword, casting various status-enhancing skills on the thieves, significantly boosting their attributes.

The Dark Elf guards on the street noticed Nie Yan and his group and immediately charged forward.

Nie Yan controlled the Golden Earth Dragon to charge ahead, withstanding attacks from the Dark Elf melee units. Each Counterattack Storm felled a group. Some Dark Elves tried to bypass the Golden Earth Dragon but were immediately targeted by the Bull Man Tribe thieves. Three to five thieves would team up against a single Dark Elf, taking turns using control skills to keep them stunned until they died.

Bodies lay strewn along the street.

They slowly approached the central square of the Dark Elf Tribe.

“Boss, there’s a message from the Orcish Capital. Sha Ke from the Angel Dominion has just transformed into a Shadow Dancer,” Luo Nan De Qing Wa checked the guild chat and said.

“Sha Ke?” Nie Yan suddenly remembered this person—Butcher Sha Ke. In his previous life, for a long time, he had consistently held the top thief position in the Saturn Empire. No other thief in the Saturn Empire could rival him until he retired and gradually faded from players’ memories. Back then, his reputation wasn’t any lower than Sun, Xiao Rong Bu Wei Wo, or Ying Sha. What was most astonishing was that Butcher Sha Ke’s real age was already over fifty. Usually, at that age, physical strength, reflexes, and other attributes would significantly decline, making it rare for players in their forties or fifties to climb the leaderboards. Butcher Sha Ke was an exception.

The man was known as the Butcher for good reason. It was estimated that even Sha Ke himself couldn’t remember exactly how many players he had killed. He was always heavily wanted, yet no one had ever been reported to have taken him down.

Nie Yan remembered that Butcher Sha Ke had indeed spent some time in the Angel Dominion.

Nie Yan frowned slightly. A top-tier thief like Butcher Sha Ke, combined with the superior talents of an Elven thief, would be extremely difficult to deal with.