Chapter 550: Locking onto the Target

The rogue player walked out of the city gate, passing not far from Nie Yan, and headed outside the city.

As Nie Yan watched the rogue gradually walk away, he activated his Disguise skill. His facial features quickly adjusted—his nose flattened slightly compared to before, some freckles appeared on his face, his cheeks became rough and uneven. His appearance now was extremely similar to that of the rogue from the Mage Alliance, differing only in minor details.

However, Disguise had its flaws. If encountered by someone familiar with the original player, there was a certain probability of being recognized.

Nie Yan planned to infiltrate first using Disguise. As for how someone like Wang Zhexia and others would enter, Nie Yan wasn’t sure, but he believed they would manage somehow. If necessary, they could sneak in stealthily when fewer people were around the city gate.

After disguising himself as that player, Nie Yan put on a black cloak, which could conceal the equipment on his body.

Once everything was ready, Nie Yan slowly revealed his form and walked toward the city gate.

The city gate was bustling with people, but they only gave Nie Yan a quick glance before going about their own business, and no one came to greet him.

It seemed that the rogue wasn’t very popular, but this suited Nie Yan perfectly—being ignored was the best scenario.

As Nie Yan passed by some players, he overheard them talking about the Bullman Tribe and paused briefly to listen closely.

“The Bullman Tribe is coming. Which guild do you think will win, the Bullman Tribe or the Mage Alliance?”

“I think we have a slightly better chance. With Sacred Guardians, we have nearly seven or eight hundred thousand troops combined, while the Bullman Tribe has only around two or three hundred thousand, plus the Moonlight City is our territory,” said an Elemental Mage, a loyal supporter of the Mage Alliance.

“I think we might lose. Back when the Bullman Tribe was still weak, during the battle at Krips Fortress, how many people did Warblade Bloodthirsty, the Mage Alliance, Sacred Guardians, and Angel Domination have? All of them were elites, and we even had catapults. Everyone said Warblade Bloodthirsty would win, but what was the result? And in the recent battle in the Death Realm, we sent over three thousand people. So much money was spent, and so many top players were hired, yet we only managed to eliminate around three hundred Bullman Tribe members. I think even we could have done better than those people. I really don’t know what the Mage Alliance’s leadership was thinking,” another warrior said, showing dissatisfaction with the Mage Alliance’s leadership.

“Shh, maybe we shouldn’t say things like this here. Let’s go quickly.”

The group of players left together.

Nie Yan passed by numerous Mage Alliance players and looked inside. The bustling street was right in front of him, with shops lining both sides of the street. There were even more people here than in Krips Fortress, shoulder to shoulder. It seemed that Kuang Fa was quite skilled at boosting the economy.

He was inside!

How would Kuang Fa feel if he knew Nie Yan was inside Ejedon Fortress?

Nie Yan couldn’t help but wonder. Suddenly, a voice called out from behind.

“Freckles, wait up.”

Hearing the voice, Nie Yan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Freckles, weren’t you supposed to go out with the group earlier? Why are you back?” A muscular warrior approached and asked.

Seeing the warrior’s surprised expression, Nie Yan calmly replied, “I came back to buy something. I forgot to get some things.”

After saying that, Nie Yan ignored the warrior and headed straight into the fortress.

The warrior looked at Nie Yan’s back, puzzled, murmuring, “Freckles seems strange today. Normally, if I called him Freckles, he would have fought me. And his attitude was so cold, like a stranger. What’s wrong with him?”

He was about to call Nie Yan back, but when he looked up, Nie Yan had already disappeared.

“What the hell? Did I just imagine it?” The warrior looked around, but Nie Yan was nowhere to be seen.

He came to his senses and thought, “Forget it. I’ll ask Freckles next time I see him,” then turned and walked out of the city gate.

The warrior only briefly encountered Nie Yan and didn’t get a good look, so he didn’t recognize him.

Nie Yan, hiding in the shadows of a corner, watched the warrior walk away and finally felt relieved. He wasn’t entirely confident in the Disguise skill, but fortunately, he hadn’t been recognized. Otherwise, this assassination mission would have failed.

Reaching a small alley, Nie Yan activated Stealth and headed toward the center of Ejedon Fortress. First, he needed to locate the Mage Alliance’s guild headquarters inside Ejedon Fortress!

Ejedon Fortress exuded a mixture of prosperity and decline. Some shops had posted notices for transfer, and the prices were relatively low. Many shopkeepers were worried about Ejedon’s future—if the Bullman Tribe invaded, their shops might be destroyed in the war. This sense of insecurity made them eager to sell their shops, but often the more desperate they were to sell, the harder it was to find a buyer. Few dared to purchase shops at this time, fearing their investments would go to waste. Most would wait a few days to see how things unfolded before making a decision.

About ten minutes later, a magnificent building appeared in Nie Yan’s view.

This was undoubtedly the most prominent building in Ejedon Fortress, resembling a grand temple. Around it stood towering columns over twenty yards high, flanked by various sculptures. The corridors were filled with flowers and various plants, creating a vibrant scene, with a red carpet leading into the distance.

Nie Yan couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. The Mage Alliance had truly spared no expense—constructing such a building must have cost at least a million gold coins. Even the Bullman Tribe didn’t have such extravagance.

Many guilds considered their guild headquarters as their face, so they built them as luxuriously as possible. Nie Yan had a different view—he believed it was better to spend money reinforcing the city walls. Therefore, the Bullman Tribe’s guild headquarters were extremely simple and low-key.

Nie Yan had received intelligence from Guo Huai confirming that Kuang Fa and Sheng Yan were inside this guild headquarters, meeting with Shadow Kill and others.

He wandered around the guild headquarters for over twenty minutes, familiarizing himself with the surrounding routes and gaining a general understanding of the area outside the Mage Alliance’s headquarters.

“Nie Yan Brother, I’m inside,” Sun sent a message. He had entered by using the Ring of the Crawler, climbing in from the top of the city gate.

Soon after, Nie Yan received messages confirming that Wang Zhexia, Yi Chui Dingqing, and others had also entered. Some had used special skills from special items, while others had sneaked in stealthily when fewer people were around the city gate. They took slightly longer, but everything went smoothly.

“Everyone, gather at the Mage Alliance’s guild headquarters. Keep in contact!” Nie Yan said, looking up at the Mage Alliance’s guild headquarters. This building was constructed from white stone, with three floors in total. On the second floor, one window was left open.

Nie Yan switched to the Ring of the Crawler, used its skill, and stuck himself to the white wall, climbing up nimbly.

No one would have imagined that someone would dare to infiltrate the enemy guild’s fortress—it was an unthinkable act. Therefore, Ejedon Fortress’s defenses were tight on the outside but lax inside. The outer walls were filled with watchtowers, while the interior defenses were relatively relaxed.

Nie Yan successfully climbed to the second floor, leaped, and jumped through the window, landing lightly.

Inside the window was a long corridor leading into the distance. On both sides of the corridor, every five yards, stood bronze statues of warriors, like guards stationed there, while the walls were adorned with classical paintings.

Nie Yan didn’t know where the central meeting hall was. He activated Stealth and walked down the corridor.

The corridor was quiet, with no one walking around. Occasionally, a few murmurs could be heard.

After walking about one or two hundred yards, Nie Yan noticed some movement at the end of the corridor.

Nie Yan’s heart quickened. Footsteps were approaching from the distance, getting closer. Someone was coming this way. He quickly hid behind a statue and held his breath.

A player wearing dark golden armor appeared at the corner of the corridor and walked toward Nie Yan.

Seeing the person’s face, Nie Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected to meet an old acquaintance here. This person was the former guild leader of the now-disbanded Warblade Bloodthirsty, Bloodthirsty Kuangdao!

Could it be that after the Warblade Bloodthirsty was disbanded, Bloodthirsty Kuangdao and his members joined the Mage Alliance?

Nie Yan speculated that it was possible. Although Bloodthirsty Kuangdao wasn’t wearing the Mage Alliance’s guild emblem at the moment, once the war started, these old enemies of the Bullman Tribe would undoubtedly stand on the opposite side of the Bullman Tribe without hesitation. Nie Yan applied some status skills that enhanced his Stealth. If he were to confront Bloodthirsty Kuangdao now, his infiltration would be exposed!

Bloodthirsty Kuangdao felt a sudden irritation. Based on his combat instincts, this was a sign of encountering a rogue. He glanced around, but the irritation quickly disappeared. He chuckled, probably just being overly sensitive, seeing enemies everywhere. After all, this was the Mage Alliance’s headquarters, Ejedon Fortress. Who would dare to come here to seek death!

Bloodthirsty Kuangdao continued forward until he disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Nie Yan only stepped out from behind the statue after confirming that Bloodthirsty Kuangdao’s back had completely disappeared. At their closest moment, they were less than three yards apart, yet Bloodthirsty Kuangdao didn’t notice anything and simply walked away.

Nie Yan pondered thoughtfully. It was likely that not only Warblade Bloodthirsty, but also other disbanded forces such as the former Victorious Empire and Eternal Blade, had joined the Mage Alliance after being defeated by the Bullman Tribe. The Mage Alliance’s strength was truly formidable!

After passing Bloodthirsty Kuangdao, Nie Yan continued down the corridor, passing through two halls, and entered the area where the main hall was located.

In the distance, several figures were sitting on chairs in front of the hall, talking about something. Nie Yan’s gaze instantly locked onto two of them—Kuang Fa and Shadow Kill!

Finally, he had encountered these two. Nie Yan’s fingers unconsciously brushed against the blade of Ze Enna De Sword in his left hand. This was his instinctive gesture before he was about to kill someone.

The hunting game was about to begin!