Nie Yan sent Tang Yao to purchase at least 200 gold worth of area-damage magic bombs from the village of Tesoyi, as a precaution for unforeseen circumstances. Although it was somewhat wasteful, it was unavoidable. Just then, a group of players entered from outside the Bull Tribe guild headquarters. They were all wearing the most basic decorative outfits. Leading them was Shuise Yantou, with several familiar figures beside him: Leng Fengjuejian, Mu En, and Huanlaozhizhu. A large group, nearly two hundred strong, had arrived—essentially all the elite core members of Dry Leaf Studio.
Unlike their previous arrogant and ostentatious visits to the Bull Tribe, this time the Dry Leaf Studio members appeared somewhat downcast.
Shuise Yantou walked toward Nie Yan.
“Why so down on your luck?” Nie Yan asked. Compared to his usual self, Shuise Yantou looked different now—his equipment was gone, but his demeanor carried a new air of ease and confidence.
“The Toba family decided to merge Dry Leaf Studio into the Triumph Empire, so we quit. Our equipment was taken back by the studio, and these brothers all followed me out,” Shuise Yantou replied with a bitter smile.
Toba Shi also stepped forward. Seeing Shuise’s condition, he was quite surprised.
“What happened?” Toba Shi, still unaware of the details, asked in confusion.
Shuise Yantou explained everything from beginning to end.
Upon hearing that the Toba family had allied with the Triumph Empire and that Shuise had quit the studio, Toba Hongye had demanded compensation for breach of contract, Toba Shi’s expression changed dramatically. He angrily said, “They’ve gone too far this time. Let me look into it for you.” Considering how much money Shuise had earned for the Toba family over the years, it was outrageous for Toba Hongye to force him out with nothing.
Shuise Yantou tried to stop him: “Forget it, since we’ve already left Dry Leaf Studio.” The only person in the Toba family he got along well with was Toba Shi. Turning to Nie Yan, he smiled and said, “We’ve all lost our equipment. I hope the Bull Tribe won’t refuse to take us in.”
“How could that be? There’s plenty of equipment in the guild warehouse. You can choose whatever you like. Actually, regaining your freedom might be a blessing. Money can be earned again. All these guys from Dry Leaf Studio are skilled. What do you have to fear? The Bull Tribe will be your solid backing. We will definitely not mistreat our own brothers,” Nie Yan replied earnestly. Shuise Yantou and the others leaving Dry Leaf Studio proved their loyalty to the Bull Tribe, so how could Nie Yan not accept them?
“Thanks, brother!” Shuise Yantou said, touched. No further words were needed.
“Toba, tell me about your family situation,” Nie Yan said. Observing Toba Shi’s indifferent attitude toward Toba Hongye, Nie Yan decided to ask further.
Toba Shi thought for a moment and replied, “The Toba family is divided into several factions, each holding some shares. Toba Hongye is one faction, controlling about 26% of the shares. Toba Fengyuan is another faction, controlling around 22%. These two factions often clash fiercely. The majority of shares are scattered among various family members. For example, I hold about 15% of the shares, while others generally hold no more than 10%. Currently, power is temporarily held by Toba Hongye because most of the family members holding shares belong to his faction. I remain neutral.” Toba Shi only gave a rough explanation. The situation within such a large family couldn’t be clearly explained in just a few words.
Nie Yan nodded. No wonder Toba Shi could maintain such a detached status, free from family conflicts, allowing him to wander outside, killing monsters and leveling up. Otherwise, how could he be so relaxed?
“So this matter has nothing to do with me. You can’t blame me for it,” Toba Shi smiled. Despite expressing sympathy for Shuise Yantou, he still maintained an indifferent attitude.
Nie Yan looked at Toba Shi. Was he really the kind of person who didn’t strive for advancement? Probably not. His apparent laziness might just be a temporary strategy. Holding 15% of the shares, if he shifted his support to one side, it could deal a fatal blow to the other. However, with only 15%, it was definitely not enough to compete for family control. But by remaining neutral and observing, neither side would dare provoke him, and both would offer various favorable conditions to win his support. This was Toba Shi’s wisdom.
Nie Yan didn’t yet fully understand the situation within the Toba family, but based on his knowledge of Toba Shi, he had an intuitive feeling that the ultimate winner might not necessarily be Toba Hongye or Toba Fengyuan. Toba Shi was quietly accumulating strength!
It seemed the situation within the Toba family needed further investigation before any judgment could be made. The alliance between the Toba family and Cao Xu’s Century Financial Group posed a significant threat to Nie Yan, who must find a way to eliminate this threat.
Cao Xu’s Century Financial Group, the Triumph Empire and four other super guilds, and the Toba family—when these forces combined, they formed a truly formidable entity.
With Dry Leaf Studio disbanding, Shuise Yantou led a large group to join the Bull Tribe—these were all the elite members of Dry Leaf Studio! Once their equipment was restored, their strength would return to previous levels, significantly enhancing the Bull Tribe’s overall power.
“You guys settle down in the Bull Tribe. If you need anything, just speak up,” Nie Yan told Shuise Yantou and the others. They could continue as professional players even after joining the guild.
Shuise Yantou nodded and confidently said, “Give me ten days, and I’ll restore all these brothers’ equipment to their previous levels!”
Nie Yan then assigned Guo Huai and others to handle the reintegration of Shuise Yantou’s group into the Bull Tribe. The guild prioritized allocating the best equipment from the Bull Tribe’s warehouse to them. Only with proper equipment could they enter dungeons to obtain even better gear.
“We have a guild activity, so we’ll go first. Contact us if anything comes up,” Nie Yan told Shuise Yantou and the others. Since their equipment wasn’t yet upgraded, they couldn’t participate in the guild activity, which was quite regrettable.
Shuise Yantou nodded. His immediate priority was to upgrade the equipment of his team members. Without equipment, they couldn’t even take a step forward, let alone participate in the Bull Tribe’s guild activities.
After saying goodbye to Shuise Yantou, Leng Fengjuejian, and others, Nie Yan led his team members toward Eternal City.
Although Nie Yan and his team had repeatedly cleared the streets of Eternal City of mechanical puppets, the puppets had respawned and were now densely scattered throughout the city.
The group of six hundred players entered Eternal City in an orderly manner and began grinding monsters.
A group of warriors, including Cui Lan Dao Guang, took the front lines, drawing the attention of the mechanical puppets. Behind them, offensive spells flew through the sky in arcs, exploding on the puppets and causing damage numbers to float above their heads.
The mages’ attacks on the mechanical puppets caused damage values of about fifty to sixty points. However, under such concentrated firepower, the monster grinding progressed quite quickly.
Mechanical puppets’ corpses lay scattered along the streets.
Nie Yan’s target wasn’t these ordinary mechanical puppets, but the inner city of Eternal City!
“If anyone dies, hurry back to their corpse. The graveyard is about six or seven thousand yards south of Eternal City. It takes about ten to fifteen minutes to run there. Remember the coordinates and don’t get lost,” Nie Yan instructed the players below.
The players all responded affirmatively.
Since these were all their own people, they didn’t have to worry about losing equipment, but the experience penalty for death was still severe. Fortunately, with so many players cooperating and supporting each other, as long as there were no major mistakes, the team should be able to handle monsters below the elite level without casualties.
Nie Yan led the players through winding streets, taking a shortcut toward the inner city of Eternal City. If they entered through the main gate, it would take at least five or six hours. But by taking this shortcut, they could reach the inner city in about twenty minutes.
Tang Yao cast a series of magic spells and asked, “Where are we going? I’m getting dizzy from all these turns.”
“Of course, we’re heading to the inner city of Eternal City. There might be boss-level monsters, so everyone should prepare mentally and coordinate well,” Nie Yan replied. Encountering a boss-level monster carelessly could lead to a total party wipe.
Just then, scouts ahead reported that eight elites had appeared.
Nie Yan moved to the front of the team and looked ahead. There was a relatively open small plaza ahead, where eight tall mechanical puppets were patrolling. They stood five yards tall, their bodies covered in bright blue metal armor, moving with heavy steps.
Nie Yan slowly approached and cast Super Insight.
Energy Puppet: Level 40 elite, HP 12000/12000.
It was an energy-based mechanical unit, a higher-tier mechanical unit with formidable combat power. Nie Yan remembered that the Energy Puppets in Eternal City had a stunning effect, causing all nearby units to become stunned. Their combat effectiveness was extremely strong.
“Dao Guang, you take the three on the right. Yi Yan, you take the two on the left. Other warriors assist them…” Nie Yan issued instructions one by one. The thirty groups of twenty players began entering the plaza. The mages scattered to various positions, spreading out and finding suitable attack angles. The warriors subtly surrounded the Energy Puppets, ready to charge at Nie Yan’s command.
Under Nie Yan’s coordination, each team entered their designated positions.
Even experienced veterans like Cui Lan Dao Guang and Da Biao Ge Qi Zi couldn’t help but admire Nie Yan’s clear thinking.
These team members were participating in a guild activity for the first time, so the scene was still somewhat chaotic. However, as elite players, they adapted quickly and had already performed quite well. After some time of coordination and more guild activities, they would definitely become more cohesive.
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