Chapter 21 Don't Panic

"Don't be impulsive, let's talk it over!" July quickly stepped forward to dissuade them.

"I was just joking! Didn't you notice?" Gu Fei asked.

"I didn't notice," July said angrily. Everyone else was silent; Gu Fei's jokes were too subtle, impossible to detect.

"We don't know how many of them there are, or where they are going. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't find a place to attack!" Brother You said.

"The guild headquarters," Jian Gui said.

"Oh?" Everyone looked at Jian Gui.

"As neutral players, they can't attack us in the city; they'd be hunted down by the system guards. The initial guild membership limit is fifty, but I doubt they're naive enough to think that number can pose a threat to us. Right now, there's no competition for guild quests in the city, so leveling up to a second-tier guild is easy. The second-tier guild limit is two hundred, so they must have at least two hundred people ready to join the guild at any time, becoming city defenders who aren't controlled by the system guards. Furthermore, support classes like priests and knights don't need to join the guild; they're there to heal the city defenders, so they won't attract the system guards' attention. With a two-hundred-person team, the priest count would generally be between thirty and fifty, plus knight support. The other side must have at least two hundred and fifty people, so I estimate they have three hundred," Jian Gui said.

"Why three hundred? You don't need a hundred knights and priests!" Brother You said.

"Because that guy likes round numbers," Jian Gui replied.

"Damn..." Everyone scorned Han Jia Gongzi's quirks.

"On the surface, the attack just now seemed like they were starting to strike at us, but the real purpose was to prevent us from splitting up. If we stay together, our field of vision will be limited to one area, allowing them to take the opportunity to split up and do guild quests to level up to the second tier quickly. If we split up, they'll continue those attacks," Jian Gui said.

"So what do we do?" Brother You asked.

"Uh, how about we divide ourselves into several strong teams? What do you think?" Jian Gui said.

"That's the only way," everyone nodded. Splitting up completely wouldn't work, but not splitting up at all would only allow the other side to do their quests comfortably, so they had to form several teams capable of fighting them to limit their progress.

Jian Gui was experienced and quickly divided the troops. He mixed the extremely OP players with the girls, since the girls' combat power was relatively low, and they could only make up for it with numbers. In the end, they formed five teams, led by Yu Tian Shen Ming, Jian Nan You, Yun Xiang, July, and himself.

"Huh? Isn't Xi Yao Wu back yet?" Gu Fei discovered Liu Xia and Huo Qiu during the troop assignments, but noticed that Xi Yao Wu wasn't there.

"We two were killed and resurrected; Sister Xi didn't die," Liu Xia said.

"Impossible, is she even better than me? I couldn't escape." As Gu Fei spoke, he sent a message to Xi Yao Wu: "Stop holding on, hurry back. There's an event in the city."

"What's the rush?!" Gu Fei didn't receive a reply from Xi Yao Wu but heard her voice. Everyone turned to look and saw Xi Yao Wu staggering out of a nearby alley, leaning against the wall.

"Hero, what happened to you?" Gu Fei hurried to meet her. Xi Yao Wu was a mess, soaking wet and covered in mud and grass. She seemed to be trembling as she walked.

"This old lady swam out of the lake," Xi Yao Wu said.

"Truly a talent," Gu Fei exclaimed. He could never pull off that escape; he couldn't swim!

"I'm exhausted," Xi Yao Wu said, swaying as she walked.

"Did you swim across the entire lake?" Gu Fei asked.

"Pretty much," Xi Yao Wu said.

"Is agility useful in the water?" Gu Fei asked.

"Huh?" Xi Yao Wu was stunned, not expecting such a question. She hadn't really paid attention, as she was too focused on swimming at the time. Fortunately, stamina decreased extremely slowly in the game, or she would have sunk halfway across.

"You didn't have to do that, it's faster to die and resurrect," Gu Fei said.

"I don't want to die as many times as some people; I want to play in the city battle longer!" Xi Yao Wu said. Gu Fei was depressed; he was the number one killer of the city defenders, but he was also the king of deaths. Aside from Hei Shui and Invincible Lucky Star, who were already out, no one had died more than him.

"Now, there is a task that no one but you can accomplish," Gu Fei suddenly said to Xi Yao Wu seriously.

"What task?" Xi Yao Wu asked quickly.

"Visit the resurrection points for warriors, thieves, archers, and mages and record the coordinates on the teleport scrolls," Gu Fei said.

"What's the big deal? Why can only I accomplish this?" Xi Yao Wu asked, puzzled.

"Who has more teleport scrolls than you?" Gu Fei said.

"Damn it!!" Xi Yao Wu was angry.

"Hand over all the scrolls!" Gu Fei yelled at Yu Tian Shen Ming, Brother You, and Jian Gui. Gu Fei had used up all his teleport scrolls, but he knew that after making a fortune with the efficient leveling method, several members of the mercenary group had bought a lot of them for travel. He figured they must still have some left.

The three of them indeed had a collection. Jian Gui had four, Yu Tian Shen Ming had five, and Brother You, the most frugal, had eight. They all contributed them without hesitation. Xi Yao Wu burst into tears: "Who said I have the most? I only have three left. You guys are the rich ones!!!"

"Really? Then take them all. Adding your three, that makes a total of twenty, exactly five for each resurrection point. Be careful; there might be ambushes at the resurrection points," Gu Fei said.

"Then why don't you go?" Xi Yao Wu felt that Gu Fei was underestimating her.

"There's a place that needs me more," Gu Fei said with a profound look.

"Shameless!" Xi Yao Wu gave Gu Fei a deep look of disdain and left.

"The teams are divided, so let's go," July said.

"Go where?" Jian Gui asked blankly.

"Uh? Aren't we going to hunt down the opponents doing quests?" July said.

"No, we're going to attack the guild headquarters," Jian Gui said.

"Attack the guild headquarters?" July asked, puzzled.

Jian Gui sweated. The girls' thinking was indeed simpler. Since the other side was doing quests, did they think they should just chase after those doing the quests?

"It's like this," Jian Gui quickly explained. "Since they're doing quests, they have to turn them in eventually, so the guild headquarters is a must-pass. As long as we defend this place, we won't have to worry about not running into them. Although they have a numbers advantage, their attack power will only be fifty until the guild is upgraded to the second tier, so we don't have to worry at all. However, the guild headquarters is crucial, and the other side will be very aware of this. So at this time, the people they send out to do quests won't be the main force; the real main force must still be defending the guild headquarters. What we need to do now is to defeat that part of the force and occupy the guild headquarters, using it as a base to completely cut off their development," Jian Gui said.

The logic was very simple, and even those who didn't understand before now understood after Jian Gui's explanation.

"If there are no problems, let's hurry up and set off!" Jian Gui said.

This was a true team effort, and even Gu Fei followed the organization's pace and didn't rush ahead alone. Although he felt that he was enough on his own, the heroic sacrifice by the Cloud Suburb Lake was still fresh in his mind. Gu Fei wouldn't forget the pain so quickly. What Jian Gui thought of, Han Jia Gongzi would also think of. The guild headquarters wouldn't be a place where players stood waiting for them to fight a positional battle; ambushes must be lurking in the dark.

The girls had never participated in such a serious team battle before. Influenced by the atmosphere, they were all exceptionally serious. This was different from their sparring matches, where they were all sisters and could just laugh it off without any pressure. But at this moment, being with people like Jian Gui, the girls didn't want to be a burden, so they listened to the team's commands much more carefully than during the sparring matches, and no one laughed.

"Haha, why is no one talking?" Killer Gu Fei couldn't stand the silence, but he was met with angry stares from everyone else, so Gu Fei quickly shut up.

"What do you think Gongzi's ambush will be like?" Gu Fei asked Jian Gui.

"Uh, I can't really describe it clearly verbally. Are you familiar with the terrain around the guild headquarters?" Jian Gui said.

"Not familiar..."

"Then there's no way to explain it," Jian Gui said helplessly.

"Alright, let's just kill them as we go!" Gu Fei said.

"Yeah, just do your thing," Jian Gui nodded. He believed that with Gu Fei's strength, he didn't need to be limited by any tactics.

The guild headquarters was now in sight, and it looked like there wasn't a single person there. Everyone lamented Han Jia Gongzi's cunning; everyone was hiding in the shadows.

"Yun Xiang, you lead your team from the southeast Victory Avenue, circling towards the guild headquarters. Do you know how to get there?" Jian Gui started to arrange as he walked.

"Understood," Yun Xiang acknowledged the order and led his team to turn ahead.

"Yu Tian, your team enters from Second Street of Guild Square." Jian Gui didn't ask if Yu Tian Shen Ming knew the way and instead turned to instruct Luo Luo, who was on the same team as Yu Tian Shen Ming: "Luo Luo, you lead the way."

Luo Luo nodded with a smile. Yu Tian Shen Ming's being a road idiot was no secret, but he still had to argue, "I can find this kind of road."

"July, your team from Fourth Street," Jian Gui said.

"Okay," July nodded and led her team in a different direction.

"Da Nan, you're not too familiar with the terrain around Cloudsea City, so just follow this direction and don't move. You might become the target of their main attacks, so hold on," Jian Gui said.

"Don't worry!" Jian Nan You was actually the most outstanding team commander among these people. It was just that Jian Gui hadn't commanded a team in the parallel world for a long time.

"Qian Li, you go down Second Street alone!" Gu Fei, as expected of a master among masters, had become a one-man team.

"Which one is Second Street?" Gu Fei asked. However, he just didn't know the street name, he wasn't a road idiot. After Jian Gui gave a brief description, he immediately understood.

"Our team will take Third Street," Jian Gui said, turning to the people in his team.

Five teams, plus Gu Fei, were on their way to the guild headquarters. Teams quietly turned off the main road, leaving only Jian Nan You's team. They were walking down the widest street outside the guild headquarters, aptly named Guild Avenue, which led directly to Guild Square. Passing through the square would take them to the Cloudsea City guild headquarters.

Although Jian Nan You wasn't familiar with the terrain of Cloudsea City, ambushing and sneaking were his strengths. Guild Avenue was very wide, with an open view, and there were no good places to set up an ambush. The situation on the square was the same. In that case, the other side could only hide in the other scattered streets. It seemed that Jian Gui's plan was to have them go to the square to attract the enemy's ambush, while his team would attack from behind the streets where the enemy was ambushing, creating a pincer attack.

"Watch out for anti-stealth," Jian Nan You instructed the players with anti-stealth abilities beside him. There was no way to set up ambushes on the square and Guild Avenue, but there would always be stealthy thieves acting as lookouts, Jian Nan You thought. But they were almost at the square, and the anti-stealth players hadn't reported anything.

"Everyone, what's your situation?" Jian Gui was messaging the teams.

"No abnormalities."

"No one."

"No one!"

The people used different ways of speaking, but the meaning was the same. They hadn't found anyone on the streets they were walking on.

"Something seems a bit off!" Jian Gui was suspicious.

"Stop advancing and observe," Jian Gui messaged the teams. He was walking down Third Street of Guild Square, and he also hadn't found any ambushes. There were a total of six streets leading directly to the square outside the guild headquarters. There were no barriers on the square. The only way to ambush was to hide in these six streets, but now five teams, plus Gu Fei, were each taking a street, and none of them had found any ambushes...

"Could it be that that guy's plan is even deeper, and the ambush is behind us?" Jian Gui thought, startled. Facing a familiar opponent was a troublesome thing. I guess what you're thinking, you guess what I'm thinking, then I guess what you guess I'm thinking, and you guess what I guess you guess I'm thinking... Going on like this was endless. And it wasn't always better to guess further ahead. If a person only went to the second step and you made arrangements based on the fourth step, it would still be wrong.

Just right. Of two familiar opponents, whoever could do these four words could gain the advantage in the confrontation.

That was what Jian Gui was doing. Endless guessing? He could keep guessing, but he believed that Han Jia Gongzi could do the same. So that guy probably wouldn't guess that far ahead; he would use the simplest method to start, so that Jian Gui would guess at nothing. But Jian Gui felt that he had also thought of this, so he used the most primitive method to crack it.

It seemed like a simple, basic design, but for these two people, it was actually the most complex design after going around in a big circle.

But Jian Gui hadn't found the ambush. If the ambush appeared behind them, it would mean that Han Jia Gongzi's guess was ultimately one step deeper than his...

Turn around and counterattack? There was no need for that. Instead of doing that, they should quickly seize the guild headquarters. Occupying the guild headquarters was the real first move. This time, Han Jia Gongzi's plan, which was one step too far, seemed to be deviating from the theme!

Thinking this, Jian Gui quickly issued the order. The teams received the message and rushed out of the streets, instantly meeting on the square.

"Why is there no one?" Yu Tian Shen Ming had been holding back his anger, wanting to duel, but now he had run into nothing.

Jian Gui didn't say anything; he vigilantly watched the six streets, but no enemies appeared.

"Are they ambushing in the building?" Brother You guessed.

"Impossible, you can't ambush that many people in the building. Moreover, the ambush in the building is limited by space and can't gain the first move," Jian Gui said. An ambush was actually a sneak attack, and the main thing it seized was the first move. It was like two people dueling, with equal strength. Whoever seized the first move was in an invincible position. And the space inside the building couldn't form an encirclement with so many people, so the ambushers would be divided and destroyed by their team, which would be a greater loss than gain.

If a sneak attack was anticipated, it could be said that the first move had already been lost to some extent. Jian Gui and Han Jia Gongzi were guessing each other's thoughts, trying to guess a situation that the other side wouldn't expect, to seize that first move. But in the current situation, there was no one at the guild headquarters. Jian Gui and his team had seized the first move, but they had no opponent.

"They didn't leave anyone to defend the guild headquarters?" Brother You said.

"How could this be?" Jian Gui couldn't figure it out. If they were stationed at the headquarters now, Han Jia Gongzi's team wouldn't be strong enough to compete with them. Before, he had to use unorthodox tactics to defend the headquarters, so Jian Gui was so careful and vigilant.

But as a result, they had simply abandoned the guild headquarters. What were they planning? If they couldn't turn in quests, the guild wouldn't get fame. Without fame, they couldn't level up, and with only fifty thugs, there was no way they could fight them. His judgment was not wrong! Jian Gui was distressed.

"Perhaps that guy has already judged that you would think this way, so he deliberately didn't do it," Gu Fei said.

"It's not a matter of not doing it because he judged it. They have to do it, otherwise there's no way they can compete with us, right?" Jian Gui retorted.

"I don't think they can compete even if they get two hundred people. We have me, right?" Gu Fei said.

"Everyone knows you're very powerful, really," Jian Nan You patted Gu Fei. After understanding the situation, his judgment was exactly the same as Jian Gui's. The guild headquarters was absolutely not to be lost, but Han Jia Gongzi had given it up so easily. What was he up to?

"Since they're not here, they'll have to come back sooner or later. Why don't we ambush them and wait for them?" Brother You suggested.

"Wait?" Jian Gui repeated.

"Could this guy be deliberately letting us defend this place, then dragging us here, so we can't do other things? If you look at it from the perspective of a city battle, this is also a success. At least we're being held here and can't mess with other players outside the city," Jian Nan You said.

Jian Gui frowned and didn't speak. At this moment, Gu Fei suddenly spoke: "Xi Yao Wu has finished making the scrolls."

Jian Gui's mind moved, and he turned to July: "If the guild is only at the initial level, with a full membership of 50, what happens if someone applies to join the guild at this time?"

"Of course, they can't join if the guild is full!" July said, surprised. How could Jian Gui ask such a noob question?

"No, no, what I mean is, are these people's applications kept? For example, if my guild is at the initial level and full, I can't accept them now, so I keep the applications and accept them all when I level up to the second tier," Jian Gui asked.

"This..." Even July had never studied this question.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

This chapter was written in a hurry today. I actually started writing quite early, but I was interrupted in the middle, and I almost didn't make it. What a close call...