Chapter 48 Roping in Help

Six mages forcefully restricted over thirty mages from the Mage Academy. Gu Fei was an outlier and couldn't be measured by the standards of normal game players, while Piaoliu, Gui Tong, and Huo Ranyi were truly top-tier mages among the player base. Yun Xiang and Feicai were actually a bit lacking. Following these four, they could only be considered support. When they noticed that the mages from the Mage Academy were looking at them with surprise and admiration, they didn't feel smug. Instead, they felt a little uneasy, as if they were stealing the fruits of someone else's victory.

"This… Why aren't they attacking? Are they all stupid?" one mage suddenly said. Jian Nan You, who was next to him, turned around and saw that quite a few players in the group had the same puzzled look. Jian Nan You was greatly disappointed. He could understand these guys' previous behavior as new members joining the guild, but now they couldn't even understand how experts PK. They were really quite useless.

It had to be said that Piaoliu and the other two were even better than Gu Fei at controlling opponents on a large scale. Gu Fei was still a killer at this point, while the other three interrupted their opponents' attacks and calculated their spell cooldowns. Rhythm, this was also a kind of rhythm. The mages from Caiyun Realm had been completely drawn into a restricted rhythm. It wasn't that they didn't want to use spells, but that they realized they couldn't cast their area-of-effect spells at all. They knew the cooldowns of each skill to the second. The three experts knew the cooldown status of at least twenty people in the opposing formation, as if they could see the opponents' spell panels. With this, combined with their mage experience, they could basically anticipate the opponent's moves. This was a comprehensive difference in skill, awareness, and experience, the difference between experts and ordinary players. The players from Caiyun Realm couldn't be considered weak, but they were still far, far away from the elite mages of the entire Parallel World.

Jian Nan You was enjoying the show when he suddenly remembered that Jian Gui had asked him to pick up the newly arrived priests at the East Gate. He quickly sent Jian Gui a message: "Why don't you go to the East Gate? I'll lend a hand here." Although the overall situation was under the six's control, a slight mistake in this kind of situation could lead to a completely different outcome. Even the six of them had died before when they entered the Mage Academy.

"Oh, okay." After receiving Jian Gui's confirmation, Jian Nan You quickly organized his team. It was better not to use those messy members, so he simply brought the girls from Resplendent Amethyst and rushed into the battle. Jian Nan You was also a top expert, and his observation and control of the situation were first-class. Although he brought a few girls who weren't very skilled, the good thing about the girls was that they listened to commands. Except for being a bit slow to react sometimes, they didn't make any mistakes that would make people grind their teeth.

With the addition of this combat power, the situation became even more stable, but at this moment, Yu Tian Shen Ming reported: "Attention, attention, Han Family's Young Master is gathering his team, it looks like they're about to leave the Priest Academy."

"Where are they going?" Jian Gui asked.

"…" Yu Tian Shen Ming was in pain. He felt that Jian Gui shouldn't have asked this question.

"The direction is still unclear," Xi Xiao Tian replied.

"You two keep an eye on them!" Jian Gui said. After speaking, he sent a message to Gu Fei: "Qian Li, you guys need to hurry up here. Young Master is making moves again, maybe he's heading towards the Mage Academy."

"Don't worry, it's almost over," Gu Fei replied, looking outside the Mage Academy. Quite a few players who hadn't died in the Mage Academy were still staring blankly outside the door!

"Everyone, gather at the East Gate!" Gu Fei sent a message in the guild channel, and then spammed it several times, emphasizing it with exclamation marks. The guys outside the door finally noticed and started heading towards the East Gate. Inside the Mage Academy, the number of mages from Caiyun Realm had begun to decrease, obviously because some people had died enough times to be sent to District 17. These mages had been suiciding so happily that their death counts were already exceptionally high. With Gu Fei and the others cleaning up, they would reach 25 deaths very quickly.

"Han Family's Young Master and his group are moving in the direction of the East Gate!" Xi Xiao Tian and Yu Tian Shen Ming used their speed to track the actions of the Caiyun Realm's main force and finally saw the clue.

"Damn, he saw through us again?" Gu Fei cursed.

"They might have someone in the guild," Piaoliu said.

"Not necessarily in the guild, it's more likely that there are some of them among the priests who are coming," Xi Xiao Tian said.

"Crap! Is anyone at the East Gate? What's the situation outside the gate?" Jian Gui quickly called out in the channel. The players who had been blown up at the Mage Academy had all received the message to gather at the East Gate, and some of the faster ones had already arrived. Hearing Jian Gui's instructions, they poked their heads out to look outside the gate. But these players had just joined the city war and didn't really understand the situation. In their eyes, they just saw the system guards and players fighting fiercely outside the gate, and there was nothing strange about it.

"Uh? It doesn't seem like anything's wrong?" they all said.

Jian Gui absolutely didn't believe that nothing was wrong. While he was sending a message to You Ge, telling him not to send any more priests over, he was also quickening his pace towards the East Gate…

Outside the East Gate, the priests recruited by You Ge scattered and blended into the battlefield according to You Ge's instructions. Each of them waved their staffs, seemingly healing, but actually spouting nonsense. Seeing that both the players and the system guards ignored them, they were relieved and continued to wave their staffs and run towards the city gate while muttering incantations.

Everything was going as smoothly as You Ge had described. Several hired priests from different directions had approached the East Gate, and just a few more steps would allow them to bypass the system defenses and successfully enter the city, when suddenly several of them were attacked simultaneously. The priests were shocked and wanted to heal themselves, but the players who attacked them were obviously more than one and well-prepared. In no time, they had cleared out several priests.

"What's going on?" Several priests who had respawned in the nearest resurrection camp didn't know what had happened. They looked around, trying to find the companions they had been hired with. But they had only just met, and the resurrection camp was crowded, so they couldn't find anyone for a while. So, they all started to question their employer, sending messages to You Ge asking what was going on.

You Ge didn't know how they had been ambushed, but he had received Jian Gui's message not to send any more priests, so he guessed that something new must have happened. He first told the priests to be patient, and then asked Jian Gui what exactly was going on.

"There might be some of their people among the priests. This way, their actions have been completely discovered, and it won't be easy to sneak into the city," Jian Gui said.

"Damn, a few have already been killed at the East Gate," You Ge said.

"Were they targeted?" Jian Gui asked quickly.

"They didn't say… Neutral players, can they be targeted too?" You Ge wondered.

"After the 25-death limit, they can't even step into the city war zone. Neutral players can still move freely in these areas, so I think they should also have this limit rule, but currently no neutral players have died this many times, so no one has noticed," Jian Gui said.

"Should I have them stop?" You Ge asked.

"Stop them first. This is a bit troublesome," Jian Gui said, telling You Ge to contact the priests and tell them to stop, while also withdrawing the order to gather at the East Gate. The priests had been found, but they couldn't be sent into the city… You Ge and Yue Qi were obviously being targeted, with hidden pawns and open pursuers.

"If only we had more teleport scrolls!" Jian Gui sighed. They had used up all their teleport scrolls, and they had even cleared out the auction house in Cloudrise City. Even with money, there was nowhere to buy them.

"Can friends from other cities buy them?" At this point, everyone knew that the current situation was not as smooth as they had imagined. Caiyun Realm had sacrificed a large number of mages, but they had traded them for their priests. The newly recruited priests couldn't sneak into the city. Holy Knights also had some healing abilities, but they couldn't completely replace the priests' medical role in the team. The situation was grim, and several experts were urgently thinking of countermeasures. Gu Fei thought of Piaoliu buying scrolls in his main city and teleporting back, so he asked.

"This is very troublesome! The information is not flowing, it's not convenient for the other party to enter the city, and even if they do, there might not be many scrolls. Solving all these problems and getting the scrolls, who knows how long it will take!" Piaoliu said.

"Then what else can we do?" Gu Fei asked.

"There is a way," Xi Xiao Tian said.

"Tell us quickly!" everyone said anxiously.

"Find a studio," Xi Xiao Tian said.

"A studio?" Gu Fei frowned. Due to his unpleasant experience dealing with Wu Ye, he had no good feelings about studios.

"Large studios must have a large stock on hand. If we just want to send some priests into the city, that's only about ten or twenty scrolls. It's not difficult for them at all," Xi Xiao Tian said.

"That's right," Piaoliu agreed immediately. "Quick, find someone from a studio to contact, who knows someone?"

"I'll ask You Ge," Jian Gui said.

"You Ge, can he still do these things safely now?" Xi Xiao Tian said.

Everyone was silent. You Ge's situation was indeed a bit unclear. After the other party used him to plant priest spies, they had a murderous intent. Although they failed to kill him, they should have a clear understanding of You Ge's movements. Everyone had heard about the previous assassination failure, because it was too high-profile and he was saved by players in the leveling area. But what if the other party changed their approach and assassinated him secretly? Even if other players wanted to save him, it might be too late.

Just as they were thinking this, You Ge's cursing voice suddenly came out in the channel: "Damn it!"

"What's wrong?"

"I was killed…"

"As expected…" everyone said silently in their hearts. The other party had finally found him and assassinated him in secret.

"I haven't finished sending the message yet!" You Ge said depressingly. Now that he was in the city, he had lost contact with the players outside the city and couldn't send messages.

"I'll leave the guild first!" You Ge said, and then left Extremely Heaven-Defying with a bang. His identity was restored to neutral, and he quickly spoke to the hired priests again.

"Can these priests still be used?" Gu Fei and the others discussed privately. These people's actions were all coordinated, and with one spy, everyone's movements would be exposed. Even if they used teleport scrolls next, it would be a bit troublesome.

"Let's get the scrolls first! If there are no problems, then we can have You Ge contact them, since he's a neutral identity again," Xi Xiao Tian said.

Everyone thought that this was the only way, so Xi Xiao Tian communicated with You Ge to arrange this, while the others quickly cleaned up the players scattered throughout the city. The people from Caiyun Realm had gathered into a team, and they were scattered everywhere, so encountering them meant death.

That's why some players who had already reached the East Gate and then hurriedly left accidentally ran into the opposing team and were quickly killed. Fortunately, the other party's ambush at the resurrection point was gone, so dying only meant dying once. But after joining these two city-defending guilds, the things they had to do didn't seem as simple as they had advertised when recruiting people. Many players were grumbling, and some were even openly complaining in the channel.

"Everyone, the current situation has undergone some unforeseen changes. We need everyone's unity and cooperation even more. Currently, our team is in dire need of priests, and we are trying to find a solution. In the short term, we cannot confront the opponent head-on, and will adopt guerrilla tactics. Everyone, please follow the instructions of your respective team leaders." Jian Gui gave a speech in the guild channel. Gu Fei's Resplendent Amethyst actually had more people, but it was easier for him. After finding out Jian Gui's lines, he sent a copy as well.

Truly powerful experts would definitely be sought after by large guilds. Experts like Piaoliu and Gui Tong, who were both strong and hidden in wild groups, were actually rare. The new blood that Extremely Heaven-Defying and Resplendent Amethyst had added was of lower quality in terms of analysis. However, panicking when encountering unexpected changes was not a matter of strength, but a matter of personality. This was understandable, but what couldn't be tolerated was that some players made pessimistic judgments about the current situation and then spread them in the channel, causing the entire guild to be filled with a pessimistic atmosphere.

Jian Gui was very calm and explained the next plan clearly in a few words, and expressed his absolute confidence in defeating the opponent. As a result, some people still didn't agree and kept whining in the channel. Jian Gui immediately revealed his tough side and cleanly started kicking people out with the sentence "Since you still don't have confidence, then there's no need to stay in the guild."

Gu Fei followed suit, copying all of Jian Gui's lines in Resplendent Amethyst, and finally started kicking people out. After saying this, some of the players automatically left the guild, and some said that they weren't lacking confidence, but that they felt at least they should do this and that. But the ideas they came up with were too childish and ridiculous. They obviously didn't understand anything, but they insisted on being self-righteous. Such guys were simply not welcome. Jian Gui and Gu Fei didn't even have time to speak before other comrades requested that these guys be kicked out. So, the two of them democratically referred to the opinions of most people and directly kicked them out.

All the members of the guild quickly regrouped. Jian Gui felt that they should temporarily focus on avoiding the enemy until the priest reinforcements arrived. You Ge was maintaining communication with the hired priests on one hand, and contacting the studio on the other. You Ge had hired a total of thirty-five priests. By the time he had contacted all of them, fourteen had been killed outside the city gate. Some of the remaining ones had already stepped onto the battlefield, and after receiving You Ge's message, they were in a dilemma, not knowing what to do. The severity of the situation made many priests hesitate, and nine of them told You Ge that they didn't want to do this business anymore and went back to leveling. You Ge was overwhelmed and didn't know how to replenish them, but the contact with the studio was going very smoothly.

The people from the studio, of course, wouldn't refuse to add friends. After adding friends, they would proactively ask "How can I help you?", more professional than professional. You Ge asked for teleport scrolls, and they didn't even ask what they were going to be used for, only how many he wanted, and then quoted a price.

You Ge wanted 20, which could guarantee the teleportation of eighty people, leaving a surplus after sending the priests, which might come in handy. As a result, the studio was also asking for a high price, 1000 gold coins per scroll. Even before the currency update, teleport scrolls weren't this expensive. In leveling areas above level 40, the drop rate of teleport scrolls wasn't high, but at least there was a drop rate everywhere, so the production had long been much higher than before, and the price had been steadily declining. This price of 1000 gold coins was simply the price when teleport scrolls were still scarce in ancient times.

"That's too black!" You Ge was surprised.

The other party said unhurriedly: "I'm sorry, the currency has been updated recently, and prices have changed drastically. In fact, according to company regulations, all transactions should be suspended during this period. However, it's rare to ask for 20 teleport scrolls at once, so I think you must have something urgent, so I made a special application. This price is our current uniform regulation, and I can't do anything about it."

You Ge gritted his teeth. The currency update did make it difficult to do business. But You Ge didn't believe these lies from the studio. He thought that only one sentence from the other party was true. "It's rare to ask for 20 at once, there must be something urgent." The other party was sure of this, so they simply asked for a high price. Studios were never kind-hearted people.

"Teleport scrolls cost one thousand gold each." You Ge didn't dare to make a decision directly on this matter, so he came over and discussed it with the others.

"Do we still care about this now? Buy them quickly," Gu Fei said.

"One thousand gold each!" You Ge was heartbroken.

"There's no need to be distressed about the money. I have the Han Family's Young Master's thirty thousand gold coins, which can buy thirty scrolls," Xi Xiao Tian said.

Everyone's spirits were immediately lifted. Spending Han Family's Young Master's money to buy scrolls? It felt so good, one thousand gold each wasn't expensive at all.

"Buy thirty!" Gu Fei said to You Ge.

"Okay." You Ge didn't hesitate and told the other party that he didn't want twenty, but thirty. You Ge suddenly felt a sense of pleasure. The price of the item was expensive, but not only did he not refuse, but he wanted even more. It must be shocking, right?

As a result, the other party didn't express any special emotion, but sent an "ok" and asked where to trade.

"I have to go out of the city again," You Ge said to everyone. "We still don't have enough priests. The nine who said they wouldn't do it anymore have to be replenished."

"It's not easy to leave the city now," Jian Gui said.

"Disguise as a guard, be careful," Yue Qi said.

"No need, I'll go!" Gu Fei said.

"Oh?"

"I'll just kill my way out," Gu Fei was never more at ease than in battle.