Chapter 1 Beginning

"Once you're offline, drive over here," Nie Yan said after a moment's thought. He could start preparing for the establishment of the studio now.

"Alright," Guo Huai nodded.

As they were talking, Nie Yan passed through a series of narrow alleys and entered a dilapidated house. This was probably a slum in the Orc King City. The environment was terrible, and the house looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Nie Yan walked into the room. In the dim light, three people were already waiting there.

"Greetings, Nirvana Flame, Boss."

"Greetings, Nirvana Flame, Boss."

The three players greeted Nie Yan respectfully. They seemed quite uneasy and nervous. To them, Nie Yan was a legendary figure. It was hard to imagine that they would one day come into direct contact with him. They were excited and thrilled, but also a little nervous, afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"Relax a little," Nie Yan said, noticing their tension. He waved his hand and sized up the three people in front of him.

Among the three, two were human players, both around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing alchemist robes. They had unremarkable appearances, the kind that would disappear into a crowd. Although they looked like alchemists, Nie Yan knew that alchemy wasn't their profession. They were only wearing the robes for convenience.

As for the other person, he was the one Guo Huai had mentioned.

He was an elven thief, a good choice for a spy, because elves had a natural talent for concealment. Elven thieves were especially skilled at stealth, even more so than human thieves.

Due to appearance alterations, this person had a pair of pointed ears and a handsome, fair-skinned face. However, even among the elves, his appearance wasn't particularly outstanding. The resolute and determined look between his eyebrows set him apart from some of the more superficial male elves, making him more likable.

"Guo Huai has already told me about you. Your name is Yan Hong, right?" Nie Yan asked, looking at the elven thief, whose ID was Ji Feng.

"Yes," Yan Hong nodded.

"In the game, I'll still call you by your ID. From now on, you'll be responsible for collecting all information on Angel Corps and sending it to me. Notify me immediately if Angel Corps makes any unusual moves."

Yan Hong seemed quite steady, and since he and his family had settled down with Guo Huai, he was absolutely reliable. It was said that Yan Hong was a filial son, extremely devoted to his parents. He only played the game to earn some money. The reason he couldn't stay in Angel Corps was rather complicated.

"Yes, I will do my best."

"Regarding your salary, I'll have Guo Huai increase it appropriately. Niu Ren Tribe won't mistreat any of its members. Did you finish the map of Angel Corps' power distribution that Guo Huai asked you to collect earlier?"

"Thank you, Nirvana Flame, Boss. This is the power distribution map I just completed." Ji Feng sent a map to Nie Yan.

Nie Yan confirmed the reception and took a look. It was a map of the Satreen Empire, with the Angel Corps' sphere of influence and fortress locations clearly marked.

"Very well done," Nie Yan said, looking at the map, slightly shocked. Angel Corps was deeply entrenched in the Satreen Empire. There was a reason they could sit firmly in the top spot.

Although Angel Corps' territory wasn't as large as Niu Ren Tribe's, they had more personnel, far more than Niu Ren Tribe. In addition to the Angel Corps headquarters, they also had six branches and fifty-six allied guilds. The number of people couldn't be counted for the time being. Among these fifty-six allied guilds, more than twenty were from the Century Financial Group. Their penetration into the Satreen Empire was astonishing.

From such a distance, it wouldn't be easy for Niu Ren Tribe to shake Angel Corps' and Century Financial Group's dominance in the Satreen Empire. However, since they had Okoron City, it became much more convenient.

Looking at this map of Angel Corps' power distribution, Nie Yan was silent for a moment. Sending troops from Okoron City to attack Angel Corps was a huge project. If anything went wrong, they might end up losing more than they gained.

Nie Yan thought for a moment. Now that Tianxia Financial Group had money, they could completely do what the Monet Financial Group did and merge some of the guilds in the Satreen Empire that were hostile to Angel Corps. Of course, someone would have to make contact.

There were many guilds in the Satreen Empire that weren't on good terms with Angel Corps, including Elven Movement, Sky Vault, and others. Elven Movement was a relatively well-known guild in the Satreen Empire, with a small number of people, about 170,000 to 180,000. They only occupied five fortresses. They were famous for having withstood two waves of attacks from Angel Corps and still standing strong. In fact, the guild had further developed. As for Sky Vault, although it was far from Angel Corps' territory, it occupied more than twenty fortresses with only 200,000 people, making it a local tyrant. In addition, there were many other guilds. Although not large, if gathered together, they would be a considerable force.

Nie Yan needed to discuss the matter of merging these guilds with his father. It was still a question of whether his father was willing to take out such a sum of money.

Seeing Nie Yan lost in thought, Ji Feng and the other two didn't dare to disturb him.

"You guys go back first. If there's anything, I'll contact you at any time, especially you, Ji Feng," Nie Yan said to Ji Feng and the other two. He already had some plans in mind.

"Yes, we understand," Ji Feng and the others nodded immediately.

They left one after another. Nie Yan looked at the map in his hand. Most of the Satreen Empire was Angel Corps' territory, but he could come and go as he pleased, and no one could stop him.

Nie Yan walked outside, looking at various information on the Satreen Empire. When he saw the results of the Starry Night Pharmacy, he smiled with satisfaction.

After gaining a monopoly, Starry Night Pharmacy began to deliberately intercept Angel Corps.

For large guilds like Angel Corps, supplying low-priced potions to its members was a necessary benefit. If this benefit was canceled, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the guild members. However, the potions produced by the guild's alchemists were far from enough to meet the guild's needs, so they could only purchase potions from Starry Night Pharmacy.

Purchasing potions piecemeal from various branches of Starry Night Pharmacy was very expensive. For big spenders like guilds, it was often unbearable. However, the era when large guilds could issue a purchase list and have countless pharmacies send a large number of cheap potions to their doorsteps was long gone.

Apart from Angel Corps and other guilds hostile to Niu Ren Tribe, ordinary guilds could place orders with Starry Night Pharmacy and purchase a portion of the potions for guild consumption at a 60%, 50%, or even lower discount by supplying raw materials to Starry Night Pharmacy. But for Angel Corps, wanting to buy discounted potions was simply wishful thinking.

Purchasing potions in large quantities from Starry Night Pharmacy required registration. Except for a few guild leaders, ordinary players couldn't purchase in bulk at Starry Night Pharmacy. If any guild leader purchased potions in bulk and then resold them to Angel Corps, they would be blacklisted and their purchase eligibility revoked.

Through various methods, the channels for Angel Corps to purchase discounted potions were basically blocked. They could only buy expensive potions at various branches of Starry Night Pharmacy. The daily expenditure on potions was as high as millions of gold coins, sometimes even several millions, which was a huge burden. Recently, Angel Corps' financial situation was noticeably worse than before.

According to the information provided by Ji Feng, Angel Corps occupied so many fortresses that their daily income was about 8.5 million gold coins. Of which, about 6 million gold coins had to be distributed to the players. That is to say, the daily profit was about 2.5 million gold coins. Of course, in addition to the fortresses, Angel Corps also had other industries, including auction houses, shops, gold farming teams, and so on, with an income of about 1 million gold coins. Added together, that was 3.5 million gold coins, and now the expenditure on potions alone was as high as millions of gold coins. Whereas before, 300,000 to 400,000 gold coins were enough. The sudden increase in such a large expense naturally made Angel Corps very depressed. Because they had accumulated a lot of wealth before, the expenditure on potions, although painful, couldn't shake their foundations.

Looking at the list of Angel Corps' income provided by Ji Feng, Nie Yan felt a sense of superiority. After unifying the Green Land Empire and the full restoration of the fortresses, the fortresses occupied by Niu Ren Tribe could create an income of 18 million gold coins per day, of which 13 million were used to distribute to the players. This meant a profit of about 5 million gold coins. As for Starry Night Pharmacy, the income was stable at 6 million to 7 million gold coins. Plus, Nie Yan's auction houses and other industries had an income of about 2 million gold coins. A total of more than 10 million gold coins, three or four times more than Angel Corps.

Nie Yan gave about 6 million gold coins to War God Tribe every day to help with their development. The remaining 7 million to 8 million gold coins were accumulated as expenses in various aspects.

Because the recruitment conditions for Niu Ren Tribe and its branches were relatively strict, the number of people was small. The gold coins distributed by Niu Ren Tribe were more than those of Angel Corps. In terms of welfare, Niu Ren Tribe was more than twice as rich as Angel Corps. Not only was the guild richer than Angel Corps, but even the members were richer than the players in Angel Corps. Therefore, truly powerful elites yearned for Niu Ren Tribe, not Angel Corps. Since Niu Ren Tribe unified the Green Land Empire, players from the Satreen Empire gradually joined Niu Ren Tribe.

Looking at Angel Corps' vast territory, Nie Yan smiled coldly. Since he had come to the Satreen Empire, he couldn't return empty-handed. He would give Angellion and Cao Xu a good headache.

Putting the information into his bag, Nie Yan hadn't walked far from the slum when he received a message from Ji Feng: Angel Corps' elite team had set off and was heading to Branston Town in the Nightmare Wastelands, preparing to enter the Beastkin Basin dungeon.