Chapter 1 The News

It was more than an hour after the meeting ended that Nie Yan received news from Guo Huai that Cao Xu of the Century Financial Group had been to Moonlit City. The Mage Union and Holy Guardians had received a large amount of funding from the Century Financial Group, totaling more than five million gold coins, which was received in three batches. Nie Yan couldn't help but marvel at the Century Financial Group's generosity, tossing out so much money at once. It seemed he had underestimated the Century Financial Group's financial strength.

Many of the Century Financial Group's investments were unknown. No one had an accurate idea of how many shops and industries in the entire Greenland Empire and Saturn Empire belonged to the Century Financial Group, possibly only Cao Xu himself knew.

In addition to this news, Guo Huai also learned that Cao Xu had hundreds of confidants who had secretly rushed to Carole City. It was unknown what they were planning to do.

After hearing this news, Nie Yan felt a sense of unease and sent a message back to Guo Huai, ordering him to immediately send people to find out what their purpose was!

Carole City was the base of the Nirvana Guild, and it absolutely could not be lost!

Nie Yan also learned that Ying Sha was currently at Aegis Fortress. Nie Yan remembered his previous agreement with Ying Sha, and a dangerous thought flashed through his mind: should he take a stroll through Aegis Fortress?

Kuang Fa and Sheng Yan were having too leisurely a time; he should add some entertainment to their lives.

Throughout the entire Nirvana Guild, only five people could sneak into Aegis Fortress silently, including himself, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Sun, Yi Chui Ding Qing, and Luo Nan De Qing Wa.

Nie Yan considered whether to bring Wang Zhe Tian Xia and the others along. With more people, it would be easier to coordinate actions. Thinking of this, Nie Yan sent messages to the other four.

"Do you want to take a stroll through Aegis Fortress?"

Hearing that Nie Yan wanted to sneak into Aegis Fortress and attack the Mage Union, Sun immediately became excited. How could he miss out on such an exciting thing?

"Brother Nie Yan, count me in."

Wang Zhe Tian Xia seemed relatively calm. The Mage Union's Aegis Fortress was not on the same level as the fortresses of the Triumph Empire they had previously infiltrated. The defenses were tight, and at least 200,000 players were active in Aegis Fortress every day. It wouldn't be easy to avoid the eyes of so many people and cause some trouble inside.

"The fewer people who go, the better," Wang Zhe Tian Xia said. "Too many people will be too noticeable and easily discovered."

"Five people at most," Nie Yan replied. "We'll definitely be able to sneak into Aegis Fortress. Even if we're discovered, as long as our luck isn't too bad and we're not targeted by a Dark Priest's Shackles of War, we can still use a random teleportation scroll to escape."

"Who is your target?" Wang Zhe Tian Xia asked. Nie Yan probably wanted to assassinate someone.

"Ying Sha, Kuang Fa, and Sheng Yan. Taking down any one of them will do," Nie Yan said. No matter who was killed in Aegis Fortress, it would be a sensational event.

With the strength of Ying Sha, Kuang Fa, Sheng Yan, and others, they might not be successfully assassinated. However, Nie Yan was confident. Conventional methods might not be easy to succeed with, but unconventional methods would be different.

Don't forget, Nie Yan was also an assassin! Some assassination techniques in real life could also be realized with in-game props.

"Since you already have a target, then count me in," Wang Zhe Tian Xia said. Anyway, such actions were indispensable for him, because it was his duty. His mission was to protect Nie Yan, although in the game, Nie Yan's strength didn't need his protection at all.

A moment later, Luo Nan De Qing Wa and Yi Chui Ding Qing also agreed to participate in Nie Yan's actions.

Nie Yan asked Guo Huai to collect some special props, all of which were very rare. However, for Nie Yan and others, it was very simple to collect them. After all, the Nirvana Guild had so many people, and if they borrowed from them, it was estimated that no one would object.

After a while, Guo Huai walked into the reception room where the five of them were. He saw Nie Yan and walked over, saying, "I've collected everything you wanted. The two Weaver's Silk Rings were borrowed from Yao Zi and Leng Ao Ying, a Lightning Ring, a Floating Ring, a Disguise Necklace..." Guo Huai took out one prop after another and introduced them one by one as if he were familiar with treasures. Most of these props were borrowed from the top members of the Nirvana Guild, and some were items that guild players had turned over to the guild warehouse.

Nie Yan looked at Wang Zhe Tian Xia and the others and said, "Each of you choose a few. These should be useful for this operation."

Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Sun, and others each selected five or six items. Since Nie Yan himself had more props, he only selected a Disguise Necklace and a Lightning Ring.

The Disguise Necklace allows the wearer to disguise themselves as a certain player and hide information, with a 98% similarity in appearance. The duration is fifteen minutes, and the skill cooldown is two hours.

The Lightning Ring can release a lightning arrow, and the hit target will have a certain paralysis effect. The skill cooldown is one hour.

If these two items are used well, they can be quite good.

Everyone took their things and then equipped themselves with advanced instant recovery potions and other consumables. Nie Yan added a few advanced combat bandages.

"I'm responsible for assassinating Ying Sha, Wang Zhe Tian Xia is responsible for assassinating Kuang Fa, Sun is responsible for assassinating Sheng Yan, you two cooperate with Wang Zhe Tian Xia and Sun, and everyone acts separately." Nie Yan looked at Yi Chui Ding Qing and Luo Nan De Qing Wa, saying that whether it was leaving the city or sneaking into Aegis Fortress, five people gathered together would be too conspicuous and easily discovered.

"Okay," Yi Chui Ding Qing nodded.

Luo Nan De Qing Wa also agreed. He had joined the Nirvana Guild for so long, and this was the first time he had participated in such an important action. Nie Yan would let him participate, on the one hand because of his strength, and on the other hand because of his trust in him, which made Luo Nan De Qing Wa very moved. If a professional player joins a guild, it is difficult to enter the core of the guild, because professional players are a group of people who pursue interests, and the president generally does not trust these people unconditionally, but Nie Yan did!

After Guo Huai gave the props to Nie Yan and the others, he went back to work. He had a lot of things to do, including directing the Nirvana Guild's actions, selling gems, and so on.

After Guo Huai left, Nie Yan and the other five left one after another. They used their own methods to avoid the eyes of the Mage Union and the Holy Guardians, quietly left Moonlit City, and headed towards Aegis Fortress.

Kuang Fa, Sheng Yan, and Ying Sha, if any one of them was assassinated by someone else in Aegis Fortress, it would become the headline news of the entire Greenland Empire, causing a sensation. The Mage Union and Holy Guardians would be disgraced! This would be very meaningful for the Nirvana Guild's attack on Aegis Fortress.

After Nie Yan left Moonlit City, he activated Gale Step and sprinted towards Aegis Fortress. He carefully avoided the sight of all the players along the way. Even if anything happened, he couldn't reveal his whereabouts, otherwise the Mage Union and Holy Guardians could easily guess what he wanted to do.

On the way, Nie Yan encountered some people from the Mage Union chasing and killing players from the Nirvana Guild. Although he wanted to go up and help, he restrained himself and didn't show up.

After sprinting for about twenty minutes, a magnificent fortress city appeared in Nie Yan's vision. Aegis Fortress, like Cripps Fortress, was an intermediate fortress. It was the only one in Moonlit City, with a very superior geographical location, convenient transportation, and many level 60-70 and 80-90 leveling maps nearby.

The Mage Union operated Aegis Fortress like an iron bucket, building city walls more than thirty yards high and digging a moat five yards wide in front of the walls. Arrow towers were densely packed behind the walls. Although they didn't have the blueprints for magic crystal cannons yet, they still built many turrets in preparation for future use as turrets.

This towering fortress city gave people a feeling of indestructibility. It would be very difficult for the Nirvana Guild to break through the city walls with ironclad catapults and kill their way into Aegis Fortress.

Due to the Mage Union's unshakable position in Moonlit City, the leveling maps near Aegis Fortress were generally only frequented by players from the Mage Union or those close to the Mage Union. Players from other guilds rarely went there. The Mage Union was too arrogant in Moonlit City. If the people from the Mage Union had a dispute with other players, the ones who suffered were often the other players. No one else competed with the players from the Mage Union for monsters, and this area became the Mage Union's base camp.

Nie Yan encountered people from the Mage Union all the way. Under the public gaze, it was as difficult as ascending to heaven to climb the city wall and sneak into Aegis Fortress. Then he could only enter through the main gate, avoid the players' sight, and sneak in!

Nie Yan walked towards the gate of Aegis Fortress, only a hundred yards away from the city gate.

Recently, due to frequent conflicts with the Nirvana Guild while leveling in other maps, the players of the Mage Union, for safety's sake, only moved around near Aegis Fortress. There were more people in Aegis Fortress than usual, more than fifty percent more, making it very lively.

This gate was the only entrance to Aegis Fortress, so people came and went in an endless stream.

Seeing this scene, Nie Yan frowned. With so many people crowded at the city gate, he couldn't sneak in at all, unless he waited for the crowd to thin out a bit before acting.

Nie Yan thought for a while, and an idea flashed in his mind. Why not use the Disguise Necklace at this time? He put on the Disguise Necklace and looked at the skill bar. There was a Disguise skill in the skill bar.

Nie Yan's gaze looked into the distance, searching the crowd of Mage Union players, and locked onto a Thief player who was about the same build as himself. He was overjoyed, it was him!