Chapter 1 Through the Lava Cave

The group passed through the dark lava cave and reached the exit.

"Guild Leader, let's take a picture," Undying Scoundrel suggested. Such a significant historical moment should definitely be recorded.

Nie Yan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but we have to wait until this is all over before posting it." He couldn't let Triumphant Return know that they had already left the Molten Forest.

"The look on Triumphant Return's faces when they see this photo will be priceless. Their guild has tens of thousands of people practically digging three feet into the ground in the Molten Forest, but they never expected that we'd already be outside," Undying Scoundrel said with an evil laugh.

"Po Tian is definitely going to be spitting blood from anger."

Xia Chong Yubing and the others could already imagine Po Tian's expression.

"Everyone, stand over here and show off your red names."

Everyone was excited.

The ten of them stood together, the rows of red names quite a sight to behold. Even Daidou Dage Qi Zai had a red name due to the PKs earlier. Among them, only his red name was slightly lighter in color. The others were all blood red, captivating and intimidating.

Undying Scoundrel, Sun, and the others struck mocking poses, as if ridiculing the Triumphant Return Empire.

*Click,* the moment was frozen in time, the image recorded.

Once this matter was over, this photo would be spread across the internet.

Because of what happened today, these ten people would surely be remembered by the players forever.

"Alright, everyone go get rid of your red names," Nie Yan said to the team. Maintaining a red name was too dangerous.

"Nie Yan, I'll scout ahead first," Sun said, taking the lead to reconnoiter the situation nearby. If he encountered anyone from Triumphant Return, he would send the information back. There were definitely quite a few Triumphant Return members keeping watch nearby, so they had to avoid their line of sight when retreating.

"Contact Yao Yao and go there to clear your red names. After I've dealt with things here, I'll bring you to the Eternal City to level up," Nie Yan said, thinking that perhaps one of them could drop a Killer Maniac Medal, since they had killed so many people already.

"Okay, be careful," Daidou Dage Qi Zai said to Nie Yan and the others.

"Nie Yan, stay safe. Goodbye, Nie Yan," the team members said to Nie Yan one after another.

"Be careful on your way," Nie Yan said with a smile. He had a lot of faith in these team members. With their strength, even if they encountered Triumphant Return, unless there were over a hundred of them, there was simply no way they could deal with them.

The group of nine departed. Nie Yan turned around and returned to the lava cave, taking advantage of the remaining duration of the Intimidation skill to swiftly dash towards the Molten Forest.

Inside the lava cave, scorching heat waves surged, and flames flickered from the depths of the earth.

In his previous life, countless players didn't dare enter the lava cave until they were Level 40 or 50. By then, the Poisonous Snake Flies posed no threat to them. They passed through the long, narrow underground tunnel and entered the deepest level of the lava cave, only then discovering the secret of the Molten Forest.

Nie Yan smiled slightly. The events that were about to unfold would be a disaster for the entire Triumphant Return Empire. Before that happened, he had to lure all the Triumphant Return members to the center of the Molten Forest.

Nie Yan left the lava cave, entered Stealth, and cautiously surveyed the surroundings. Not far away, some Triumphant Return players were active. He slowly crept towards those players.

Five Triumphant Return players were chatting idly: a Berserker, an Elementalist, a Paladin, a Holy Word Mage, and a Holy Word Priest.

Their equipment seemed pretty good. They should be around Level 20.

"How many experts do you think there are in Asskickers United? Those guys in the video were too strong. They don't seem any weaker than Yu Long and Skinny Dog," the Berserker player said, a bit frightened. Those guys might suddenly appear right beside them.

"Maybe all of Asskickers United's experts have come out," the Elementalist said. It was hard to imagine that a newly emerging guild could have so many top-tier experts.

"Why do you think the leaders insist on going against Asskickers United? Isn't that just asking for trouble?" the Berserker asked, puzzled.

"What do you know? How long has Asskickers United been established? And it's already this strong. What will it be like in the future? This is guild strategy," the leading Holy Word Priest said.

"Are you saying that Asskickers United will threaten the Triumphant Return Empire in the future?" the Berserker asked, shocked.

The players fell into contemplation. Judging by Asskickers United's momentum, that was indeed a possibility. If one day Asskickers United surpassed the Triumphant Return Empire and became the number one guild, they would lose their psychological advantage. Now, whenever they went out, they were always arrogant, eager to write on their faces, "We, Triumphant Return, are the number one guild in Calore!" But if Asskickers United surpassed them, the entire Triumphant Return Empire's glory would be destroyed. What would they have to be proud of? At that time, many guild members would surely have the idea of secretly leaving the Triumphant Return Empire.

The decline of the Triumphant Return Empire would begin at that moment.

Nie Yan slowly crept closer, only five yards away from the Holy Word Priest. The five players were completely unaware.

Being approached within five yards by a Thief in Stealth without noticing basically meant that the Priest was doomed. A Thief killing someone was like a cheetah hunting its prey. Once a prey was approached by a cheetah within a certain distance, the cheetah's explosive power and speed would allow it to pounce and take down the prey in an instant.

A sense of danger flashed through the Holy Word Priest's mind, but that feeling was too faint, too fleeting. He was in the middle of chatting and didn't notice it at all.

Nie Yan approached the Holy Word Priest to within about three yards, then suddenly burst forth, his dagger striking the back of the Priest's head with a [Muffle].

The Priest suddenly realized the danger. His reaction was quite fast. He wanted to dodge, but Nie Yan's dagger hit the back of his head, stunning him.

No matter how fast his reaction was, it couldn't compare to the speed of Nie Yan's blade.

Nie Yan followed with a Backstab, then a [Kidney Shot] to slash him open. The Priest collapsed to the ground.

The remaining four were stunned for a moment. The Elementalist shot an Ice Burst over.

The Berserker charged forward. The Paladin cast Lion Heart on the Berserker, instantly boosting the Berserker's charge speed.

The Holy Word Mage cast Holy Word: Judgement.

Nie Yan could clearly sense that this group of people was much harder to deal with than the people from Victorious Return. They should be considered pretty skilled players within the entire Triumphant Return Empire.

Although Nie Yan could still kill two or three more people before leaving, he didn't linger. He used Shadow Waltz to disappear from the players' sight.

The attacks from the Holy Word Mage, Elementalist, and Berserker missed. The area was empty. There was no sign of Nie Yan.

Nie Yan's appearance was like a fleeting glimpse of a swan, so fast that they didn't have time to react, but in that instant, a corpse was left behind on the ground.

"I saw it clearly, it was that Thief from Asskickers United!" The four of them felt a chill run down their spines. They moved closer to each other, afraid that Nie Yan would appear again, and that next time they would be the ones lying on the ground.

A Thief was actually so terrifying.

They sent a message to Yu Long.

"Yu Long, we've discovered someone from Asskickers United," the Berserker sent a message to Yu Long, explaining what happened when they encountered Nie Yan.

"What's the location, coordinates?"

"2885.285.332."

Yu Long thought for a moment, then immediately ordered the first and second teams, a total of more than six thousand players, to converge on that area.

Nie Yan's actions didn't end there. Yu Long soon received messages that Nie Yan's trail had been spotted at coordinates 279, 239, 202, and others. It was the same as before, a one-hit kill, and then he immediately disappeared. No one could figure out his movements.

"What exactly is he trying to do?" Yu Long felt inexplicably annoyed. What was Nie Yan's actions trying to convey? Was he just trying to ambush Triumphant Return players, or did he have other goals?

It was really quite difficult to catch a top-tier Thief in such complex terrain.

Yu Long had no choice but to mobilize more players to gather in that area, especially Priests, and have the Priests use Light densely to search for Nie Yan's trail.

Nie Yan clearly felt that the number of Triumphant Return members nearby was gradually increasing. Several times he was exposed to the light of the Priests, but luckily he escaped in time.

"It's about time," Nie Yan said with a slight smile. He entered the lava cave, went to the Poisonous Snake Fly spawn point, activated Intimidation, and then skillfully dashed towards the depths of the lava cave.

The surrounding temperature became higher and higher. Nie Yan drank a bottle of fire resistance potion and dashed into the scorching heat, entering a deeper level of the underground.

He saw a sky-high blaze, with waves of hot flames shooting upwards. Below was a flowing river of lava.

There were no more Poisonous Snake Flies active nearby. -10 damage values kept appearing above Nie Yan's head.

The effects of the fire resistance potion were already very weak. With a fire resistance stat below 30, it was basically impossible to continue forward.

Nie Yan rummaged around in the rocks nearby, drinking an Intermediate Instant Recovery potion and a Slow Recovery potion to barely withstand the continuous health drain.

After spending about three minutes, he finally found a Dark Gold treasure chest. It was embedded in the rock, hidden in a dark corner. If he hadn't been searching carefully, he wouldn't have been able to find it at all.

"This is it." Seeing the Dark Gold treasure chest, Nie Yan was overjoyed. He crouched down and began to open the chest.

System: Treasure chest opening, 2% completed... 17%... 29%... 37%...

Time passed by, and with a click, the Dark Gold treasure chest was opened. Nie Yan glanced at his health, which was about 27% remaining. As he stood up, he quickly applied a bandage, and his health slowly recovered.

He bent down and pulled two items out of the treasure chest. One of them was a circular bead, entirely blood red and crystal clear, releasing a brilliant red glow in the darkness, like a flame burning. The other item was a black skill book.

I identified it, and it turned out to be a monthly pass and a recommendation ticket...