Chapter 10: The Rebellion Within the Village

From the mouth of a human named Annan, Li Bin finally learned about the situation of this village. This nature-aligned public village was one of the five nature-based public villages within the Verdant Alliance, and also among the better-developed ones.

The Verdant Alliance paid considerable attention to the Skyward Public Village. Besides dispatching a hero to guard this village, they had also sent two internal affairs heroes to manage it.

Moreover, to avoid stirring public unrest, the Verdant Alliance opened several villages as safe havens for ordinary players. Apart from the Death-aligned undead faction, the Darkness faction—mainly enemies of the Elven race—the Purgatory faction of demons, and the Mechanized faction that destroyed plants, players of other factions were free to enter and exit these villages. The village where Li Bin currently was happened to be one of these.

Hence, a group of players and heroes discontented with the Verdant Alliance had gathered here. They organized and formed a resistance movement aimed at dismantling the Verdant Alliance from within.

After hearing Annan’s words, Li Bin couldn’t help but smile, though his smile appeared peculiar in Annan’s eyes. Slapping the table, Li Bin stood up and said, “What do you mean? Do you look down on our resistance?”

“If you put it that way, I really can’t disagree,” Li Bin replied with a smile. “Based on what you said, this resistance has been established for some time, yet I see no sign of what you’ve actually done. So what makes you think I should join you?”

“You...” Annan was about to retort, but was cut off by a man dressed as a bard beside him.

The man stood and said, “Mr. Li, if you were in charge of this resistance, what would you do?”

“I...” Li Bin hesitated, then said, “I don’t know what I’d do if I led the resistance, but I can tell you this clearly: I just destroyed a city of the Verdant Alliance and took down two of their heroes. I barely escaped here. The forces chasing me will arrive in a couple of days. When they do...”

Li Bin’s words ignited the room. Several players quickly urged him to leave immediately, with the loudest voice coming from Annan, who had initially tried to recruit Li Bin.

However, the bard remained silent, watching coldly as the scene unfolded. When the room finally settled, he said, “Mr. Li, it seems I should indeed invite you to join our resistance.”

Annan shouted sharply, “Deepsea Solitude, what do you mean? Aren’t you afraid of unnecessary trouble?”

“What unnecessary trouble? Have you forgotten why we formed this resistance in the first place? To fight the Verdant Alliance. But look at you now—just the mere arrival of pursuit forces has scared you this badly. How can I trust that joining you will help us defeat the Verdant Alliance?” Deepsea Solitude said coldly.

“Deepsea Solitude, don’t go too far. Don’t forget that most of the organization supports me, not you,” Annan shouted.

“So what? When we formed this group, we made it clear it was a loose coalition, not a grand alliance. Even if they all support you, what does that matter? Do you really think that once the Verdant Alliance conquers the continent, they’ll still follow you?” Deepsea Solitude said calmly.

Annan pointed at Deepsea Solitude and yelled, “Say that again! I dare you, or I’ll kick you out of this organization immediately.”

“Can you?” Deepsea Solitude replied coldly. Those three words cut deeply into Annan. Annan pulled out a green twig and slammed it heavily into the ground.

Annan’s action drew everyone’s attention. Several players instantly recognized the twig in his hand. A female player pointed at Annan and shouted, “Annan, how do you have a communication twig from the Verdant Alliance?”

Annan laughed loudly, “What are you afraid of? The Verdant Alliance is currently hunting the resistance leaders, and isn’t Deepsea Solitude one of them? Once we capture them, we’ll get plenty of rewards...”

Li Bin snorted coldly and grabbed Deepsea Solitude, heading for the exit. Annan immediately shouted, “Seize them!”

Li Bin cast a cold glance over the players, then said to Deepsea Solitude, “These people are useless now. You should come with me.”

Deepsea Solitude was about to say something when Li Bin raised his hand lightly. A cloud of deathly mist surged into the room. The room, already small, was soon enveloped in the deathly cloud. By the time the players dispersed the mist and pursued, Li Bin and Deepsea Solitude had long vanished.

Annan grew increasingly uneasy and rushed to the city hall to report everything to the three heroes the Verdant Alliance had left to guard the village.

Though the three heroes couldn’t confirm Li Bin’s identity, upon hearing that he had destroyed a Verdant Alliance village and was being hunted, they immediately took the situation seriously and ordered the city to be sealed off.

From afar, watching the troop movements within the village, Deepsea Solitude said to Li Bin, “Looks like they’ve already started moving. I lost.”

“You haven’t really lost. With your insight, you could see this coming from a mile away. You just wanted to use me to deal with these people,” Li Bin said slowly.

Deepsea Solitude said no more but summoned several black-clad subordinates, instructing them to follow Li Bin’s orders.

With Deepsea Solitude’s help, Li Bin’s forces stealthily infiltrated the city through defensive blind spots. At that moment, the village-wide search had just ended, leaving only Annan and his men patrolling the streets, faces filled with resentment.

Li Bin frowned, about to order his men to eliminate Annan’s patrol when Deepsea Solitude suddenly said, “You should go to city hall first. Leave this place to me.”

Li Bin glanced at Deepsea Solitude, noticing the rapid assembly behind him: two squads of thieves, three squads of crossbowmen, a company of musketeers, and six priests. He nodded lightly and quickly led his team toward city hall.

As Li Bin stealthily approached city hall, chaos suddenly erupted nearby. Li Bin saw a company of White Rain’s corrupted war beasts charging directly toward city hall, followed by six slow-moving shotgun beasts.