Chapter 136 Cleaning the Battlefield

The tides of battle shifted unpredictably. As the nearly two thousand members of Swords and Roses surged into the city, the ranks of Peerless World immediately fell into disarray. The rear seemed equally chaotic; it appeared that the hundred-plus players who had been grinding in Silver Moon Valley had launched an offensive against the rear guards of Peerless Young Master and Berserk War.

The members of the Swords and Roses guild, who had been besieged for nearly twenty minutes, began to explode with energy, fighting with the intensity of those fueled by stimulants. This left the enemy bewildered, and many began to succumb to despair—especially after I unleashed four consecutive Frost Swords, instantly killing dozens of high-level players, which shattered their remaining will to resist.

The battle proceeded smoothly. Sunset, clearly a gifted commander, directed his two thousand players in an orderly pincer movement. Very few of Peerless Young Master and Berserk War’s men managed to escape; those who desperately threw themselves against the perimeter were met only with broken heads and bloodshed.

I handed the rear over to Young and Frivolous and hurried to find Murong Shanshan. Upon arriving, I realized I was a bit late; nine-tenths of the opponents had already been dealt with, leaving only Peerless Young Master and Berserk War with seven or eight others putting up a desperate final stand.

Murong Shanshan noticed my arrival and smiled, saying, "This battle was exhausting. I definitely need a good rest tonight."

I replied with a smile, "I wouldn't dream of disturbing you. By the way, why aren't you finishing those few off?"

"I'll let the others handle it; I don't want to get my hands dirty." Murong Shanshan stuck out her tongue and said this quite loudly, causing Peerless Young Master and Berserk War to look at the beautiful girl with intense hatred.

A few minutes later, the forces of Peerless World and Berserk War were almost entirely wiped out, with only a tiny handful managing to secure the five seconds needed to teleport back to the city.

Murong Shanshan conducted a quick casualty count. The Swords and Roses legion had mobilized nearly 4,000 players. Nearly a thousand had died once, and a few unlucky souls had died twice, dropping four levels in total.

Only today did I notice that while Sunset appeared quite refined, he was undeniably a talent. He had his two thousand men encircle the entire battlefield, forbidding any non-guild players from entering under the guise of "clearing the battlefield." In reality, only the guild’s core members and the First Squad led by Young and Frivolous were picking up loot. The system default for items dropped by players to vanish is one hour, which gave us ample time to gather the spoils.

Murong Shanshan picked up a pair of blue-grade armor boots, examined them carefully, compared them to her own gear, and then tossed them into her pack. She said to Young and Frivolous, "Pick up everything green-grade or better as compensation for the guild members who died."

Young and Frivolous immediately held up a level 7 staff with +2 intelligence and asked, "Should I pick this up?"

"Keep it yourself as a souvenir of our first major battle!" Murong Shanshan glared at him, then turned to me with a smile. "Lin Fan, feel free to pick up as much gear as you want here. Consider it a reward for your performance today!"

"Really?"

"Of course!"

I was instantly overjoyed. I had already set my eyes on a piece of blue leather armor on the ground—I could take that back for Xinyu!

As Murong Shanshan and I picked up gear together, she would occasionally let out a cry of surprise: "Wow, you have such a sharp eye! How did you spot such good gear before I did?"

I had to admit, I had a deep understanding of the appearance of equipment. Generally, I could judge the approximate grade of an item by its luster. However, one could still be fooled; items with delicate, elaborate patterns were often not top-tier, while those with a rustic, classic charm were usually the true treasures.

I only picked up gear level 35 and above, carefully considering the stats of the equipment worn by Liu Xuehan, Xinyu, and the others as I gathered loot. For me, there was no longer a need to sell low-level gear for money, but I still filled my bag to the brim. To make room, I even tossed out my potions; it was all money, and I hated waste.

Most of the gear had been dropped by the men of Peerless World and Berserk War, making the looting process quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, the highest quality items were only level 38 blue gear; the purple items carried by Peerless Young Master failed to drop. Nevertheless, everyone looted with great fervor, and the dozens of people led by Young and Frivolous had nearly full inventories.

"Guild leader, report: over 8,000 pieces of equipment collected, including 7,000 green-grade items, with the rest being blue-grade!" Young and Frivolous began his report.

Murong Shanshan asked, "Does that include the level 7 green staff?"

"No, I’ve already kept that for myself. I’ll find a pretty girl in the newbie village to give it to one of these days!" Young and Frivolous rubbed his nose and asked, "How should we handle this gear?"

Murong Shanshan blinked and smiled. "Give two pieces of suitable green gear to every member who lost two levels, and two pieces of blue gear to those who lost four levels."

"There will still be a lot left over, especially the blue gear..."

"Distribute the better items to those who performed well today, and do as you see fit with the rest. The primary goal is to enhance the guild's combat strength."

"Understood!"

...

Since Young and Frivolous and Sunset had both turned red-named, they had the non-red-named members carry the gear back to the city. These individuals were veteran players who had fought alongside Young and Frivolous for years; they wouldn't betray the guild, so there was no danger of someone running off with all the loot and wasting our efforts.

Murong Shanshan organized the gear and said, "There is a temporary supply station in the valley near Silver Moon City. Let's head over and repair our gear; you must be tired too."

I stretched my back and replied, "You're right. I've been killing for nearly half an hour; my legs are almost jelly."

"Get some sleep early tonight. We can deal with clearing our red names tomorrow." Murong Shanshan smiled and continued, "After this major battle, the Peerless World and Berserk War crowd should keep a low profile for a while. Today, they effectively lost two levels across the board, significantly weakening their strength. The ones we lost were mostly players with poorer gear and weaker skills; dying once will help them learn from the experience of group PvP. I never imagined I could command such a grand battle..."

I sighed with a touch of emotion, "Indeed. Previous games were never this intense. A few times when I was close to dying, I almost shouted out loud. Fortunately, our healers were excellent."

Murong Shanshan covered her mouth and laughed, "I thought you were as calm as you appeared. So, you get nervous too!"

"Of course, but I couldn't show it. If I, the top-ranked player in the city, had lost my composure, we really might not have won today. Sigh, the road ahead may not be easy. To think those two scoundrels, Peerless Young Master and Berserk War, would actually join forces..."

After a few minutes of silence, Murong Shanshan suddenly revealed a sweet smile: "Anyway, your family is going to establish a guild sooner or later. When that time comes, why don't we just form an alliance?"