Chapter 332 - Brothers!
Nie Yan knew it would take a while for Bird to get back to him, so he checked the situation on the forums in the meantime. The discussion had already reached a tipping point. Due to the war between Asskickers United and Bloodlust Blades growing increasingly intense, the moderators intervened and placed the kill counters next to each other on a stickied post. Since the data was obtained from the system, there was no misrepresentation.
With the official website getting involved, the numbers were 100% accurate!
Bloodlust Blades orignally led Asskickers United by over 2,000 kills with their kill counter surpassing 8,000 kills. But after Asskickers United's bounty notice circulated around, the gap was shortened to just 300 kills. The biggest contributor to this reversal was the Union of Assassins, which accounted for around 4,000 kills. From this, it was clear they were a force to be reckoned with.
The conflict was far from reaching a conclusion. Bloodlust Blades increased their bounty reward to 3 gold, for fear of Asskickers United making them lose face by surpassing them.
This was Bloodlust Blades' only strategy to level the playing field.
For the sake of reaping some rewards, more and more ordinary players participated in this conflict between Asskickers United and Bloodlust Blades.
This was the so-called, the law is powerless in the face of the masses! Even though Asskickers United was the local hegemon, they were merely a drop in the bucket compared to the entire population of Calore. The reward of 3 gold was simply too tempting. With so many players fishing in troubled waters, Asskickers United couldn't possibly retaliate against all of them!
The players of Asskickers United were still ferverently discussing today's events in the guild chat.
「Boss, should we also increase the bounty reward?」
「Watchful Snail, can you ask Nirvana Flame if we should match Bloodlust Blades'? 」
...
Nie Yan showed himself in chat.「Calm down, guys. Bloodlust Blades upping their bounty reward is a sign they're losing confidence. Even if they were richer, I refuse to believe they can outlast us while hemorrhaging gold at a 3 to 2 rate. We won't raise our bounty rewards! We'll continue going at it with them and see who collapses first! Brothers, Asskickers United never falters!」
Nie Yan's words raised the spirits of the guild members. What was there to be afraid of? With so many brothers, even if the sky were to collapse, they would shoulder the burden together!
「Let's continue gold farming!」
「Hell yeah! Let's bankrupt those bastards!」
…
Nie Yan contacted Guo Huai.「Did the gold from the Dragonsoar Financial Group arrive?」
「Yep, the 100,000 gold was delivered to our account. They even gave us an additional 60,000 gold, no strings attached,」Guo Huai said with a knowing smile. Why would the Dragonsoar Financial Group show such support? There was obviously something going on behind the scenes! Did Nie Yan succeed in wooing that girl Xie Yao?
「I see… How are our losses?」Nie Yan asked. A thought surfaced in his mind. If Yao Yao really were Xie Yao, she would definitely help out after knowing the guild was in dire straits.
「Over 30,000 gold,」Guo huai replied. The bounty rewards only accounted for a little over half of that sum. The rest was spent on helping those who died to ambushes. Even though many guild members outright refused compensation, not everyone could afford to ride out this storm by themselves.
In such a short amount of time, Asskickers United had already lost 30,000 gold, and it would only get harder from here on out. Nie Yan still had a large variety of money-making methods in mind. It was about time he decided which one could net the greatest profit in the shortest amount of time.
「Do you have an estimate of Bloodlust Blades' losses?」Nie Yan asked. He figured Guo Huai probably had a rough understanding of their situation.
「Probably somewhere in the ballpark of 50,000 gold. The guild members in Bloodlust Blades are demanding heavy compensation, and they're hemorrhaging gold even faster after raising their bounty rewards,」Guo Huai replied. It was impossible for Bloodlust Blades to be as united as Asskickers United.
Nie Yan always followed a certain set of policies to build as much goodwill as possible with the players under him, such as never reducing their benefits under any circumstances and aiding them whenever they were in a pinch. He hoped to lead by example and create a guild with a strong sense of comradery.
Asskickers United was widely-known to provide their players the best benefits out of all the major guilds. On top of this, Nie Yan, Guo Huai, and the other higher-ups were easy-going and approachable, which made them well-liked by the players under them. So when the guild encountered a calamity, everyone was willing to pitch-in.
On the other side, Bloodlust Blades was bloated with over double the members of Asskickers United. Outside of the investment they received from the Century Financial Group, they didn't have many other sources of income. How could they compete with a tycoon like Nie Yan? They regularly changed their benefits policy to cut costs, which was one of the reasons for their many ongoing internal struggles. Those who had complaints with the guild could be found everywhere. When everything around them was burning, who would be willing to give it their all for nothing?
「How much gold do you think they have in reserve?」Nie Yan asked. This piece of information was vital for predicting the course of this war. For every 30,000 gold Asskickers United spent, Bloodlust Blades would lose 50,000 gold. If they could guess roughly how much gold the other side had, it would be easier to make adequate preparations.
「At least 300,000 gold. They wouldn't dare to provoke us otherwise. Furthermore, for the sake of destroying us, the Century Financial Group will definitely invest more gold!」Guo Huai though for a moment, then continued,「The Dragonsoar Financial Group probably can't amass gold as quickly as the Century Financial Group. After all, the Century Financial Group has deep roots since they've been in the virtual reality game market for a long time. The Dragonsoar Financial Group is bound to be inferior to them in some respects. As for the rest, we'll have to wait and see.」
The Starry Night Potion Shop, Union of Assassins, and the Super Trade Channel were all incredibly profitable. The one to collapse first might not be Asskickers United but rather Bloodlust Blades! Nie Yan didn't particularly mind engaging in this conflict with Bloodlust Blades because their backer was the Century Financial Group whose financial resources were robust. If the Century Financial Group was allowed to develop their business in Conviction without a hitch, they would pose a fatal threat to him. This was why he begrudgingly paid a heavy price to weaken them. In any case, his auction houses, shops, and properties would continue to generate gold for him.
With so many sources of income, Asskickers United wouldn't lose!
「Let me show you something.」Guo Huai shared an image.
It was a record of the guild's finances. There was currently a balance of 190,000 gold followed up by a long list of contributions.
Paladin of the Elegy has donated 7 gold. Radiant Scroll has donated 3 gold.
Falling Leaf Flying Snow has donated 5 gold.
Aqua Smoke Stub has donated 329 gold.
Undying Scoundrel has donated 129 gold.
Blowhard Summer Bug has donated 157 gold.
Asskickers United Gold Farming Squad #1 has donated 2,832 gold.
Most Kickass Gold Farming Squad has donated 3,289 gold.
...
Nie Yan's mind turned turbulent like a stormy sea. Behind these contributions was the blood and sweat of his guild members!
It was impossible for Nie Yan not to feel deeply touched. Regardless of whether the contribution was large or small, he knew this gold came from players who had been saving up for a long time or was recently earned from farming.
None of their feelings were lost on Nie Yan. He heard them loud and clear. He didn't know how many players such as these there were. But if they accounted for even 10% of the entire guild, Asskickers United would never fall!