Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World - Chapter 354

Chapter 354

Chapter 354 – Akeph’s Hand of Knowledge

“It’s a medium that allows Necromancers to summon one or two additional undead,” Plenty explained .

Nie Yan naturally understood how an item which bolstered the size of an undead army would be highly sought after by Necromancers, especially if its drop rate was abysmally low . Furthermore, the Conjuring Skull in his possession was one of the rarer kinds .

The price Plenty offered should be fair . However, Nie Yan felt it’d be a waste to sell an item like the Conjuring Skull for gold .

“How about we exchange for equipment instead?” Nie Yan suggested . “A large guild like Fallen Angel, I’m sure you have plenty of Sub Legendary-grade items…”

For guild leaders like Plenty and Nie Yan gold was simply a means to an end . What they required more was better equipment to strengthen the players under them .

“I have a decent pair of mage gloves without faction restrictions . Take a look,” Plenty said after a moment of consideration .

A short while later, a subordinate arrived with the gloves .

Plenty supplemented Nie Yan with 13,000 gold on top of Akeph’s Hand of Knowledge for the Conjuring Skull . Like this, it was a fair trade .

“That about wraps things up . You’ll be back in five days?” Plenty asked .

“Yeah . ” Nie Yan nodded .

Plenty set off to lead the Fallen Angel players in dealing with the Level 60 Variant Lord .

Nie Yan waited for the Dark Portal to come off cooldown in the tavern . He glanced at Empress Finas’ Fang in his bag, helpless to bring it out since it was coated in a highly corrosive toxin . He could only examine it from his inventory window .

The term Psychic Object was unfamiliar to Nie Yan . However, he could feel a dense aura of darkness radiating from the fang .

Nie Yan was blown away by the description . His regular attacks currently dealt around 1,600 damage . For 30% of that to be converted into poison damage, which ignored all defenses except for poison resistance, was astonishing to say the least . According to his experiences from the previous timeline, attacks with more varied damage compositions generally dealt more damage to bosses . An alteration to the properties of an attack was far more effective than a simple increase in attack power .

Nie Yan checked on the status of his quest .

It was nowhere close to being finished!

Nie Yan glanced at Bennett’s Soul floating beside him . He could only continue searching for the other Psychic Objects some other time .

As the minutes passed, Nie Yan received news that Fallen Angel had taken down Elder Arachne Kasil and obtained a piece of Sub Legendary-grade equipment from his corpse . The drops from a Variant Lord naturally wouldn’t be lacking .

It was finally time to leave . Nie Yan left Valitin Village, his silhouette disappearing into the darkness as he dashed east . He found a secluded area and opened up the Dark Portal .

A portal radiating ominous energy appeared before Nie Yan . He stepped forward and disappeared inside .

Just outside of Valitin Village, hundreds of Fallen Angel Players were cleaning up the battlefield . There were corpses strewn about everywhere . Everything within a hundred meter radius was devastated . One could imagine the sort of bitter battle that took place .

“Nirvana Flame returned to the surface?” Plenty asked Proud Warlance who stood beside him .

“I think so . ” Warlance nodded . Truthfully, when Nie Yan stepped foot outside the village, they already had Thieves on standby to trail him . How he was going to return surface greatly intrigued them . However, they feared it would negatively impact their relationship with him if they were caught, so they dropped the matter in the end . Aside from this, none of the Thieves in Fallen Angel could realistically keep up with him anyway .

“He probably used some sort of teleportation item,” Plenty guessed .

“Do you think he can be trusted, that Nirvana Flame?”

“Who knows? In any case, we’ll have our answer in five days . A collaboration would be beneficial to both sides . Assuming he does return, make sure the players you dispatch to meet him are courteous . Remember he holds all the cards in his hand . He can always find other partners to cooperate with,” Plenty reminded . Nie Yan was probably the only player who could currently freely travel between the surface and Underworld .

“I understand . ” Warlance nodded . Just a single successful trade would be immensely beneficial to Fallen Angel . But if Nie Yan chose to back out, there was no recourse since the in-game contract system was unavailable to them due to faction restrictions . They could only rely on good faith .

Nie Yan’s pupils sharply contracted as the scenery flashed around him . His vision was shrouded by a vast expanse of bright white .

After who knows how long, Nie Yan opened his eyes to be welcomed by a blue sky and white clouds . His mood immediately improved .

He was finally back in his own world!

Nie Yan checked his coordinates . He was actually in the wilderness surrounding Hilderlocke, the City of Jadeite! He teleported to the city with a Return Scroll, then took a transfer point to Calore .

The streets were even more bustling than before . Nie Yan walked to Asskickers United’s office in Calore .

When the Asskickers United players saw Nie Yan, they rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren’t seeing things .

“Boss, you’ve returned!”

“Hello, Boss!”

The players all excitedly ran up to greet Nie Yan .

The last five days had been some of the roughest in Asskickers United’s short history . The conflict with Bloodlust Blades raged on, with both sides unwilling to back down . The players of Asskickers United could only patiently endure . Nie Yan’s absence during this time was a hard blow to morale . It was as if the guild had lost a supporting pillar . Fortunately, Guo Huai and the other higher-ups didn’t neglect their duties . Furthermore, Smoke Stub stepped up to help out where he could since he also had experience with administration . Thanks to this, everything was still running smoothly .

The guild chat immediately exploded in activity when word of Nie Yan’s return spread .

「Boss, welcome back!」

「The guild leader is finally back!」

「Welcome home! We missed you so much!」

…

News of Nie Yan’s return spread like wildfire . All of Asskickers United celeberated . The previous damp mood was nowhere left to be seen .

Nie Yan was deeply moved . He had spent what felt like a lifetime in the Underworld . He was glad to finally be back . Asskickers United was his home, and the Viridian Empire his sky!

「Where’s Watchful Snail . Tell him to get in touch with me,」Nie Yan said in guild chat .

Before long, Guo Huai, Zhao Li, Smoke Stub, and the others all rushed over to the Calore office .

“You’re finally back! A day later and we would’ve packed up our bags and left,” Smoke Stub jested as he patted Nie Yan’s chest .

“How are things?” Nie Yan asked . He estimated after so many days the guild’s financial situation was akin to a creek during a long drought .

“I’m not the one you should ask . ” Smoke Stub forced a smile as he glanced over at Guo Huai .

“Grim would be the best description . We’re on the verge of collapse . Here’s a report of our financials . Take a look,” Guo Huai said with a helpless expression .

Nie Yan looked over the expenses . They had spent a total of 536,268 gold, of which 360,000 gold was bounty payouts while the rest was compensation for struggling guild members . This was a terrifying figure! Before he left for the Underworld, the guild had just barely 200,000 gold in the bank . They really were running on empty!

“How much gold do we have left?” Nie Yan asked .

“A little over 2,000 . ” Guo Huai bitterly smiled .

For a guild the size of Asskickers United to only have 2,000 gold in the bank, Nie Yan could imagine how severe things had gotten .

“What about the gold from the Starry Night Potion Shop and other businesses?” Nie Yan asked . He had given Guo Huai permission to withdraw gold from these places .

“I’ve withdrawn as much as I could . ” Guo Huai shook his head helplessly . “We’ve received support from our allies, the War God Tribe, Holy Empire, and Sapphire Shrine as well . The Dragonsoar Financial Group has provided us with 170,000 gold in total . Our guild members have also donated 160,000 gold . However, it’s just not enough .

“Our only solace is that Bloodlust Blades aren’t fairing much better . They’ve burned through at least 700,000 gold . Their finances are teetering on the verge of collapse . If it wasn’t for the Century Financial Group, Alliance of Mages, and Divine Protectors helping them out from behind the scenes, they would’ve been finished long ago . I’ve also heard that Angel Corps has thrown themselves in the mix . ”

Nie Yan nodded . He roughly understood the situation . Even a guild that had lost several wars in a row wouldn’t easily collapse . Victorious Return was a perfect example . Even though they had suffered so many setbacks, including a huge blow to their prestige, they were still continuing to operate . But an issue with finances was another matter altogether . All guild activity required expenses, not to mention members would require compensation for any damages they incurred . If something as basic as compensation couldn’t even be provided, who would be willing to stay!? It would be a wonder if a guild like this didn’t collapse! Both Asskickers United and Bloodlust Blades were currently on the edge of a deep abyss .