The Great Thief

Very quickly, eight bidders anonymously managed to gain the right to attack.

Glory Capital, Gangnam Royals, Seventh Heaven, Azure Guard, Majin Temple and Open Sky – these were the bidders who were more well-known. The other two were not as famous.

The highest price was 55000, from Gangnam Royals, while the lowest price was 23000 from Majin Temple. Surprisingly, the average price managed to reach 35000 gold. Lu Li only expected to have 10000 gold as the lowest price, but Majin Temple had bid 23000! Furthermore, the expected average price was also surpassed by a great amount. Lu Li thought that an average price of 15000 was already plentiful.

The current gold to dollar exchange rate was 1:42, so10000 gold converted to 420000 dollars. Even the lowest bidder, Majin Temple, had to spend over a million just to claim the right to attack the Stronghold.

This was simply madness in Lu Li’s eyes, especially the Gangnam Royals and their 55000-gold bid. Where did they get this confidence that they would be able to take Ruling Sword’s Stronghold? Looking at it from another perspective, perhaps this ex-top-10 guild wanted to donate money to Ruling Sword?

If Ruling Sword could defend their Stronghold, Lu Li would be awarded with 28000 gold.

This was one of the ways to gain income as well – reinforcing the Stronghold, then attracting competing guilds to come and attack it. Of course, this was only if they could successfully defend the Stronghold each time. If they were defeated, then they would not only lose money, but all their previous investments into the Stronghold.

After these eight organisations received the right to attack, they immediately declared a siege on the Stronghold.

Now, they would be placed into the same Stronghold battle that Ruling Sword initially fought in. This was an elimination phase. The victors at the end of the Stronghold battle would be able to receive a portion of their bid amount from the auction. However, those who could not even defeat the monsters’ Stronghold wouldn’t receive anything.

Therefore, it would be wise to bid with consideration of the guild’s own strength.

These battles didn’t matter to Ruling Sword. The Stronghold battles were just like instance Dungeons. Therefore, since they weren’t doing anything in the morning until the victor was declared in the afternoon, Lu Li decided to bring his team into the Molten Core. He didn’t want to waste any time to raise his guild’s strength.

The participants in the defense of the Stronghold who were below level 60 were brought into the Instance Dungeon to train.

A cooldown meant that all their progress was gone and the nine Bosses were all revived. It didn’t matter which Boss they got up to last week.

Because there were many changes to the original team, they wiped a few times at the Door Gods. Moreover, they were distracted by the upcoming battle this afternoon.

“Wow, you guys must have a lot of DKP. If we don’t get to the Boss, then you’ll all lose your DKP.”

After Lu Li made this threat, the team’s performance was a little better.

“Hey, Lu Li. Which one do you reckon we’ll end up facing?” Fat Monkey asked.

Because the dungeon was fire-based, he wasn’t allowed to join last week. However, for the sake of him breaking through to level 60, Lu Li decided to bring him along. After all, he was one of the professional players in the guild, and he was also extremely important in the defense of the Stronghold later that afternoon.

Fat Monkey was relatively close to level 60, so that was achievable within today.

“Any of them has a chance. It’s really down to whether or not they are willing to spend money,” Lu Li said after some thought, which surprised everyone. After all, none of them thought that Ruling Sword was defeatable.

“Chariots?” Wandering instantly realised Lu Li’s meaning.

“That’s right,” Lu Li confirmed as he nodded his head.

Everyone remembered the importance of the Chariots. Some of them had participated in the Stronghold battle before, or at least had heard about it. In hindsight, they truly wasted too much time at the walls. If only they had more chariots…

“If this is the case, then wouldn’t it be troublesome to take the land at Darkshore?” Wandering asked as he frowned.

“You can’t be thinking that we could take Darkshore with only a few chariots,” Lu Li sighed and shook his head. “Before, there was no competition with the other guilds. That’s why I only took a few chariots with us. On Wednesday, when we go to Darkshore, we need to have at least a whole line of chariots.”

One chariot costed 50 gold. It wasn’t too expensive, but to make a whole line of them? The costs would be insanely high.

If they thought one step further, then they also needed to consider replacement chariots. When the first line of chariots was destroyed, they could replace the destroyed chariots with the new ones.

Only the wealthy could consider a strategy like this.

Since they had already fought this Instance Dungeon last week, they quickly arrived at the Boss. Fat Monkey’s EXP was still a little lacking, so Lu Li kept him in the team. Although the team members were changed, the main core of the team was still the same as last week’s team. Having an extra Mage in Fat Monkey made it easier to dispel curses.

They wiped two times at the first Boss, but they succeeded on the third try.

Two level 59 players levelled up to level 60; one of them was Fat Monkey.

This was still Nightmare difficulty, but the drop rate wasn’t the same as the First Clear. There was only one Legendary item, as well as a Tranquilising Shot skill book. The two Hunters in the team already had it, so this one was given to another Hunter in the guild.

Ruling Sword currently seven or eight teams capable of entering the Molten Core. The more Tranquilising Shot books they had, the better.

There were three members of Drizzle Court who were to go along to fight Ragnaros with Lu Li and the team. From the very beginning, these three members had been part of the team. However, Lu Li never planned to give these books to Water Fairy. He felt the need to remain professional when handling these matters.

The second Boss didn’t take long until it was killed; it only took one squad wipe. The second attempt was a success.

Lu Li was extremely pleased with the speed at which they were advancing. Knowing the strategies alone wasn’t enough to completely avoid squad wipes. Even if they were all level 60 and had exquisite items, they still would wipe multiple times in Instance Dungeons like the Molten Core.

The second Boss only dropped one Legendary item, which was a set item for Mages.

Lu Li made the decision of giving it to Fat Monkey. The principle of prioritising professional players was applicable anywhere and anytime. Of course, Lu Li still took his DKP away with no mercy.

Ruling Sword’s DKP was gained through Instance Dungeon activities, or Wild Boss activities. Part of it was also given through the distribution of DKP within the guild. Although Fat Monkey was not extremely rich in terms of DKP, he could still manage, even after being deducted 150 points for the item.

The number of Skill Points given also greatly decreased. Only one person received a Skill Point from each Boss.

The original plan was to only fight the first two Bosses, then prepare themselves for the Stronghold battle in the afternoon. However, since this run was so successful, Lu Li decided to take down the third one as well.

The third Boss managed to drop two Legendary items.

One of them was a set item for Paladins, and the other was the Wristguards of Stability.

The Wristguards of Stability were, in truth, rubbish items. They were named as one of the top three worst drops in the Molten Core. Lu Li didn’t want them and neither did Water Fairy. In the end, no one claimed them, so the only option was to hang them up in the guild vault. After all, the Wristguards were still a Legendary item, so many normal players would want them.

After taking down the first three Bosses, the time was around noon, but Lu Li decided to end it there. The level 60 players had some free time, so it was time to prepare for the defense of the Stronghold.