NIP Chapter 53 This is Jiangnan; your Zhenguo Dragon Guards have overstepped their bounds.
Chapter 53 This is Jiangnan; your Zhenguo Dragon Guards have overstepped their bounds.
Outside the S-level secret realm teleportation node in the Jiangnan region.
As the white light faded, six people emerged from the teleportation array, their steps still carrying the momentum from the secret realm—they spread out in front of and behind, their weapons half-raised, their eyes scanning the surroundings.
Only when the humid, hot air outside filled his lungs did Captain Lin Rui finally relax and sheath his one-handed sword back on his back.
"Finally, I made it through," he said.
The five people behind him simultaneously deflated.
Vice Tank Mengbo removed his helmet, revealing a head smeared with sweat, and leaned against the pillar of the teleportation array, panting heavily. "I thought that old man in the second phase was going to devour me alive."
Therapist Song Tangtang squatted on the ground, her hands supporting her knees, her voice weak as if floating up from the bottom of a well. "It doesn't matter if you get killed, my mana is completely depleted, there's no way to revive you anyway."
"Your words sound like your last words." The mage Han Sheng slung his staff over his shoulder, glanced back at the now-closed teleportation array, and grinned.
"But, hey."
He pulled out a sharp-looking golden staff from his storage space, its golden luster flowing under the lights of the node hall.
"The shipment has been completed."
Six people gathered around.
A gold-grade staff, with maxed-out mental power stat and an additional cooldown reduction substat. A month ago, Han Sheng wouldn't have even been able to get his hands on something like this.
"Not just yours." Archer Qin Lu pulled out a quiver from her spatial storage. It was of gold quality and had a high critical hit multiplier. She examined the quiver several times, her eyes practically glued to it.
Lin Rui tallied up the loot: on this trip to Eden, the six of them had obtained a total of two top-tier gold equipment pieces, five ordinary gold items, and a pile of materials that could be converted into merit points.
Fortunately, the difficulty of the dungeon decreased significantly after Lu Yan and his team cleared it.
Grade B rating.
The Sixth Squad is the youngest in the Longwei organization, with an average age of 21 and less than half a year since its establishment.
Getting a B rating after conquering an S-level regular dungeon is already quite impressive. Not to mention that two days ago, nobody in the entire Jiangnan region would have believed this result.
"Go back and write the report. Song Tangtang, hurry up and apply for the next round of entry." Lin Rui sent the list of loot to the team channel and turned to walk towards the exit of the node hall.
The six of them walked out along the corridor. Han Sheng and Qin Lu were still studying the descriptions of the new equipment, while Song Tangtang drank half a bottle of blue potion to recover.
Stepping out of the main hall, you'll find yourself in a spacious plaza.
Seven modified heavy-duty off-road vehicles were parked in the square, all painted with the "Emperor" emblem in gold on a black background.
Lin Rui's steps slowed down by half a beat.
Imperial Gate.
The Dragon Guard's internal evaluation of the Imperial Gate has always been ambiguous—their combat strength is not bad, but their reputation is extremely poor.
Seven cars formed a semi-circle, blocking the only passage from the square to the ground parking lot. The car doors were open, and about twenty people stood scattered around, dressed in uniform black combat uniforms with the ostentatious golden "Emperor" embroidered on their chests.
In the middle of the crowd, a tall man leaned against the hood of the car, his arms crossed over his chest.
Wang Ting.
Zhang Jiangnan, the captain of the fifth squad of the Royal Gate, is the eldest son of the Wang family. Twenty-seven years old, he is a power-type Awakened, with personal combat strength in the upper-middle rank of A-level—not top-tier, but certainly not weak. What truly makes him formidable is not his combat power, but the connections he has.
"Oh, isn't this the Sixth Squad of the Dragon Guard? Greetings, sir. Greetings, sir."
Wang Ting spoke. His gaze lazily swept over the five people behind Lin Rui, finally settling on the golden staff in Han Sheng's hand.
"Out of here?"
Lin Rui's right hand hung naturally at his side, his fingers slightly clenched. "Captain Wang, is there something you need?"
"Can't we chat for a bit if there's nothing else to say?" Wang Ting straightened up from the hood of the car and took a step forward. "I heard your Sixth Team just graduated from the A-level secret realm last week, and you dare to challenge an S-level one today. You've got some nerve."
He glanced around, his teasing undisguised. "But then again, who wouldn't dare touch it now? The first team posted the strategy guide on the forum, and even the old man frying dough sticks on the street knows about it."
The twenty or so members of the Royal Gate behind him chuckled in agreement.
Meng Bai's face darkened, and he took half a step forward, only to be stopped by Lin Rui.
Wang Ting didn't look at Meng Bai; his gaze remained fixed on Lin Rui. "Tell me, isn't this like scavenging for scraps by following the First Squad? They finish eating the meat and throw out the bones, and you bunch of brats scramble to lick them up."
Han Sheng put the new staff back into his storage space, his fingers already resting on the old staff.
"We're carrying out a normal secret realm exploration mission," Lin Rui said calmly. "This is a mission ordered by the Dragon Guards. Do you have any objections?"
Wang Ting interrupted them, "Yeah, yeah, you're so high and mighty. What's the value of an S-level secret realm that everyone can participate in? Well done. You Dragon Guards are really generous."
He took two more steps forward, getting less than three meters away from Lin Rui.
"Last month, our Royal Gate spent eight million to obtain a two-page intelligence report on the 'Abyss Forge' from a middleman in the White Eagle Empire. I'm just asking you, do you really know the value of intelligence?"
Wang Ting held up one finger and shook it from side to side.
"I'm not saying this, but in the business world, this kind of wasteful behavior is just stupid."
"I can tell. So you're taking your anger out on us for losing money buying intelligence from the Royal Gate? You've got the wrong people to talk to." Qin Lu couldn't help but say.
Wang Ting's gaze shifted sideways. Qin Lu subconsciously took half a step back, but remained defiant. "I'm telling the truth."
"The truth?" Wang Ting chuckled. "I'm telling you, you bunch of soldiers on the payroll have neither connections nor resources; you're entirely dependent on organizational funding. You can't even scrape together a single piece of dark gold equipment normally. Now that you've finally found a few pieces of gold, you're overjoyed?"
The square was silent for two seconds.
Lin Rui took a step back.
"We still have tasks to complete, so we'll be leaving now."
He turned and gestured to the group. The six men changed direction and headed towards the pedestrian walkway on the east side of the square. That route was longer, but it avoided the blockade of the Imperial Gate convoy.
Walk out seven or eight steps.
"stop."
Wang Ting's voice came from behind.
Lin Rui stopped.
A series of rapid footsteps sounded behind them. The twenty or so members of the Imperial Gate dispersed from both sides, slowly cutting off the exit of the eastern passage.
The encirclement closed within twenty seconds.
Six people against more than twenty. Everyone can figure out the score.
"Wang Ting, what are you doing?" Lin Rui turned around to face the man walking towards him.
"Nothing much." Wang Ting stopped three meters away, hands in his pockets. "Hand over the equipment you just pulled out of the secret realm."
The air in the square was split in two by that sentence.
Song Tangtang's fingers twisted around the cuffs of her robe. Meng Bai fastened his helmet back on.
Lin Rui stared at Wang Ting. "Do you know what kind of situation it is to rob a Dragon Guard unit of their equipment?"
"Robbery?" Wang Ting tilted his head. "Who said I robbed you? I'll pay for it. Ten thousand yuan for a piece of gold equipment. That's double the market price. I'll take all your stuff, that's quite a lot."
Ten thousand.
That sounds like a lot. But the actual value of a top-tier gold item, especially one from an S-rank dungeon, starts at least at 200,000 at the auction house.
This isn't buying and selling; this is outright robbery.
Lin Rui scanned the encirclement. There were more than twenty people, and their equipment was far superior to that of Team Six. At least four of them were A-level combatants, and the rest were all at least B-level.
He himself is the strongest in the six teams, a peak B-level player.
We can't beat them.
"I refuse," Lin Rui said.
Wang Ting wasn't angry. He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and flexed his wrist.
"Captain Lin, let me give you some advice. You're a smart man, you should be able to tell the difference. Even if you take all the gold items you six are carrying back, it's just to complete your mission. But if something unpleasant happens here, the injuries you six suffer can't be repaired by a few pieces of gold equipment."
He took half a step forward.
"I'll say it again—take out your equipment."
"This is Jiangnan. Aren't you Zhenguo Dragon Guards stretching your reach a bit too far?" Wang Ting and his entire team assumed a fighting stance, smiling as they looked at the Sixth Squad.