Rebirth of the thief who roamed around the world (BOOK 1)

Chapter 136 - Level 30 Elite!

Tang Yao stared at Nie Yan with a strange expression of disbelief. A brief moment later, he burst into laughter and said, "You're joking, right? Why would we ever start a guild?"

"No, I'm dead serious. We'll be contesting for the top spot," Nie Yan replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Ehh, that sounds like a pain in the ass... I mean, right now, we get to hunt mobs and chase after girls to our heart's content; isn't that enough already...?" Tang Yao perplexedly asked.

Nie Yan sank into thought after hearing Tang Yao's words, then burst out into laughter as well. Apparently the grand ambitions of others actually meant nothing to this brother of his. After contemplating awhile longer, he concluded that the timing did seem a little too early for establishing a guild. He still didn't have enough trustworthy people by his side, and there was no way he could handle the task of running an entire guild all by himself.

Even though Nie Yan's father was presently smuggling goods at the borders of the country, the man had already long set out plans for his future company from its name, how it would operate, to the types of machinery needed for manufacturing. In fact, he had already struck several undisclosed deals with neighbouring countries on the western and northern border. As a result, the profits reaped would be immense, but the risk was all too high. If any of these deals ever fell through, then the company would be toast because the trade contracts he owned were extremely coveted by others. Hence, in order to mitigate some of this risk in the previous timeline, Nie Yan's father had heavily invested into the game known as humanity's second world, Conviction. After recruiting experts for his newly established gaming organization, he had founded a guild that became immensely popular for a time called the War God Tribe.

Thanks to the enormous financial backing from his father, the War God Tribe nearly rivalled Victorious Return in power and influence, and the elites under his control were numerous beyond compare. However, as a consequence of the guild becoming powerful enough to contest their position as overlord of the Viridian Empire, Victorious Return began an intense string of counterattacks. They besieged land under the War God Tribe's control, seizing two Strongholds in quick succession, and ruined many of their businesses. Having set foot in the game so late, their foundation was severely lacking which was shown by the fact that they owned only one influential property, an auction house opened by one of Nie Yan's cousins. Thus, they eventually crumbled under the fierce attacks launched by their enemy.

Truthfully, after the War God Tribe's initial strikes, Victorious Return had actually shown visible signs of decline. If they had pressed on a little further and organized several more powerful counterattacks, Victorious Return might have ended up on the losing side instead. In fact, were it not for several other guilds joining the fray, such as Radiant Sacred Flame, Bloodlust Blades, and so on, the War God Tribe wouldn't have fallen. Under their combined assault, his father's wealth became meaningless.

Reality was harsh and cruel. If his father's guild hadn't lost their strongholds and defeated Victorious Return instead, they would have seized thirteen strongholds-each of which would generate astronomical revenue-numerous shops, auction houses, and other properties, and the resulting wealth would have been enough to allow his family to prosper for many generations to come.

In the end, the company his father had built from the ground up through painstaking efforts suffered a crushing defeat, an outcome that could only be attributed to fate not being on their side. In this lifetime, however, Nie Yan would make sure that the War God Tribe wasn't built atop a shallow foundation which was the main factor for their defeat. The several properties he had purchased so far were enough to allow the guild to gain a firm foothold in Calore. With this source of income, they would expand even more ferociously than before, letting the War God Tribe grow into an unshakeable oak that would reach new heights.