Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Since so many of the chapters from the Book of Order had appeared, Nie Yan started to wonder who had collected the most chapters from the Book of Chaos.

With his curiosity piqued, Nie Yan didn’t hesitate to sate it.「Guo Huai, help me find out who’s in possession of chapters from the Book of Chaos!」

「Why...? Don’t they belong to the Evil Faction? Even if we find them, we can’t use them. I heard a rumour. If a player from the Righteous Faction gets their hands on a Chapter of Chaos, they’re presented with two options. One is to defect to the Evil Faction, and the other is to self-combust,」Guo Huai said. Conviction had very strict rules about the Chapters of Order and Chapters of Chaos. 

「Just do it. I only want to know which individuals possess chapters from the Book of Chaos,」Nie Yan said. Whoever was in possession of the most chapters would undoubtedly become a formidable enemy. If someone completed the Book of Chaos one day, would they obtain a position of great power in the Evil Faction? 

「I see,」Guo Huai nodded. He passed down the order to his subordinates and had them start collecting information.

「How’s the guild doing right now?」

「Not great. That Half-Demon Angud is too unbridled,」Guo Huai said, his head hurting at the thought.

「Since we’re contending for the top, we have to be always ready to deal with these kind of impossible obstacles our enemies will throw at us,」Nie Yan said. This was simply how Conviction worked. Since Asskickers United could recruit NPCs to defend Okoron, why couldn’t others recruit NPCs to deal with them? This was only fair.

「I understand, but we can’t do anything to Angud at all! All our strongholds are on high alert. That bastard appears and disappears like the wind. He’s already razed nine of our strongholds to the ground! We’ve suffered huge losses,」Guo Huai said helplessly. He wanted nothing more than to resolve this situation, but he had no idea how to.

「Keep stalling him and minimize our losses as much as possible. When I return, we’ll have a way!」Nie Yan said. He also felt helpless being trapped in this damned place. All he could do was pick up the pace and try to reach the portal as soon as possible.

「I guess that’s all we can do,」Guo Huai bitterly smiled. He hoped Nie Yan could stop Angud, and soon. 

Guo Huai contacted Nie Yan a while later with information on the Chapters of Chaos.

「How many chapters have you found out about?」Nie Yan asked.

「We know about 10 Chapters of Chaos so far. Seven are with Fallen Angel, Pantheon also has a few. However, a mysterious group seems to be collecting the Chapters of Chaos. Both Pantheon and Fallen Angel’s sides have been ambushed. As for how many chapters they have right now, we have no idea,」Guo Huai said. Generally, those in possession of Chapters of Chaos wouldn’t reveal it to outsiders. Only previous holders who had their chapters stolen by others would reveal this information, sometimes.

At least 10 Chapters of Chaos had appeared. Nie Yan wondered if someone had collected a complete volume yet.

Nie Yan and Guo Huai chatted for a while. After hanging up the call, he continued full speed ahead toward the portal.

“What can I do to pick up the pace?” Nie Yan muttered anxiously. Looking at the vast sea of corpses ahead of him, he couldn't help but think how convenient it would be to have a pair of wings right now.

Glancing at his skill window, Nie Yan’s eyes fell on Extreme Deterrence.

Extreme Deterrence was a skill that would deter any monster up to 30 levels above him. However, its effects didn’t always work. If a monster’s aggro toward him reached a certain point, they could ignore the skill!

All the corpses here were aggroed onto him. Having them part ways for him like the Red Sea for Moses was pretty much impossible!

This plan was only feasible if he could first come up with a method to get rid of all aggro.

Nie Yan suddenly recalled another skill, Disguise! He could disguise himself as a corpse and escape their aggro!

Thinking to this point, Nie Yan immediately put his plan into action. As he activated Disguise, he slowly transformed into a corpse, wearing ragged clothes with his flesh rotting off from his bones. Barely alive, the wind blowing through his ribcage. He didn’t dare to look in the mirror right now.

Disguise only worked for humanoid creatures. His new appearance was pretty convincing. It would be difficult to tell him apart from the other corpses.

Immediately, Nie Yan sensed the surrounding corpses lose aggro on him. They still stared at him, but the hostility had taken place for confusion.

Extreme Deterrence!

Nie Yan started walking forward, as an invisible force pushed the corpses aside, a path opening in front of him.

The plan worked! Nie Yan’s eyes lit up in elation.

Since there were so many corpses crowded together, having them get out of the way quickly was unrealistic. Even though he wasn’t making super fast progress, it was still better than before!

As Nie Yan walked through the sea of corpses, he suddenly had an idea. Why don’t I just do this!?

Leap!

Nie Yan broke out into a sprint and soared into the air dozens of meters. Just as he was about to fall, he shot out a web-line at a distant boulder and swung back into the air, flying for a dozen more meters before landing on the boulder. He leaped off and activated Featherfall. His body came to a slow descent.

As Nie Yan slowly floated down to the ground, the corpses below him quickly parted ways.

Nie Yan made a gentle landing. Glancing back, the three Doom Sentinels were already quite a distance away from him. I’ll let them continue grinding experience for me, he thought before breaking out in a sprint towards the portal.

Nie Yan cycled through all his skills that could get him to the portal just a little bit faster. It worked. His speed increased substantially.

A crisp jingle rang out as he lit up with a dazzling radiance. Without him knowing it, he reached Level 156.

The Doom Sentinels he left behind were still giving him quite a bit of experience!

The 20-day journey only took Nie Yan 10 days. Arriving at his destination, he saw a large white portal. The exit!

“It wasn’t easy, but I’m finally here!” Nie Yan exclaimed.

Nie Yan stepped into the portal as everything before him turned into a void of white. After a while, he opened his eyes and found himself in a forest. He had no idea where this was, but he was likely still in the territory of the Demon Tribe.

“I’m out! Finally, I’m out!”

Nie Yan used Instant Transmission to teleport to Okoron. He appeared outside the entrance of the guild headquarters.

“Boss, you’re back!” two players who were standing guard outside the entrance cried out in excitement.

Nie Yan nodded, then walked into the guild headquarters.

Before long, news of Nie Yan’s return spread throughout the entire guild. All of Asskickers United erupted in exictement.

「Boss, it’s great to see you back!」

「We’ve all been waiting, we're ready! Boss, so long as you give the word, we’ll storm right into Angel Corps’ guild headquarters!」

…

The guild chat was flooded with activity. Even though Asskickers United had grown to a size where they no longer needed Nie Yan to step forward personally, he was still the guild’s spiritual pillar. This was partially why the members of the guild were able to endure despite Angud’s constant harassment. As long as Nie Yan was here, no mountain would be too high! This was an unwavering belief, which could give birth to unprecedented unity and fighting strength!

After learning that Nie Yan had returned, the elites of the guild all rushed back. It was time to take action against Angud!

Okoron’s central transfer area lit up with dazzling flashes of light. One player after another came rushing out towards the guild headquarters.

News of Nie Yan’s return quickly reached Soaring Angel, Cao Xu, and Godking’s ears. Each of them started responding.

...

In Pantheon’s guild headquarters, Godking anxiously paced back and forth. He didn’t know why, but he felt like something bad was going to happen. Logically speaking, he was in an invincible position. No one could defeat Angud.

However, Godking couldn’t help himself from becoming jittery. Nirvana Flame had appeared. Angud finally had his target. Once Nie Yan was killed, he would have the Death God’s Edge. This was good news!

Godking suddenly slumped back into his throne and sent a message to Flowing Maple.「Send out a Thief to tell Angud to come back quickly!」

「Why?」Flowing Maple asked in confusion. Angud was untouchable on the surface, and Nie Yan had once more appeared with the Death God’s Edge. This was something to be excited about. Why would Godking suddenly want Angud to come back?

「Just follow my orders,」Godking said in a grave tone, not bothering to answer Flowing Maple.

Flowing Maple didn’t dare to hesitate. He hurriedly passed down Godking’s words to the Thieves below him.

About 20 minutes later, Flowing Maple came rushing into the guild hall. He had a pale look on his face as he met Godking’s gaze.

“What happened?” Godking asked.

“All the Thieves we sent to report to Angud were killed by him,” Flowing Maple explained. Angud refused to take orders from Godking!

“Dammit! Fine, if he wants to get himself killed, let him!” Godking cursed. He had a feeling Nie Yan had a method to deal with Angud. This was why he wanted to call Angud back to the underworld. However, Angud wasn’t someone he could control.

Angud’s only goal was the Death God’s Edge. Anyone that got in the way of that would be killed without mercy.

Godking felt regretful. He shouldn’t have directed Angud to the surface.

About 20 minutes later, more than 3,000 of Asskickers United’s top elites had assembled in the guild headquarters. Bladelight and the rest of the expedition team were also making their way back. Everyone was waiting for Nie Yan’s command. They could sense a huge storm was brewing.