Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 250 Blossom (Part 1)

 

Ye Ci logged out from the game after giving some brief instructions on some trivial matters. She needed rest before she followed up on the progress of the Mithril ore vein. 

 

It was four in the afternoon when Ye Ci went offline. Her house was empty. Her parents were not home while Tan Polang was still at school. A note left behind by Ye Ci’s parents indicated that Bai Mo was coming home, and one of her parents went to fetch him home from the station while the other was out shopping for cooking ingredients. 

 

Ye Ci decided that there was no need to contact her parents after learning of their whereabouts. She had not been offline for days, and the only thing in her mind was to get a nice, warm shower. 

 

The tub full of warm water relaxed Ye Ci’s muscles as immersed herself into the bath, enjoying the rare moment of tranquility. 

 

Her parents were back with Bai Mo by the time she was done with her bath. 

 

Bai Mo took in a deep breath and nodded with an exaggerated expression when Ye Ci walked out of the bathroom, “Ah, I’ve already prepared myself for an overwhelming stench, but it seems that you’ve decided to take a bath. How thoughtful of you.” 

 

Ye Ci rolled her eyes at Bai Mo and went into her room to get changed.

 

As Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan busied themselves in the kitchen, Ye Ci began recounting her exploits and the situation in the Southern Continent to Bai Mo. 

 

Bai Mo’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard Ye Ci’s words, “The impending arrival of Golden Era sure is kicking up a ruckus! The Black Plum Family would never have resorted to such measures otherwise even if they are in conflict with the Isle of Heroes, and they will definitely not get us involved in this!” 

 

“In the end, we’re just a small guild. This is why I’ve made the decision to expand our guild. We can still expand even when we value quantity over quality.” said Ye Ci as she stuffed her mouth full of watermelons.” 

 

Bai Mo spoke up after a long pause, “We need money if we are to expand our guild. Are you going to look for a sponsor?” 

 

“Nope. I don’t have the connections. Besides, we’ll lose our autonomy if we’re funded by large corporations. We’ll become nothing but money-making tools for them. There’s no way our guild will be able to grow to the scale of Golden Era which is offering its services as a hired gun, so we might as well earn money through the game.” 

 

“And how are we going to do that?” 

 

“Mithril. Of course, we don’t have a lot of blueprints and recipes for Mithril products, and the option of selling them as materials is not exactly profitable. This is why I plan to acquire some blueprints in the near future. And then there’s the notion of war profiteering. Why do you think the American economy bloomed after World War 2?” 

 

“War Profiteering?” Bai Mo was stunned for a brief moment. But he immediately understood Ye Ci’s words when he thought of the conflict between the Black Plum Family and the Isle of Heroes, “It’s not a bad idea, but a Goblin Engineering player is hard to come by. There’s not many of them who are at Medium tier right now, not to mention the Master tier. I don’t think we can gain much from this in the near future.” 

 

Ye Ci smiled at Bai Mo, “Leave it to me, I’ve got this.” and she proceeded to give Bai Mo a quick briefing of what she was told by Timely Rain. 

 

It was apparent that Bai Mo was very interested in Sodom as well, “How did you discover that city?” 

 

“Remember that time we were invaded by the Western Continent? Didn’t I arrive in Champion City by kite? I saw that city on my way there. It was way larger than the capital, but the sky above it was filled with dark clouds that hide some sort of high-leveled buildings that I could not identify well. From what I’ve read in the National Library, the city is the biggest city in the Eastern Continent before Champion City was even a thing, but it fell into ruins.” said Ye Ci. Of course, what she said was half the truth, but she was not worried that Bai Mo would doubt her words. 

 

“It’s a shame that the map’s basically inaccessible right now.” sighed Bai Mo. There are things in this world that could not be solved by money. 

 

“It’s alright. Golden Era will have to be at an average of lvl40 to pose a threat to us. It’ll definitely take them some time to reach that level. We’ll just have to put the head start we have to good use.” Ye Ci attempted to console Bai Mo who she knew was faced with an immense pressure. 

 

Her words were returned with a smile from Bai Mo. 

 

By then, Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan were already done with their cooking, and waved the duo over to the dining table. 

 

“Uncle, aunty, your cooking is so good! My parents should really learn from you! Look at how thin I am after going home for a few days!” Bai Mo was not stingy with his praises as he savored the taste of a piece of sweet and sour fish. 

 

Zuo Xiaolan was overjoyed “Then you have to eat more. My sister is never good at cooking. I feel sorry for you and your dad.”

 

Ye Ci rolled her eyes, “What a pretentious guy you are.” she muttered. 

 

Ignoring Ye Ci’s words, Bai Mo happily continued with his meal. The family was able to enjoy their dinner, and Ye Ci and Bai Mo learned from Ye Nantian and Zuo Xiaolan that the couple was already making preparations to level up their skills and advance to the rank of Advanced tier Life Players. Ye Ci knew that players with an older age would be able to level up easily as Life Players as they display more patience than the younger generation who tended to be fickle and impatient. 

 

A sudden thought flashed across Zuo Xiaolan’s mind as the conversation carried on, “I ran into Liu Chang’s mother at the market today, and we talked for a while.” 

 

“How are they doing nowadays?” 

 

“They’re doing pretty good, and way better than they were before. She told me that she will join the game with her husband after witnessing Liu Chang’s achievements in the game.” Zuo Xiaolan’s words were meant for Ye Nantian, as youths like Ye Ci and Bai Mo were considered to be uninterested in the affairs of the adults.

 

“That’s great.” perhaps due to his disappointment in his childhood friends during the feast last time, Ye Nantian’s tone was indifferent. 

 

“I heard a very shocking news from her today.” 

 

“What is it?”

 

“The families of Dong Yin and Yi Cang are facing a credit crisis. Their accounts have been frozen by the Huaxia Bank and are under investigation.” said Zuo Xiaolan with a hint of mirth in her voice. She knew nothing about the reason behind the incident, but she was happy to see the two families in trouble especially after what they did. 

 

“How is that possible? Isn’t the He Corporation acting as their guarantor?” Ye Nantian was more attentive to the minor details than Zuo Xiaolan, “Why is the bank investigating them instead of the He Corporation?” 

 

“How would I know?”

 

“Forget about it. This has nothing to do with us. Let’s just pretend that it never happened.” 

 

The conversation that was idle chatter for the older couple had an entirely different meaning to Ye Ci. 

 

The families of Dong Yin and Yi Cang are under investigation? That’s strange… They were able to resolve their financial issues by securing loans through Thousand Sunsets. This is why they were able to spare some of their energy on dealing with me. Why are they under investigation now? Something’s not right. 

 

Her thoughts then wandered to Bai Mo. The time of the investigation coincides with Bai Mo’s trip home. Could it be Bai Mo? Does he have a secret that even I know nothing about? Ye Ci decided against confronting Bai Mo after a brief moment of consideration. Since he did not offer up the information on his own accord, Ye Ci decided that the best course of action was to have trust in Bai Mo. 

With her exhaustion of spending days online, Ye Ci immediately went to bed after some stretching, while Bai Mo logged into the game. He had been away for a long time, and there were matters that he had to tend to. 

 

Ye Ci returned to her daily routine after returning from the Western Continent. She would wake up in the morning, and then log into the game after her breakfast. 

 

At the same time in the Western Continent, Absalom was arranging for guild members to stand guard by the Black Iron Dwarves as the explore the ore veins. He himself had devoted almost the entirety on his time on the Mithril ore veins, and had barely explored any dungeons with his guild members. He and Silent Hymn would take turns keeping an eye out on the Black Iron Dwarves in an attempt to keep such an important information away from prying eyes. Even many of the officers of Genesis was unaware of the Mithril ore vein. 

 

“Oh, you’re here?” Silent Hymn yawned. He was apparently tired after a sleepless night.

 

Absalom nodded, and patted him on his shoulder, “You should go get some rest.” 

 

“I wonder how are things progressing on Gongzi You’s side. We can’t get there, so we won’t know how things are going over there.” 

 

Absalom was reminded of a certain someone after listening to Silent Hymn’s words, “We can’t, but someone is already there. I wonder if he’s willing to help…” 

 

“Are you talking about Axia Mist?” 

 

Absalom nodded, “Then again, even if he’s in the Eastern Continent, he wouldn’t have known anything if he’s not close with Gongzi You…” there was a slight hint of doubt in his voice. 

 

“Why don’t you just get Fleeting Time to talk to him? Isn’t he a friend of his?” Silent Hymn chuckled, “You could’ve just asked Gongzi You. There’s no reason for her to keep it a secret from us. Besides, your action might offend her in some way.” 

 

Absalom stared up at the clear azure sky. He knew that he was in the wrong, but he was curious. If Gongzi You could locate the Mithril ore vein, then she would definitely have information that she would need to proceed to the next stage. On the other hand, Absalom was in a completely different situation. Without much knowledge about the situation, there was a risk that he might even lose the Mithril ore vein with a slight overlook of some minor details. “Whatever.. I’ll ask for Fleeting Time’s opinion. It’ll be nice if he’s willing to help out. If he’s not going to cooperate, we’ll have to resort to more desperate measures.” 

 

Silent Hymn shrugged. Absalom was a person who had the tendency to overthink, but a person of his station bore the responsibility of taking are of almost one million guild members. It was only natural for the man to be cautious. Genesis would have already fallen into ruins if it was not for Absalom’s careful nature. “I think there’s a huge chance that Fleeting Time will refuse your request.” Silent Hymn sighed, “But…. If you are to get him to ask Axia Mist about something else…. I’m sure he’ll happily oblige.” 

 

“Are you talking about…” Absalom narrowed his eyes. 

 

And the duo smiled slyly at one another, “Gongzi You.” 

 

Ye Ci sneezed just before logged into the game. Have I caught a cold? Was it because I have not been bathing for days? She rested her hand against her forehead in the confined space of her gaming cabin. Hmmm… I don’t seem to be having a fever… Just then, a system notification chimed in, notifying Ye Ci that she should assume a correct posture before logging into the game. Ignoring her sneeze, Ye Ci set her hand to her side and logged into the game. 

 

It was apparent that Bai Mo had not went offline for an entire night. Ye Ci had logged out of the game in the guild conference room, and she found herself surrounded by familiar faces who were all staring at her as she appeared once again in the room. 

 

Ye Ci stared at the officers of Upwards Ho! for a long time before waving her hand and greeted them in a friendly manner, Hi minna-saneveryone! It’s been awhile….” 

 

“Aiyo! For a person like you to appear in this place… Did the Sun rise from the West or something?” said Ideal Height 1.7m with a smile, “How’re things going with that guy from the Western Continent?” 

 

Ye Ci’s smile froze, “What did you say?” 

 

“Gongzi, isn’t it inappropriate to pick Vo’sok as a spot for your honeymoon? I heard that the place is a wasteland! You guys have weird tastes…” Fruit Jelly chimed in.

 

Ye Ci looked up at the ceiling and walked towards the entrance, “These people do not exist… These people do not exist....” she mumbled under her breath. 

 

Bai Mo let out a laugh. Only Ye Ci could do something like that to distract her from reality. He motioned for the officers to remain silent, and called out to Ye Ci, “Where are you going?” 

 

Ye Ci shot Bai Mo a glare, “It’s none of your business!” and left the room. 

 

The room was immediately filled with roars of laughter. 

 

“Is Gongzi someone who is so easily angered?” 

 

“Of course not! Your words just happened to hit a little close to home…”