Show Me the Money

Chapter 153 – Bro, You’ve Come!

While Fatty was refining Royal Winged Ant Poison, an interesting occurrence happened in Black Tortoise City: The first Celestial Weapon available to players, the Demon Slayer Sword, was sold at auction for the price of 500 thousand gold coins to some lucky player. But just as this guy was leaving Black Tortoise City, he was killed; and, he dropped the Demon Slayer Sword. 

It was said the player lost his mind and cursed a string of unspeakable words, but it was to no avail since the robber refused to respond. Then, the player changed tactics and announced that he would buy the sword again for another 500 thousand gold coins. Many people ridiculed his efforts and awaited his failure; only, they were shocked til their jaws hit the ground because, in the end, he actually succeeded!

“Should Lord Fatty go rob him as well?” Fatty pondered upon hearing the news. Ultimately, he rejected the tempting idea. It was already pretty harsh that the player had to buy the sword twice; rumor had it that he now didn’t dare leave the city without dozens of guards.

With the Bronze Medallion on his shoulder, Fatty teleported to Black Tortoise City without having to pay a penny. When he arrived, the rogue went to visit the City Lord Manor. 

“My Lord,” Fatty greeted Lin Xi and stood before him properly. This brat’s AI is too high, thought Fatty. Lord Fatty can’t outwit him now, so we’ll just behave for the time being.

“Little Fatty, what’s wrong?” Lin Xi leisurely savored his tea, not sparing Fatty even a glance.

“You see, last time, you used us peasants to lure Lei Ting out; I didn’t say anything about it. But now, I have a problem, and I was wondering if you could do me a little favor?” Fatty chuckled sleazily and rubbed his hands together.

Lin Xi finally looked up. “What favor?”

“Lend me the pterosaur for a bit; I want to catch a level 60 fire monster.”

“That’s possible, but—”

Fatty quickly cut in, “This can’t be counted as one of the conditions you’ve agreed to. No matter what, I played a big part in dealing with the tragedy at Mass Graves. I only want to borrow your pterosaur for a while. It’s not like I won’t return it. As the mighty lord of an entire city, you definitely wouldn’t be so stingy, would you?” Fatty gazed dubiously at Lin Xi.

“What I meant to say is that the pterosaur is General Libya’s mount now. You’ll need his agreement to borrow it,” said Lin Xi indifferently.

“Heheh, heheh… I knew your Lordship wouldn’t forget my meritorious deed!” Fatty softened at Lin Xi’s words. Of course, the city lord couldn’t be bothered over such a trifle with Fatty. He casually dispensed the order to summon Libya, who quickly arrived at the manor.

“My Lord, you called for me?” Per custom, Libya immediately bowed upon entering the room.

“This gentleman, Money Grubber, is an honorary citizen of our Black Tortoise City. He wants to borrow your pterosaur for a while,” Lin Xi summarized, handing the issue off to Libya.

“Greetings, respected General Libya. Last time at Mass Graves, your might was truly awe-inspiring. I have come today to express my admiration…” Fatty solemnly prattled.

“The pterosaur hasn’t recovered from its injury. It’s currently unfit for battle,” Libya stated as he eyed Fatty. 

F*ck! Is this guy a general or a businessman? Fatty instantly understood what the general meant. “General, is there anything this one can do to help?”

Libya nodded with satisfaction. “A leaf of Dragon Revolution Herb should be enough.”

“What? A leaf of the Dragon Revolution Herb? General, do you take me for a fool?!” Fatty gaped.

“Ahem, it needn’t necessarily be a perfect leaf, a damaged one will do,” Libya said, a little embarrassed.

“That won’t work either! You know far better than I how precious the Dragon Revolution Herb is! It’s out of the question!” Fatty repeatedly waved his hands. There had been only nine leaves to start. Lin Xi had taken four perfect leaves, and Fatty had turned in two damaged ones for a mission. Currently, he only had two perfect leaves and one damaged one left.

“Just one leaf, and I’ll lend you the pterosaur for a day,” Libya offered.

“A day is too short; at least ten days,” Fatty bargained.

“Three days.”

“Seven days.”

“Five days.”

“Deal!” Fatty tightly grasped Libya’s hand with a face full of smiles. A damaged leaf was nothing to the rogue. With the pterosaur, five days was enough to gather the other three Elemental Movement skill books. 

Fatty went to the bank to retrieve the damaged leaf. And, not being stingy either, Libya immediately summoned the pterosaur and temporarily assigned it as Fatty’s mount. “Five days time. Make good use of it.” Libya smiled contentedly. Then, he turned, saluted Lin Xi, and took his leave.

“Little atty,” Lin Xi called out, “you must hurry. Grow stronger. It’s my estimation that chaos will soon erupt across the continent. When that time comes, the peace of our continent will rest in the hands of you young people.”

“My Lord, honestly, you’re still very young. You don’t look much older than me.” Fatty was in high spirits after receiving the pterosaur, so he absently doled out the flattery.

“Hehe, go.” Lin Xi smiled indifferently and gestured for Fatty to leave.

As soon as he exited the manor, Fatty couldn’t wait to get on the pterosaur. “Let’s go, babe!” he crowed. Since the pterosaur was Libya’s mount, Fatty could ride it as well, but he couldn’t use it as a mount during combat.

“Wow, look! What’s that? It’s the pterosaur!”

“Isn’t that Libya’s pterosaur? Is there another mission from Black Tortoise City?”

“Quick, follow it! There must be another boss. It might even be a Divine boss this time!” With a bunch of rowdy players following him on foot, Fatty flashily rode around on the pterosaur .

Ignoring the flock of players, Fatty mused, “Let’s go to Vermilion Bird City,” and he and his new mount teleported to the other metropolis.

The pterosaur caused a ruckus when it appeared in Vermilion Bird City as well. Many of the players there had participated in the grand battle against Lei Ting previously, so they instantly recognized the NPC’s mount. Those who didn’t know any better thought a monster was attacking the city. 

Amidst the commotion, Fatty quickly urged the pterosaur to take off. A mount with a superior speed attribute certainly gave the game a whole new feel. As they soared across the sky, Fatty felt as if the entire world spread out before his eyes.

He had thoroughly researched Vermillion Bird City. Next to the Fire Valley, there was an area housing a boss monster called the Fire Kirin Beast, which was somewhere around level 60. Basically, every boss above level 50 should be a Yao monster. The rogue wondered if this one was a low or high-ranked yao and whether the pterosaur could handle it. 

Spotting his destination from afar, Fatty steered the mount to precisely land at the desired location. He pocketed the pterosaur and went into Stealth to scout out the situation. The area had a similar geographic structure to the Fire Valley, and perhaps the air was even hotter. Nearby, a monster squad patrolled about. When a Yao boss was of a certain level, their AI was relatively high, and they knew how to better protect themselves.

Fatty carefully crept closer to the inner circle. Surprisingly, there weren’t many monsters there. The terrain was similar to a volcanic crater with only a small path for people to follow into its depths. Fatty walked along the path for a distance when a disconcerting string of loud screams reached his ears. He quickened his pace. After making a turn, the path opened up before Fatty to reveal a small pond of lava. A monster wailed and roared, spitting out one stream of lava after another from the middle of the bubbling liquid. On the shore, a group of players attacked the beast.

Fatty examined the creature; it was around three meters tall and five meters long, so it could be described as massive. The form was similar to a deer coated in fiery red scales. Layers of flame rose from the body while its four hooves tread atop the lava. The monster fought spiritedly against the players ashore, granting them not a single advantage. This was the Fire Kirin Beast, said to be a relative of the Fire Kirin. However, the Kirin was at least a celestial-ranked monster, so who knew if it would even recognize such a relative.

“Be careful everyone. A yao is superior to a Gold boss, not just because the rank is higher. A yao also possesses a certain type of AI that makes it extremely crafty. One small mistake can get our whole group killed,” a familiar voice cried out, and Fatty’s mood instantly lifted. He never imagined his little sister, Qian Xiaoqian, would fit the role of vice guild master so well. To his surprise, she was properly coordinating over five hundred people. If Fatty had come to kill the boss, he wouldn’t have hesitated to butt in and let the pterosaur help them out. But, his purpose was to capture the Fire Kirin Beast alive to exchange with West the Flame Ruler, so their objectives kinda conflicted.

Fatty Stealth-ed his way to a hidden spot to watch Qian Xiaoqian issue commands. He didn’t mind passing up this boss anyhow; he could just find another later.

“Fire mages, don’t attack and just focus on defense. Water and wind mages will be our main offense. Earth mages, pay attention to the ground beneath us; don’t let the boss use underground magma attacks to surprise us again. Other classes, attack at will, but you do not leave the defensive range of the fire mages!” Qian Xiaoqian had matured quite a bit. She had come up with a proper strategy and even thought of a peculiar method to use a wall of flame as a shield against the boss’s attack. Since the Fire Kirin Beast’s attacks were of the fire attribute, they didn’t break the flame wall upon collision; instead, these attacks poured energy into the barrier and caused it to rise even higher. Only a few attacks managed to pierce the wall and land among the players.

The water mages and wind mages greatly complemented each other. Over three hundred players of the total five hundred belonged to the two classes. Wind Blades, Wind Lances, Water Arrows, Water Dragon Breaks and all kinds of similar attacks rained down on the Fire Kirin Beast’s body. While the damage was low, the players were winning by virtue of quantity, gradually eating away a good amount of the boss’ health. Various magic attacks danced through the air, and the boss’s health steadily decreased despite occasional casualties from the players. At this rate, the Fire Kirin Beast would be finished with only a loss of about a hundred people.

“Roaaar!” the boss bellowed as its health dropped by a fifth.

“Everyone watch out!” Qian Xiaoqian shouted. A crackling lightning shield appeared above her head and protected her as an attack came from the sky. 

Rumble!

A rain of lava descended across the field. Even though the players had been on guard, several dozens still died to the attack. The most miserable were the priests at the very back. They had never expected the Fire Kirin Beast’s attack to pierce through the team’s defenses, so they didn’t summon their shields in time. As the lava poured over them, they were instantly sent back to the respawn point tragically shrieking.

“Damn it!” Qian Xiaoqian stomped her feet in rage. “If only we had some ice mages!”

“Who’re you?!” A loud shout suddenly resounded over the group. Everyone present whirled around to see Fatty, who had been beaten out of Stealth by the unexpected lava. 

The rogue revealed an embarrassed smile. “Hello, everyone.”

“Bro! Why are you here?” Qian Xiaoqian gleefully exclaimed. Hearing her terms of endearment, the rest of the team swallowed their complaints. Especially the guys, they instantly put on amiable, even manic, smiles to welcome Fatty.

“Bro, you’ve come!”

“Bro, welcome! Welcome!”