Chapter 64: First Encounter with the Iron Armor Group

The leader of the trio was a man with a topknot, carrying a katana and dressed like a ronin.

The man had a lean build and practiced dual-wielding; he held one sword in his hand and had a long katana slung at his waist.

The two henchmen beside him consisted of one shirtless, muscular bald man with boxing bandages wrapped around his hands, who appeared to be a melee-combat type player.

The other wore mage robes and carried a two-meter-long blue metal magic staff; the staff left a deep hole when it struck the beach, suggesting it was quite heavy, and he was likely a magic-and-martial hybrid player.

The three shared one common trait: they all carried resentment on their bodies, averaging three grievances each, all originating from other players.

As the leader of the trio, the ronin spoke in the tone of a seasoned veteran: "I am Zhan Gui, the deputy leader of the Iron Armor Group's C-rank dungeon raiding team. These two are my deputies. As long as you follow our commands, a mere C-rank dungeon poses no significant threat."

After speaking, the ronin displayed a portion of his attribute panel to the group.

In the level column, the value displayed was 19, while his two deputies were both level 18.

Upon seeing the trio's levels and hearing the name of the Iron Armor Group, everyone couldn't help but show signs of timidity.

The Iron Armor Group was somewhat famous in the Desolate World; if not exactly respected, they were at least universally loathed.

The overall strength of the Iron Armor Group was only mid-tier among second-rate factions, but even some first-rate factions without strong backing would find them a headache.

The reason was simple: when players from the Iron Armor Group entered the Abyss game, they weren't there to clear dungeons, but were targeting other players.

When players from other factions built their ability systems, their goals were how to survive in dungeons, how to collect more intelligence, and how to defeat the dungeon BOSS.

The Iron Armor Group was different; the skills they chose were mostly specialized against humanoids, especially players.

It was equivalent to a group of PVP players infiltrating a group of PVE players.

The Iron Armor Group wasn't great at fighting BOSSes, but when it came to assassinations, sneak attacks, pursuits, and sieges, they were experts.

Once you provoked them, they would stick to you like bone-gnawing maggots, conducting endless pursuits against the target organization's members until they forced the organization to surrender and pay high compensation.

It was precisely because of this toxic playstyle that the Iron Armor Group dared to boast on the public area's bounty list that anyone who dared to raid a dungeon they had claimed would be equivalent to declaring war on the Iron Armor Group.

Seeing the look of fear in everyone's eyes, the ronin nodded with satisfaction and said:

"You lot clearly haven't entered high-difficulty dungeons before. Let me tell you, a C-rank dungeon is worlds apart from a D-rank one; you can't just hide in a hole like rats and wait for the dungeon to end."

"If you want to survive, you must use every useful thing you have on you. Skills are only the basics; your real-world professions, personal specialties, including your own bodies and your last bit of health points, must all be fully utilized."

Seeing that the few assistants had been stirred into a state of tension, the ronin spoke with the tone of someone driving subordinates:

"Since you are all newcomers, it is most appropriate for me to take command here. To understand everyone better, introduce yourselves one by one."

The introductions began with the assistants from Wanghai City.

The five assistants introduced themselves in the same order as when they sparred with Zhao Yan.

The first was the masked man who had experienced the Mamba Iron Elbow; he was very careful to maintain his mystery in front of newcomers like Wu Chang, but in front of the three veteran players, he couldn't put on an act at all.

"My name is Iron Face. My ability is Golden Bell Shield, I am proficient in combat techniques, skilled in melee, and can both tank and deal damage."

The bald boxing man sneered, picked up a seashell from the ground, and flicked it with his thumb. The shell struck Iron Face in the chest, knocking him back two steps until he sat on the ground.

Seeing this, the bald man mockingly repeated: "Can both tank and deal damage."

Iron Face climbed up from the ground; although angry, he dared not act out and could only lower his head and step back two paces.

The second person in line had hidden their level and had already slipped away.

The third in line was a girl of about twenty, still possessing a youthful, innocent, and cute face; one could tell at a glance she was a student.

The girl's codename was Hamster, and she possessed two life-style skills: gathering and planting. Her combat style leaned toward defense, and she possessed the skills Iron Wall, Charged Counter, and Shield Bash.

Hearing the girl's skill combination, the bald man's eyes lit up.

"Boss, this is my type. She's like my first love."

Hamster shivered from the bald man's gaze and hid behind Wu Chang, who was standing nearby.

The fourth person in the arena order was a young man of twenty-six or twenty-seven, codenamed Gale; he was the one who had first spoken to Cotton earlier.

Gale's skill combination followed an assassin's path, possessing Stealth, Protective Coloration, Reconnaissance, and Assassination skills, with an agile and varied offensive style.

The fifth person in the arena order was a mature woman dressed like an office worker, codenamed Spirit Fox.

Contrary to the youthful Hamster, Spirit Fox's attire was highly polished; her exquisite, form-fitting business suit, combined with carefully designed makeup, highlighted her charming temperament and curvaceous figure.

Spirit Fox was a pure magic-type player, possessing healing abilities and several offensive spells, but her physical combat skills were very poor; even though Zhao Yan had tried his best to go easy on her, she hadn't lasted long.

Wu Chang, who was last in line, was just about to speak when the bald man said excitedly: "Boss, this one is also my type. She's also like my first love."

Wu Chang: "..."

You son of a bitch, does everyone look like your first love?

Is your first love a Ditto or Mystique?

He wanted to continue his self-introduction to interrupt the bald man's madness, but the bald man said directly:

"I won't listen to the introductions of the remaining small fry. I'll take them to the side to talk about life first."

Having said that, he walked toward Hamster and Spirit Fox with a lewd expression.

Wu Chang could no longer tolerate this dog of a man and was preparing to control his True Self to deal this bastard a heavy blow.

He didn't have much chance of winning controlling a clone against three, but after a sneak attack, escaping using the Lightning Shadow movement technique wouldn't be much of a problem.

Just as he was considering whether to use Calamity or Palm Lightning, a flash of light appeared before his eyes, and a flying sword was held before the bald man's neck.

Of the two players brought by Cotton, one removed the hood from his head. Changing from the dull appearance Wu Chang had seen before, he seemed to have changed his face entirely, becoming bright-eyed and clear-browed, fresh and handsome—a standard protagonist face from a martial arts novel.

"Enough!"

With the flying sword held under his neck, the bald man dared not act rashly and looked to his boss for help.

The ronin narrowed his eyes and asked: "Sword Sect?"

"You have some discernment."

"Are you people from the Administration?"

"Yes."

As a citizen of the Xia Kingdom, given the chance to obtain extraordinary abilities in the Abyss game, who wouldn't want to become a Sword Immortal who rides the sword?

But being a Sword Immortal wasn't so easy. In the Desolate World, the professions that possessed sword-riding abilities could be counted on one hand, and the most famous among them was the hidden profession—Sword Sect.

Sword Sect was the prerequisite profession for Sword Cultivators in the next layer of the Abyss; the class-change items were extremely difficult to obtain, and players with the Sword Sect profession were few and far between.

The most famous among them was the new generation of genius players from the Administration, Sword Star.

Rumor had it that Sword Star had broken the Administration's record for the lowest-level clearance of an A-rank dungeon; to clear an A-rank dungeon, one's level would not be lower than 20.

Coupled with a hidden profession, even three level-20 players might not necessarily get the better of Sword Star.

Seeing the other party admit it, the ronin immediately changed his expression.

"It's truly a misunderstanding. I didn't expect you all to be members of the Administration. Our Iron Armor Group has always cooperated with the Administration's work and are staunch supporters of the Administration. This is truly a case of the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple."

After the ronin cleared the trio of their actions, he changed the subject and probed: "I wonder if you have any arrangements for bringing a group of rookies, a group of newcomers, to a C-rank dungeon? If there is anything needed, we will certainly cooperate."

Sword Star's expression was slightly awkward. After a moment of silence, he said stiffly: "We are team-building."

The ronin was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expose him, flattering: "The Administration is worthy of being a top-tier faction; even newcomer team-building has to come to a C-rank dungeon. Since you are here, the three of us should no longer be needed."

Sword Star moved his finger and retracted the flying sword held at the bald man's neck.

"Please, go ahead."

"Then we brothers will take our leave." After saying this, the ronin took his two deputies and retreated to the corner of the safe zone.

Having driven away the three from the Iron Armor Group, Sword Star turned to look at Wu Chang and the others, saying sincerely: "I apologize; it is because of me that you have been placed in danger this time. It is also because of me that you were matched into this high-difficulty dungeon, Quiet Town. Rest assured, no matter what happens, I will bring you all out safe and sound!"

Having witnessed the scene where Sword Star, with one person and one sword, scared off three vicious men from the Iron Armor Group, hearing Sword Star's statement now immediately gave everyone a powerful sense of security.

Especially for Hamster and Spirit Fox, who were about to be lewdly harassed by the bald man a second ago, the appearance of Sword Star was like a light appearing in a desperate situation.

As for why they had fallen into a desperate situation, let's not worry about that for now.

In short, all the assistants except Wu Chang were instantly turned into fans by Sword Star.

As for Wu Chang, he was even happier about Sword Star's appearance than the others.

Heh, the one who takes the blame voluntarily has arrived.

Since Sword Star had said so, then being matched into this C-rank dungeon had nothing to do with him! Sword Star looked around the circle, and after a brief silence, he spoke:

"The difficulty of Quiet Town is extremely high. To clear it, everyone must work together. I happen to have some intelligence regarding Quiet Town here; please everyone, be sure to listen carefully."

(End of chapter)