Chapter 54
Seeing Lu Chuan utterly fearless eased Shen Li’s heart.
After all, they were in the same boat now.
And honestly, at this point, even if Shen Li swore he wasn’t on Lu Chuan’s side, no one would believe him.
Glancing at Lu Chuan’s ambitious, high-spirited demeanor, Shen Li couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation.
If it was Lu Chuan… what path could he lead Star Guild down?
Just imagining it set his blood racing.
As soon as Lu Chuan stepped off the airship, Shasha was already waiting at the door.
“Brother Lu, you’re second now—almost first!” Shasha clenched her fists excitedly. “Everyone in the guild’s been talking about you. They can’t wait to see when you’ll take the top spot!”
“That depends on when [Eye of Rebirth] clears her sixth dungeon.” Lu Chuan smiled, patting Shasha’s shoulder. “Got a feast ready for me? I’m starving.”
“Of course, Brother Lu! We hired the best chef to celebrate you.” Shasha replied instantly.
And so began Lu Chuan’s welcome banquet.
Say this for the Vice-Guildmaster—once he made up his mind, he acted fast.
After deciding to back Lu Chuan as the next Guildmaster, he immediately gathered his confidants and lieutenants for the banquet—no secrecy, no hesitation.
Lu Chuan had never seen so many S-class players in one place at Star Guild.
Fortunately, he wasn’t the nervous type. Surrounded by so many people, instead of feeling pressured, he was filled with the urge to make a big move. He carried himself with such composure that many S-class players meeting him for the first time praised his commanding presence. No wonder the Vice-Guildmaster valued him so highly.
As for his love of money—hardly a flaw.
What was wrong with loving money and power?
If Star Guild wanted to rise again, they needed an ambitious leader like him.
Meanwhile, the other guilds weren’t having it so easy.
First were those who had tried and failed to recruit Lu Chuan. Their guildmasters chewed them out harshly.
“How could you let such talent slip away? Now Star Guild won’t let him go. Even if we wanted to move against him, it’d be tough.”
Ocean Heart Guild.
“I offered the best conditions I could, but he still chose Star Guild. Who could’ve guessed he’d become this strong? I’m only A-class, and he went straight to S-class after just four dungeons?”
Vivian could hardly believe her eyes. She had struggled and scraped to reach A-class, and he just vaulted to S-class in no time. It was like a kid you once played in the mud with suddenly becoming your boss overnight—who could accept that?
“Comparing people is infuriating.” Vivian muttered. “And our new recruits can’t even hold a candle to him. By the way, what about [Hula Hoop]? She cleared the Newcomer Dungeon so quickly—shouldn’t she be aiming for S-class now?”
“Captain, [Hula Hoop] shut her doors a while ago,” a teammate said cautiously. “She said she’s no match for [Arrival of the God of Wealth]. Better to drop off the rankings early.”
[Hula Hoop] was a strange one. She could’ve stayed longer on the Newcomer Rankings, but after seeing [Arrival of the God of Wealth]’s meteoric rise, she rushed her sixth dungeon to force herself off the list.
The reason was simple: she didn’t want the guild pressuring her to “keep up.”
Guilds cared too much about face sometimes. But she wasn’t going to sacrifice herself for that. It just wasn’t worth it.
“…Let her do what she wants. Forget it, I’ll lie flat. What’s it got to do with me?” Vivian sighed. “Resurrection Guild isn’t panicking, Noah Guild isn’t panicking, so why should we? As long as our Guildmaster’s here, what’s there to worry about?”
As long as their leader stood firm, nothing else mattered.
Abyss Guild was in a similar state as Noah Guild.
The main issue on the Newcomer Rankings was that their own newcomers were far behind compared to Lu Chuan. Previous newcomers hadn’t even had the chance to face him before being forced off the board. What’s the point of competing like this?
This year’s Newcomer Ranking List was ridiculously strong, so they couldn’t be too harsh on their own so-called geniuses.
After all, a player’s career is long. Only those who laugh last are the real winners.
They could take things slow.
The only ones who were truly anxious were probably the Resurrection Guild and the Noah Guild.
After all, only their newcomers could actually contend with Lu Chuan.
Among them, the higher-ups in the Noah Guild were especially restless.
“Messiah still won’t go clear another dungeon? He’s third right now, but Eye of Rebirth will soon fall off the board. If Messiah just clears his fifth dungeon and gets another S+, he can definitely surpass Arrival of the God of Wealth and seize first place.”
“Several of the newcomers we had our eyes on recently chose to join the Star Guild instead—that’s a huge humiliation.”
“Messiah ought to think from the guild’s perspective. Losing to the Resurrection Guild is one thing, but losing to the Star Guild? What a disgrace.”
The Noah Guild brass were furious with Messiah’s refusal to clear another dungeon. It was even worse now that they’d been surpassed by the guild they’d always looked down on.
All the other newcomers on the board were still only A-rank. Beating Lu Chuan was impossible for them. Only Messiah had a chance.
And every one of Messiah’s dungeon evaluations had been S+—the only problem was, he didn’t publicize it. He had the strength, but he hated showing his face and avoided dungeons altogether. How could that work?
Many higher-ups started sending envoys to persuade Messiah.
Even younger players in the Noah Guild were grumbling that Messiah was too laid-back, unable to even hold his position properly.
Messiah, annoyed to the core, simply shut his doors and refused all visitors.
He tossed his divine token far away—he didn’t want to think about such nonsense.
If he had the choice, he wouldn’t touch another dungeon at all.
He’d had enough of this kind of life.
The Resurrection Guild, on the other hand, remained calm.
Cynthia wasn’t the least bit nervous. She’d held first place for so long that her strength was undeniable.
Naturally, no one dared to speak against her face-to-face.
“Big sis, when Lu Chuan and I were in that dungeon, we met a loan shark from the Extreme Evil Loan Company,” Lilus said while reviewing with Cynthia, making sure to highlight this NPC. “He mentioned that if you become an agent and perform well enough, their company can help players gain the right to live in the dungeon world instead of endlessly clearing dungeons.”
“Yes, there is such a claim,” Cynthia nodded. “For players whose non-human aspects exceed a certain threshold, the Infinite Realm isn’t suitable anymore. Many choose to live in dungeon worlds instead. Our lordship titles and territories are our guarantees for survival there—so long as we want, we can always enter. But the downside of territories is that they’re small—we’re only safe within them. If you truly become a part of the dungeon world, though, you essentially turn into another type of NPC.”
“But becoming an NPC isn’t any better. In dungeon worlds, NPCs with intelligence and abilities are still monitored by the system—and watched by Burial Squad. If they disobey the system, they risk being erased.” Cynthia explained. “Plenty of players tried living permanently in dungeon worlds before, but very few succeeded. From what you describe of Lu Chuan’s personality, he’d never agree to that. He’ll thrive far better in the Infinite Realm.”
Lilus nodded, half-understanding. “He’s really a formidable opponent.”
“He won’t become our opponent,” Cynthia smiled. “Lilus, didn’t you already clear a dungeon with him? You two can be friends.”
“Huh? But we’re in different guilds…”
“So what? Even if Star Guild rises again, they won’t be our match anytime soon,” Cynthia replied. “Unless our guilds go to war, nothing will prevent you from keeping a friendship. His ambition is definitely more than being Star Guild’s mascot. In a few years, he might even be their vice-guildmaster.”
Lilus thought that was very possible.
“So, big sis, you mean we should keep interacting with him?”
“Just normally. If he’s smart, he’ll realize the more friends he has, and the fewer enemies, the better.”
—
Star Guild.
After his networking session, Lu Chuan met with the vice-guildmaster again to talk about forming his own team.
Shen Li had his own dungeon squad, so of course Lu Chuan needed one too.
Solo dungeons were too restrictive.
“Alright, who do you want?” the vice-guildmaster asked. Since deciding to support Lu Chuan’s candidacy for president, his attitude toward him had shifted completely—looking at him now was like looking at his own son.
“Captain Shen and Shasha are a must,” Lu Chuan said without hesitation. “We’ve already built solid coordination—we can’t split up.”
“Shen Li has his own squad, but I’ll give him time to handle it and then join yours,” the vice-guildmaster nodded. Lu Chuan’s personality was a bit unruly—he needed someone like Shen Li nearby to rein him in. At least he’d listen to Shen Li sometimes. If everything went entirely Lu Chuan’s way, he doubted his teammates would last long.
“As for Shasha, that’s easy. She’ll definitely say yes.” The vice-guildmaster chuckled. “But I hope you’ll restrain yourself a little and not unlock her ability every time you enter a dungeon.”
“Well…”
“Forcing her ability to steer dungeon plots isn’t a good thing. It increases mutation rates. You don’t want to meet Burial Squad every single time, do you?” the vice-guildmaster said firmly.
Well, now that you’ve said that, I’ll have to use Shasha’s power in every dungeon from now on.
Lu Chuan was already planning.
He also wanted to chat more with Number 9—like what it would take to redeem him from the main system, what conditions he’d want to be Lu Chuan’s bodyguard, and so on.
“You’re S-rank now. Your chances of directly facing gods in dungeons will only increase—possibly every single time. And S-rank players are prime sacrifices for gods. The system will keep throwing you into god-infested dungeons. But your offensive power is still lacking. You’ll need at least two strong attackers.”
“Yes, Vice President, that’s exactly what I came to ask. Do you have any recommendations?” Lu Chuan leaned in eagerly.
The vice-guildmaster hesitated.
There were plenty of S-rank players with overwhelming offensive power, but most were older and already had established squads. Why would they transfer into Lu Chuan’s? Even if he forced them in with authority, if they didn’t respect Lu Chuan, they’d be more burden than help in dungeons.
“You probably won’t find another S-rank attacker. Having Shen Li is already quite good.” The vice-guildmaster shook his head. “But if you have someone else in mind, tell me. I can’t get you teammates, but I can give you a powerful offensive artifact.”
“Oh?” Lu Chuan’s eyes lit up. “From the warehouse?”
“The warehouse just stores everyone’s spare junk. Nothing good there.” The vice-guildmaster smiled faintly. “This is from my personal collection. I’ll lend it to you.”
He pulled out a pure black handgun covered in engraved sigils.
“Catch.” He tossed it to Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan instantly appraised it.
[S+ Artifact: Infinite Divine Pistol. Feeds on divine power. After killing a god, it absorbs part of the god’s power into bullets. Targets include divine familiars and servants.]
[Drawback 1: Each use costs 5 sanity points.]
[Drawback 2: If the target isn’t killed, the weapon becomes a beacon for the enemy to track its owner.]
“This gun was a gift from the Guildmaster when I became vice-guildmaster—to protect myself.” He chuckled softly. “Now I’m giving it to you. Think of it as a form of inheritance.”
Lu Chuan stared at the pistol, itching to go find a god to test it on right away.
“Pay attention!” the vice-guildmaster snapped. “You’ll have plenty of time to mess with it later.”
“Vice President, reminiscing is a greasy old man’s trait. Heroes don’t brag about past glories. You’re still young—you can hang on longer. Even when I become president, I’ll still need you to share the workload. I won’t let you retire that easily.”
“…Wake up. You’re not president yet.”
