Chapter 1 The Eagle Squad

The terror of the Eagle Squad didn't just lie in their combat abilities. Backed by a studio, they also had a significant advantage in economic terms. Things like internal spies didn't need to be arranged in advance; when needed, they just spent some money to buy a few. This all depended on the individual player's personality. Among a mixed team like the Ten Guild Alliance's four thousand-plus members, the Eagle Squad couldn't possibly fail to buy someone off. What's more, there were already quite a few temporary workers from Yingqi embedded within the Ten Guild Alliance. Those who had managed to remain undetected were quite smooth operators, so contacting them was naturally even easier.

As a guild, there was no way to prevent this, so Yun Zhongmu knew there was a mole, but there was nothing he could do about it. Except… Yun Zhongmu's gaze shifted. Just now, that mage had shouted something in the guild channel, and as a result, he had been shot down by the opponent's sharpshooter as a demonstration. Of course, all guild members could see his cry in the channel, but being able to clearly provide his location was another matter entirely.

From this perspective, Yun Zhongmu wanted to try to narrow down the scope of the mole, but as he glanced around, there were easily twenty or thirty people around the tragically fallen mage who could easily send out a tip. Moreover, there were quite a few good brothers whom Yun Zhongmu had always trusted among this group. Suspect them? Yun Zhongmu was unwilling.

The players' reactions to the conclusion that there was a mole were mixed. Some were spamming curses in the guild channel, while others, like Yun Zhongmu, were observing coldly. In short, mutual suspicion arose. Guys who usually looked unpleasant now looked like two-faced traitors from every angle, and sarcastic remarks were made from time to time. Before long, two waves of quarrels had already broken out.

Yun Zhongmu felt a chill run down his spine as he watched this scene. He gained a deeper understanding of how terrifying his opponents were. First, they used simple and crude attacks to make everyone in the Ten Guild Alliance irritable, and now they were so blatantly exposing the mole's actions, causing the already-jittery Ten Guild Alliance to begin to suspect each other. And their elusive ambushes made it impossible for the Ten Guild Alliance to catch them, so everyone's attention would increasingly shift to mutual suspicion. As soon as they were attacked, they would suspect that someone nearby had betrayed the team. A team could be disbanded and reassembled, but if the people's hearts were scattered, then the team couldn't be led.

Yun Zhongmu knew this principle well, but the mole was definitely impossible to root out. This shadow could only grow larger and larger. Yun Zhongmu was helpless and anxious, and could only publish a statement in the guild channel that all moles were shameless paper tigers and nothing to be afraid of. Although there were many respondents, Yun Zhongmu knew that this would do nothing to erase the shadow in everyone's hearts. Yun Zhongmu even regretted that he shouldn't have inferred the existence of a mole from the archer's attack in the first place. This matter should only be clear in his own heart. Saying it out loud was a mistake… Yun Zhongmu realized that his leadership skills still had a lot of room for improvement.

In a mood of low morale, Yun Zhongmu led this team out of the main city. Where to go now? Yun Zhongmu had no idea, and none of the players following him asked. Everyone silently followed the team, until they left the city gate, and Yun Zhongmu seemed to suddenly wake up, turning back to look at the hundred or so brothers.

"Let's go level up!" Yun Zhongmu waved his arm, appearing very energetic. He had to bury his gloomy and uneasy mood deeply. Although he felt that his opponent was becoming more and more terrifying, he still had to despise them strategically. Yun Zhongmu acted as if he didn't care about the opponent's ambush at all, which really inspired some of the players in the team.

The whole way was uneventful. This team of more than a hundred people arrived at the leveling area in a mighty formation, and Yun Zhongmu carefully arranged them. He told everyone not to spread out too much and to be prepared to face PK (player versus player combat) at any time.

Players from the Ten Guild Alliance continued to log in to the city, and when they saw the guild announcement and heard about the tragedy that had been going on all morning, everyone was careful and cautious. They really formed groups at the resurrection point and vowed not to leave until there were a hundred of them.

But the opponent was obviously very patient and determined. They continued to quietly wait in the streets and alleys near the resurrection point, and as soon as any Ten Guild Alliance player was careless, they would immediately be attacked. However, compared to the widespread attacks in the morning, it was much better.

Even so, some people in the guild couldn't help it and suggested to Yun Zhongmu: "Boss, how about we take off our guild badges first?"

The Ten Guild Alliance's guild badge was a symbol of hegemony in Moonlit Night City. But now, facing pressure, they even had to hide, which made Yun Zhongmu very resentful. Why wouldn't he have thought of such a simple method? But hiding like this was really not to his liking. If it wasn't to Yun Zhongmu's liking, it certainly wasn't to the liking of his close buddies. Before Yun Zhongmu could say anything about the suggestion, a buddy had already shouted: "Scared of what? I'll wear it! If they have the guts, let them come and wipe us all out now!"

Yun Zhongmu smiled genuinely for once. No matter what, he would always have such a group of brothers who would advance and retreat together. This was what made him feel the most gratified. When he thought that even if they lost levels, everyone would lose them together, and even if the guild disbanded, the hearts of the brothers would never be scattered, Yun Zhongmu suddenly felt that so-called high-level elite teams were just bullshit. He immediately laughed loudly in the channel and said: "That's right, these sons of bitches are just stealing chickens and dogs and picking up scraps. Everyone be careful, don't leave the house with less than a hundred people. We'll have a hundred people leveling up, a hundred people doing quests together, and a hundred people setting up stalls on the street. We won't give them a chance to take advantage of us. Let's see how long these clowns can jump around!!!"

Yun Zhongmu's speech was quite encouraging, and there was a chorus of cheers in the guild channel. Members could also care about each other, and when they saw a newly online guild friend, they would immediately remind them, because not many players had the habit of reading the guild announcement as soon as they logged in.

The players who had gone to the forum to inquire about information had also returned at this time, and directly private messaged Yun Zhongmu: "Boss, I'm back."

"How was the inquiry?" Yun Zhongmu knew that this inquiry shouldn't be difficult. If it was just one or two top-grade equipment pieces, it naturally couldn't represent any identity, but when several top-grade equipment pieces were pieced together into a full set, the range would be greatly reduced. Moreover, these guys had high game skills, were skilled in cooperation, and their equipment was so outstanding. It was impossible for them to be unknown in the game. Could it be that a team of experts suddenly fell from the sky to mess with the Ten Guild Alliance?

"Didn't we appraise eight sets of equipment? Among them, three sets have been positively identified by commenters below. Two other sets were incomplete appraisals, and the commenters were just guessing. No one paid attention to the other three sets."

"Who are the three confirmed people?" Yun Zhongmu asked quickly.

"Warrior Fengxue, thief Bayi Xisan, and grappler Quan Quan Dao Rou." The reply from his subordinate was quick.

"As expected, they are all experts…" Yun Zhongmu exclaimed. Since he had once been among the Top Five, Yun Zhongmu naturally had the pleasure of browsing the experience rankings. Yun Zhongmu had a vague feeling of familiarity with the names above, and he could be sure that they had definitely been seen at the top of the level rankings.

The player who had taken a trip to the forum immediately replied: "Yeah, I checked the level experience list. Fengxue is currently nineteenth on the warrior list, Bayi Xisan is fourteenth on the thief list, and Quan Quan Dao Rou is eighth on the grappler list."

The level experience list was an overall ranking of tens of millions of players in the entire game. The much-talked-about Five Strong, Ten Greats, and Seven Idlers added up to only a few dozen people, truly a drop in the ocean. On these lists, let alone the top ten or top one hundred, even the top one thousand were definitely amazing game fanatics. Apart from super-technical players like Gu Fei or cash-spending players like Yingqi's boss, Gai Shi Ying Xiong, ordinary players wouldn't have so much experience without spending a lot of time in the game.

Of course, there were also experts in the Ten Guild Alliance, but at this time, just talking about the level experience list knew that the Ten Guild Alliance was losing in terms of the quality of experts. The experts who came were among the top on the entire game's rankings, but what about those in the Ten Guild Alliance? In Moonlit Night City, they were among the top, but when placed in the entire game, they were in the thousands. Although they were still considered nothing to sneeze at among millions of people, they were still a little short.

"What about the two you mentioned who are suspected? Who are they?" Yun Zhongmu continued to ask.

"One is Dizi, who is thirteenth on the knight list, and the other is Ying Yang, who is eighth on the thief list."

"Damn, are the others all such awesome characters? Looking at them, they don't seem to have been temporarily put together. Where did so many experts come from?" Yun Zhongmu didn't understand. Could it be that there was a main city among the game's hundred main cities that had particularly good soil and water, and the monsters raised there gave more experience than other main cities, so it raised such a bunch of experts? There should be a limit to elite teams! Now there were eight people, and five of them were bricks. They directly revealed two of the top ten, and the other three were also top twenty experts. The other three were unknown. He wondered if he could get a top one hundred to seek some comfort.

"Guild leader, someone on the forum also mentioned the origin of this group of people."

"Damn, why didn't you say so earlier!" Yun Zhongmu shouted.

"They are a mercenary group called the Eagle Squad. The initial founder was Ying Yang, so they named it that, but the current leader is the number one knight, Yongyuan (Forever)."

"Yongyuan…" Anyone would have a deep impression of a character with this name at the top of the list. Of course, Yun Zhongmu knew of such a towering figure on the knight list, but Parallel World had many large cities, and many experts were only known by name and not by sight. There were no cheap teleportation functions in the game, and everyone lived around their own main city, so they didn't have the chance to see the world yet. Like Zongheng Sihai, after one mission, they had actually been to five or six main cities. Such an experience was already rare among players.

"What else is there about this Eagle Squad?" Yun Zhongmu calmed down and continued to understand the situation.

"It is said that this group currently has thirty people, all of whom are famous experts on the lists, and they are the real deal, without any fakes. Their scope of activities is not limited to a certain main city. Players in the main cities in the southeast of Parallel World are no strangers to them. They have been hired to complete several super difficult tasks, and their reputation is very well-known in the southeast."

"What is our position on the world map?" Yun Zhongmu suddenly thought of this question.

"Southwest. It is said that Yunduan City is the most cornered main city in the southwest." This player had some understanding of the world structure.

"One west and one east. We can be considered not interfering with each other, but now they have taken the initiative to come and cause trouble. It seems that they have been bought by Yingqi. These guys are really brave. They dare to attack our Ten Guild Alliance. Go, continue to inquire about the specific information of the Eagle Squad. Since they are so famous, it shouldn't be difficult to dig out the information of all thirty people, right?" Yun Zhongmu said. Unknown enemies were always more terrifying. After clearly understanding the details of the opponent, especially knowing that the other party was just a thirty-person mercenary group, Yun Zhongmu's tense mood finally eased slightly. The Ten Guild Alliance had four thousand members. No matter how elite a thirty-person team was, it could never be an opponent. But of course, the opponent would never participate in a head-on confrontation strategy. They could only attack some stragglers like today. They still wouldn't dare to confront a hundred-person team.

After hearing the instructions, the player immediately went offline again to climb the forum to learn about the "Eagle Squad". At this time, Yun Zhongmu was giving a morale-boosting speech in the guild again: "Comrades, we have already figured out the details of the enemy. It is a 30-person mercenary group from the southeast district called the Eagle Squad. It is said that they are quite famous in the southeast, and everyone is a top expert. Now we want to let them know that when they arrive in our southwest district, on our territory of Moonlit Night City, they are nothing!"

"Nothing! Nothing!!" There was a chorus of crude shouts in the guild. Just when everyone thought that Yun Zhongmu was going to say something exciting, Yun Zhongmu's speech had already ended. In the end, he only said one sentence: "Okay, everyone continue to do what you should do!"

Some people couldn't hold back and directly private messaged Yun Zhongmu to ask what to do next.

Find out more about their situation. This was the reply that Yun Zhongmu gave.

Moonlit Street in Moonlit Night City was a trading place formed by players in Moonlit Night City. This street led directly to the central square of the main city. The road was wide, and the players on both sides of the street were setting up stalls, extending on both sides, and you couldn't see the end at a glance.

Moonlit Night City had also just had a big battle, and the market, which was originally lifeless due to currency adjustments, was rarely hot. Even if they didn't know the value of gold coins anymore, they were all naked at this time, so they had to buy some equipment to protect themselves.

The Moonlit Street was crowded with people, and the shouts of bargaining could be heard everywhere. This was the biggest difference from the system auction house. Here, the buying and selling parties traded face to face, and there was a lot of room for negotiation. The Ten Guild Alliance had a team of more than a hundred people at this time, and they were strolling along the street in a mighty manner.

These guys had lost some equipment in the previous city war, so of course they had to make up for it at this time. Everyone followed the guild leader's arrangement and really formed a hundred-person team to go shopping. As soon as they entered the street, their aura was full, and many stall players were so surprised that they were ready to close their stalls. The people of the Ten Guild Alliance! Why did so many people suddenly gather together? What could they be doing other than PK? They just didn't know which guild was going to be unlucky again.

The players of the Ten Guild Alliance were naturally used to being arrogant. Although they were forced to form a team at this time, it was a bit embarrassing to say it, but at this time, when they saw that the momentum of just forming a team had scared a considerable number of players, a group of people laughed. A warrior was laughing and walked to a small stall, pointed to an iron belt on the stall and asked about the price.

The stall owner was stunned for a moment, then answered. So bargaining, and ordinary buying and selling seemed to be no different. At the same time, the people of the Ten Guild Alliance also scattered and started to scan the stalls. When they saw something they liked, they went up to chat with the stall owner. The players understood that the Ten Guild Alliance was here to form a team to make purchases. But why did they have to make such a big show for shopping? The confused players soon knew the answer, because in less than a moment, another team appeared at the street entrance.

A neat team of thirty people. The equipment on everyone's body radiated more or less an unusual brilliance. In the trading street, the thing that people were most interested in was equipment, so a large number of players were appraising this team of people. As a result, the vast majority failed: insufficient level.

High level and good equipment, of course, were experts. A full thirty experts.

The moment the thirty experts stepped into the Moonlit Street, many people in the team suddenly became busy. They saw beams of light one after another, and the thirty people began to bless each other with states. What some of the skills and spells were, the players present didn't even recognize. But they at least knew one thing: the Ten Guild Alliance had set a precedent for forming a team to go shopping. But if they had to add combat states to forming a team to go shopping, then they couldn't naively think that they were here to go shopping.

Sensible players had already slipped away quietly, and countless stall players began to roll up their packages.

Too many players on the street noticed this situation, including the people of the Ten Guild Alliance. But compared to others, they knew the intentions of these guys more clearly.

"The Eagle Squad is encountered in the trading street! The Eagle Squad is encountered in the trading street!!" Someone hurriedly sent out the message. It was possible to confirm that the team in front of them was the Eagle Squad without thinking, because it was impossible to gather such an eye-catching team in Moonlit Night City.

Walking in front of the thirty people was a knight. When everyone thought he was going to explain something, they suddenly saw him draw his sword and point, and only said one word: "Charge!"

The Ten Guild Alliance's hundred-person shopping group had already scattered in all directions after entering the trading street. At this time, two-thirds of them didn't know that the Eagle Squad had set their sights on them. They only knew from the guild channel that the Eagle Squad was launching an attack on them on Moonlit Street.

The meager resistance organized by a few stragglers was ineffective. The Eagle Squad strode straight past them, throwing white light behind them.

The Moonlit Street was in chaos. Fortunately, the players of Moonlit Night City were too experienced in PK. Seeing that it was a battle that didn't concern them, everyone wisely squeezed to both sides of the street, leaving the middle empty for these guys who wanted to fight and kill.

"Return to the team, everyone return to the team!!!" The captain of the shopping group was calling out anxiously to the players who had scattered to shop.