Chapter 1 Through the Plaza

Passing through a plaza and entering the most prosperous commercial street in the center of Hilton Fortress, right at the corner where the commercial street connected to the plaza, a luxurious three-story villa came into Nie Yan's view. It was surrounded by a wall, and inside, various plants were planted, with blooming flowers and fluttering butterflies. This area was extremely large, about 30 by 30 yards.

The beautiful scenery here was like a paradise in a bustling city.

Such a villa standing in the center of the commercial district was obviously extremely eye-catching.

If this piece of land were converted into a shop, it would be worth a lot of money. Unfortunately, Nie Yan could use the villa, but he had no right to demolish it and convert it into a shop, because this building had a long history and was a landmark building. Several wars had failed to destroy it.

It was said that six legendary mages had blessed it with a protective barrier, so it was not damaged during the demon siege.

This three-story villa would be a good temporary residence for the Niu Ren Tribe in Hilton Fortress, Nie Yan thought, as he walked towards the entrance of the villa.

A large group of players had gathered at the entrance of the villa, and they were discussing something.

Nie Yan was very surprised. What were these people doing here?

Walking to the side, he heard the players' discussion.

"Nie Yan's Home, is this Nie Yan a certain NPC or the Thief Nie Yan?"

"It shouldn't be the Thief Nie Yan, right? This villa is an important landmark building in Hilton Fortress. This area is full of commercial streets. In the future, it will definitely be worth its weight in gold. Even if the Thief Nie Yan has money, he should buy a shop, not such a villa with no practical value."

"It is said that this villa has a history of more than two thousand years and has changed more than twenty owners. Some NPCs say that there is a treasure hidden in the villa. If that is the case, it makes sense for the Thief Nie Yan to buy this villa."

Hearing these discussions, Nie Yan looked at the sign at the entrance of the villa. He saw a wooden sign hanging high on the pillar beside the door, simple yet very delicate, with the words 'Nie Yan's Home' written on it.

Generally, any NPC with a name and surname would mark his name on a wooden sign at the entrance of his residence.

This villa belonged to Nie Yan, so naturally, such a wooden sign was hung up.

After a while, the patrolling guards came and dispersed the players gathered here. From then on, the area within five yards of the villa entrance belonged to private territory, and players were prohibited from approaching without Nie Yan's permission.

Nie Yan walked around inside the villa. The villa was very spacious, and the furniture was complete. There was also a large open space in the garden.

Nie Yan posted a message in the Niu Ren Tribe, stating that this villa would be used as a temporary foothold for Niu Ren Tribe players in Hilton Fortress. It could accommodate hundreds of people.

The guild group chat was buzzing with excitement. Having such a detached villa in the bustling commercial district of Hilton Fortress was such a cool thing!

The official website's forum also exploded. Everyone envied Nie Yan's detached villa. Several wealthy players were even willing to pay 500,000 to 600,000 gold coins to buy it from Nie Yan, but Nie Yan refused. Nie Yan was not short of money, and besides, this villa was not allowed to be traded to others.

This villa was a symbol of his status in Hilton Fortress. In the future, Niu Ren Tribe players who came to Hilton Fortress would be based here. This building would also become one of the honors of the Niu Ren Tribe. Currently, no player could enjoy such honor in a city.

Earlier, he heard players say that there was a treasure in the villa. Nie Yan did not believe it easily. After all, these words were just rumors circulating casually, but it was impossible for him not to have any thoughts in his heart.

Nie Yan searched every room in the villa. The furnishings here were very simple, but elegant. He did not find any secret passages, so he had to give up. He cleared out the villa's hall and arranged the tables and chairs slightly so that it could be used as a meeting hall in the future.

"I heard you got a villa in Hilton Fortress?" Can Lan Dao Guang sent Nie Yan a message and asked.

"It was a reward for a quest. It will be used as a temporary foothold in the future. I'll have Guo Huai send someone over to manage it," Nie Yan said.

"That's not bad. We just need a place to work in Hilton Fortress," Can Lan Dao Guang said. Before, he had heard the news and thought it was a rumor. He didn't expect it to be true. With such a villa, it would be much more convenient to work in Hilton Fortress in the future.

"How is it going on your side?"

"We have already killed two monsters, and we are now killing the third one. A level 90 Lord is nothing more than this," Can Lan Dao Guang said with a light smile.

Nie Yan smiled. It wasn't that the level 90 Lord was too weak, but that the Niu Ren Tribe's elites were too strong. In his previous life, Nie Yan had never seen any guild with a lineup like the Niu Ren Tribe. Coupled with the invincible equipment on Can Lan Dao Guang and others, challenging a level 90 Lord was indeed not difficult.

Guo Huai had just received news that the Mage Alliance, which arrived in Hilton Fortress earlier than the Niu Ren Tribe, had killed a total of seven level 80 Lords, and the Sacred Guardians had killed six level 80 Lords. Their main shield warrior was not in the same league as Can Lan Dao Guang, Leng Ao Ying, Yi Yan, and others, so they did not dare to challenge such high-level Lords like the Niu Ren Tribe.

This was the difference!

The top players of the Niu Ren Tribe far surpassed other guilds.

"Be careful, don't be targeted by the Mage Alliance and the Sacred Guardians, and also the Blood Fiends, be careful of their sneak attacks," Nie Yan said. Can Lan Dao Guang and others had already watched the video of his fight with the Blood Fiends, and Can Lan Dao Guang and others should have realized the seriousness of the situation. If those five thieves wanted to sneak attack them, it would be absolutely impossible to defend against.

The Niu Ren Tribe's actions of killing level 90 Lord-level monsters must have been known by the Mage Alliance and the Sacred Guardians. It was hard to guarantee that they would not try to trip them up, and Can Lan Dao Guang and others had to be on guard.

After chatting with Can Lan Dao Guang for a while, Nie Yan cut off the voice call and then connected to Guo Huai's voice call, preparing to arrange some things in Hilton Fortress, including the management of the villa and how to use the six pieces of land.

"How are the gems selling?" Nie Yan asked Guo Huai.

"All the ones we put up have been sold, and the market demand is still very large. The gems with better quality are all with us, and players can't buy them at all. I guess many people are getting anxious. Do you want to sell some more?"

"Sell another 5% of the gems, and transfer 100 gold coins to me."

"What do you need so much money for?" Guo Huai was stunned and asked.

"To build auction houses. I just got six pieces of land in Hilton Fortress. Three of them are good for building auction houses, and you can handle the remaining three. I'll give you the management rights."

"You got six pieces of land in Hilton Fortress? Isn't the land in Hilton Fortress not for sale?" Guo Huai asked in surprise.

"I did a quest here," Nie Yan briefly narrated the process of obtaining the six pieces of land.

Guo Huai nodded and said, "I see, I'll transfer the money immediately." Now, it was very easy for the Niu Ren Tribe to raise one or two million gold coins, and there was no shortage of funds at all.

After a while, one million gold coins were transferred. With one million gold coins, Nie Yan immediately built auction houses on those pieces of land. It cost about 100,000 gold coins to build a level 1 auction house, and about 300,000 gold coins to upgrade to a level 5 auction house. Three magnificent auction houses stood up.

Auction houses were definitely the most profitable industry. The three auction houses were in excellent locations and were the first to open. The three stores were linked together, which made it easy to form a recognition among players. As long as Nie Yan managed them well and there were no problems, they could occupy at least 80% of the entire Hilton Fortress market.

Regarding how to use the remaining three pieces of land, Nie Yan and Guo Huai discussed it and decided to open shops for raw material collection, equipment processing, and alchemy enchantment. These industries earned less than auction houses, but they were also popular industries.

How much money could be made in Hilton Fortress remained to be seen, but the future popularity of Hilton Fortress was definitely no less than that of Carrol City, and a big profit was certain.

After arranging all six pieces of land, Nie Yan prepared to kill one or two monsters and continue leveling up. He was only one step away from level 100. After reaching level 100, he could attempt the Saint Shadow Dance.

"Nie Yan, where are you now?" Xie Yao sent a message.

"I'm in Hilton Fortress. How is your quest going?" Nie Yan asked. Xie Yao had been doing quests during this time. When he sent Xie Yao a message, it showed that the other party was in the quest process. Although he could forcibly connect to the voice call, Nie Yan still chose to hang up to avoid affecting Xie Yao's quest progress.

"I've completed part of it. I've collected three pieces of that set of equipment, and the fourth piece can only be collected after level 100," Xie Yao said.

"Come and level up together," Nie Yan thought for a moment and said. Xie Yao's leveling speed was definitely not slow. A thief and a remote high-attack Holy Word Mage would definitely level up faster together.

Nie Yan looked at Xie Yao's level, which was already level 79. Plus, she already had three pieces of legendary equipment, and her spell damage must be ridiculously high.

"Okay, I'm about a twenty-minute trip from Hilton Fortress," Xie Yao said. She summoned her horse and ran towards Hilton Fortress.

When he was rushing to level 100 in his previous life, Nie Yan had spent some time near Hilton Fortress and still had some impression of the environment here. In his memory, after Hilton Fortress was besieged by monsters, some underground players successively arrived on the ground and had several major battles with the surface players. Later, after the monsters were cleared, the area near Hilton Fortress completely became a battlefield for mixed battles between surface players and underground players.

The battles between camps were estimated to begin soon.