My Players Are So Fierce

Chapter 240:

“Bang”

The Wolfsbane emissary, who entered the Wilderness Transformation state and attempted to fight for his life with brutal force, was knocked away like a ball and fell unconscious before hitting the ground.

Kudel clearly held back his strength, only shattering the emissary’s hand bones and ribs without killing him instantly.

Although Kudel’s nominal strength was only at the elite Silver rank, in addition to being a Night Blade Sword Master under the vampire system, he also had the bonus of the “Holy Grail Knight” secondary profession. This allowed him to exert combat power far beyond that of ordinary Silver individuals, otherwise Salrokdar wouldn’t have picked him up like a treasure during the 4th Black Disaster and brought him back to Kadman City.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Civilian Protection Officer Kudel is now the second strongest fighter in the Blood Vulture Clan after Tris. The young lady, who completed the Silver trial and discovered her unique power, could rank third, while the humble Lord Murphy naturally ranked fourth.

Of course, Murphy had a slight “objection” to this ranking.

He felt that although he was no match for Kudel, if he were to fight the young lady to the death, it was still uncertain who would win or lose.

In any case, for a unique individual like Kudel, whose actual combat power was severely inconsistent with his nominal rank and who had incredibly rich combat experience, ordinary Iron-rank Wolf Claw warriors were as good as dead if they even brushed against him.

These weak comrades posed even less of a threat to the Civilian Protection Officer than the bloody flail wielded by the gnoll chieftain.

However, encountering Wolfsbane clan’s minions in the southernmost part of Transia was indeed a strange thing, causing Kudel’s expression to turn serious under his face plate.

As he withdrew his greatsword, he had to start pondering an important question: what exactly were these bastards planning to do on Transia’s land? The doubt that followed was, although the Wolfsbane clan was known throughout vampire society for not following rules, these unscrupulous fellows had actually started mingling with gnolls.

This was obviously a bit too abnormal.

Were they trying to recruit these gnolls?

If we start from this slightly terrifying conclusion, it’s worth pondering whether the gnoll warlord who recently rose to power in the Anderma Hills really gathered a large gnoll army solely based on its “personal charm”.

“During the Black Disaster, you still dare to collude with gnolls! Your guts are truly big, but this might not be a bad thing. Murphy has been trying to find more helpers, and your stupidity will give him a perfect reason to ‘seek aid’.

What’s that phrase they always have on their lips?

You guys are quite good.”

Kudel’s tone was full of contempt.

He waved his hand on horseback, and several veteran soldiers of the People’s Army following him immediately swarmed forward, using shackles to lock up the dying Wolfsbane vampire emissary.

The Hunting Baron had now noticed that something was wrong. He raised his head just in time to call out to the other vampires, only to see Maxim slowly descending while holding a female vampire who had been torn off two arms and a leg, and was now hovering between life and death.

In Maxim’s other hand was a still-beating vampire heart. He really showed no mercy to the fairer sex. By the looks of it, if he hadn’t wanted to keep a prisoner for interrogation, both Wolfsbane girls would have died miserably under Maxim’s claws.

This kind of internecine killing among the same clan can hardly be called a virtue, but Kudel knew that with just one glance from Murphy, Maxim would mercilessly turn his blade against anyone.

Loyalty is often a term of praise in many situations, but it can occasionally make people feel terrified as well.

“Max, you shouldn’t be so rough with ladies.”

Kudel, as a former Holy Grail Knight, shook his head and reminded:

“Although I despise the elaborate etiquette of vampires, you are after all a member of the Blood Vultures. You should act according to the traditions of the ancient blood clans, otherwise other vampires will consider you uncultured. You may not care about these things, but it will affect the face of your superiors.

You need to distinguish between how you treat traitors and how you treat others, even if they are enemies.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Lord Kudel.”

Maxim nodded very seriously.

Coming from a humble background, he indeed didn’t care much about etiquette and had no intention of changing his combat habits. However, if this matter involved Lord Murphy’s image, then it must be taken seriously.

Therefore, the Baron of Leim, who had just stretched his limbs, immediately decided that after returning this time, he would have to ask Adele about the traditional etiquette of the Blood Vulture Clan in this regard.

This is the downside of being a vampire, there are standards for everything you do.

Moreover, those pedantic standards have been passed down for hundreds or even thousands of years. Except for the generally “low-quality” Wolfsbane and the mad blood clan that has been sealed since before the current era, other clans still value these quite a bit.

The older the vampire, the more they care about these superficial practices.

“There are quite a few Wolfsbane emissaries here.”

Kudel sensed the chaotic battle ahead, keenly detecting several individuals with auras different from the gnolls. He said:

“First, let’s figure out their purpose for coming here. Afterwards, I will take the warriors back to Crimson Citadel to report this matter in person to Grand Duchess Tris.

You and your army continue to stay here, spend some time clearing out the remaining gnolls in the vicinity, then head to the quarry near Baron Morland’s domain for rest and preparation, waiting for the next hunt.”

“Yes, sir.”

Maxim nodded in agreement, but then he reminded:

“I think we should let the warriors handle the task of finding intelligence. Their talent for looting far surpasses ours. As long as you give the order, they will turn this den upside down, and it won’t take more than an hour.”

“Order.”

Kudel grasped the Computation Bead hanging on his wrist.

He was still not very accustomed to using this method to mobilize the warriors, so Maxim took the initiative and said:

“I’ll do it this time, sir.

But you must learn this method as soon as possible. Properly distributing tasks is the most important aspect when dealing with warriors. Also, I must remind you that the two otherworld warriors you’ve been favoring these past few days were ‘warriors’ I had pre-selected.

Although it’s not very proper to say this, you need to find your own twelve ‘warriors’ and ‘champion warrior’ instead of directly taking them from me.

We are Blood Vultures.

We need to do things by the rules.”

“But I despise the tradition of keeping blood servants!”

Kudel said with a straight face:

“I don’t like this mode of vassalage based on blood connections.”

“This is not the tradition of blood servants, Lord Kudel. Only those important figures recognized by Lord Murphy have the right to recruit their own twelve warriors. You can view them as your warrior retainers or even knight apprentices.

They are absolutely not blood servants in the traditional sense, because once you choose your own warriors, you need to put effort into nurturing them.”

Maxim explained:

“Grand Duchess Tris, Adele, and Miss Femis all have their own twelve warriors, and even Lord Murphy has them. You can understand this as a ‘new tradition’ of the Blood Vultures. Most importantly, the selection of warriors is not limited to vampires.

Anyone you recognize, regardless of their race, can become your warrior. They will act in your name throughout Transia and even the entire continent.

Therefore, you need to be cautious.

If your warriors cause trouble, you’ll be personally responsible for dealing with it. This is a relationship where you share both glory and disgrace. You can even grant your knightly titles to them.

They are equivalent to your vassals.

In human noble terms, this is a symbol of ‘honor’!”

“I see! It seems I still don’t fully understand the new Blood Vulture traditions that Murphy has been shaping.”

Kudel nodded thoughtfully.

Since it wasn’t the decadent system of blood servants, he was indeed interested in cultivating his own twelve warriors. He hoped to personally train several “Holy Grail Knights” like himself in the past to serve as guardians of justice and order in Transia.

This was obviously difficult, and largely dependent on luck.

But Kudel hoped to accomplish this.

After a few seconds, he made a decision and dismounted to say quietly to Maxim:

“But I indeed have my eye on that warrior named ‘Mao’. His pursuit of skill, thirst for victory, and adherence to principles remind me of my younger self! What’s even better is that, like me, he resists the call of midnight, seeking to reach the pinnacle of power and skill with a pure human body.

I very much hope to personally train him to become the next ‘Nantes Ranger’ or ‘Transia Ranger’, so, Max, can you part with him?

I will offer a reward that satisfies you in return.”

“Well…”

The request from Lord Kudel made Maxim hesitate.

He currently had four warriors.

Besides Brother Mao, there were Sister Pomegranate, Khaki Tony Tai, and Path of Mud and Oil. He could see Brother Mao’s super talent, but the latter adamantly refused to join the Blood Vultures to serve Lord Murphy, which indeed made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

He wouldn’t distance himself from Brother Mao because of this, but the difference in their understanding of “loyalty” made it difficult for Maxim to wholeheartedly cultivate that warrior.

Lord Kudel before him was the best person he could find to entrust with both strength and integrity. Perhaps handing Brother Mao over to the Blood Vulture Civilian Protection Officer was the right choice.

However, Maxim still didn’t agree immediately.

He seriously replied:

“We need to ask for his own opinion! Lord Murphy won’t allow forced exchanges of warriors to happen on this land. If he agrees, then I have no objections.

Of course, as part of the ceremony and ‘punishment’, he must complete a difficult task that benefits Lord Murphy’s grand cause for me, to bid farewell to my faction and join your ‘Civilian Protection Officer faction’.

Actually, his four companions are also very talented. Perhaps you might consider them as well?”

“Hmm, that’s how it should be!”

Kudel nodded with satisfaction.

Clearly, he had no objections to this approach full of “knightly virtue”.

——

“A new quest has been triggered, Brother Stick!”

On the Onboard Joy Stick team’s side, who had just captured a Wolfsbane emissary alive, Kind-Face Giant Shark Uncle, who had just passed the Iron trial, excitedly ran over and shouted:

“Lord Maxim wants us tough and domineering warriors to find evidence of these Wolfsbane pups colluding with gnolls! Is this the legendary looting quest?”

“No, this should be a new branch storyline, consider it a random event. This damn game has tons of random events, but most don’t have much payoff.”

Onboard Joy Stick sat on a box resting, and said to his companions standing beside him:

“Now that the battle is over, we can indeed start looting. Let’s start from the cave where the gnoll leader was and spread out in a carpet search. You all know the rules, all spoils must be turned in!

No matter how good the items are, we’ll discuss distribution at the post-battle sharing meeting! Anyone who dares to embezzle privately and gets caught will be kicked out of the team immediately!

This is a bottom line issue, no room for negotiation.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Brother Stick, we’re all hot-blooded men, how could we do such a shameful thing?”

Tiger Leopard Rider – Soldier replied, holding a firearm with a bayonet, then dispersed with other players to carry out their favorite looting phase.

Thanks to Brother Stick’s investment deal with Little Rich Brother in real life, he had already registered a company, and the first batch of employees were his nine brothers.

This allowed everyone to maximize their daily online time, and the families of the brothers didn’t have much objection, after all, they were earning more money than when they were working their miserable jobs before. Moreover, Brother Stick paid three months’ salary in advance as a deposit. This pile of cold hard cash immediately boosted the team’s cohesion.

Although the business model of this game company is still not transparent, Brother Stick is confident in managing it well.

He was still calculating the profits from this time.

According to his agreement with Little Rich Brother, one-tenth of all the gold coins obtained from spoils and quests had to be sent to Feel You Poor. This distribution ratio was fixed.

It sounds a bit unfair, but Brother Stick had no complaints about this. After all, the other party had invested real money to support his group of brothers, so what’s giving them some game currency?

But it wasn’t easy to distribute the physical items seized in the game.

Currently, there’s no official auction house or similar institution in the game, causing players to still be in a primitive state of “barter”, which is really frustrating.

Most importantly, there’s no reasonable valuation method.

If they really get some divine weapons and tools in the future, pricing will be a big problem no matter how they do it.

But Brother Stick guessed that the development team certainly wouldn’t leave this situation unattended. Perhaps there will be patches for this aspect in future updates. The best solution would be for officials to set up pricing authority or simply open an auction house, so that players won’t have much to complain about.

“It would be best to have an official game currency exchange mall.”

Onboard Joy Stick rubbed his chin and thought:

“The current 1:10 exchange rate for game currency is still a convention among players. It’s convenient, but when there are more people in the future and things get mixed up, trouble might occur. This Alpha company is really strange, they have all kinds of money-making methods at their disposal but don’t use them. It really makes one wonder what their background is?

They don’t even want free money?”

“Brother Stick! Come quickly, we’ve found something good!”

Tiger Leopard Rider – Forest’s shout rang out in the team framework, making Brother Stick perk up.

This guy was recognized as the luckiest one in the Crimson Hammer and Sickle team. He had found good items in the previous few prize draws. Hearing his excited shout now, Onboard Joy Stick was delighted and immediately got up and ran over.

In a hidden cave deep in the gnoll den, players had already gathered.

Torches were lit, making it as bright as day.

The people from the girl team who initiated this operation were also here, and beside everyone were numerous piled-up boxes. These were the accumulation of years of looting by this group of gnolls, all items that couldn’t be eaten or used up, including several boxes of alcohol and iron ingots from the dwarves.

Judging from the drag marks in the cave, this should have been specially piled up by the gnolls recently.

“There are several boxes of armor and weapons here.”

Sister Pomegranate, with her arms folded, kicked the box beside her, making the metal items inside clang loudly. She said:

“They all have the emblem of a certain forge from the Goldflower Kingdom, definitely not something these gnolls looted! I’d say, it might be stuff those Wolfsbane punks brought over for trade. Although the Quality is generally average, it’s already quite good equipment for gnolls.

There’s clearly some private dealing going on between them.”

“Looks like we’ve triggered quite a quest.”

Onboard Joy Stick laughed, and the atmosphere in the cave lightened up. But next came the loot-sharing phase that had to be taken seriously. Lumina was the first to propose:

“The things here can’t be directly divided, we can’t use them even if we take them. My suggestion is to bring them back to the administration for NPC appraisal and purchase. Then we split the money according to the previously agreed ratio?

This is the most convenient way.”

“The NPCs will definitely lowball us!”

Feel You Poor, holding a torch in the crowd, complained:

“I’ve never seen such stingy NPCs. If we can get 60% of the original price for all these things from them, we should consider ourselves lucky.”

“Then what should we do?”

Little Ashina shrugged and said:

“If we don’t sell to the administration, who else do you want to sell to? There’s no other force in Transia that can take all these things, right? We can’t sell them to the northerners in Fort Crimea, that would be treason.

How about this?

We first send this batch of goods for appraisal, then our ‘Silver Moon Pride’ team will pay a 10% premium to buy them.”

This suggestion was outrageous!

The hidden agenda was almost bursting onto Onboard Joy Stick’s face. Even if he was slow, he had already noticed something was amiss.

“What exactly are you guys trying to do?”

Brother Stick narrowed his eyes and said:

“You also took all the supplies from the previous few camps. I guess you used the several thousand gold coins you bought from that gang treasure last time to purchase these supplies, right? You must have found a good way to make money, and keeping it hidden is a bit unfair.

Let’s all make money together.”

Lumina, Orchid, and Lady Aqua discussed in low voices for a while, then she coughed and said:

“We can tell you, but then you won’t get a share of the profits this time. But in my opinion, exchanging these things for information is really not a loss.

Trust me.”

“That won’t do. I’m not listening anymore. I’m now operating as a company, and constantly not seeing profits will cause problems. Let’s do as you said before, first transport these things back to Crimson Citadel for appraisal.”

Brother Stick waved his hand, not asking any more questions.

He was planning to ask Meow King after logging off. That cunning guy must know some inside information.

Speaking of which, Meow King’s team seems to have been collecting these resources that can’t be directly exchanged for money in the past few days. It’s said that they even rented a large warehouse in the camp.

So it turns out that several forces have already taken action, and only his side was busy recruiting and training people, so they didn’t figure out the “little trick to get rich”?

Damn!

These guys are playing dirty.

Brother Stick admitted that he and his group of brothers weren’t as smart as Brother Meow and the girl team. When others had discovered business opportunities, they were still kept in the dark.

Although their ambition wasn’t to make money, it’s not good to always be one step behind others.

It seems he really needs to recruit some advisors.