Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 184: Desperate

If it weren't for the fact that Nocturne Order still had some reserves, the employees of the gaming studio might not have been able to receive their salaries.

After a mental struggle, she had no choice but to face reality.

After all, she still had over two thousand employees in her studio who depended on her to make ends meet.

These were the same people who had fought alongside her for seven or eight years. If they were forced to find other work, they might end up at the very bottom of society.

Recently, she had even considered disbanding the guild and seeking refuge under a more powerful faction.

Her only condition was that within this guild, she would have an independent rogue team—a team that would remain under her leadership.

Originally, she thought meeting Druid God was an opportunity.

She had heard that Renegade Alliance had recently reorganized its teams based on classes.

And in the Northern Frontier Region, it seemed like Renegade Alliance was the only guild she could still respect.

Moreover, Ethan had recently broken through an encirclement of thousands of players and escaped unscathed.

This had impressed her greatly. When Frostflamee ordered everyone to unleash large-scale AoE spells, she thought Ethan was done for.

She had even tried to stop Frostflame at the time.

When the melee fighters closed in on Ethan, she deliberately had her rogues hang back on the outskirts, pretending to be ineffective.

When Frostflame questioned her, she replied, "Rogues in stealth move too slowly; they couldn't break into the fight."

Her explanation didn't raise any suspicion, as the battlefield was chaotic, and even the shield tanks couldn't break through.

Now, Ethan had pinpointed the most critical weakness of her guild, striking a nerve.

She felt a chill in her heart. As expected of the Druid God… He had seen through the flaws of Nocturne Order at a glance. It seemed there was no way to squeeze more benefits out of this situation.

After Ethan finished speaking, he kept his eyes on her, but her expression remained unreadable.

'This woman is tough,' he thought. She was still holding her ground.

When Xandria remained silent, Ethan continued slowly, "I can dispatch ten fully developed teams to secretly join Nocturne Order. They'll help your guild earn enough points to upgrade your stronghold to Level 6. Consider this my thanks for your help today."

At this, Xandria slammed her palm on the table, her eyes widening in surprise as she stared at Ethan.

"Really?"

"Really. But…" Ethan clicked his tongue, his face showing a hint of hesitation.

"But what?" Xandria pressed.

He spread his hands and smiled, though his expression didn't quite match his words. "But I'm a bit strapped for cash. You'll have to cover the salaries and consumables for these people."

Xandria looked up at him, then scoffed. "The leader of Northern Frontier Region, and even Dragonspire's top guild, is this stingy? I guess your reputation was built on being a penny-pincher!"

Despite her words, she was secretly thrilled. Her original plan had been to join Renegade Alliance as a subordinate guild, but she had hoped they would publicly announce a partnership of equals.

She was barely holding on, and she had no choice but to lower her status just to ensure her people could survive.

This way, she could preserve the reputation of Nocturne Order while also gaining the support of Renegade Alliance.

Of course, she was confident that her all-rogue guild would provide significant value to Renegade Alliance in terms of future development and intelligence gathering.

At the end of the day, this woman was still concerned about her pride. Even if she had to suffer in private, she refused to bow her head in public.

What she hadn't expected was that before she could even state her conditions, Ethan had offered to send ten fully developed teams to secretly join Nocturne Order. This not only preserved the guild's reputation but also helped her solve her immediate problems.

She let out a long breath in her heart, thinking, 'Finally, I can keep going without needing outside investment.'

Originally, her gaming studio had been preparing for a round of funding, but she didn't want to go down that path.

She had been forced into it. Without the funding, her people who had fought alongside her for so long would be out of work.

This time, she had come to Ethan to explore her options. If Ethan remembered her help today and was willing to assist her, she would firmly reject any outside investment in her studio.

Now that Ethan had directly offered his support, it seemed she could turn down that other offer.

But before she could fully relax, Ethan's next words sent a chill down her spine.

"However, there's one condition," Ethan said, his tone turning serious. "Your studio or guild must not accept any investment from a man named Zachary Steele."

At this, Xandria froze.

Ethan's heart sank. 'Has he already made his move? In my past life, he didn't act this early!'

His expression darkened as he continued, "Otherwise, I won't hesitate to wipe out Nocturne Order."

"On what grounds?" Xandria slammed the table and stood up, her eyes blazing with anger. "Do you really think Nocturne Order is something you can just erase at will?"

Seeing this mature woman with a surprisingly soft, almost childlike voice yelling at him, Ethan's expression shifted.

He wasn't sure of what expression to make right now.

"Uh… ahem…" Ethan pretended to cough, trying to keep a straight face.

But seeing her like this, he struggled to suppress his amusement. Slowly, he said, "On what grounds? My feud with him is irreconcilable. That's the reason. As for Nocturne Order, I won't deny it's a strong guild! But let me give you a heads-up. In four or five months, Ethereal will launch the Fortress Wars. Do you think a single-class guild like yours can secure even one fortress?

Without a fortress, your guild will be forced to merge with others. By working with Renegade Alliance, I can at least allocate one fortress to you as your stronghold.

Oh, and speaking of strongholds, once the Fortress Wars begin, guilds will have to relocate their main bases to the fortresses within a set time frame. If they don't, the system will automatically disband them.

You might say that partnering with Zachary could also secure you a fortress. But let me tell you this: for every fortress he takes, I'll destroy it. If a guild's stronghold within a fortress is destroyed, the guild is automatically disbanded. And after I destroy one, I'll move on to the next. I won't even occupy them. I'll just keep destroying them. Ah, I…"

"Stop!" Xandria raised her hand, gesturing for him to pause. She looked both confused and alarmed. "Are you serious about this Fortress Wars? Where did you get this information? What are the benefits of holding a fortress?"

As Ethan spoke, Xandria broke out in a cold sweat. With this Druid God's reputation…

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If what he said about the Fortress Wars was true—that it would determine the survival of guilds, she could easily believe that someone like Ethan would go to extreme lengths to destroy his enemies.

As the saying goes, A gentleman takes ten years to seek revenge.

But Ethan didn't seem like a gentleman at all. If he wanted revenge, he probably wouldn't wait until the next day.