Hua Luo Hongchen realized that this was no place to linger and led her people away in a hurry.
Sure enough, not long after the people from Tulip left the dungeon,
A fully armed team also emerged from the Instance Entrance.
It was a ten-person team with every class represented. Each member wore five pieces of Protective Gear and three Accessories, completing their Equipment sets. Some of their Equipment even looked clean and brand-new—the appearance unique to Blue-Grade Equipment.
Yet all these players, whose Equipment could be called luxurious at this stage, wore gloomy expressions, despite successfully clearing the stage.
this was the Hundred Flowers in Bloom Guild’s top team.
They enjoyed the Guild’s maximum resource allocation. Failing to earn the honor of being the first to clear this Outdoor Instance would have been understandable; their opponents were top teams from the Firmament Guild and Supreme Imperial Dynasty Guild, both organizations as large as theirs.
But they had not even held on to third place. That was a serious failure. As a top raiding team from one of the Three Great Guilds, they had tackled an Outdoor Instance and failed to secure even a top-three ranking.
It was an embarrassment to the Hundred Flowers in Bloom Guild.
A Senior guild officer would soon reprimand them. The Guild might even deduct their bonuses and adjust their resource allocation.
In a large guild like Hundred Flowers in Bloom, which was practically a corporation, they were not the only top raiding team. The Second Team, Third Team, and many other reserve teams close behind them were all watching their position covetously.
“Which team took third place in clearing the stage? Don’t tell me it was the second teams of Firmament and Supreme Imperial Dynasty?”
“If we couldn’t even beat their Second Teams, we might as well cremate ourselves on the spot!”
“This is humiliating beyond belief! Wait until we get back and get chewed out!”
“We didn’t make any mistakes, either. How could we not even get into the top three? I thought we could take first place this time!”
…
The members of the Hundred Blossoms First Team wore dark expressions as they discussed the matter in dejected voices.
They had only just come out and had not received the news, so they speculated about who had secretly knocked them out of the rankings.
As the First Team, they had excellent sources of information. Soon, someone received word that a team from a Gold-Farming Studio under their own Guild had beaten them.
That Studio had not even managed to gather a full ten-person lineup when entering the dungeon…
For a moment, the members of the Hundred Blossoms First Team looked at one another, speechless.
…
By then, several members of Tulip had left the troublesome area around the Outdoor Instance Entrance.
“Big Sis, I think I heard someone say that we blew away the Hundred Blossoms First Team. Is that true?” After getting away from the crowd, Handsome Hua Manlou immediately asked excitedly.
Hua Luo Hongchen frowned and gave a slight nod.
“That feels great! Ha-ha! I really want to see the expressions on those arrogant first team players’ faces right now!” After receiving confirmation, Handsome Hua Manlou burst into delighted laughter.
“Are we going to level up next?” Hua Luo Hongchen ignored her flippant Dog Bro and looked at Nangong Wen and Xia Miao instead.
“I want to sleep…” Xia Miao was about to speak when a fair hand covered her mouth.
“No, you don’t. You want to keep leveling!” Nangong Wen rested her head on Xia Miao’s shoulder and said with a beaming smile.
“Hehe, you two are close. No wonder you’re such good girlfriends—you sleep in the same bed~” Hua Luo Hongchen smiled and teased them.
“Who… who sleeps in the same bed?!” The teasing made Nangong Wen’s cheeks flush scarlet, and she asked irritably, “How did you know?!”
“Oh my, I was only saying it, and you admitted it without anyone asking~” Hua Luo Hongchen’s beautiful eyes curved into adorable crescent moons as the smile at the corners of her lips deepened.
“Sister Hongchen, you…!” Nangong Wen still wanted to argue, but this time Xia Miao covered her mouth.
Xia Miao felt that, if she did not intervene, Hua Luo Hongchen would even pry the color of Nangong Wen’s underwear out of her.
“I won’t tease you anymore. Go level up. We still have something else to do.” Hua Luo Hongchen stroked Nangong Wen’s cheek and chuckled.
Nangong Wen’s face turned even redder, and she fled with Xia Miao in tow.
But Xia Miao clearly saw the corners of Nangong Wen’s lips struggling not to curl upward.
She was practically being fished into a permanent pout!
After the two left, however, the smile on Hua Luo Hongchen’s face faded, replaced by a hint of worry.
“This is troublesome.” Hua Luo Hongchen sighed and muttered to herself.
“What’s wrong, Big Sis?” Handsome Hua Manlou looked bewildered. The other Studio members were silent too, leaving him completely at a loss.
“Being in the limelight today may not be a good thing…” Hua Luo Hongchen explained calmly. “We took a top-three spot from the Guild’s First Team. Although the Guild will support us, it will also set its sights on us.”
“Set its sights on us… for what?” Handsome Hua Manlou was still confused.
“If a guild offered you several hundred thousand a month to poach you, would you go?” Hua Luo Hongchen had not expected her Dog Bro to be so stupid, and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? Who wouldn’t be tempted by those terms…”
Handsome Hua Manlou had said only a couple of words when he realized what she meant. His eyes widened as he looked toward the direction in which Nangong Wen and Xia Miao had left, and he panicked.
“What are we going to do, Big Sis? We finally recruited two beautiful girls, and the Guild is going to poach them before we’ve even gotten used to having them around!”
“What a pity…” Imperial Guards snorted.
It was impossible to tell whether he lamented the two of them being poached or the loss of that Skill Book.
The others also fell silent. Before the behemoth that was the guild, they had no power to resist whatsoever.
Besides, as a Gaming Studio under the Hundred Flowers in Bloom Guild, Tulip was expected to provide the Guild with talented players.
“I expect it won’t be just Hundred Flowers in Bloom. Firmament and Supreme Imperial Dynasty may take action too. After all, we stole the limelight by stepping on the Guild’s First Team.” For some reason, Hua Luo Hongchen smiled, a faint, inscrutable smile forming at the corners of her lips.
That smile made the members of Tulip uneasy.
“Big Sis, you’re not thinking of selling the two of them to Firmament and Supreme Imperial Dynasty at a high price, are you?” Handsome Hua Manlou shrank his neck. He did not know what scheme Hua Luo Hongchen had in mind, but whenever she wore that expression, it meant she had thought of some terrible idea.
“Is that the kind of person you think I am?” Hua Luo Hongchen shot her Dog Bro a sidelong glance.
“Yes, uh… no, no!” Handsome Hua Manlou answered instinctively, then shook his head at once.
“The guild’s action should still be some time away. I can buy us one more night.”
Hua Luo Hongchen rubbed her smooth chin. A gleam of Wisdom flickered in her eyes as she gritted her teeth.
“Tonight, I’ll sacrifice a little of my beauty and win them over!”
Damn!
The members of Tulip rolled their eyes.
So after thinking for all that time, that was all she had come up with?
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