Inside the junkyard of Safe Zone 9527, the Guild Leader of Coffin Guild, [Overlord], tried his best to calm himself down. He slowly walked up to [EarlyToBed], the Guild Leader of Winter Guild, and spoke in a low voice:
"Serena, it's not too late. Tell your Winter Guild players to stop now."
[Overlord's] gaze was cold and heavy as he looked around at the other important members of the various guilds in Safe Zone 9527. There was a clear threat in his eyes as he continued:
"You're really going to make enemies with Coffin Guild just because of some Intel reward rumor that might not even be true? Isn't that a bit reckless?"
Before he could finish, a mocking smile appeared on [EarlyToBed's ]beautiful face. She responded:
"Reckless? No, [Overlord], I think you've got it wrong. Even if that Intel reward is fake, as long as there's a good chance, the other guilds will still go after Coffin Guild on purpose."
"Those who do the right thing will always have more support, while those who don't will find themselves alone. You should understand this, right? Coffin Guild has been way too arrogant, always bullying regular players. This is the ending you deserve."
Hearing this, [Overlord's] face instantly darkened.
In his eyes, Coffin Guild hadn't done anything wrong at all.
Whether in real life or in Dawnfall Online, the strong always stand above the weak.
The trouble Coffin Guild was facing this time was just a matter of bad luck. When they were taking on the secret boss in Frostspire Tower, that damn guy [Windchaser] seized the opportunity and stole everything that should've belonged to Coffin Guild.
Thinking of this, [Overlord] let out a cold snort and said harshly to the other guild leaders,
"Just you wait. The truth will come out in the end. Everyone who goes against Coffin Guild will regret it!"
"As for Windchaser? You'll see him at the respawn point soon enough!"
To [Overlord], Coffin Guild's players hadn't actually done anything to harm [Windchase]r at first—in fact, it was [Windchaser] who had caused Coffin Guild heavy losses.
No normal person would ever be as crazy as [Windchaser]—using a high-quality purple Intel reward just to bait other guilds into targeting Coffin Guild.
It was like anyone who messed with [Windchaser] would have to face his direct and ruthless counterattack, without any hesitation.
Suddenly, [Overlord] understood something, and his expression grew even darker.
He muttered under his breath: "So he wants to make an example of me and Coffin Guild? Ridiculous. He's just a lucky nobody—has no idea how out of his depth he is."
Then, without looking back, [Overlord] walked straight towards the respawn point in Safe Zone 9527, a place known as Noob Nest.
He still had confidence in his own guild. What he wanted most was to see the look of fear on [Windchaser's] face after he respawned.
To show everyone in Safe Zone 9527 that anyone who dared go against Coffin Guild would face terrible revenge.
After [Overlord] left, [EarlyToBed], the leader of Winter Guild, glanced at her watch and frowned at the guild channel messages.
Some Winter Guild members reported that ten Coffin Guild players had slipped away from their pursuit and were heading deeper into the sewers.
[EarlyToBed] started typing a message in the guild channel but didn't send it right away:
[Everyone, chase after the Coffin Guild players at full speed. Don't let any of them get away. Try to kill them all before they find Windchaser!]
If Coffin Guild's players found and killed [Windchaser] first, that Guild Hidden Quest Intel reward might drop.
Suddenly, as she thought of this, [EarlyToBed] paused, then slowly deleted the message instead of sending it.
She opened a private chat on her watch and messaged one of the stronger Winter Guild players who was already in the sewer map:
[EarlyToBed]: [If you can, hold off for now. Wait until Coffin Guild's players kill him, then jump in and grab the possible Intel reward for yourselves.]
This way, if things worked out, Winter Guild could save a lot of money.
After all, a hidden guild quest worth 100 guild reputation points could easily go for millions if put up for auction!
[Windchaser] was probably just an ordinary player who happened to be extremely lucky. Faced with desperate and crazy Coffin Guild players, he'd most likely get killed right away.
If his luck still held out, maybe he'd have a chance to escape.
As for any other possibilities, [EarlyToBed] didn't think there were any.
She figured it was time to head to Noob Nest herself. If the purple-quality Intel reward didn't drop after [Windchaser] died, she'd try to befriend him and see if she could buy that Intel ahead of time.
The other important members from different guilds had similar ideas. One after another, they all left the junkyard and made their way to Noob Nest in Safe Zone 9527.
...
Deep in the sewers of Safe Zone 9527, Ethan was moving toward the spot marked by the "Special Potion Intel in the No. 9527 Safe Zone Sewers," with [Tank] and [Kayla] following him.
Along the way, they fought off a few more sewer monsters. [Tank] and [Kayla] were clearly getting tired.
[Kayla] wanted to stop and rest a bit, but [Tank] glanced at Ethan and said,
"Let's keep going. If we take a break now, the Coffin Guild players might catch up, and then we'll be in real trouble."
[Kayla] gritted her teeth and tried to keep moving.
Just then, Ethan spoke up quietly, "It's okay, you two can rest here for a bit. I'll keep watch from behind."
[Tank] hesitated for a moment, but then nodded, agreeing with Ethan's plan.
Once Ethan left with his longsword to stand guard, [Tank] turned to [Kayla] and sighed, "[Windchaser] really is a good guy. If the Coffin Guild players catch up, he's as good as dead."
"Well, let's just take five minutes to rest and get our energy back."
[Kayla] looked in the direction Ethan had gone, nodded hard, and replied, "Yeah, but somehow I feel like [Windchaser] isn't worried about the danger at all."
[Tank] sighed again. In his mind, [Windchaser] was just pretending to be calm so they wouldn't worry.
[Windchaser] was a good person—definitely worth being friends with.
Right now, Ethan had no idea what [Tank] and [Kayla] were talking about. He was holding his longsword, searching through piles of trash in the sewer.
This was exactly the spot mentioned in the [Special Potion Intel in the No. 9527 Safe Zone Sewers]. Actually, he and the others had already passed by here a little earlier.
But at that time, Ethan didn't take any action. He was waiting until [Tank] and [Kayla] got tired, so he could keep risks to a minimum.
Very soon, he spotted a white suitcase, stained with dark brown grime. Next to it was a skeleton, picked clean.
Ethan grabbed the suitcase right away and then looked at an item lying next to the bones.
It was a badge. Although the words were smeared and hard to read, he could still make out "Frostspire Tower Research Institute."
He opened the suitcase. Inside was a glowing purple potion and a syringe. There were also two empty slots in the case, but nothing else.
[Third Generation Human Potential Enhancement Potion]
[Quality]: Purple
[Requirement]: Level 8 or above
[Effect]: Instantly raises your level to 10 and gives you 5 extra stat points.
[Description]: After countless animal and human tests, the Third Generation Human Potential Enhancement Potion can greatly increase all of a person's stats with no side effects. However, the injection is extremely painful, and most people who use it suffer a mental breakdown.