"Contact God of War and Breeze and Rain?"

I hesitated for a moment before confirming, "You sure? During the War of Purple Grape City, I killed Breeze and Rain with my own hands. Can you promise me that they’ll not attack me immediately?"

Flowing Cloud giggled. "Relax, neither God of War nor Breeze and Rain are narrow-minded people, and you should have more confidence in your abilities. You’re the man who stands at the top of the continent right now. If you truly wish to join Elephant City, God of War will only welcome you with open arms. Seriously."

"Well, okay…" I nodded. "Stay here while you contact them. I’m worried that I might be surrounded and attacked the moment you’re gone."

"Hehe, don’t worry, I’m not leaving!"

Flowing Cloud sat down on a giant rock beside me, the pearl necklace hanging beneath her battle garment swaying to the movement of her legs. After she planted her sword on the ground, she began contacting all the major figures of India.

Around 15 minutes later, Flowing Cloud turned around and shot me a smile. "Alright, done. In half an hour, God of War, Breeze and Rain, Wild King, Dark Clouds Sorrow, Ironscale and more will arrive at this location and discuss your joining. How do you like that? By the way, there’s another Chinese force joining Elephant City besides you."

I carefully hid the gleam in my eyes and asked her smilingly, "Who’s that?"

"The guild leader of Sword Lord of Jianghu, Now and Forever. From what I heard, he’s bringing over the map of a tier 2 city. That’s why he was treated as an honored guest by the guild leader of Dark Clouds!"

A bit of disdain crept onto Flowing Cloud’s features. "You left because you were betrayed by your whole country. Now and Forever though, he’s just a little man who’s acting on his greed!"

I turned around, sat on a black rock on the opposite side of Flowing Cloud and asked, "What kind of treatment Now and Forever got for joining the India server?"

Flowing Cloud hummed a bit before answering, "I’m not too sure, but from what I heard, Dark Clouds Sorrow had promised personally to treat him as an honored guest, and he even sent 10 million RMB to his bank account as proof of his sincerity. He has also sent his men to the China server to receive the deserter."

I licked my lips. "Has Dark Clouds Sorrow gotten the map yet? No, that makes no sense. If that was the case, he wouldn’t be in such a rush to receive Now and Forever."

Flowing Cloud burst into a giggle. "Smart boy. You’re correct. Now and Forever is a very pragmatic person, and he’s demanding a total payment of 50 million RMB and long-term stay in India for the map. Until that happens, he won’t be giving up the map easily. That being said, he’s probably plotting a flight to India very soon. At the latest tomorrow, the map will surely fall in Dark Clouds Sorrow’s hands. Honestly, it’s a bit annoying that the credit is going to him again… Hmph!"

I snorted in agreement as well.

Flowing Cloud shot me another smile and said, "Well, this doesn’t matter to you anyway. I understand that you’ve been living in fear and despair ever since you were left behind in Final Duel Valley. I promise you that you’ll never go through an experience like this again. Just give me the word, and both I and my guild will do my best to support you. We are comrades now."

I smiled but didn’t answer her.

……

Half an hour later, an incredible amount of players started flooding into this part of the mountain range. Among them were elites such as the Divine Elephant Cavalry, the Beast King Cavalry, the Lightning Archers, the White Horse Cavalry and more. There were only ten thousand of them or so, but they were all elites that weren’t to be underestimated, not to mention that God of War, Breeze and Rain, Wild King and more were among them.

God of War was wielding a fiery warblade when he rode up to us and dismounted. Judging from the energy circling around his blade, he was probably in a battle-ready state.

I immediately rose to my feet and summoned the spinning image of a dragon around my arm as well. It was the visual effect when summoning the Ancient Divine Dragon. If necessary, I could summon it in less than a second and transform into a dragon knight. God of War might not know the details, but I was sure he knew better than to treat me lightly. The same went for me, of course. I must remain on guard at all times, or they could stab me in the back and kill me. Without a main city to return to, I could only revive at a nearby graveyard. There were few fates worse than having your corpse camped ad infinitum.

"Hahaha…"

God of War let out a refreshing laugh and sheathed his weapon abruptly. He said smilingly, "There is no need for such hostility, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand. If you’ve truly resolved yourself to join the India server, then we will only welcome you with open arms. From now on, a new Divine General joins Elephant City!"

Breeze and Rain smiled as well. "God of War is right."

The Level 192 Wild King didn’t look as happy as they were though. He plastered an obviously fake smile on his face and said, "Did the pain and despair finally get to you after 3 days of desperate fighting in Final Duel Valley? Haha! You will come to realize that you’ve made a wise decision. With Elephant City and Cyan Earth City as your shield, no one will be able to bully you anymore."

My eyes turned cold, and I leaped down from the rock I was standing on. After I landed on my feet, I shattered the rock in one swing before growling, "Listen here, Wild King. I’m joining the India server, not surrendering to it, so you’d best stop talking to me like you’re my lord or something. If the India server cannot give me the respect I deserve, then I will happily go somewhere else!"

"Wow, calm down! Let’s talk this out peacefully, shall we?"

God of War interrupted with an awkward chuckle before continuing, "It is only right to repay sincerity with sincerity, so we will grant you the respect and the freedom you deserve. We promise not to restrict you in any way. Now then, let’s talk about your treatment. What do you want for joining the India server?"

I smiled. "I’m definitely going to be charged with treason after this, so I won’t be able to stay in China. Book me a flight ticket to India in 3 days and prepare an accommodation for me. I also want 20 million as compensation. Is this reasonable?"

God of War laughed. "20 million RMB? That’s not a problem at all!"

I smiled wider. "No, not RMB. I’m talking USD!"

"Ugh..." Breeze and Rain actually froze for a bit. "This is daylight robbery!"

God of War hurriedly silenced him before continuing, "Enough, Breeze and Rain. Anyway, I’ve spoken to a member of our VR department, and 20 million USD isn’t an unacceptable price. Also, to prove to you our sincerity, I, Ironscale, and Dark Clouds Sorrow have agreed to transfer a portion of our guild’s elites to a new guild where you’ll be the guild leader. I swear on my character that this new guild of yours will be among the strongest guilds in the entire world!"

I thought for a moment. "You want me to be a guild leader?"

"Yeah? Why, you don’t want to?" This is a decision our VR department chief made, by the way. When he heard that you were going to join Elephant City a couple of minutes ago, he was so happy that he said that he’ll grant you a title on the spot, with a guild to lead attached to it. Its name is ‘War Temple’. If you join Elephant City, then you will become India’s one and only King of War!"

The corner of my lips turned up. If there was one thing I was certain about this whole thing, it would be that the India server was thirsting for talent like a man searching for water in the desert. After my outstanding performance during the Wars of Dawn City and Purple Grape City, even a department chief from a foreign country was lusting after my abilities.

"Very well. King of War isn’t a bad name…" I replied.

God of War laughed. "Then it’s settled. Welcome to the India server, Lu Chen. We can transfer you the 20 million USD [1] you demand right now. When you transfer over, we’ll help you change your player nationality as well."

"Mn, got it."

……

A brief and somewhat awkward silence later, Dark Clouds Sorrow said, "Sword Lord of Jianghu’s guild leader will be arriving at Mumbai tomorrow afternoon, and I’m going to receive him myself. We should be able to complete our transaction around late afternoon, so… let’s hold the ceremony at Elephant Canyon, God of War. Maybe we can hold Lu Chen’s coronation ceremony at the same time as well…"

God of War nodded.

I chuckled. "King’s coronation? Forget it. All I want is safe refuge. Purple Grape City’s players’ ‘love’ was growing too much for me to handle."

Breeze and Rain smiled. "I thought you’ve become a dragon knight already?"

I curled my lips. "Ever heard of the saying ‘two fists cannot beat four hands’? Even if I have a dragon-type mount, I can still be stunned by Shock Arrows and damaged by Touch of the Dragonkiss. How much does it take to overwhelm a person?"

Breeze and Rain laughed in agreement. "That’s true. No matter how strong you are, there’s no beating the human sea attack, not to mention that all of Japan’s experts were gathered in Final Duel Valley. It’s seriously impressive that you were able to last three days…"

I didn’t say anything more than that. No one here knew the true extent of the Ancient Divine Dragon’s power just yet. They probably guessed that it was powerful, but not how utterly broken it was. I fully intended to keep it that way until the cat was inevitably out of the bag. I was no longer under the umbrella that was my country, so the more aces I had up my sleeves, the better.

God of War checked the time and said, "Alright. Can you wait for a moment, Lu Chen? I’m going to mobilize the men and assemble your new guild right away. The Top 10 guilds of Cyan Earth City and Elephant City will all be contributing their experts into your new War Temple guild. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed with its strength."

I nodded.

A while later, a large group of players appeared at the edge of the forest. Their guild emblem was an axe; the symbol of War Temple. They had used a Rank 7 guild’s shell to form the guild, which meant that I would be commanding a force of 50k players immediately, with an average level of 182. God of War was definitely being sincere about this. This guild contained some of India’s highest-leveled players and was ridiculously powerful.

"Guild leader!"

A dozen or so White Horse Cavalrymen dismounted and greeted me politely.

I smiled and greeted back, "Nice to see you all…"

……

Motherfucker, I don’t seriously have to be a foreign guild leader, do I?!

1. Context from raw: “決定了，2000WRMB，即刻” (Truth’s Note: U-fucking-SD, author, you literally typed this like 5 paragraphs ago how the hell did you screw this up)