After I went offline, I discovered that He Yi had promised to treat everyone to a meal and it was going to be a proper feast at a restaurant too! She even invited Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, and Li Chengfeng over from the ASUS esports club. She invited nearly twenty of us to a fancy restaurant in the city to encourage everyone before the Nation Wars began. He Yi had never been one to stint and save, and this was yet another example of her generosity.
……
We reached the restaurant at about noon, and we were ushered into a private room the moment we entered. There were two tables laid out for us and Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, Xu Yang and the rest of the gang had already seated themselves at a table. They were currently playing poker and Gui Guzi"s face was practically covered in paper slips with the number "2" written on it. Chaos Moon had just slapped another paper slip on Gui Guzi"s forehead as we walked in. A vivacious smile gleamed on her pretty face and it was clear that she was in high spirits.
"The guild leaders have arrived!" Li Chengfeng said with a grin as he sipped a cup of tea.
He Yi nodded her head with a giggle. "Has everyone arrived?"
"We"re still waiting for one more person…" Gui Guzi said.
"Oh, who?"
"Heaven"s Rain. After she went offline, she told us that she would make her way over. This just so happened to coincide with our lunch, so I told her to come over to the restaurant. Also, she"s going to be staying at our base of operations from now on."
A silly grin appeared on Gui Guzi"s face. "At first, Heaven"s Rain wasn"t intending on coming. She"s a single girl after all. However, High Fighting Spirits told her that she"d be able to see Boss Broken Halberd in the flesh if she moved here. Sigh… the way girls wors.h.i.+p their idols these days is truly a terrifying thing to behold. Once he said that, Heaven"s Rain immediately dropped everything and said she was coming to Suzhou. She just called me to tell me that she was going to arrive in ten minutes. Should we give her a surprise and get Boss Broken Halberd to welcome her personally?"
Du Thirteen jumped at the chance to stir up some trouble. "That"s right! Lu Chen should go and introduce himself!"
I glared at him before I replied sheepishly, "That might not be too appropriate, right…"
A wicked grin appeared on Du Thirteen"s face as he said, "Alright, then Lulu and I will go and welcome her. I"ll tell Heaven"s Rain that I"m Lu Chen and that Lulu is Beiming Xue. And if Heaven"s Rain just so happens to offer up a kiss, I"ll have no choice but to accept it on your behalf, right?"
I chuckled, "Alright, go on then. I"ll just sit back and watch. I want to see exactly how you"re going to receive that kiss."
Xue Lu gave Du Thirteen a vicious pinch that caused him to howl in pain. The man very nearly wept because of that pinch!
It was then that Beiming Xue tugged at my arm and said, "Big bro, Heaven"t Rain joined us solely because of you. Besides, she"s one of the main commanders of our Dragonlight Cavalry, so I think it would be better if we went to welcome her ourselves. She definitely didn"t have an easy trip here. I mean, she had to haul all of her things all the way to Suzhou. You"ll make her an extremely happy girl if you went to welcome her personally."
I nodded my head helplessly. "Alright then. You guys keep having fun, I"ll go down and wait for her.”
Li Chengfeng leaned against the window with a cup of tea in his hand as he said, "Alright, off you go. I"ll brave the wind just so that I can observe how you"re going to receive that kiss, haha…"
He Yi couldn"t help but laugh as well. "Alright, stop teasing him already! Lu Chen and Beiming Xue will go down to welcome Heaven"s Rain while the rest of us will keep having fun. Order whatever you"d like! It"s time to open up a second stomach, because all expenses will be paid for by Raincube Corporation today!"
The usual gluttons, High Fighting Spirits and Eighteen Steeds, immediately yelled out in joy. These knaves wasted no time at all. They immediately called a waiter over and ordered all of the delicacies on the menu that they had never tried before without a single bit of shame.
……
Cars continued to flow by as we waited below the restaurant. Every time a taxi stopped in front of the hotel, Beiming Xue and I would squint to look at the people who got off it.
"Beiming, does Heaven"s Rain look the same in real life?" I asked.
"Yeah, I heard that she didn"t tweak her appearance at all," Beiming Xue replied with a nod.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I patted my chest and said, "Ah, that"s good then…"
Beiming Xue couldn"t stifle her laugh as she smacked me on the shoulder with her tiny fist. "Big bro, how can you be like this? Are you afraid that Sis Heaven"s Rain"s beauty will take your breath away?"
"Haha, it"s always smart to play it safe…"
It was at this moment that a sky-blue taxi slowly came to a stop outside the hotel. The taxi"s door swung open, and a girl who was wearing a pink blouse and a black miniskirt slowly stepped out of the car.
"Little Rain?" I bent my head down to look at her. The girl was quite beautiful but I couldn"t confirm that it was Heaven"s Rain.
The girl looked at me curiously as she tilted her head to the side. She giggled before she asked, "Oh, is that our beloved vice leader?"
I nodded my head before I extended my hand in a gentlemanly fas.h.i.+on. "Yes, I"m Lu Chen. It"s nice to meet you! I"m truly glad that you made it!"
Thud!
I was already moving to shake her head, but Heaven"s Rain just lightly batted my hand away as she lunged forward. Her small white handbag fell to the ground as she wrapped her arms around me. Before I even had a chance to react, she quickly stood on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on my cheek. After that, she flew backward and let out a lilting laugh as she said, "Heh, I finally managed to kiss Lu Chen. Heehee, it"s my lucky day…"
The thought of committing seppuku flashed across my mind as my face went pale. G.o.d d.a.m.n, did I really have that much potential to be a gigolo? I was clearly the one who had gained something from this encounter, but why was Heaven"s Rain smiling like she had just picked up a bar of gold from the ground!? Even the middle-aged taxi driver was staring at us in shock. His view of the world had just been utterly rocked. It was bad enough that this lovely young lady had thrown herself into a guy"s arms, but she was smiling so sweetly that it seemed like someone had popped a piece of candy in her mouth.
Xu Yang, Gui Guzi, Li Chengfeng, and High Fighting Spirits, who had all gathered to watch the festivities, started whistling immediately after they witnessed what had just happened. After that, Heaven"s Rain boldly looked up at them and grinned. "h.e.l.lo, everyone!"
High Fighting Spirits"s face went red. "h.e.l.lo, Little Rain, you"re really pretty!"
Heaven"s Rain"s silvery laughter tinkled in the air.
Beiming Xue helped to take Heaven"s Rain"s luggage out of the trunk of the car while I paid for her cab fare. It was more than 100 RMB! After that, I picked up her luggage and brought her upstairs.
This was Heaven"s Rain"s first time visiting Suzhou, so she received an exceptionally warm welcome from all the guys. Their eyes practically burned holes into her as they stared at the pretty little lady in front of them and they were practically licking their "parched" lips as one of them asked, "Little Rain, do you have a boyfriend?"
Heaven"s Rain shook her head. "Nope, but I don"t plan on getting one any time soon. Hmph, if anyone wants to be my boyfriend, they"ll have to join the CGL Hall of Fame first!"
Li Chengfeng let out a deep sigh before he said, "Once we"re done with these Nation Wars, the first thing I"m going to do is to request to be admitted into the CGL Hall of Fame…"
High Fighting Spirits, "Me too…"
Gui Guzi, "Me too…"
Du Thirteen, "Me too…"
Xue Lu immediately smacked Du Thirteen upside the head and yelled, "Me too your sister!"
Everyone burst out into laughter before we sat down at our two tables. The waiters started bringing in the dishes that we had ordered and the smell of delicious food soon filled the air.
……
The two other guild leaders were seated at my table, along with Beiming Xue, Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi, Heaven"s Rain, and Chaos Moon. All of the officers that could come here were present today.
He Yi gave Heaven"s Rain a concerned look as she said, "Since Little Rain has decided to come to Suzhou, then she should stay at our base of operations. Murong Mingyue will draw up a contact with a basic salary for you. It"s not a lot though, and it definitely won"t be able to compare with what you can earn in the game. However, it will at least give you a place to stay. Hmmm, can I… trouble you, Chaos Moon, to handle the arrangements for Little Rain"s accommodation?"
Chaos Moon nodded her head, "Okay! The room beside mine is still empty, so Little Rain can move in! This is great. I have a partner in crime now! Also, Moonlight Stone and Diamond Dust also stay at our base of operations. Heehee, more people are joining us!"
I nodded my head. "Yeah. Also, if any of the male players hara.s.ses you, immediately inform Xu Yang. He"ll make sure that justice is served!"
Heaven"s Rain smiled cheerily as she nodded her head. "Okay, I got it!"
Xu Yang had the most authority in the place where Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls was based. After all, he was older than most of the players and an elder in the guild. Every player who joined Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls knew about the legend of the four founding elders of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, "Sunmoon Stardust”. As the leader of the four elders, Xu Yang possessed an unquestionable charisma. No one dared to defy him at back at the gaming base, and he had personally booted out at least ten black sheep from our gaming base.
……
As the meal went on, everyone had replaced alcohol with soft drinks. The Nation Wars would start at 10 pm, and no one would allow their carelessness to affect the coming battle. If we lost Dawn City, our Dark Moon City would become vulnerable to siege. It was only about an hour away from Dawn City after all, so our geographical location would leave us very open to an enemy attack.
My phone suddenly rang as I was digging into the food. I quickly took it out of my pocket and looked at my screen. Moonkiss was calling me. I hurriedly stood up and walked toward the window before I answered the call. Moonkiss"s sweet voice soon rang in my ears. "Hi, handsome Lu Chen! Long time no see!"
"Ah, Moonkiss, what"s up?" I asked bluntly.
Moonkiss giggled. "Haha, you"re being really blunt today, huh! You didn"t even bother to greet me properly! Ah…. This is about the upcoming Nation Wars. Sis w.a.n.g Luo is way too busy, so she asked me to call you instead!"
"So what matter is so pressing that the beautiful Moonkiss needed to handle it herself?" I said with a chuckle.
Moonkiss sucked in a deep breath before replying, "The Northern Alliance has eight cities altogether and they are a coalition of six different countries. They have at least two hundred million players in their army, so we"ll be facing a lot of pressure in our defense of Dawn City, Lu Chen. We definitely won"t be able to hold the Windy Trail for very long either. Warsky Alliance and Blazing Hot Lips are the guilds who are going to set up an ambush in the Windy Trail, but they"re nothing but cannon fodder for an army like that. Meanwhile, Purple Lily and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls have been a.s.signed to guard the entrance to the valley together with Candle Dragon. I"m calling you right now to warn you about Candle Dragon. Candlelight Shadow isn"t as simple as you think he is, and he might take this battle as an opportunity to whittle down the strength of your guild. Sis w.a.n.g Luo instructed me to pa.s.s on this message to you personally. Be careful of Candlelight Shadow, and preserve the strength of your crack troops when the war begins. Use your subguilds to tank the first few waves of enemies."
I gave a deep sigh. Moonkiss had a point. Even though everyone had a common enemy in the Northern Alliance right now, no one could guarantee that Candle Dragon wouldn"t try to pull something during the battle. After all, one always had to be wary of his enemies, even when they were fighting together for a common cause.
"Yeah, I got it. I"ll definitely watch my back!"
"Alright, that"s good enough for me. If anything else happens, I"ll message you in game. I"m just pa.s.sing you a warning right now!"
"Alright! Then I"ll see you in the game!"
"Okay! Byeeee!"
……
I ended the call and went back to my meal. I had been too busy to have a proper meal recently, so I would definitely make full use of this opportunity to stuff my belly!
After we finished eating, we called in one of Raincube"s company buses to send the people who came from the gaming base and the ASUS esports club back home. After that, our small group returned to the workshop.
The servers would be down until nighttime and we didn"t bother searching for any more information on the web. What we needed the most right now was rest. We needed enough energy to take on the upcoming Nation War. The battle of Immortality City paled in comparison to a proper Nation War. It definitely wasn"t something that would be resolved in 24 hours. In fact, it was very likely that we wouldn"t be able to log off for a very long time. As a veteran of a few VRMMOs, I was well aware that a Nation War was a marathon and not a sprint.
All of us went to bed at around 1 pm. I woke up at 8:30 pm sharp and I felt completely refreshed. I silently congratulated myself for having the const.i.tution of a night owl as I went to wake up the girls and order some food from downstairs. It was 10:15 pm by the time we finished eating, so we still had ten minutes to spare before the servers opened up again!
……
I excitedly wore my gaming helmet and went online. When I saw the countdown timer appear in my HUD, I felt a jolt of adrenaline surge through my body. Pinch me! The Nation Wars, the event that had given birth to countless legends, was finally upon us! The time to create our own legend has come!