Chapter 209
Chapter 208 – Mutual Defense Pact
Nie Yan needed to find some reliable allies, and the interests of a.s.skickers United and Holy Empire were already intertwined due to the existence of the Union of a.s.sa.s.sins. On top of that, both guilds had faced pressure from Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame in the past. He had similar thoughts. In order to stand a chance against Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame, a.s.skickers United and Holy Empire would inevitably have to form an alliance. The crucial point was what kind?
「There’s many ways we can cooperate in, and we can form mutual trust by exchanging shares in our guilds,」Sleepy Fox suggested. He was probing Nie Yan’s att.i.tude toward an alliance.
An exchange of shares? When Cao Xu started investing in Conviction during the previous timeline, he was able to seize control of Victorious Return, Radiant Sacred Flame, Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and Bloodl.u.s.t Blades in a short time specifically because he owned a stake in all of them. This brought the five major guilds all under the umbrella of the Cao Xu Century Financial Group, giving birth to an unparalleled colossus. Because Holy Empire, Sapphire Shrine, and the other major guilds weren’t willing to become Cao Xu’s puppets, they were forced to take a pa.s.sive stance.
Owning a stake in each other’s guilds really was the best way to establish trust!
Feeling that Nie Yan was taking his time to reply, Sleepy Fox continued,「The Victorious Return you’ve encountered so far is merely the tip of the iceberg, nothing more. They aren’t isolated to Calore. They have many other branches in other cities. It’s just that it isn’t feasible to mobilize those forces from so far away. However, when everyone gets mounts later on, they’ll be able to quickly reinforce each other from various locations. At that time, the strength of Victorious Return will increase by several-fold. The same also holds true for Radiant Sacred Flame. As for how many members they really have spread over the Viridian Empire, even I can’t say for sure. It isn’t simply because of luck that these large guilds can exist for so long without being toppled by others.」
Sleepy Fox’s words contained an element of warning. No doubt, a.s.skickers United had become an almost unrivalled existence in Calore by defeating Victorious Return at Kiln Fire Woods. However, if Nie Yan believed a.s.skickers Uniteed could suppress Victorious Return right now, then his way of thinking was too naive, and he would bring about the destruction of his own guild.
Nie Yan naturally understood the point Sleepy Fox was trying to get across. He had experienced for himself just how overbearingly arrogant Victorious Return could get during the previous timeline. However, he was confident that a.s.skickers United would surpa.s.s them in the future.
「How do you propose we form this alliance?」Nie Yan asked. He wanted to listen to what Sleepy Fox had to say.
「I’m willing to exchange a 10% stake in Holy Empire for a 30% stake in a.s.skickers United,」Sleepy Fox replied, pausing slightly before continuing,「When I say a 10% stake in Holy Empire, I don’t just mean the main branch in Calore but rather the entire guild spread out across the Viridian Empire.」He was reminding Nie Yan that Holy Empire possessed a deep foundation in the game. Taking a 30% share of a.s.skickers United wasn’t him trying to short-end Nie Yan.
Nie Yan faintly smiled.「How many branches does Holy Empire have? How many members?」
「33 branches. Altogether there are over 300,000 members scattered throughout various cities; they won’t be mobilized until some time in the future,」Sleepy Fox replied. These branches were the reserve forces of Holy Empire, and he could call on them when the scope of conflict inevitably expanded later on. Then there was a.s.skickers United. Aside from their dominance in Calore, they didn’t have a presence anywhere else.
Nie Yan naturally had his own considerations. Calore was the capital of the Viridian Empire, the focal point of most conflicts. Over 90% of the elites were gathered here. What he wanted for a.s.skickers United wasn’t frantic expansion like Victorious Return or Holy Empire. So what if the other side had more people?
On the path to dominance, what was it that ultimately mattered? It was which side had the greater number of elites! How else could 50,000 members of Battle Crazed Alliance have resisted the onslaught of 600,000 players from Victorious Return and Bloodl.u.s.t Blades during the previous timeline? In the future, 100,000 members were enough for a.s.skickers United to contend against all the other guilds.
Nie Yan didn’t express any opinion on the information