In less than two minutes, six players wearing black cloaks bearing the Zero Wing emblem appeared on the forest path ahead.
"Charge! Don't let them get away!" Duan Liushui shouted the order in party chat the moment he spotted the six Zero Wing members.
Following his command, over a hundred players immediately spread out, swiftly surrounding the six members of the Zero Wing squad without giving them any chance to escape.
"The Sky Burial Guild?" The six Zero Wing members scanned their surroundings, instantly on guard.
"Bad luck running into me." Duan Liushui smirked as he looked at the six black-cloaked Zero Wing members. He hefted his Level 45 Dark Gold war blade and walked toward them one step at a time. Pulling a potion from his inventory, he tossed it back in one gulp and said flatly, "Everyone else, surround them and hold the perimeter. Don't let a single one escape. I'm going to have some fun with these Zero Wing people."
The Sky Burial Guild members perked up at his words, excitement spreading across their faces.
"These Zero Wing people are really unlucky. Looks like the squad leader is going to handle them personally."
"I remember last time the squad leader took action himself — that elite squad from a first-rate guild didn't stand a chance. Not only were they completely helpless, but the squad leader stripped several pieces of equipment from each of them."
"I wonder if we'll get to see the squad leader's signature moves this time."
"Hopefully these Zero Wing people aren't too weak. It'd be nice if they gave the squad leader a decent warm-up. Otherwise, when we go after the rest of Zero Wing later, we probably won't even get scraps."
…
The Sky Burial Guild members looked at the six Zero Wing members trapped in their midst and chatting and laughing amongst themselves.
This hunt against Zero Wing had come with guild orders — any player they killed would earn them guild point rewards, and all equipment dropped upon death would be theirs to keep.
Although Zero Wing members had been ambushed numerous times recently, the guild's top players had suffered minimal losses. The weapons and equipment they carried were still top-tier gear, any piece of which could fetch a handsome sum. Even if they didn't sell it, they could trade it for equipment better suited to their own needs.
Top-tier equipment was different from gold coins — there was plenty of gold but a severe shortage of premium gear. Even with gold, it was nearly impossible to buy top-tier equipment. When ordinary players got their hands on premium gear, even if they couldn't use it themselves, they would trade it rather than sell it.
Now, six members who might be Zero Wing elites had appeared — that was a considerable windfall.
Of course, their squad leader Duan Liushui couldn't care less about the equipment. His real goal was to vent. After all, Duan Liushui had previously lost to one of Zero Wing's top players and had been nursing that grudge ever since, wanting nothing more than to reclaim his honor. But he'd never gotten the chance, and now the guild had explicitly forbidden him from engaging those specific individuals, which had only fueled his frustration.
Killing ordinary Zero Wing elites was boring, though. Only Zero Wing's top-tier players could spark even a sliver of interest in Duan Liushui.
"Don't worry — they won't make a move without my order," Duan Liushui said with a calm smile, looking at the Zero Wing squad on alert. "If you want to leave here alive, there's only one way — defeat me. Whether it's one of you or all six at once, I don't care. But if you're thinking about breaking through the encirclement, I'd advise you to give up. We have over sixty Sky Burial elites here. If they all attack at once, not a single one of you will walk out of here alive."
"If there are no objections, let's begin!"
With that, Duan Liushui began walking slowly toward the six, one step at a time. He didn't treat them as real opponents at all — this was nothing more than a game to him.
"Tong Hu, what do we do?" The priest in the six-person squad glanced around and whispered to the brawny young man leading them. "They have too many elites. Breaking through is probably impossible."
"We have no choice. Looks like we'll have to fight this Duan Liushui." Squad leader Tong Hu understood all too well that their situation was dire. Running into an ordinary elite squad would have been one thing, but their luck had truly run out encountering one of the Sky Burial Guild's top players. "I'll figure out a way to pin him down. You guys seize the opportunity to attack. Even if you hit me in the process, it doesn't matter."