The Great Thief
chapter-26

Chapter 26: Surprise

Lu Li stared for a few moments before recovering.

At this point, it was normal for their record to be broken. However, for the new record to be a whole 10 minutes faster than theirs was a bit surprising.

The people in this World Announcement weren’t just any ordinary players – they were part of one of the most famous unions- the Blood-red War Flag!

This union was ranked 3rd in all of China, and 9th in the whole world. It was said that the boss of the union was an army veteran, and many of the members were also veterans. If it wasn’t because their requirements were so high, resulting in them not having as many players as the other unions, their ranking would be even higher.

To Lu Li, creating new records for Instance Dungeons didn’t have much point. After all, it was just an extra Bronze grade equipment. However, creating new records was important for large unions- they would rather exchange 10 pieces of equipment in order to bring more fame to their union.

Indifference was the Blood-red War Flag’s Commander of the Instance Dungeon group and was said to be the god of PVE. Yew was also famous within the Blood-red War Flag, and was an expert in PVP. Apart from newbies, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t know of him.

Them appearing on the World Announcement was the equivalent to the Blood-red War Flag appearing on the World Announcement.

Everyone was also wondering why the top ranked Glory Capital and the second ranked Gangnam Royals had fallen behind by so much.

Perhaps it was because they had bought his guide. Lu Li bitterly smiled to himself. He had said that his teammates could do whatever they wanted with the information, so of course they would have sold the information as a guide.

Lu Li had been planning to log off anyways, and seeing this, he didn’t feel much motivation to continue playing for the day. As such, he decided to log out.

Lu Li received a fright when he took off his game helmet.

His little sister, Lu Xin, was looking at him with an expression of fury. He hadn’t seen her so angry in a long time, and it made him feel reminiscent.

“Big brother, you played for a whole day!”

Lu Li looked over, and saw that he had been given a plate of untouched egg fried rice.

Lu Li stretched out and stroked her little head, “Big brother’s in the wrong. I’ll definitely eat properly from now on. By the way, Xin Xin, big brother’s already earnt some money in the game.”

“Really?” The little girl’s attitude immediately changed. She simply couldn’t help it- the Lu brother and sister had never hidden their desire for wealth, due to their poverty.

“Realer than real!”

“Liar,” The little girl pouted, “I heard a few of my classmates say that this game is really hard, and it’s really difficult to earn money in there.”

“There are people in your school playing?” Lu Li felt a bit guilty. He didn’t have the money to send his little sister to a good school. She was currently studying at the Slum District’s Primary School. Not only was the teaching inferior to other schools, but the environment wasn’t great either.

“They’re like big brother. They joined unions to earn money, and receive $800 per month. Big brother, can I play as well?” Whenever Lu Xin talked about money, her eyes would always sparkle.

Lu Li shook his head, went over, and poured the leftover egg fried rice into the bin.

“Big brother, what are you doing? You can still eat it if you heat it up… I put a whole 2 eggs in!” Lu Xin was quite annoyed at Lu Li’s behaviour.

“I just said I’ve already earnt money, but you don’t believe me. Let’s go out to eat.” Lu Li took his little sister’s hand as he started to walk out.

Lu Xin could only reluctantly look at the egg fried rice in the bin, and walked out of the house with her big brother.

They lived in a small alley which was extremely cramped. However, there were many, many people living there. Many people called this sort of place a ‘doghole’; it was only 1 step up from homelessness.

Lu Xin was incredibly pretty and cute, while Lu Li was young and strong and would always help out his neighbours. Seeing the Lu brother and sister, the neighbours would always greet them warmly.

“Oi, Lu boy, why didn’t I see you picking up Xin Xin today?” An old uncle yelled out while pouring out a bucket of dirty water.

“Hello Uncle Zhao, something came up today, so I couldn’t go.” Lu Li explained.

“You can’t do that,” Uncle Zhao stopped Lu Li, angrily saying, “You know how unsafe this place is. If it wasn’t for me today, Xin Xin said she might have been bullied. Such a pretty girl walking by herself in this sort of place just isn’t safe.”

What Uncle Zhao had said was true. After all, the Slum District was where the lowest members of society lived.

Lu Li looked at his little sister in shock, “Xin Xin, those bullies from the rubbish dump followed you again? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Lu Xin looked down with a bit of guilt, “I didn’t get the opportunity to tell you.”

“Look after your little sister properly. You should know that girl from the eastern alley was nearly violated. If I wasn’t…” Once people reached a certain age, they liked to talk a lot and nag. However, this was out of the kindness in his heart, and Lu Li sincerely thanked him many times.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Zhao, Lu Li walked out of the alley, and turned to walk towards the rubbish dump.

Lu Xin quickly stopped her brother, anxiously saying, “Big brother, don’t be rash. I’m fine, right? Don’t fight with them… if someone dies, then you’ll go to jail…”

Lu Li didn’t want to worry his little sister, so he could only put that thought away. It seemed that the beating he gave them a few days ago was too light; these people healed way too quickly.

“Alright, I won’t fight with them. Let’s go eat for now. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so let’s go and find somewhere else to move to.” Lu Li was originally planning to give the Star Moon Union the penalty for breaking the contract, and then rent a better place to live when he had saved up a bit.

However, seeing what had happened today, which happened regularly, Lu Li decided that it would be best for them to move as soon as possible.

Lu Xin’s eyes widened, “Big brother, you really earned money?”

Lu Li gently patted her head and said, “You little rascal, did you really think that your big brother would trick you? I’ve really earnt a lot of money, so tonight you can eat whatever you want. Let’s have a good meal.”

After eating, Lu Li had a shower and immediately entered the game

This week, Lu Li not only needed to earn enough money to cover the contract penalty, but also enough to move to a better home. He had to give it his all.

There were only 2 hours until night fell in the game, but he still hadn’t opened the treasure boxes at the bottom of the Moon Reflection Lake. However, he decided to raise his level first.

Before he even left the village, his communication device rang- it was Azure Sea Breeze.

“Lu Li, you’re finally online.” Azure Sea Breeze said.

“I was having dinner. What’s up?”

“I have some things to give you. Where are you right now?”

“What is it? Let’s meet at the place where we first met.” Lu Li decided that it would be easier for them to meet at a familiar place.

“Alright, just meet me there. I’ll be there soon.” Azure Sea Breeze said and ended the call.

Not long after, Lu Li saw Azure Sea Breeze, the Elf Warrior, jogging over.

“What is it? You were being so mysterious.” Lu Li said.

Azure Sea Breeze immediately opened up a trade window, and threw a pile of things in.

“Holy crap, where the hell did you get these?!” Lu Li simply couldn’t stay calm.