Chapter 53 – New Recruits

Green bananas and emerald leaves swayed and shimmered under the sunlight, blending into each other. A man and a woman stood in the forest, just a few steps apart, yet neither moved forward, quietly standing still, their eyes locked.

[Local] Little Bitch Fang: Even like this, you still recognized me?!

[Local] Milk is Mom: I told you, you’re like a firefly in the pitch-black night ╮(╯_╰)╭

The guess was confirmed, and Fang Zheng let out a long sigh of relief. Thankfully, Mad Lad was straightforward. If it had been someone like Drink Till You Drop, who might’ve said something like, “Can’t someone with a full-attack Desert Set join the guild? >_<", Fang Zheng would've had no way to respond.

Mad Lad’s character had undergone a complete makeover—not just the name, but even the gender had changed, clearly using a Gender Change Scroll. The assassin standing in front of Milk is Mom now had short, layered hair, a curvaceous figure, and was dressed in a tank top and hot pants, giving off a fiery, sexy vibe. By the way, the top and bottom were in clashing pastel yellow and light blue.

Customizing gear appearances was clearly a hobby of this rich assassin. Fang Zheng thought of another loyalist in the guild who refused to change his mismatched style and suddenly felt sentimental—comrades-in-arms should complement each other like this!

Although Milk is Mom’s Friends List didn’t include Little Bitch Fang, it still had Mad Lad. From this, Fang Zheng concluded that this was the account he had power-leveled for the other player in Huaxia Summit. After the server merge, it naturally got the chance for a name change.

But—

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Is your surname Fang?

[Whisper] Little Bitch Fang: Who would call themselves “Little Bitch”?

Great, this name was clearly just to mess with him… Damn, how boring must this guy’s life be?!

Not bothering to engage further, Fang Zheng used a Town Portal Scroll to return to the city.

Little Bitch Fang followed like a tail.

The comrades of the Ghost Server Legion had scattered who knows where, leaving only 438 and his pet resting in the Guild Hall. Seeing the Commander return with a girl, 438 immediately went up to greet them.

[Local] Milk is Mom: Come, 438, let’s welcome our new guild member~~

[Local] Refined Into a Demon715: Commander, you’re messing with me again >_<

[Local] Refined Into a Demon715: Assassin, why did you suddenly change genders? Celebrating the server merge?

[Local] Little Bitch Fang: ……

Fang Zheng suddenly remembered a story he’d heard as a child—a man found a leaf and thought it was a treasure that could make him invisible when placed on his head. So, he went around doing bad deeds with the leaf on his head, unaware that everyone could see his every move… Oh, poor Assassin.

Rarely showing mercy, Fang Zheng took the initiative to invite the other to join the guild.

Jiang Yang was so frustrated he didn’t even look before clicking “Accept,” then immediately switched to the Legion Channel to continue raging—

[Legion] Little Bitch Fang: How did you know it was me?! I’m not even on your Friends List!!

One second later—

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: Huh?

Five seconds later—

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: What do you mean? Mad Lad is right there in my Friends List!

[Legion] Little Bitch Fang: …Damn it, from now on, everyone joining the guild has to take an IQ test! Hear me? Mandatory!!!

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Holy shit, who’s this? How’d they get in?

[Legion] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Commander, stop letting every scammer and advertiser into the guild. Otherwise, what’s the point of the application system?

[Legion] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Kick them.

[Legion] Little Bitch Fang: I’m Mad Lad =_=

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: Heh, see? You can’t fool me!

……

The assassin fell silent.

Fang Zheng could almost hear the sound of a heart bleeding.

Never try to bully an honest kid—because you’ll never succeed, and there’s an 80% chance of backlash. Fang Zheng mentally noted this down in his “Kite’s Little Book of Life Lessons” and underlined it in red for emphasis.

The addition of a new character piqued the curiosity of the masses. Though the person was old, the shell was new, so soon the entire Ghost Server Legion gathered in the Guild Hall, circling the revamped female assassin and critiquing her.

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Not as pretty as my Blood Bull~~~

[Legion] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Another assassin?

[Legion] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Once you hit level 70, there’ll be better sets. You didn’t have to go for another Desert Set.

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: The chest is a bit too big… not nice…

The assassin wanted to use an AoE Attack on his guildmates—

[Legion] Little Bitch Fang: First, your Blood Bull sister is one of a kind—of course I can’t compare. Second, when I was leveling this account, the servers hadn’t merged yet. How was I supposed to know this would happen! Third, refer to point two, but replace “leveling this account” with “buying the Desert Set.” Fourth, even if I hung two water gourds on my chest, what’s it to you? =_=

[Whisper] Polly: Is your surname Fang?

Why did this question sound so familiar? =_=

[Whisper] Little Bitch Fang: Who would call themselves “Little Bitch”?

[Whisper] Polly: Then this name…

[Whisper] Little Bitch Fang: Just messing around.

[Whisper] Polly: Messing with the healer?

[Whisper] Little Bitch Fang: Damn, you’re sharp.

[Whisper] Polly: Heh.

What did this “heh” mean? =_=

The overthinking assassin fell into a labyrinth of thoughts.

On the other side of the screen, the simple Birdy-kun smirked, his mood as bright as his “heh.”

Little Kite’s surname is Fang.

……

[System] 2nd to No1 has applied to join the legion.

If Little Bitch Fang’s ID had some level of obscurity, then 2B Fighter Jet was practically naked.

Clicking “Accept,” the Ghost Server Legion welcomed its ninth member—Spirit Master 2nd to No1.

[Legion] 2nd to No1: Almost forgot about this account [sweat]

[Legion] 2nd to No1: Luckily, I didn’t miss the name-change window. Having a randomly generated numeric suffix would’ve been tragic!

[Legion] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Consider the audience’s feelings.

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: It’s fine, Sister Blood Bull, I can take it!

[Legion] 2nd to No1: …My bad [hits self with brick]

In the blink of an eye, the tiny seven-member guild had grown to nine. Though two were inactive alts, it still looked much better overall.

Fang Zheng nodded in satisfaction and lit a cigarette to celebrate.

While puffing away, the Huaxia Channel was anything but calm. Though they hadn’t been the first, several teams were still battling it out in the Hanging Gardens, occasionally dropping hints.

[Huaxia] God of War: For those planning to tackle the Hanging Gardens later—right at the start, there are lots of materials to gather, like sunflowers and stuff.

[Huaxia] Toast and Clink: When fighting the Willow Tree, a treasure chest will pass by. Make sure to open it—random gifts inside~~

[Huaxia] Gazing at the Moon: The guy above is shameless! It’s not random—it’s a fixed gift!

[Huaxia] Old Harmony Squad: Damn it, can’t you focus in a PUG? Spam after the fight!

[Huaxia] Little Lucky Charm: Exactly. Distractions lead to wipes.

[Huaxia] God of War: Damn it, Lucky, can you just not talk?!

[Huaxia] Face In The Crowd: Too late, I’m dead =_=

[Huaxia] Benevolent Healer: Sorry, I can’t hold on either…

[Huaxia] Zombie Returns: Healer, you can’t die!!!!!

[Huaxia] Pulse Diagnosis: If one dies, isn’t there still me?

[Huaxia] Pulse Diagnosis: Shit, how am I dead too?!

[Huaxia] Gazing at the Moon: Leader, still fighting?

[Huaxia] Old Harmony Squad: Fight my ass! Run if you can, die and respawn if you can’t. I declare the party disbanded!

Halfway through his cigarette, Fang Zheng seemed to have witnessed the tragic downfall of a PUG.

Having encountered the Willow Tree chest, they were clearly fighting the final boss. From the earlier comments, the battle had been going smoothly, but for some reason, things took a sudden turn for the worse, leaving them no time to adjust their channels before scattering like birds and beasts.

With order restored to the world, the usual crowd of potion sellers, account traders, and attention-seekers reappeared—

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: Buying Coins Long-Term, Fair to All~~

[Huaxia] Fifth Brother’s Trading Post: Need materials? Fifth Brother. Need gear? Fifth Brother. Need gold? Fifth Brother. Fifth Brother helps you escape poverty!

[Huaxia] Professional Power Leveler: GM, you’re not banning this vulgarity?!

[Huaxia] Fifth Brother’s Trading Post: Vulgar your sister, isn’t escaping poverty a good thing?

[Huaxia] Diamond Seller: Buying Coins Long-Term, Fair to All~~

[Huaxia] Drink Your Sister 3X: Lv. 55 healer LFG for fixed leveling party.

The last message caught Fang Zheng’s eye. What did “LFG for fixed party” mean? It meant they were free! And judging by the tone and the punctuation, it radiated sincerity. To learn the scriptures, you needed not just Sun Wukong but also Sha Wujing, right?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Join our guild. Guaranteed fixed party.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Ghost Server Legion?

Wow, just one dungeon run and the guild was already famous…

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: No.

So it was bad reputation =_=

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Mind if I ask why?

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: You’re Five Peaks Pavilion’s buddies. I avoid anything related to them.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: You have a grudge against Five Peaks Pavilion?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Wait, since when is Ghost Server their buddy guild?!

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Everyone saw it—you just cleared Hanging Gardens with their help.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: You believe that? They didn’t roll for us once—they just found an excuse to save face. Only clueless girls would fall for that.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: How did you know I’m a girl? (⊙o⊙)!

He didn’t. He’d just said it casually, damn it TAT

How did a steady, down-to-earth healer dad turn into an innocent, wide-eyed healer mom? This wasn’t scientific!

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Hello? Answer me! How’d you know?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: As a guild leader, you gotta have an eye for these things.

And mental resilience =_=

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: So you’re not their buddies?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Of course not. Our guild’s motto is “Fight in groups, hog the loot.” No eternal friends, only eternal shamelessness.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Aaaaah, I love it~\(≧▽≦)/~

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: It’s just a stupid game—why take it so seriously? It’s just for killing time!

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: I’ve decided—I’m joining your guild!

Fang Zheng chewed on his cigarette butt. The conversation seemed to have gone smoothly, but why did it feel like something had gone off the rails…

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Hey, Milk is Mom, how do I apply to your guild?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Open the system menu, select Guild Management, search for “Ghost Server Legion,” hit enter, double-click the guild name, and apply.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: So troublesome…

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: Fine, I’ll invite you.

[Whisper] Drink Your Sister 3X: Ugh, if you could invite, why didn’t you say so earlier?!

Fang Zheng tilted his head back, gazing devoutly at the ceiling—Lord, I want to take it back. Will you forgive me? TAT

……

The Lord did not forgive the shameless.

With Fang Zheng dragging his feet on the invite, Drink Your Sister 3X went ahead and submitted an application herself through Guild Management.

As he clicked “Accept,” Fang Zheng’s soul shed a single tear.

Unaware of the Commander’s internal struggle, the Ghost Server comrades welcomed the new recruit enthusiastically—

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Today’s so lively, hahaha~~ Whose alt is this?

[Legion] Drink Your Sister 3X: I don’t have alts! This is my main!

[Legion] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: Newbie?

[Legion] Drink Your Sister 3X: How’d you know? I just bought it!

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: Then why not buy one with a nicer name?

[Legion] Crossplayer’s Blessing: Don’t mind him, he’s got name trauma.

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Who said new recruits have to take an IQ test again?

[Legion] Mad Lad: *raises hand*

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Hahaha, I’ve got the perfect question ready. Listen up, Your Sister~~

[Legion] 2B Fighter Jet: Motionless for hours, then suddenly moves. Top, joy; bottom, pain. What is it?

[Legion] Crossplayer’s Blessing: …

[Legion] Blood Bulls Don’t Graze: …

[Legion] Mad Lad: [smirk]

[Legion] Refined Into a Demon715: ?

[Legion] Drink Your Sister 3X: Fishing. That joke’s ancient. Brother, are you an ’80s kid?

……

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Can I punch them?

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: her.

[Whisper] 2B Fighter Jet: Then I’m going.

[Whisper] Milk is Mom: …