The Great Thief

It couldn’t be helped; he had to add him to his friend list. It was rare for Lu Li to add anyone to his friend list, so even up until this day, he only had a few players on it.

Celebrity players sometimes contacted each other, but everyone mostly talked in chat rooms, so there was no need to add each other. The last friend request he had accepted was from Unforgettable Maple two days ago.

Some people played games to socialize, but Lu Li never felt like he was good with his social abilities. He trusted these issues to Square Root 3; all he needed to do was constantly improve his strength.

The other player immediately accepted.

"I heard you have an Ancient Magical Eye?" Lu Li asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, I have one. You must be the one who placed the quest up in the Mercenary Hall. Wait...you’re Lu Li – the Lu Li who is ranked number one on the level rankings!" Laugh Into the Heavens exclaimed, realizing who had added him as a friend.

"Yes, I’m Lu Li," Lu Li confirmed.

Players who were friends could check each other’s level and online status; there wasn’t a way to fool anyone else with this.

"Oh goodness, it’s you! No wonder why you needed this Ancient Magical Eye." Laugh into the Heavens took a while to calm himself down; his voice was still high pitched.

"I don’t feel like I’m any different to anyone else."

Lu Li spent most of his time in an isolated state. Due to his upbringing, he had also become used to ignoring the negative attention of others around him. He still hadn’t realized that no one looked down on him and his sister anymore. At least, in the game, no one could ignore his presence.

"Let’s meet up, master gamer," Laugh into the Heavens sugggested.

"I feel like... you talk a lot like Shen Wansan."

Lu Li always had accurate instincts, which were especially helped by the way that this player talked to him. He sounded a lot like Shen Wansan.

"You know Shen Wansan? Then that’s even more reason for us to sit down and have a good talk. I’ve known Shen Wansan for many years..."

"You’re in sales," Lu Li realized. If there was anyone who owned an Ancient Magical Eye at this stage of the game, it was either a lucky player who had received it from a quest, a mercenary group or a businessman.

"Half, only half-a-businessman," Laugh into the Heavens explained.

"Sure, I’ll be in the Elf City. There’s a Elven tea bar there that’s quite decent. Come over, I’ll pay," Lu Li said before finally adding, "Might as well bring the Ancient Magical Eye too."

"Of course, there’s no way I’d lie to you," Laugh into the Heavens laughed.

Elf City was a business district in Darnassus. It wasn’t as rowdy as Stormwind City, but it was special in its own way. The shadows under the green trees danced with a magical color, and many players liked this area.

Stormwind City and Ironforge had the best bars. Those who enjoyed drinking didn’t like the fruit wine made by the Elves. However, the Elves made good tea.

The servers in the tea bar were all players. When Lu Li entered, he thought that he had entered into a restaurant in the real world.

"Someone else is coming. Find me a quiet spot and bring us two cups of tea with four random desserts," Lu Li said as he followed the waiter into a booth.

He waited for a while and saw a buff man enter.

"Hi, I’m Laugh into the Heavens."

The man was a human, but he had the figure of a Tauren. It was hard to tell if he was buff in real life, or if he had used some kind of item.

This was someone who was completely different from Shen Wansan. Shen Wansan’s style was rather deliberate – people could easily tell he was a businessman.

Laugh Into the Heavens, on the other hand, was dressed like a battle-class player.

"Nice to meet you. Do you have the goods?" Lu Li shook his head, but he was most concerned about the Magical Ancient Eye.

"Of course. Look, this is the real deal," Laugh Into the Heavens said as he showed Lu Li the item. Light moved around within it, making it seem as if the eyeball was still alive.

"This is the real one indeed. How did you get it?" Lu Li was confused.

"Hehe, it was a very complex quest..." It was hard to tell what Laugh Into the Heavens was thinking, but he described the entire process of the quest in detail. He wasn’t the least concerned that Lu Li would ditch the transaction and do the quest himself.

"So it really is a quest..." Lu Li took some time to slow down his racing heart beat and asked, "how much?"

"I don’t want money!" Laugh Into the Heavens waved his hands.

"Brother, if you don’t want money, then what do you want?" Lu Li asked calmly as he relaxed himself into the chair.

"Talking about money damages our relationships," Laugh into the Heavens slapped his thigh and sighed. "I was going to give this to you for free as a gift for our meeting. I don’t think it’s good enough as a meeting gift though."

"Cut to the point..." Lu Li found it hard to put up with aimless talk.

"Hehe, I have a small request for you if that’s possible. It’s about a quest..." Laugh Into the Heavens explained the trigger of the quest, the process and what he needed Lu Li to do for him.

"Sounds like a strange quest, but is it worth this rare material that you can only get from a level 35 dungeon?" Lu Li didn’t quite understand.

"Oh, so this is a rare material from a level 35 dungeon. I’d expect nothing less from a master gamer. If you feel like this material is worth something more, then can I ask for another request?" Laugh Into the Heavens didn’t hold back at all.

Lu Li wanted to slap himself in the face for talking too much.

"I’ll just tell you, but if you feel like it’s inappropriate, you can refuse. It definitely won’t affect our current agreement," Laugh Into the Heavens quickly added after seeing that Lu Li’s expression had changed.

"Yes?" Lu Li could only have a listen to what he wanted to say.

The Ancient Magical Eye was too important to him. Even though the quest that Laugh Into the Heavens had shared with him was quite difficult, it wasn’t impossible for him.

"It’s so hard to make friends with a master gamer," Laugh into the Heavens smiled bitterly and sighed. "It’s my first time adding a master gamer as a friend."

Lu Li pulled the corner of his lips slightly, unsure where this player was trying to get at.

"Hmph, my request is very simple. I only ask that you don’t delete me off the friend list. If there’s any chance in the future for any sort of business, place me on a higher priority. Perhaps no one can beat you in terms of battle, but when it comes to business, I can guarantee that I can do everything that Shen Wansan can do. In fact, I can even do the things that he cannot do..."

"I thought you were friends." Lu Li was speechless; this was a strange request.

However, he also had to admit that he had underestimated this businessman. He wasn’t any worse than Shen Wansan.

"Of course we’re friends, but unfortunately, Shen Wansan doesn’t share any resources with me, so we’re also competitors," Laugh into the Heavens said calmly.

"Sure, I’ll agree to this too." Lu Li nodded his head and agreed to this term which barely had any restrictions for him.

It had been a long time since Lu Li had come into contact with Shen Wansan. It was now Square Root 3 who was in charge of contacting him. Shen Wansan could already make enough money from the guild.

As for the player in front of him, he didn’t mind working with him in the future if the chance arose.

If he really could achieve the things that Shen Wansan could not, then this was a player who was an expert at his job.

"This is the Ancient Magical Eye that you wanted." Laugh into the Heavens was very generous; he was about to trade in the rare material.

"Not yet. We’ll do your quest first," Lu Li refused, turning down his kind offer. They didn’t know each other well yet, so there wasn’t a need for them to be too close for now.