Chapter 133: Dividing the Spoils

The area near the South Gate had descended into total madness. Everyone wanted to scavenge the loot, yet everyone was also keeping a close eye on the others. Any player with even a shred of ability remained glued to the city gate, refusing to leave; if they couldn't get the loot, they wouldn't let anyone else have it either.

By the time Huang Yunshuo arrived, a massive skirmish involving thousands had just concluded, leaving a vast number of players with "red names." To Huang Yunshuo’s amusement, despite the brutal fighting, the pile of loot on the ground hadn't diminished much. Clearly, those who dared to bow down and scavenge were promptly taken out, and those who hadn't yet tried were too terrified to bend over.

Huang Yunshuo's arrival brought a collective sigh of relief. As the soul of Stone Terrace Town, his reputation among the players was soaring. Having triggered multiple server-wide announcements just two days after launch, he was a titan among players—it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he had practically dominated the announcement boards himself. Given his strength, status, and contributions, the players were more than willing to follow his lead.

"Hey, Big Boss Idiot, what should we do? How do we divide this loot?" a guild leader asked. With three million players in Stone Terrace Town, various factions and guilds had already formed. Several brotherhoods would band together under unified command, making them no less effective than true, established guilds.

The gathered guild leaders clamored and urged, hoping for a solution from Huang Yunshuo.

Huang Yunshuo pondered for a moment. "As for the disputes between your guilds, I won't interfere. Once our Brotherhood finishes collecting our share, you can do whatever you want—you don't need to worry about us."

The Brotherhood was teeming with elite players. Every player in Stone Terrace Town who possessed a "Kiss of the Two-Headed Dog" was gathered here. Combined with Huang Yunshuo, a man who counted as half an army, their claim to the top spot was indisputable.

"And how much are you going to take?" people asked anxiously.

Huang Yunshuo paced back and forth among the mountains of loot. He noticed that while the density varied, the items were largely similar everywhere, so he walked to a position near the edge.

"Exalt!"

As he activated his skill, a buff radius of ten meters centered on him appeared.

"Everything within this range is ours. Don't be impatient; we’ll leave the moment we’re done," Huang Yunshuo said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The "Big Boss Idiot" was generous after all! The spot he chose was near the periphery; although a ten-meter radius wasn't small, the loot within it was negligible compared to the entire field at the city gate.

"Coordinate the scavenging. Li Nan, take command," Huang Yunshuo said, leaning on his rocket launcher to supervise. Li Nan felt a surge of energy and began issuing orders.

Though the Brotherhood was just a casual venture for Huang Yunshuo, it was clear that Chu Jun, Li Nan, and the others were genuinely committed to making it a success. Many members had developed a strong sense of belonging and loyalty to this newly formed inner circle, which was why Li Nan felt confident in letting them handle such a vast amount of loot. Some were assigned to collect copper coins, others gathered materials, and the materials were further categorized. While the ten-meter area looked chaotic, the efficiency was incredibly high. Within five minutes, the spot was picked clean.

Huang Yunshuo led his group out of the castle, and soon after, earth-shaking battle cries erupted behind them as the remaining guilds began their PK session.

Returning to town, Huang Yunshuo headed to the blacksmith shop to have gem slots added to his Alloy Battle Armor. He called Ye Piaoxue along, leaving the headache of loot distribution to Li Nan and his team; he was more than happy to play the role of the detached superior.

"Why did you call me here? I wanted to go back and help split the copper coins," Ye Piaoxue asked, her movements graceful yet her tone filled with dissatisfaction.

"Because I have something good for you! Open your trading panel," Huang Yunshuo said. Seeing her comply, he placed three items on the interface: the Chickling Cloak, the Excitement Chainmail, and a mid-grade Rage Gem.

"Huh?" Ye Piaoxue stared at the items, feeling a bit dizzy. "For me? You aren't going to charge me for these, are you?"

Huang Yunshuo replied generously, "Just pay me back in flesh!"

"Go to hell!" Ye Piaoxue shot him a glare, though she clicked "Confirm" with a mix of excitement.

Huang Yunshuo hadn't told Ye Piaoxue or his friends exactly what the Golu-Ro had dropped. Since these items were mostly for his own use, he didn't want to show off and risk getting beaten up by his peers. At the blacksmith, he had Wang Dachui add two slots to his Alloy Battle Armor, and Ye Piaoxue added one slot to her Kiss of the Two-Headed Dog.

After socketing the Life Gem and Rage Gem into his armor, Huang Yunshuo smiled with satisfaction. He could now recover 4 HP every five seconds—48 HP per minute. Now, when fighting those 60-attack Little White Geese, he barely needed recovery sprays. It was incredibly comfortable.

"Go find them now. Oh, and tell them they can rent two courtyards in the east of town to serve as the Brotherhood’s headquarters, since they’re so keen on making this work."

After parting ways with Ye Piaoxue, Huang Yunshuo ran toward the north of town.

What exactly was the Source of Excitement? Could it be another treasure for boosting rage? Huang Yunshuo speculated, filled with anticipation. People were always full of longing for the unknown.

After visiting the appraiser, he needed to head to the Town Protector's office to upgrade his "Adventure Log" badge to level 3. He had to hand the recommendation letter for the upgrade to the Protector. He wondered what the Protector looked like and hoped to run into Vice-General Luo Liang again; they had worked well together, and he wondered if the man would offer some kind of reward.

At the appraiser's shop:

[Source of Excitement: Green * Rare-grade material]
[Attached Skill - Sting: When attacking a target with a melee weapon, the target has a higher chance of suffering a Defense-Breaking Strike.]

A material with an inherent skill? Good stuff! Huang Yunshuo had seen plenty of materials since the game launched, but he had never seen anything like the Source of Excitement. This meant that no matter what it was crafted into, the resulting equipment would possess the "Sting" skill. That was incredibly powerful.

In *Rebirth Era*, the most common form of extra damage was a Critical Hit, followed by Double Damage, then Defense-Breaking Strikes, and finally, Fatal Strikes. The probability of triggering these decreased in that order, but each was more brutal than the last. A Fatal Strike essentially emptied a health bar in one go—utterly broken. Double Damage seemed to overlap with Criticals, but when they triggered together, the damage was fourfold.

A Defense-Breaking Strike ignored defense entirely, dealing true damage, and often carried a high chance to trigger a critical hit as well. The difference in combat effectiveness between having defense and having none was massive. Without defense, a target also lacked crit resistance; a single critical hit could deal three or four times the damage of a normal attack. That was the raw tyranny of the Defense-Breaking Strike.