The Great Thief

After Short Road, there were a few more interviewees. Although they still had potential, none of them had as much as Short Road.

Lu Li was already extremely happy with the first week of the training camp. He brought 14 trainees to complete the introductory ceremony. The youngest was 11 years old, meaning that he would have just started junior high school. The oldest was Short Road, who was 20. If he was a student, he would have been in university.

Short Road was already quite skilled. With a little more training, he would be able to enter a minor competition.

The younger ones on the other hand were nowhere near good enough to enter competitions unless they trained for another 3-5 years. This was the biggest risk and investment of the training camp, as they could not see the results in the short-term.

Some organisations didn’t even have training camps.

For example, the Gangnam Royals claimed that they invested millions into their camp, but this was all fake. The purpose of saying this was to receive more money from the investors. Now that they have fallen far below the other guilds, the main players requested to transfer. Because of this, they were unable to bring out replacements.

In terms of preparation, Glory Capital were the best. Even if their main players all left, they still could recover a major part of their team in a short period of time.

“Perhaps everyone already knows me. We met before. Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Lu Li, one of the founders of Ruling Sword. I did not attend university…”

“You didn’t attend high school either, did you?” Wandering added.

Lu Li paused for a bit, then continued to say, “I didn’t attend high school or junior high school. I only attended a few days of primary school…”

“Wow…” Most of them were clearly excited.

“However, I read a lot. I used all of my spare time to read. Don’t think that school is useless. I envy you guys. It’s not that I didn’t want to study, but that I had no money to. In the future, the grading in the camp will be extremely strict. Furthermore, the grades that you get in school will determine 50% of your total grade.”

“…”

A few of them gasped in surprise. Some were academically capable, so they had no problem, but the others were not, so they felt quite disappointed. They thought that they wouldn’t need to study any more after joining the training camp.

“I will let you know of the punishments shortly. Don’t think for a second that I’m joking. I won’t hesitate when it comes to sending people home,” Lu Li said with a cold and cruel voice. His expression immediately lightened as he continued, “Of course, if you guys do well, then I will do my best to accommodate your needs, such as allowances. If you guys want to compete, then I will do what I can do fulfil your requests.”

In Dawn, under-16-year-old players were restricted from choosing combat-classes.

However, clubs were allowed to apply for a permit for their competing members, which when granted, would allow the player to bypass the restriction. This was rare for many clubs however, as many decided to focus on the basics.

Lu Li himself came from the streets, which meant that his ideas and views were a little more unorthodox. Therefore, he was willing to send primary schoolers into the battlefield.

After hearing Lu Li speak for a few minutes, these kids were now members of Ruling Sword.

Short Road went to the bank to deal with the money that Lu Li promised him, then visited the hospital that Lu Li mentioned previously. As for the rest of the members, they were welcomed into the elite squads.

A few hundred people decided to celebrate that night.

The little ones went crazy, but their parents were okay with it. Firstly, this was because Lu Li had high expectations of their studies, and secondly, the environment was good.

A university was right next to the organisation, and there were multiple high schools in the area as well.

It was hard to imagine that an organisation like Ruling Sword, with no external funds, was able to be become what it was today.

The accommodation was all apartments. Two people would live in one apartment which was quite spacious.

The saddest thing was that the parents of these players weren’t permitted to stay with them, since they were expected to be independent. However, they were permitted to go home for a month in total every year. They could choose to use it together or split up the time. If they exceeded the limit of a month, then their grade points would be reduced as a result.

Lu Li required these kids to be independent as soon as possible.

His values and personality had been shaped by his living conditions while growing up. It was because of his background that he was able to go from rags to riches, as well as his personality and determination to forge onwards and constantly improve. This was because he did not want to let the poverty consume him again.

After the creation of the training camp, a few people in the inner circle of Ruling Sword realised Lu Li’s ambition.

Soon after, everyone began to recruit new members. Glory Capital also recruited a lot of potential players. Under normal conditions, they only recruited once a year, but this time, it seemed like they were afraid that Ruling Sword had taken all the players with strong potential away.

Furthermore, someone even tried to find out Ruling Sword’s future plans to recruit.

Lu Li smiled, though bitterly. After all, Ruling Sword already spent a great amount of money on this round of recruiting alone. If he chose to recruit multiple times during the year, the other departments of the organisation wouldn’t even need to lift a finger and Ruling Sword would definitely be bankrupt.

As he returned to the game, Lu Li was summoned to his mentor’s side.

Water Fairy was also summoned. When Lu Li rushed to where Garona was, he saw that Water Fairy and Garona was sitting closely together, as if they were holding hands.

“…I don’t know what it is, but I thought that it wouldn’t get worse, so I kept going until I met Gul’dan. Don’t get me wrong – he’s still utterly evil, but he had his own warmth, you know?”

Lu Li thought that this was absurd. Throughout the entire continent of Azeroth, including Gul’dan’s own race, no one saw any form of kindness or warmth from him.

He was one of the most prominent characters in the history of Dawn. He was the founder of the Shadow Council and was the most hated traitor of the Horde. He was one of the main characters behind the troubles that Azeroth had faced. At the same time, it was he who sold the Horde out to the Scourge and demonic forces.

“We must strive towards creating a glorious path full of darkness!”

These were his words. Lu Li could not imagine any form of warmth from hi, unless it was because he had saved a little girl back then? However, Lu Li didn’t want to refute Garona’s words. After all, Garona had been through her own share of unfortunate events in life.

“Ah, you’re here. How are you going with controlling poison?” Garona asked.

“I’ve been a little lazy lately, so I haven’t improved that much.”

Lu Li’s expression was one of guilt. As he spoke, he took out a bottle that was filled with light red fluid.

Garona took it, opened the lid, and took a whiff.

It was a rich and heavy fragrance, with a hint of sweetness. Garona couldn’t stand this smell, so she distanced herself from the bottle.