Once his investigation on Skyland City was concluded, Xu Feng returned in a low-key manner.
With the newfound popularity, there were many players coming and leaving within the Teleport Platform. Thus, he was treated as just one of the many average players.
Not a single player managed to detect him or know about his identity.
After all, players had already started to become familiar with the Divine World, with some even copying his style to protect their identity.
Hence, there were many mask-like figure players roaming around the streets openly.
Despite this, Xu Feng still heard many blatantly and openly discuss how to take advantage of the current situation.
"Lunar Wraith is indeed strong, but she's still one person. The monster waves are still being reported and live streamed by many."
"Indeed, it's even been reported that some of the monsters were level 50s. We should also be prepared to leave the city soon."
"Heh, leave? Let me tell you a secret. There's a secret gathering of an organization that is currently putting up lots of bounty rewards to hunt down Vanguard Guild members. Even those in the Recruit Rank would earn us 3 Silver Coins."
'Bounty rewards eh.' When Xu Feng walked past a few groups of people who were discussing an organization orchestrating a devious plan to hunt down his guild members. He became amused and wondered who was the genius behind such a plan.
Rather than being infuriated by the act, Xu Feng was the complete opposite.
He was quite satisfied and even wanted to thank the person face-to-face for helping him remove the ungrateful and disloyal bunch of parasites.
Precisely because there were always members in every guild who were fickle and chased after profit only, Xu Feng never gave out resources for free unless they worked hard for it.
Why should he nurture a bunch of treacherous people?
Nurturing them would only result in his guild stagnating and worse— losing out potential loyal members who would become a valuable asset to the guild due to lack of resources.
With the Town Certificate in hand, Xu Feng decided to go above and beyond to eradicate the parasites in his guild.
After all, once he constructed a town, the ones who would receive the most benefit would be those who braved the storm and remained in the guild.
Shortly after Xu Feng arrived at the Adventure Association, he was informed that Jessica was temporarily busy.
However, the receptionist who addressed him emphasized that he would be entertained as soon as possible.
Naturally, Xu Feng didn't make a fuss and gently nodded his head. There was no need to rush things. He was also positive Jessica must have been swarmed with the recent data of the monster wave.
Just like how players were able to realize a crisis was occurring, the NPCs' intelligence networks were far superior and should have been informed long before players even made a discovery.
Nevertheless, Xu Feng didn't idle around and informed Carmen to begin the next phase.
Since some people are willing to spend a fortune to put up a bounty reward on his guild member, then he shall gladly lend them a hand.
Lin Feng: Carmen, go anonymous mode and inquire about the ongoing organization that is openly trying to target members of the Vanguard Guild. Inform them that you're in the Member Rank and that you could reveal data of the guild members in exchange for a hefty price.
Lunar Wraith: You want to destroy your guild, right?
Lunar Wraith: Alright, but I want a profit split from it. Since I'm doing all the hard work.
Lin Feng: … Where and who did you learn that from?
Lunar Wraith: Who else but my great and magnanimous Guild Leader~
Speechless by the message, Xu Feng facepalmed and closed the direct message. He truly regretted his action of revealing too much of his shrewdness in front of her.
Not only did she learn and adapt his method, but she even went ahead and used the method against him.
It was no wonder why so many secluded masters refused to accept a disciple. Because once the disciple finished learning something, the first person they went after would always be their master.
Time swiftly went by, and soon, Jessica finally showed up. Upon taking notice of Xu Feng near the couch, she was slightly startled.
"Baron Lin Feng is really unpredictable." Jessica chuckled and greeted him. Without a doubt, she had taken note of Xu Feng's new aura which he had attempted to conceal. However, such an aura could never be concealed against NPCs, especially those who were higher level than him.
Jessica's status might be lower than him, but her strength was definitely above him by a large margin. And in the Divine World, status overwhelmed one's strength— in a law-abiding area, of course.
"You seemed busy." Xu Feng stood up and teased her. "I bet the monster waves that originated from Paradise Plains are giving you quite the headache."
Flashing a bittersweet smile, Jessica sighed. "Ugh, tell me about it. Our city barely got back into traction and our Adventure Association was finally becoming relevant, then that monster wave happened."
After saying that, Jessica then suggested they head to a private room to converse further when she noticed there were other nearby people.
Xu Feng naturally complied with that, given he had something confidential to speak about as well.
Sometime later, Jessica brought him a cup of tea and asked, "So, did you come here to lend your assistance? It would be really helpful since we're short on manpower."
Despite her statement though, Xu Feng remained composed and responded, "Are you sure it's short on manpower and not wealth instead?"
Jessica was rendered speechless. She had anticipated that the conversation with Xu Feng wouldn't be easy, but she didn't expect him to outright expose her.
"You really are not playing by the rules this time." Jessica pursed her lips and said. "I supposed you didn't come here for just some chattering about the monster waves, but have another motive, right."