Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 732

Chapter 732: Farewell Party
Ethan knew Shadowstrike’s type all too well. In the real world, the man was a mercenary. He’d first logged into Ethereal from the US, having slipped back into Ember City for a covert visit to family. But his primary area of operations was overseas.

The fact that Shadowstrike had refused the duel meant Ethan no longer saw him as a threat. It also revealed the man’s true character. In his past life, Shadowstrike had built a flawless reputation, earning the title ‘God of Slaughter.’ What Ethan hadn’t realized back then was that the man was simply a bully. His ‘unbeaten record’ was maintained because he never took a job without first meticulously researching his target, learning their every combat pattern. If his assessment showed any risk of failure, he simply wouldn’t accept the contract. That was the source of his mystique—the legend that the God of Slaughter only went after ‘challenging’ targets.

But tonight, the man had crossed a line. He’d threatened Ethan’s friends in the real world.

“Ethan, what’s this location you just sent to my phone?” Victor’s private message popped up.

“The last known location of that guy,” Ethan replied, his gaze still fixed on the spot where Shadowstrike’s corpse had vanished, his eyes icy. “He should be near your area. After you finish the business tomorrow, take care of him.”

“He’s…?” Victor was taken aback.

“He’s a merc. Top enforcer for the ‘Blackfin’ group. His hands are filthy.” This was intel Ethan had carried from his previous life. He’d never planned to escalate their in-game rivalry to the real world. But the threat changed everything.

“Blackfin… Understood.” Victor’s tone shifted, becoming flat and serious.

“How are things on your end?” Ethan asked, changing the subject. Seeing Victor online had already told him the initial phase with Amber had gone smoothly.

“No problems. With Blackie and Micah here, I’m practically redundant. Meeting with the buyers is set for tomorrow morning. Whether the deal goes through… your special friend isn’t making any promises.” Victor had deliberately put the last two words in parentheses.

Ethan’s mouth twitched. Was it that obvious to everyone?

“Got it,” he replied, offering no explanation and ending the private chat.

In the main raid channel, Leo was already spamming the chat with item links. The Mana-Forged Colossus had been incredibly generous, dropping over a dozen items.

“Damn, Leo, that was insane! I didn’t even see the loot hit the ground before you vacuumed it all up!”

The chatter was filled with awe, and even Ethan was impressed.

“You guys are new here,” laughed one of Leo’s regular squad members. “We’re used to Leo’s ‘Sleight of Hand’ trick by now.”

“No kidding! How do you even practice grabbing gear before it lands?”

“Man, Leo should’ve been a Rogue… that kind of reflexes, you must have been single for decades!”

The raid was a mix of shock and good-natured ribbing. Leo basked in the glory but winced at the ‘single for decades’ comment. Only he knew the true, frustrating origin of his ‘Sleight of Hand’ skill. It wasn’t from any divine gift, but from his time at the orange-lit tavern with Morzan. The old man had insisted on a ‘look but don’t touch’ policy with the hired company, but Leo was still a red-blooded young man. A little surreptitious contact was inevitable. Learning to be quick—reach, brush, retract—all under Morzan’s drunken but watchful eye, had honed his speed to a supernatural level. The girls often never even felt it. Now, he applied that same lightning-fast precision to snatching loot the millisecond a boss died. Swish, swish—everything was in his bag before anyone could blink.

“Boss, how do we divvy this up?” Leo asked in the raid chat.

Ethan scanned the list of items Leo had posted and frowned.

“That’s all?” he asked.

“Yeah… that’s it?” Leo sounded confused.

Ethan’s brow furrowed. This wasn’t right. The item he was after wasn’t listed. A first-time progression kill should have forced the Colossus to drop its entire loot table. So where was it?

Just as he was puzzling over this, a private message from Leo came through.

Leo: Looking for this, boss? [Schematic: Massive Catapult]

“You sly dog,” Ethan muttered, a grin spreading as he saw the schematic—the entire reason he’d organized this raid. Another Master-tier recipe. Had it dropped publicly, everyone would have seen it. Ethan hadn’t planned to keep it a secret, but Leo’s initiative to squirrel it away was a welcome one. It would buy the Renegade Alliance precious time before other guilds figured out where they were getting these advanced schematics.

“I just choose not to scheme. Doesn’t mean I’m an idiot,” Leo sent back, adding an eye-roll emoji.

“Trade it to me later,” Ethan replied.

“Got it.” With that settled, Leo turned and slung an arm around Leafshade’s shoulders. “Alright, Leafy, my man! Almost forgot, this is your job now!” He promptly dumped the entire stack of loot into Leafshade’s inventory.

With that done, he slung his shield onto his back and addressed his team with exaggerated sentimentality. “Listen up, you lot! From now on, you follow Leafy’s orders! You be good, you hear? Cause if I have to come back here, I’ll smack you all into next week with my shield!”

He was laying it on thick, using humor to smooth the transition and ensure his team would give their new commander a fair shot. Ethan nodded in approval. The guy could be surprisingly perceptive when he wanted to be.

But just as Ethan was about to gather Lyla, Victor, and the others to leave, he heard the chorus from Leo’s team.

“Don’t worry, Skyblade, you can go in peace! We’ll be fine!”

“Farewell, brave leader! Your watch has ended!”

“We’ll carry on without you, boss!”

“As the ancients said, ‘Life is unpredictable, like a sausage wrapped in stale bread… We finally…”

“We finally… can run a raid properly!”

“Praise the gods, this day has come! Please leave quickly, Skyblade, and don’t hurry back!”

The three hundred voices rose in a perfectly synchronized, utterly shameless eulogy for their departing tank.