The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

After Irving explained how he had defeated Elder Howard, Aron and Benjamin finally arrived at his side. Although Aron and Benjamin hadn't witnessed the recent battle between Irving and Elder Howard, they could sense the lingering dark energy in the air.

Benjamin directly asked Irving, "You must have successfully defeated a Night Blades elder, right? From the dark energy left behind, I can tell that even if this elder wasn't eliminated, he has suffered significant injuries."

Irving smiled and nodded. "You're right. In the recent battle, I managed to seriously injure Elder Howard. However, I believe we need to switch to a better method for our next actions. The Night Blades won't let us rescue Nick easily! They will undoubtedly take him to a location that is harder for us to find."

Irving's words caused the expressions of the four people in front of him to turn grim. As members of the Angel Guild, Aron and Anna were naturally very concerned about Nick's situation. Although James was not a member of the Angel Guild, he felt responsible for the situation due to his earlier mistakes. Therefore, he was also eager to rescue Nick as soon as possible.

The only person who seemed somewhat relaxed was Benjamin. However, Benjamin was there to assist Irving, and if they failed to rescue Nick, he wouldn't have completed his mission to help Irving.

"What should we do? I can't think of a better method. If you have an idea, just tell us," Anna said after contemplating for a while and ultimately giving up. She felt that the information they had was insufficient, and she knew her own abilities weren't particularly strong, so she needed help from others. Naturally, the person most likely to have a solution was Irving.

After Anna spoke, James, Aron, and Benjamin all turned their gazes toward Irving at the same time, all of them feeling that only Irving could come up with a better plan.

"Since you all haven't thought of any other methods, let me share my idea with you," Irving said with a smile, and then he led the other four back to the castle.

The group was slightly puzzled by Irving's actions. In their view, they should have been searching for Nick's whereabouts around the castle. Even if Nick had possibly been taken away by members of the Night Blades, they would likely have left some traces nearby.

Once inside the castle, Irving methodically arranged for the construction of the defense infrastructure. This approach only added to the confusion of the others.

Eventually, James could no longer maintain his silence and directly asked Irving, "What exactly is your plan? Are you really not going to rescue Nick? I believe Nick is quite strong and could provide us with significant help in the upcoming battles."

In response to James's inquiry, Irving slowly countered, "When did I ever say that I wouldn't go rescue him? I will definitely bring him back. However, we mustn't rush. I believe the Night Blades are closely monitoring our situation right now. Moreover, they likely have spies in the castle. We need to confuse the Night Blades' spies and make them think that we don't care about Nick."

The moment Irving mentioned spies, James's expression suddenly darkened. He realized that the spies hiding around the castle were most likely among his subordinates.

"We need to find the spies! Once we do, I will make them pay a heavy price!" James said angrily in front of everyone.

Irving felt that James didn't need to be that upset. "Of course, we need to find the spies, but we shouldn't be in such a hurry. We must act as if we don't care about Nick. This will force the Night Blades into a state of confusion. They won't just give up, so they will continue to probe for information. At that point, we can use their actions to detect their vulnerabilities."

Irving's operational plan was actually quite simple: to observe coldly. As long as he didn't take any action, the Night Blades would undoubtedly become very curious. If they sent someone to scout Irving, he could take the opportunity to capture their spy.

Although Irving's plan was somewhat passive, others saw it as the most reasonable course of action. Even Aron and Anna from the Angel Guild believed it was the plan most likely to succeed.

"Although I really want to rescue Nick as soon as possible, I agree with Irving's plan," Aron said hesitantly to the group. As the leader of the Angel Guild, Aron felt immense pressure when he spoke these words.

Anna quickly added, "I think this is the best method! So none of us need to feel too guilty!" Her words were meant to persuade both Aron and James.

Since the members of the Angel Guild believed that Irving's plan had no issues, the others naturally refrained from voicing any objections. Thus, Irving led everyone in speeding up the construction of the defense infrastructure around the castle.

The Night Blades' spies, of course, relayed this information. Upon receiving the news, the other members of the Night Blades fell into a state of confusion. The two elders of the Night Blades were at a loss regarding what to do next. Although Elder Howard had successfully returned, he had sustained serious injuries and could not provide much assistance to the Night Blades moving forward.

The next course of action for the Night Blades was entirely entrusted to Elder Kent. Elder Kent's approach was completely different from Elder Howard's; he believed that as members of the Night Blades, they should take the initiative and strike first.

"It seems that Irving doesn't care at all about Nick's fate. So we can't use Nick as bait to provoke Irving into attacking us. We must change our strategy; we need to take the initiative and attack Irving!" Elder Kent declared his plan in front of the Night Blades members.

However, after he laid out this plan, not a single member of the Night Blades voiced their support. They all felt that the risks associated with this plan were far too great. Whether attacking Irving's shelter or the castle he had chosen, the Night Blades were bound to suffer heavy losses.

"Why is no one speaking? Do you all think my plan is impossible to succeed? If you believe this plan cannot work, then how about proposing a better one?" Elder Kent said, his frustration evident.

In his view, it was unacceptable that others couldn't think of a better method and were unwilling to execute his plan. This was the last situation Elder Kent wanted to encounter.

"Make a decision quickly! If you don't want to act according to my plan, then feel free to exit the Night Blades," Elder Kent stated boldly, shocking everyone present.

"One cannot simply exit the Night Blades. Anyone who chooses to leave will surely be eliminated by the special operations team within the Night Blades!" a squad leader of the Night Blades quietly reminded him.

Elder Kent turned his gaze toward the squad leader. "Since you're willing to speak, then tell me, do you support my plan?"

Faced with Elder Kent's threat, the squad leader of the Night Blades could only helplessly respond, "I can't think of a better plan, but I do feel that your plan is a bit too risky."

"Alright, you don't need to say any more! Since you can't come up with a perfect plan, let's go with mine!" Elder Kent insisted, forcing the members of the Night Blades to follow his lead.

The offensive plan devised by Elder Kent was to directly attack Irving's shelter. Although Irving had already patched many of the shelter's defense vulnerabilities, the shelter itself was inherently easy to attack. No matter how many defensive infrastructures there were, the shelter still needed players from the shelter game to defend it.

With Irving having taken everyone to the castle's perimeter, it meant that there weren't enough personnel available to defend the shelter.

Despite the high risks associated with Kent's approach, he had considered many factors before formulating his action plan. Elder Kent was not a reckless person; he was simply hot-tempered. Beneath his fiery exterior, however, he was also quite cunning and deceitful. There were many others within the Night Blades with similar temperaments, though their strength did not match his.

After making his decision, Elder Kent and the members of the Night Blades prepared for the final preparations. This operation was crucial for them, so they would take all the weapons they had. Elder Kent specifically retrieved a rare weapon from his vault. This weapon could deal significant damage to any enemy, and he was able to conceal it in a place where no one would notice.

Once all preparations were complete, Elder Kent gathered the members of the Night Blades together. "I know you are all feeling very anxious right now. But you shouldn't worry too much, because our operation is bound to succeed. Irving and his companions are at the castle, which means the defenses of his shelter are quite lax.

We only need to destroy the outer defensive infrastructure of Irving's shelter.

There's no need for us to go all in for a single decisive strike! The resources we have in the Night Blades far exceed those of Irving! We can engage him in a war of attrition!"

After finishing his speech, Elder Kent led the members of the Night Blades into action. Although Elder Howard did not join Kent in this operation, he still provided some assistance by using the fog to sever the communication channels between Irving's shelter and the castle.