Chapter 227: The Inevitable Path Dependence

As Irving and the others took action, Elder Howard quickly arrived at the secret base of the Night Blades located on the outskirts of the City of Warding. Although Elder Howard had never been here before, he possessed all the information regarding this secret base.

Before taking action, Elder Howard had made sure to familiarize himself with all the intelligence related to the Night Blades around the City of Warding. Initially, Elder Howard had planned to use the secret base on the outskirts of the City of Warding as a hideout. However, after the events that had transpired, he felt it was unnecessary to do so.

"Although my previous operation failed, I have successfully gathered intel on Irving and his group," he stated.

Inside the secret base, numerous members of the Night Blades were listening attentively to Elder Howard's instructions.

"The relationship between Angel Guild and Irving is extremely poor. Therefore, my next move must again involve the members of Angel Guild."

Elder Howard had already formulated his next course of action in his mind. The reason he was sharing this information was simply that he needed the assistance of these ordinary Night Blades members.

"What you need to do is very simple: while I act, you will attack Irving's allies. As soon as Irving's allies come under attack, he will be forced to divert his attention. At that moment, I can launch a surprise attack while Irving is off guard. Although Irving is very powerful, I believe he would still suffer a crushing defeat when faced with a sudden assault."

After saying this, Elder Howard fixed his gaze firmly on the members of the Night Blades.

"Did you understand? If you did, hurry up and make the final preparations for the operation!"

Elder Howard did not intend to offer any rewards to the Night Blades members. In his view, they were already obligated to obey his orders.

"What are you waiting for? Didn't you hear what I just said?"

Seeing the Night Blades members still standing in place, Elder Howard urged them impatiently. The members of the Night Blades felt an overwhelming sense of fear in the presence of Elder Howard. They understood that the power wielded by this elder was even greater than that of Elder Seville.

While they were very dissatisfied with the lack of rewards from Elder Howard, they absolutely dared not voice their grievances in front of him.

After the members of the Night Blades left, Elder Howard couldn't help but complain.

"These people are just too lazy! They only act with enthusiasm when there's a reward involved! Elder Seville definitely deserves to die; he's completely incompetent."

Elder Howard didn't have a close relationship with Elder Seville. He was merely aware of his existence and had no particular grievances against him. However, after witnessing the behavior of the Night Blades members at the secret base in the City of Warding, his dissatisfaction with Elder Seville grew significantly.

In Howard's view, ordinary Night Blades members were merely cannon fodder. When necessary, these members had to obey his commands unconditionally. Howard never offered his subordinates many rewards because he believed that too many rewards would lead them to take him lightly.

His reasoning was rooted in an inevitable path dependence. He had previously maintained complete control over his subordinates by instilling fear through constant punishment. Therefore, after arriving in the real world, he hoped to execute his plans using the same method.

However, Elder Howard failed to recognize a crucial difference: the world of the Shelter Game and the real world were vastly different. In the Shelter Game world, ordinary Night Blades members could not guarantee their own safety. They had to rely on the protection of the more powerful elders. This meant that the Night Blades members dared not defy the orders of the elders.

In contrast, in the real world, Night Blades members could seek refuge with other powers. To prevent the Night Blades members from selling out their information, the elders in the real world were very inclined to offer rewards to their subordinates. Although these two approaches were entirely different, both were quite reasonable in their own contexts.

Elder Howard not only exhibited path dependence in controlling his subordinates but also demonstrated a serious path dependence when formulating action plans. Just as Irving had anticipated, Elder Howard intended to exploit the members of Angel Guild once again.

In Howard's mind, since his previous actions had been successful, there was no need to change any part of the successful strategy. Thus, Elder Howard planned to head to Starling City.

The Angel Guild in Starling City was still unaware of the events happening in the City of Warding. This provided Elder Howard with an opportunity to control an ordinary member of the Angel Guild in Starling City and then create trouble for Irving's allies there. When Irving arrived for support, Elder Howard would seize the chance to launch a surprise attack.

"I'm truly a genius! I can't believe I came up with such a perfect strategy! It seems that the other elders in the real world are a bit too weak. They've taken so long and still couldn't think of such a simple plan! Once I return, I must propose that all the elders in the real world be demoted."

After muttering these thoughts to himself, Elder Howard quickly made his way to Starling City.

Irving and Elder Howard arrived in Starling City almost simultaneously. Their objectives were quite similar: both were heading to the Angel Guild's branch in Starling City. Irving arrived a little earlier than Elder Howard and didn't need to observe the specifics of the Angel Guild's setup in Starling City.

Under Anna's guidance, Irving met the head of the Starling City Angel Guild branch.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Irving! You are a great benefactor to us in Starling City! Without your help, we would have been completely destroyed during the last Night Blades' operation," the head of the Starling City Angel Guild branch said, visibly excited by Irving's arrival. He believed Irving could provide significant assistance.

Irving smiled and nodded. "It's what I should do; you don't need to be so excited. Besides, I think you should let Anna finish speaking. I don't even know your name yet."

Irving's remark made the head of the Starling City Angel Guild branch realize that he had been a bit rash. He quickly quieted down and waited for Anna to continue.

"His name is Andy. He hasn't been with the Angel Guild for very long. He became the head of the Starling City branch mainly because he's a local. He is very familiar with the situation in Starling City, so he will definitely provide you with a lot of help during the upcoming operations."

After introducing Andy, Anna took Irving on a tour of the Starling City Angel Guild branch.

The branch was not large at all. It had only a little over a dozen members, and the vast majority were of very low strength. The only one who could be considered relatively strong was Andy, the head of the Starling City branch.

Although Andy was the strongest in the Starling City branch, his strength was still weaker than that of Vicky.

After observing the overall situation, Irving couldn't help but express his slight disappointment. "I honestly didn't expect that the talent within the Angel Guild has dwindled to such an extent. Now I understand why Aron was so agitated."

After assessing the conditions at the Starling City branch, Irving grasped the overall plight of the Angel Guild. Sёarch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"I apologize for the state of our guild. However, we will definitely recover quickly. During our upcoming operations, we won't be a burden to you," Anna rushed to assure Irving. She didn't want their collaboration to be jeopardized for any reason.

Irving smiled and shook his head. "You're overthinking! I never said I was planning to stop cooperating with you. In fact, I'm about to engage in a very important collaboration with you."

After saying this, Irving put on a semi-transparent mask, transforming himself into a completely unfamiliar individual.

"You can now call me Daniel, and my identity is the assistant to the head of the Starling City branch. Mr. Andy, I look forward to your support moving forward," Irving, disguised as Daniel, smiled at Andy and Anna.

Both Andy and Anna were slightly taken aback but quickly adjusted their expressions.

"I have a rough idea of your plan now. When do you think the Night Blades elder will arrive?" Andy asked Irving with a hint of worry. In Andy's eyes, the arrival of the Night Blades elder would pose a significant threat to the Starling City branch. Even with Irving's presence, he couldn't guarantee everyone's safety.

Irving smiled reassuringly. "He should already be nearby, just observing the situation. Once he confirms there are no threats, he will take action."

This statement filled Andy with fear. By this point, Anna had left, and Andy had no one to turn to for help other than Irving.

"Shouldn't we take the initiative? If we launch a surprise attack, even the Night Blades elder should be seriously injured, right? Plus, with your assistance this time, our chances of success will be higher," Andy suggested.

In response to Andy's proposal, Irving simply smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to worry at all. Just follow the planned steps I've laid out for you."