Snow.

No. It wasn’t just a passing thought anymore. The moment her name crossed his mind, the feeling hit him like a flood. Her face, her smile, the way she looked at him. Everything came rushing back at once.

’Maybe not very soon. Maybe right now. Today. Tomorrow. The second I log off. I should call her. I should reach out.’

It had been far too long since Snow left his life, and for the first time in a while, Marcus felt a strong urge to close that distance.

"Sister Tina, I’m sitting with you. Let me tell you all about my brother’s adventures."

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Amber happily claimed the seat beside Professor Tina. She leaned against her, talking nonstop while enthusiastically recounting everything Marcus had done recently. Her eyes sparkled with pride the entire time.

Marcus watched from the side and shook his head with a helpless smile.

’Since when did she become my personal spokesperson?’

Rather than interrupt her excitement, he opened the mercenary interface and invited both Professor Tina and Talia into the Monarch Squad before setting their respawn points to his mansion.

The squad was steadily growing stronger.

Curious, Marcus opened the guild information panel to check their current progress.

—

Monarch Squad

Level: 2 (56%)

—

Since the squad’s creation, Anya and Chloe had been taking mercenary missions almost nonstop, pushing its level all the way to Level 2.

—

Leader: Stonehaven (Royal Knight)

Vice Leaders: Lily of the Wind (Cleric), Wind Witch (Pegasus Knight)

Members:

LunaWind (Fire Sorcerer) (Anya)

Wind’s Darling (Elven Archer) (Amber)

Reverie (Knight) (Willow Moran)

Wind Butterfly (Archer) (Jade)

Wind Ice (Ice Sorceress) (Crystal)

PhoenixDance (Archer) (Talia)

WindShadow (Archer) (Professor Tina)

—

Marcus couldn’t help grinning. It actually looked pretty impressive.

Nearly every girl’s in-game name carried "Wind" somewhere in it, tying them together in a way that made the Monarch Squad feel less like a random collection of players and more like an actual group.

The only issue was that the class composition was a complete mess. They had far too many archers and spellcasters, and almost no balance whatsoever. Still, Marcus didn’t care much about optimization at the moment. Everyone was having fun, and that mattered more.

Besides, if he counted himself, the squad already had three hidden classes. That alone was enough to make most players jealous.

In Dominion, class wasn’t the only thing that determined strength. Equipment played an equally important role, sometimes even more.

The thought immediately sparked an idea.

After Amber finally paused long enough to take a breath, Marcus stepped forward with a grin.

"Alright, ladies. Time to divide the loot."

He opened both his backpack and warehouse storage and began unloading equipment onto the large table in the courtyard.

Piece after piece appeared. The pile grew larger and larger until the entire table was covered in valuable gear.

Blue equipment alone would have been enough to make ordinary players drool, but Marcus wasn’t even paying attention to those. Golden equipment and artifacts made up the bulk of the collection.

Jade and Amber quickly organized everything into neat groups so everyone could browse according to their class.

Weapons:

Boundary Stone Needle (Level 40 Red Artifact)

Mist-Tear Spear of Purity (Level 50 Mythic Artifact)

Demon-Branch Staff (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Blazing Explosive Arrow (Mythic Artifact)

Cross Hammer (Level 50 Knight Golden Equipment)

Cloud Panther Bow (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Yellow-Tusk Boar Blade (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Bat Dragon Cloud Sword (Level 30 Mythic Artifact)

Armor:

Blood-Fiend Cloak (Level 30 Mythic Artifact)

Blood-Fiend Robe (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Mist-Tear Mask (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Black Bone Iron Tunic (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Light Stone Chainmail (Level 50 Knight Golden Equipment)

Mourning Gloves (Level 50 Sorcerer Golden Equipment)

Mourning Ghost Boots (Level 50 Sorcerer Golden Equipment)

Shadow Sand Staff (Level 50 Warlock Golden Equipment)

Shadow Sand Robe (Level 50 Warlock Golden Equipment)

Werewolf Cabaro Set (Level 30 Golden Equipment)

Accessories:

Mist-Tear Necklace (Level 40 Golden Equipment)

Skill Books:

Dancing Sparks (Level 40 Sorcerer)

Triple Shot (Level 40 Archer)

Critical Hit (Level 40 Assassin)

Bloodstorm Battle (Level 40 Warrior)

Summon Bent-Back Bricklayer (Level 50 Necromancer)

And that wasn’t even everything.

There were also ten pieces of Level 40 mid-tier Golden equipment Marcus had obtained from the Headless Cavalry inside Mist Veil Palace.

The sheer quantity was absurd. If ordinary players saw this mountain of loot, they would probably think the display was fake. Combined with the high-grade blue equipment stacked nearby, the total value was enough to make even veteran players lose their composure.

"Marcus, there’s so much of it!"

"Brother, these stats are incredible!"

The girls picked up item after item, examining the attributes with growing disbelief.

Every piece of Golden equipment had already been identified. The more they looked, the more impressed they became.

Marcus tried to keep a straight face, but the admiration in their eyes was difficult to ignore.

His Luck stat really was ridiculous. At some point, even he had stopped pretending otherwise.

Most players would be thrilled to own one or two pieces of equipment like these. Marcus had enough to spread across an entire squad.

Even Old Vine’s auction house couldn’t put together a collection like this on short notice, especially considering how many of the items were high-quality Golden pieces with excellent stats.

Marcus folded his arms and quietly enjoyed the moment. It felt good to finally share the rewards with everyone.

Then reality hit.

"Brother, why are the level requirements so high?"

"Marcus, we can’t equip most of this yet."

The excitement quickly turned into disappointment.

Aside from Lily, Amber, Crystal, and Jade, who had recently reached Level 30, everyone else was still below that threshold. Most of the equipment required Level 40 or higher.

Seeing their reactions, Marcus laughed.

"What’s there to worry about?"

He thumped a fist against his chest.

"You’ve got me, don’t you?"

The confidence in his voice immediately drew their attention.

"Give me three days. I’ll get everyone past Level 40."

Under normal circumstances, that claim would have sounded ridiculous. Coming from Marcus, however, nobody dismissed it.

By now, he had a habit of accomplishing things that should have been impossible.

Marcus began distributing the equipment.

"Anya, you’re taking the Blood-Fiend Cloak, Blood-Fiend Robe, and Demon-Branch Staff. The bonuses fit your fire magic perfectly. You’ll also get the Dancing Sparks skill book."

Anya’s eyes lit up instantly.

"Jade, take the Mist-Tear Mask, Mourning Gloves, and Mourning Ghost Boots. They’ll strengthen both your Water and Dark-element spells. We can finish the rest of the set later."

Jade nodded happily and immediately hugged the equipment to her chest.

"Chloe, I’ll give you the Cabaro Set once we’re done sorting everything."

One item after another found its owner.

Marcus distributed equipment according to class, carefully making sure everyone received something useful.

The only problem was the shortage of archer gear. Jade, Talia, and Professor Tina all needed similar equipment, and there simply wasn’t enough to go around.

Still, that wasn’t a serious issue. He could buy whatever they needed.

Marcus opened the Wealth Leaderboard and checked his current finances.

He already possessed more than 1.5 billion gold coins personally.

More importantly, the auction funds under Boss Blaze’s account had climbed to 9.8 billion gold coins. Just a little more and it would break ten billion.

Marcus stared at the number for several seconds.

One billion dollars. The figure still felt unreal.

Almost all of it had come from selling combat footage and related content. The money was simply sitting there in the auction house account, waiting for him to withdraw it.

Spending money never bothered him. Not having money was the real problem.

As far as Marcus was concerned, investing in his team was the smartest use of it. Once everyone was properly equipped, they could keep up with him in higher-level zones, challenge stronger bosses, and bring back even more valuable loot.

The stronger his squad became, the faster all of them would grow.

And Marcus fully intended to make the Monarch Squad the strongest team in Dominion.