Chapter 2444 – Power Expands
As the sun began to set, players flocked to the streets of White River City, with some players choosing to set up or browse through street stalls and some meeting up with friends to visit bars and restaurants. Everyone was merely going through their daily life.
The only thing different today was that practically everyone in the city was discussing the same topic—Stone Forest City.
“Hey, have you heard? Stone Forest City actually has over 500 Tier 3 NPCs guarding it,” a Level 101 Guardian Knight enjoying a gla.s.s of beer in a bar said to his companion beside him.
“Who wouldn’t know that? The video showing the city’s internal situation has long since gone viral on the official forums,” a Level 102 Elementalist retorted as he rolled his eyes at the Guardian Knight.
“Hehe, I’m not referring to that,” the Level 101 Guardian Knight said, waving his hand. “I have a good friend who managed to become the core member of a superpower, and he told me a juicy secret. Originally, the superpowers were planning to launch a joint attack on Stone Forest City. However, because of those Tier 3 NPCs, they all decided to give up on the endeavor. Now, some of these superpowers are even thinking of partnering with Zero Wing.
“Although the current Zero Wing is not comparable to actual superpowers in many aspects, due to the advantages of Stone Forest City, some superpowers are already acknowledging Zero Wing as a superpower. If Zero Wing really gains a few more superpowers as partners after this incident, I believe it won’t be long before it actually becomes a superpower in G.o.d’s Domain.
“My friend also said that now is a good time to join Zero Wing. If we wait until Zero Wing becomes an actual superpower, it will be much more difficult to join then. My friend is planning to withdraw from his Guild and has invited me to join Zero Wing together with him. After giving the matter some thought, I decided to go with him. Why don’t you come with me? With your strength, once we join Zero Wing, we’ll definitely have a great time there. We might even become one of Zero Wing’s main force members.”
“Really?” the Level 102 Elementalist asked.
At this moment, let alone this Elementalist, even the other experts inside the bar who had overheard the Guardian Knight’s words were tempted.
The conditions to join a superpower were extremely stringent, and the conditions to rise through the ranks in a superpower were more stringent. Moreover, the various superpowers generally had their important positions reserved for particular people already. Even if players had the required strength and talent for a specific position, they wouldn’t have the opportunity to get promoted to said position. However, it was a different story for Zero Wing.
Although Zero Wing wasn’t a superpower yet, it had already gained the recognition of many superpowers. With the ma.s.sive advantages Stone Forest City provided, it was only a matter of time before the Guild became a superpower.
In other words, Zero Wing’s influence would still expand rapidly in the future. After all, the amount of territory Zero Wing currently held was only at the standard of first-rate Guilds. There would be plenty of empty positions to fill in the future. Now was the best time for independent experts like themselves to join Zero Wing.
“Of course. Why would I lie to you? According to my friend, quite a few superpowers have sent representatives to negotiate a partners.h.i.+p with Zero Wing already. Once the actual negotiations are over, this piece of news will become impossible to hide. While not many players know about this matter, we should use this opportunity to join Zero Wing.
If we’re lucky, we might get a.s.signed directly to a good team,” the Level 101 Guardian Knight said earnestly. “Truthfully, if not for our close relations.h.i.+p and you being strong enough, I wouldn’t have asked you to come with me.”
Zero Wing’s recruitment standards had always been very high. Its requirements for becoming a core member were even higher: the Half-step Refinement Realm standard.
Meanwhile, although the Level 102 Elementalist was an independent player, he served as the vice commander of one of the Twin Towers Kingdom’s top adventurer teams. As for his strength, he had already reached the Refinement Realm standard and would be considered an absolute expert in first-rate Guilds. He would have no problem joining the main force of first-rate Guilds. However, as he wished to join the main force of superpowers and not first-rate Guilds, he had only been mingling with adventurer teams all this time.
“Alright, I’ll contact my commander afterward. Once I’ve settled my affairs, we’ll apply with Zero Wing,” the Level 102 Elementalist said, nodding after seeing the earnest look on the Guardian Knight’s face. At the same time, desire and antic.i.p.ation also surfaced in his eyes.
After overhearing the Level 102 Elementalist agree to the Guardian Knight’s suggestion to join Zero Wing, the other experts inside the bar were tempted by the proposition as well.
Zero Wing’s strength and foundations had already received the recognition of many superpowers. This was an excellent opportunity for independent experts like themselves to elevate their position in G.o.d’s Domain. If they seized this opportunity, they could become famous individuals in kingdoms and empires. They might even get to become the ruler of a city; at which point, their lives would thoroughly change. After all, many major corporations were investing astronomical sums into G.o.d’s Domain right now. Moreover, G.o.d’s Domain had also started affecting the various industries in the real world.
Meanwhile, during the time White River City’s expert players were gravitating toward joining Zero Wing, a and heroic woman was currently observing Zero Wing’s Residence from an Advanced Restaurant nearby.
“Vice Guild Leader, those people have stated that they are powerless over this matter. Unless we have some way of dealing with those Tier 3 NPCs, they aren’t willing to take action,” a tall man exceeding two meters in height reported after entering the private room the beautiful woman occupied.
“How interesting. It seems Zero Wing really has kept a lot of secrets hidden.” When Cold Shadow heard her subordinate’s report, not only did she not react in rage, but she even smiled. “Since that is the case, we’ll s.h.i.+ft to Plan B. We’ll give up on purchasing Zero Wing for now and search for a replacement on the eastern continent to fulfill the Guild’s task first. At the same time, notify the old instructor about this matter. Have him figure out a way to deal with Zero Wing in Fenglin City. Even if he can’t deal with Zero Wing in G.o.d’s Domain, I refuse to believe that he can’t do anything in the real world, either.”
Although she did not know how Zero Wing managed to secure so many Tier 3 NPCs, no power in G.o.d’s Domain was capable of stopping Mythology’s progress—not Super Guilds, much less Zero Wing.
Moreover, although many superpowers had chosen to partner with Zero Wing after this incident, even more superpowers had secretly started taking action against Zero Wing. After all, Zero Wing had touched upon their profits.
Meanwhile, during the time Zero Wing’s position and the number of experts the Guild possessed were continuously rising, s.h.i.+ Feng was frantically producing the Twelve Elemental Pillars in the Candlelight Trading Firm.
Due to Stone Forest City’s display of strength, Giant’s Heart, Unyielding Soul, and Thirteen Thrones, which were originally planning to buy only a small number of the Advanced Ancient Barrier, decided to place huge orders instead. Including the Secret Pavilion’s order, s.h.i.+ Feng now had to supply a total of 700 sets of Twelve Elemental Pillars—far beyond his expectations.
As a result, s.h.i.+ Feng had become rich overnight. Including the income Stone Forest City generated, only a few superpowers in existence could rival the liquid funds he currently had on hand. This was especially true in regard to Magic Crystals. Currently, s.h.i.+ Feng had 4,000,000 Magic Crystals on hand. Even after expending some on the Twelve Elemental Pillars’ production, he would still have a frightening amount left.
“Guild Leader, thus far, three superpowers have come to seek a partners.h.i.+p with us. They’re willing to use a portion of their Realms of Refinement Legacies to exchange for the Twelve Elemental Pillars. Moreover, during this period, a large number of experts have applied to join the Guild. Currently, we have accepted over 2,000 experts, among which, over 30 are in the Refinement Realm. A few Tier 3 experts have also joined us. At this rate, it won’t be long before we have more than 100 Tier 3 experts and 200 Refinement Realm experts,” Aqua Rose reported excitedly as she looked at s.h.i.+ Feng.
Two hundred Refinement Realm experts!
This number might not be comparable to what superpowers possessed, but this many Refinement Realm experts would resolve Zero Wing’s manpower shortage. Moreover, the Guild could also field many more exploration teams in Level 100 neutral maps.
“We have so many already?” s.h.i.+ Feng was surprised to hear Aqua Rose’s report. He never thought that revealing his Knight Division’s strength would bring such excellent results to the Guild.
Originally, he had only planned to use the Knight Division as a deterrent against the various superpowers. After all, if Zero Wing truly fought against the various superpowers’ joint army, the best result would be a Pyrrhic victory since Tier 3 NPCs were not invincible. Moreover, they were as difficult to resurrect as Personal Guards.
Players, on the other hand, were different. Even if players died, they would be as good as new in less than an hour. At worst, they would lose some combat power. However, they would still be Tier 3 players, and their combat power would still triumph over Tier 2 players. This was also the reason why expert players were the true representation of a Guild’s foundations and strength, while NPCs only served as a supporting tool and could never become a Guild’s true power.
Meanwhile, if the number of Refinement Realm experts Zero Wing had reached 200, then Zero Wing would have the capital to truly contest with the various superpowers over hegemony in G.o.d’s Domain.
“However, just like you’ve antic.i.p.ated, the various superpowers have also started taking joint action in Level 100 neutral maps. Not only have they started targeting our people, but they’ve also placed restrictions on materials for high-level potions and tools. This situation has forced us to purchase materials from the Secret Pavilion at a high price,” Aqua Rose said, frustrated.
Although Zero Wing had won the war without shedding any blood and received acknowledgment as an equal from many superpowers, it had also become an eyesore for many other superpowers. Now, these superpowers no longer treated Zero Wing as a negligible existence but as a compet.i.tor.
“They sure have moved quickly.” s.h.i.+ Feng smiled bitterly, shaking his head. “Have Fire Dance and the others get ready. Once I’m done making the Twelve Elemental Pillars, we’ll head over to the western continent.”
s.h.i.+ Feng was not surprised by the actions the various superpowers took. After all, there was only so much profit to go around in G.o.d’s Domain. It was only natural for Zero Wing to face heavy resistance when trying to get a larger cut of the cake.
However, he did not pay much heed to this matter—because he had a much more worrisome problem to deal with, which he had been ignoring due to the Guild’s inadequate strength.
Now that Zero Wing possessed a city in a Level 100 neutral map and he had become a Lord himself, he had no choice but to worry about the aggression of the dark forces. When that time arrived, Dark Players would thoroughly shed all pretenses with normal players.
The dark forces were still inactive right now only because Dark Players had yet to truly start exploring Level 100-plus neutral maps. However, as more Dark Players reached Tier 3 and explored the various Level 100-plus neutral maps, they would come across dark forces that had been banished by the various kingdoms and empires to Level 100-plus neutral maps. At that time, Dark Players’ development would skyrocket, and city sieges and territorial battles between Dark Players and normal players would become commonplace. Without sufficient strength, Guilds wouldn’t even be able to survive out in the fields. This was also the reason why some superpowers had gone out of existence after mainstream players started reaching Level 100 and beyond.
To ensure Zero Wing’s continued development in Level 100-plus neutral maps, he had to nurture a large number of Tier 3 experts as soon as possible. Moreover, the Guild also had to be capable of ma.s.s-producing Level 100-plus top- tier weapons and equipment. Simply relying on Field Bosses and Team Dungeons would not keep the Guild alive. Hence, sufficient materials were necessary.
“I’ll notify them right away.” Upon hearing s.h.i.+ Feng’s words, Aqua Rose could not help rejoicing. She had always been very curious about the western continent.
Following which, s.h.i.+ Feng spent the next few days working in his Special Forging Room and ended up producing as many as l,3〇〇 sets of Twelve Elemental Pillars. At the same time, his efforts had also brought him to Level 110, his leveling speed not the slightest bit slower than that of players grinding out in the fields. Of the l,3〇〇 sets, 800 sets were meant to fulfill the orders from the Secret Pavilion and Zero Wing’s other partners, while the remaining 500 sets were reserved for Zero Wing’s expert teams.
During the time the various superpowers were making use of their Twelve Elemental Pillars to achieve extraordinary results in Level 100 neutral maps, s.h.i.+ Feng led Aqua Rose and other members of Zero Wing’s core upper echelon to the Demonwolf Mountain Range’s teleportation gate.
After spending 20,000 Magic Crystals, s.h.i.+ Feng’s team of 10 transformed into streaks of light and disappeared into the silver gate.
The intercontinental teleportation took several minutes to complete. When everyone opened their eyes again, what appeared before them was a desert completely devoid of life.
“So, this is the western continent?” Aqua Rose was surprised as she looked at the endless desert around her.
The reason for her surprise was the scarcity of Mana in this place; the ambient Mana was actually thinner than even the Mana in the eastern continent’s forbidden lands. She could tell that she would have great difficulty casting Tier 3 Spells here despite her high-ranking Mana Body. Weaker Tier 3 players might not even be capable of using their Tier 3 Skills and Spells and might be limited to Skills and Spells of weaker tiers.
Sure enough, the Mana density here is much lower than on the eastern continent. When s.h.i.+ Feng sensed the ambient Mana, he was similarly overwhelmed by a sense of discomfort. It had already been a long time since he had experienced such a low-Mana density environment.
However, he did not dwell on the matter, just immediately recorded the coordinates of the teleportation gate here and summoned his Thunder Eagle. He then took a look at the system map and brought everyone toward the nearest NPC city.
The desert that housed the teleportation gate was much larger than s.h.i.+ Feng initially expected, taking more than two hours of flight to exit. During their journey, they had discovered plenty of Level 100-plus Great Lords and Grand Lords and even Level 120 Mythics. Fortunately, the Thunder Eagle was sufficiently fast, so they were able to escape these Mythics’ attack range in time. Had they been using Land Mounts, they would’ve most definitely suffered annihilation.
“Guild Leader, there’s a battle involving tens of thousands of players over at that Demonic Silver mine,” Aqua Rose said, curiosity gleaming in her eyes as she gazed at a nearby mine from the Thunder Eagle.
A Demonic Silver mine was merely a Grade 3 vein, yet it had actually incited a battle between tens of thousands of players. Moreover, not only were the partic.i.p.ants of this war Level 105-plus experts, but there were even 100-odd Tier 3 experts among them. This was practically a war between two superpowers.
The Azure Chamber of Commerce?”
When s.h.i.+ Feng studied the players fighting below, he noticed that the commander of the mine’s defenders was someone he was familiar with—Yan Xiaoqian, a genius on the Azure Chamber of Commerce’s fast track.