Chapter 271 - Guild Residence
“Lady Sharlyn is looking for me?” A bad premonition stirred in s.h.i.+ Feng’s mind.
s.h.i.+ Feng had a very good understanding of Sharlyn’s personality.
She was definitely the type of person that would not act out of altruism, and s.h.i.+ Feng couldn’t help but wonder just which item on him Sharlyn had her eye on again.
Forget it. It’s better if I just go and see what she has in store for me, s.h.i.+ Feng decided after giving it some thought. Although Sharlyn was a money grubber, he had always received a great harvest every time they met. This time, Sharlyn might give him some advanced quest again. If the quest rewards were good, he would consider giving it a try.
However, the Stargazing Tower was located in Blackwing City, and this situation puzzled s.h.i.+ Feng greatly. Since when had Sharlyn run all the way to Blackwing City?
If s.h.i.+ Feng had not known the location of the Stargazing Tower, he would have definitely wasted much of his time blindly searching for Sharlyn in White River City. Moreover, it was not easy to go to Blackwing City. Without the appropriate pa.s.s, players would find it impossible to go there at all.
To put it simply, if any other player wished to meet with Sharlyn, it would be a very difficult endeavor.
Fortunately, it was a simple task for s.h.i.+ Feng. Although he had already depleted the number of uses on the Seven Luminaries Gemstone, his pa.s.s to Blackwing City, Aqua Rose still had a few Blackwing Pa.s.ses of her own.
“On second thought, maybe I should postpone meeting up with Sharlyn.” Based on s.h.i.+ Feng’s many years of experience campaigning in G.o.d’s Domain, the quest that he could trigger by going to Blackwing City would definitely not be simple. He also had many things he needed to do right now, so it was better for him to just push this matter to a later time.
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After leaving the City Hall, s.h.i.+ Feng called for Aqua Rose and Fire Dance to meet up with him. They then headed towards the Purple Sun Mansion located in the Trade Area of White River City.
The Purple Sun Mansion was originally the official residence of a Count. However, this Count had mysteriously disappeared inside the Purple Sun Mansion over half a century ago. In the following decades, every new owner of the residence would also mysteriously disappear overnight. An answer was never found for their disappearance, and ultimately, the residence was sealed by the city more than a decade ago. Moreover, the city had even stationed guards in front of the residence, preventing anyone from entering the place.
It went without saying that the area the Purple Sun Mansion occupied, as the official residence of a count, was one of the largest within the Trade Area of White River City. Even though s.h.i.+ Feng was now a Viscount, the personal land he could purchase would be less than a third of the Purple Sun Mansion.
“Guild Leader, why did you bring us to this abandoned residence?” Aqua Rose asked in curiosity as she looked at the dilapidated residence in the distance, and also at the eight guards stationed outside the place.
Their Guild had just recently obtained the First Clear of the h.e.l.l Mode Demon’s Castle, and the resulting fame had attracted many players to apply to join the Guild right now. As a result, Aqua Rose was swamped with work.
Although Blackie was also helping out with management, he was mainly focused on managing the Workshop side of things. The Guild within the game, on the other hand, was left to Aqua Rose to manage. As for Fire Dance, she was responsible for leading the main force of the Guild. Each of them had their own respective duties. However, the management of the Guild was the most onerous task out of the three.
Zero Wing had been established only recently, so there were still many problems on the management side of things. Aside from the Guild perks system still being imperfect, their Guild was also not prepared to recruit so many players. Therefore, Aqua Rose could only carefully select whom to allow into the Guild. Meanwhile, her criteria for selection were not based on a player’s level. Instead, she chose players based on how skilled they were in battle, and such strict selection criteria were very laborious and time-consuming. Aside from recruitment affairs, Aqua Rose also had to manage the daily affairs of the Guild, and this, in turn, had made Aqua Rose a very busy woman.
If s.h.i.+ Feng had not called her over, most likely, she would still be occupied with the matter of recruitment right now.
“What do you think of this residence?” s.h.i.+ Feng asked, a smile on his face.
“What do I think of it?” Aqua Rose carefully scrutinized the Purple Sun Mansion.
Although it was currently daytime in G.o.d’s Domain, with the sun s.h.i.+ning brightly up in the sky, the Purple Sun Mansion was surrounded by a depressing atmosphere. It even gave others an eerie feeling. However, this residence occupied a very large plot of land, and it was also situated in the heart of White River City; it was definitely prime real estate.
“Although it looks shabby, its location is very strategic. Both the Bank and Auction House are only two streets to the west, while the Adventurer’s a.s.sociation is three streets to the east. There are only five such strategic locations throughout White River City, and four are already owned by major n.o.bles; only this place is left without an owner. Moreover, out of the five residences, the Purple Sun Mansion occupies the largest area. Unfortunately, it is not for sale, and it is also protected by guards.
“If a Guild can establish a Guild Residence here, it would be very beneficial towards the Guild’s development in the future.”
Aqua Rose replied with eloquence. She was extremely familiar with the real estate of White River City. Her eyes were filled with yearning when she looked at this dilapidated residence. However, since they could not obtain it, there was not much point in talking about it.
Not to mention owning private territory within the Trade Area, they did not have the power to purchase land in even the outermost sectors of the city right now.
“Indeed. Within White River City, the Purple Sun Mansion could be considered the best location to establish a Guild Residence.” s.h.i.+ Feng nodded his head in agreement. He then said with a soft chuckle, “However, from today onwards, this Purple Sun Mansion belongs to us, Zero Wing.”
After s.h.i.+ Feng finished speaking, both Aqua Rose and Fire Dance were instantly dumbfounded. They looked at s.h.i.+ Feng with eyes filled with disbelief.
“Guild Leader, what did you say?” Aqua Rose couldn’t believe the words she just heard.
This prime real estate belonged to Zero Wing from now on?
No matter how she thought about this matter, it was simply impossible for it to be true.
“This Purple Sun Mansion will be Zero Wing’s Guild Residence from now on,” s.h.i.+ Feng said with a smile.
“Guild Leader, stop joking around. For such prime real estate, not to mention now, even if another month pa.s.sed by, it would still be impossible for anyone to obtain it.” Aqua Rose had a clear understanding about Guild Residences. Currently, not a single Guild in White River City possessed a Guild Residence of their own. Yet, s.h.i.+ Feng was saying that this hot property was now under the owners.h.i.+p of Zero Wing? If what s.h.i.+ Feng said was indeed true, then it would be even more shocking than Zero Wing obtaining the First Clear of one of the Three Great Dungeons right this instant. It was simply unbelievable.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me, which is why I brought you over to take a look.” s.h.i.+ Feng shook his head and laughed.
If Zero Wing wished to develop rapidly, a Guild Residence was a must. Meanwhile, Aqua Rose was the manager of the Guild, so s.h.i.+ Feng naturally had to bring her over to take a look at their future Guild Residence. It would allow Aqua Rose to better plan for the future.
After all, it was one thing to obtain the land for the Guild Residence; actually establis.h.i.+ng it was an entirely different matter. It would be better for them to plan ahead.
Just as the three of them arrived in front of the steel gate of the Purple Sun Mansion, the captain of the stationed guards walked up to them, blocking their paths.
“This is a forbidden location of White River City. Those unrelated, please leave,” the guard captain berated.
“Don’t tell me even I am not allowed entry?” s.h.i.+ Feng revealed his t.i.tle of Viscount.
“So it is Lord Viscount. Forgive this humble one for not recognizing my lord. However, Magistrate Weissman has personally given orders that n.o.body is allowed entry into this place, and even if it is you, Lord Viscount, I am afraid that I cannot allow you to enter.” The guard captain suddenly grew respectful when speaking to s.h.i.+ Feng.
“What about this?” s.h.i.+ Feng took out the Blacksteel’s Contract this time.
The guard captain was shocked after seeing this piece of paper.
After all, this paper was the deed to the Purple Sun Mansion. In other words, from this moment onwards, the Purple Sun Mansion was the private territory of the Viscount before him.
“Since Lord Viscount has already become the owner of this place, of course this humble one would not stop my lord from entering,” the guard captain said carefully. He then added, “However, there is something very strange about this Purple Sun Mansion. If my lord is planning to enter, please exercise caution.”
“I understand.” s.h.i.+ Feng nodded in reply.
Following which, the eight guards moved away from the entrance, allowing the three of them entry into the residence.
Meanwhile, both Aqua Rose and Fire Dance were shocked by s.h.i.+ Feng’s revelation. He was actually a Viscount of White River City!
n.o.bility was unlike Levels. One could not get enn.o.bled simply by wis.h.i.+ng for it. Instead, one needed a large amount of reputation to do so. Currently, all the Guilds in White River City were busy trying to raise the White River City Reputation they had. Although there were already players who had become citizens, there had yet to be a single person who achieved n.o.bility even until now.
Meanwhile, n.o.bility could be categorized into five tiers, which were Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, and Baron. Just the difficulty of becoming a Baron had made all the Guilds in White River City lament over their powerlessness, not to mention obtaining the position of Viscount, which was one tier above Baron.