Chapter 2651 - Kingdom Perishes
“The Purple Thorns Kingdom is no more? How did it disappear?”
Shi Feng was momentarily stunned when he heard Aqua Rose’s report.
Although there were over a hundred kingdoms in God’s Domain, the strength these kingdoms possessed was no trivial matter. In the case of the Purple Thorns Kingdom, it was average among the various kingdoms in existence. Although it was smaller than Star-Moon Kingdom, its national power was only slightly weaker than that of Star-Moon Kingdom. Hence, Shi Feng found it hard to imagine that there would be anything capable of destroying a kingdom like the Purple Thorns Kingdom.
In the past, kingdoms had started rising and perishing only when quite a number of players had already reached Tier 4 and were preparing to challenge their Tier 5 Promotion Quest.
In the current God’s Domain, however, let alone preparing to challenge the Tier 5 Promotion Quest, there wasn’t even a single Tier 4 player in existence. It was utterly impossible for players to destroy an entire kingdom.
If not for Shi Feng knowing that Aqua Rose would not joke about such an important matter, he really would think that she was kidding him.
“We still don’t know the exact details. All we know is that the entire Purple Thorns Kingdom has been isolated from the outside world. According to the players that managed to escape from the kingdom before its isolation, powerful monsters had suddenly appeared in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, and these monsters were aggressively targeting players. At the same time, all NPCs at Tier 3 and above within the kingdom’s NPC towns and cities had either disappeared or were placed in a strange state where they could not do combat. As a result, these newly appeared powerful monsters quickly overran the various NPC towns and cities.
“Moreover, any players killed by these monsters lose ten levels and have their souls placed in an Extremely Weakened state, preventing them from logging into God’s Domain for ten days. As for the corpses of these players, they are turned into either monsters themselves or food to strengthen these monsters.
“This incident has already shaken the entire eastern continent. Every power is sending people to investigate this matter; the Black Dragon Empire and several kingdoms neighboring the Purple Thorns Kingdom have even dispatched their NPC armies to the Purple Thorns Kingdom’s border to investigate. However, until now, nobody has managed to obtain any information. On the contrary, the players sent to investigate ended up getting ambushed and killed by the monsters there.”
Aqua Rose was similarly shocked when she received the news. She never thought that an incident like this would actually happen in God’s Domain.
It might be understandable if it were an NPC city that suffered destruction, but the annihilation of an entire kingdom was simply unimaginable.
Moreover, even now, nobody knew what exactly had happened to the Purple Thorns Kingdom.
This situation made the players operating in the neighboring kingdoms and empires nervous, afraid that their country would become the next Purple Thorns Kingdom. If that happened, then all the time and effort they’d spent establishing a foundation in their respective countries would be wasted. The various powers that had been developing in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, in particular, were close to going crazy now.
In order to develop in the Purple Thorns Kingdom, the various powers had purchased large tracts of real estate there. They had even constructed numerous Guild Towns and Cities. However, because of the Purple Thorns Kingdom’s fall, all of these investments were gone. Many Guilds had even collapsed because of this incident.
Just thinking of this matter made Aqua Rose shudder.
Killed players are turned into either monsters or food that goes to improving the monsters? When Shi Feng heard Aqua Rose’s statement, the name of one person came to mind. However, he soon shook his head in denial. Although Beast Emperor possesses the Evil God’s Legacy, he shouldn’t be capable of rendering so many powerful NPCs incapable of combat and even destroying the Purple Thorns Kingdom.
In the past, the Evil God’s Temple had indeed caused many problems for the eastern continent. However, by the time the Evil God’s Temple had become a real threat, quite a number of players had already reached Tier 4.
Moreover, the Evil Beasts of the Evil God’s Temple required a lot of time to build up their strength. In fact, let alone the current Evil God’s Temple, even when the Evil God’s Temple had been at its peak in the past, it couldn’t destroy an entire kingdom so quickly.
“Guild Leader, because of this matter, the entire Guild is in chaos. Many hidden powers are trying to take advantage of this situation. The players and powers that escaped from the Purple Thorns Kingdom, in particular, are now waging war over the various resource spots in Star-Moon Kingdom. The entire Star-Moon Kingdom is in a mess,” Aqua Rose said in frustration. “Moreover, many of Star-Moon Kingdom’s players have started migrating to other kingdoms and empires, which has led to a drop in the player populations of the kingdom’s cities. The kingdom’s economy is now plummeting…”
“I understand. Have Fire and the others get ready. We’ll return to Star-Moon Kingdom immediately,” Shi Feng said, nodding.
Originally, he had planned to partner with Azure to visit the neutral sea zone off the Silvermoon Empire and see if they could occupy one of the islands there. If he had a Guild Town in that neutral sea zone, it would serve as a foundation for Zero Wing to develop its naval strength on the western continent.
At this point, the accessible resource spots on the main continent were mostly occupied already. There were barely any resource spots left for Zero Wing to claim. To develop on the western continent, Zero Wing would have to occupy a Level 100-plus neutral map or develop out at sea. However, establishing a foothold in a Level 100-plus neutral map was easier said than done. Not even the local superpowers could pull it off. Hence, Shi Feng had decided to let Zero Wing develop in the western continent’s neutral sea zones.
Given the current situation, however, it would seem that his plan was no longer viable.
“What about Violet? Her Concentration should be close to reaching the Tier 4 standard already. If we leave now…” Aqua Rose had to ask.
“Let her stay here and continue training. The rest of us will head back first,” Shi Feng decided. “Moreover, we also need a powerful expert to safeguard our territories here on the western continent.”
“I understand. I’ll contact Fire and the others now and have them get ready,” Aqua Rose said before disconnecting the call and gathering the other members of Zero Wing.
As for Shi Feng, he did not idle around but contacted Duan Hanshan right away.
“Guild Leader Black Flame, seeing as you’re contacting me so suddenly at this time, you’ve probably received news about the Purple Thorns Kingdom as well and wish to have Azure help you return to the eastern continent, right?” Duan Hanshan said, smiling as he caressed his beard.
“Elder Hanshan really is amazing. That’s right. We plan to return to the eastern continent. However, trying to send back a hundred players is a little difficult for us, so we’ll need your Chamber’s help,” Shi Feng said, nodding. “Of course, we will pay the fees according to market price.”
Currently, the interactions between the two main continents were growing. Some superpowers capable of intercontinental travel had even started offering teleportation services. Ordinary powers still lacked the qualifications to utilize these services. However, now that Zero Wing and Azure were allies, Azure naturally wouldn’t refuse to teleport Zero Wing’s members back to the eastern continent.
“Guild Leader Black Flame, you’re being too polite. Our two Guilds have just become allies, so let’s just set the fee aside,” Duan Hanshan said, waving his hand. “We only hope that we can send some of our Guild’s young talents to interact and train at your Guild. May I know if Guild Leader Black Flame can do us this favor?”
“Of course, that won’t be a problem. Only by interacting with each other can we improve more quickly. This is a good thing for both of us. How can I possibly refuse?” Shi Feng replied, slightly surprised by Duan Hanshan’s proposal. He never thought that the Azure Chamber of Commerce would consider such an action.
This offer was good news for Shi Feng. After all, he was basically getting free labor. Moreover, he could tell that Azure was expressing its goodwill to Zero Wing. He naturally wouldn’t reject such an offer.
“In that case, thank you, Guild Leader Black Flame,” Duan Hanshan said. “Afterward, all you need to do is head to Purple Light City with your team. Solitary Frost and the others will bring you all to the teleportation point.”
“Alright.” Shi Feng nodded before disconnecting the call. He then left the guest room he rented and made his way to Lightforged City’s teleportation plaza.
After Zero Wing’s members gathered at the teleportation plaza, they promptly left the ancient secret land. Solitary Frost’s team of 40 then led Zero Wing’s members toward a teleportation point leading to the eastern continent.
“Guild Leader Black Flame, given the number of people this time, we can only make use of this random teleportation array. When it activates, everyone will be teleported to a random location on the eastern continent. So, we’ll have to travel to Star-Moon Kingdom independently,” Solitary Frost said as he pointed at the ancient ruin before them.
“That won’t be a problem,” Shi Feng said, nodding.
Of the teleportation arrays that allowed intercontinental travel, the ones capable of teleporting a large number of players generally did not have fixed destinations. Although this feature was somewhat troublesome, this trouble was nothing compared to the benefits one could gain from intercontinental travel.
Seeing that Shi Feng had no objections, Solitary Frost took out a key and activated the ruin’s teleportation array.
Immediately, a gigantic black hole appeared in the middle, rapidly depleting the ambient Mana.
“Quick! This teleportation passage stays open for only 15 seconds! Once it disappears, we can reactivate it only after ten days!” Solitary Frost said hurriedly.
After Solitary Frost’s warning, Shi Feng and the others promptly jumped into the black hole and disappeared from the ancient ruin.