Chapter 1232 - City's Management Rights
Chapter 1232 – City’s Management Rights
“This should be where the Legacy is.” Excitement flashed in Passing Monarch’s eyes as he looked at the tower hidden in the gorge.
He was impressed by how fast Shi Feng had found the greatest Legacy of the Sea Dragon.
On his last visit to the secret land, the Third Fleet had taken over four hours to clear the trials. Afterward, they spent the remaining time searching legacy island. However, they failed to find the Legacy and lost some of their members to the islands various traps.
Yet, Shi Feng had located the Legacy in less than three hours. It was a miracle.
Although Passing Monarch was a little frustrated that Shi Feng would be the one to obtain the greatest Legacy, after giving the matter some thought, it was much better than letting it fall into Silent Entropy or the others’ hands. Moreover, if he had Shi Feng’s help later, he should have no problems obtaining the Legacies in the 50-yard grottos. He could then stabilize his fleet’s position as Third Fleet in the Freedom Alliance.
Had he not cooperated with Shi Feng, his fleet would’ve likely fallen to Seventh or Eighth Fleet after this expedition. If that happened, his fleet would no longer qualify to use the Freedom Alliance’s Large Shipyard.
When Shi Feng saw the Tower of Falling Stars, although he was slightly excited, he did not hurry to approach the tower. Rather, he turned to Passing Monarch calmly and quietly asked, “Brother Monarch, are you interested in a trade?”
At this point, he practically had the Sea God’s Legacy in the bag, fulfilling his initial goal in coming here.
However, Zero Wing currently lacked both money and resources to develop. The Candlelight Trading Firm’s income was not enough to sustain Zero Wing. If he wanted to increase the Candlelight Trading Firm’s income, he needed to expand.
Meanwhile, the Freedom Alliance occupied three of the twelve major cities in the Sea’s End. If he could set a Shop up in each of these three cities, the trading firm’s income would skyrocket.
However, setting up Shop in these major cities would not be as easy as it was on land, where all he needed was a sufficient amount of Reputation and Coins. When purchasing a Shop in Sea’s End’s NPC cities, one did not require any Reputation. Instead, a player needed the approval of the city’s manager. This was similar to how player-constructed towns and cities operated.
Due to this, Sea’s End’s businesses hadn’t developed overmuch.
After all, to get the city manager’s approval, one normally needed to sign a profit-sharing agreement. While some kind-hearted managers only asked for 30% of the profits, some black-hearted managers went as far as to ask for 50%. This was why most players in Blue Jade City had opted to set up street stalls to sell their items as that method did not require them to split profits; they only needed to pay a small fee.
“A trade? What do you have in mind, Brother Ye Feng?” Passing Monarch asked, curiosity gripping his heart.
“Are you interested in becoming First Fleet’s commander?” Shi Feng asked, laughing.
“First Fleet’s commander? Brother Ye Feng, are you joking? You know what kind of foundations Silent Entropy and Hundred Leaves possess. Even if I obtain a Legacy this time, I’d be lucky to keep the third seat,” Passing Monarch said, shaking his head.
“That’s why I’m offering a trade.” Suddenly, Shi Feng grew serious as he said, “You’ve seen my strength. You also know that I have the Zero Wing Guild behind me. If you have Zero Wing’s full support, how confident are you in becoming the First Fleet’s commander?”
Shi Feng’s words rendered Passing Monarch speechless.
If not for Shi Feng’s help, the Third Fleet would’ve suffered in this operation.
“Although I don’t know exactly how strong Zero Wing is, in my opinion, I’d be lucky to have a 20% chance of becoming the First Fleet’s commander. Silent Entropy is not as simple as you assume,” Passing Monarch answered.
“Twenty percent?” Shi Feng chuckled. “Not bad. At the very least, it’s more than nothing. If I help you become the First Fleet’s commander, I want management rights for the city under your rule. We’ll split the profits evenly. What do you think?”
The Freedom Alliance was not a Guild. Becoming the First Fleet’s commander did not mean that one would gain control over all three major cities under the Freedom Alliance. However, one could gain control over Heavenly Ocean City, which had the largest player population out of the three. The commanders of the remaining ten fleets commanded the two other cities.
This was also why the Sacred Temple meddled in the Freedom Alliance’s affairs.
By becoming the First Fleet’s commander, one could monopolize a major NPC city. If managed properly, the riches one could obtain would be staggering.
“The city’s management rights?” After giving the matter some thought, Passing Monarch said, “Alright, I agree to your conditions. I can deal with that as long as I become the First Fleet’s commander.”
An adventurer team had formed the Third Fleet. To them, a city’s management rights were of little importance. As long as they received sufficient resources and Coins, they’d be satisfied.
“However, contesting for the position of First Fleet will be difficult. The sea monster invasions we have to deal with test a fleet’s overall strength. It isn’t something that can be handled with just two Small Sailboats and several high-quality speedboats.” Passing Monarch understood that Shi Feng was in possession of powerful ships. However, those ships would not be of significant help when contesting for the position of First Fleet.
Once a month, a competition would be held for the management rights of Sea’s End’s various cities. During these competitions, sea monsters would invade these cities. The fleet that defended the most locations in a particular city would become said city’s manager. The Freedom Alliance’s fleets also used this competition to compete for the various seats in the Alliance.
Silent Entropy was able to hold the First Fleet position due to the scope of his unmatched defense.
Although Shi Feng appeared confident about the situation, Passing Monarch was not.
“I understand. I will think of a way to increase your overall strength,” Shi Feng said, chuckling. “Let’s sign a contract.”
He more or less understood the Freedom Alliance’s seating competition. After all, the Freedom Alliance had been one of the overlords at sea in the past.
Following which, Shi Feng established a contract with Passing Monarch.
The contents were very simple. Shi Feng would help Passing Monarch become the commander of First Fleet. In return, Passing Monarch would hand over all management rights of the city he controlled to Shi Feng. As for the profits city’s profits, they would split them equally. While Shi Feng managed the city, Passing Monarch also had to provide assistance in maintaining it.
After they signed the contract, Shi Feng nodded in satisfaction. He then led Passing Monarch and the others towards the Tower of Falling Stars.
The tower had a total of three floors. According to the Sea God’s Island Map, the rewards on the first floor were available to all players that reached this place. Players would have to fight for the rewards on the second and third floors. Moreover, the rewards on the second and third floor were unique; only the first player to clear the floor could walk away with them. Any players that cleared the floor afterward would obtain nothing.
As Shi Feng and the others arrived before the Tower of Falling Stars, Shi Feng stopped the team abruptly. This confused Passing Monarch and his sailors. A moment later, however, a familiar voice reached everyone’s ears.
“We’ve been discovered already?”
Several figures suddenly emerged from the nearby forest. The person speaking was none other than Hundred Leaves.
Silent Entropy stood by her side casually.
“How did you guys get here so quickly?” Passing Monarch was shocked to find Hundred Leaves and Silent Entropy here.
The Magic Whale was not an easy opponent. The final, team-wipe move was particularly threatening. Even if Hundred Leaves and Silent Entropy defeated their respective Magic Whales, it should take their fleets quite some time to do so, yet they were here as soon as his group had reached the Legacy’s location. No matter how he thought about it, this shouldn’t be possible.
Understanding Passing Monarch’s thoughts, Hundred Leaves chuckled and said, “There’s nothing to be surprised about. I simply formed a temporary alliance with Commander Entropy and established a 200-man team. We then sacrificed my Small Sailboat and Commander Entropy’s two Bronze Speedboats to get here quickly. Although we sacrificed a lot, fortunately, we caught up to you. Otherwise, the Legacy really would have fallen into your hands.”
Passing Monarch could not help his astonishment.
He had never dreamed that Hundred Leaves would sacrifice even a Small Sailboat.
“Commander Leaves, your subordinate is truly amazing. Even in such a situation, he managed to track us,” Shi Feng offered his admiration as he glanced at the cloaked Assassin beside Hundred Leaves.
On their way here, he had tried to hide their tracks as much as possible. To track them, one needed to have leveled their Tracker subclass to Master rank at the very least.
“Well, enough talk. Since we’re here, we should conclude this matter.” Hundred Leaves smiled at Shi Feng and the others.