Chapter 538
The appearance of the Intermediate Armor Kits immediately caused a commotion.
News about the Candlelight Trading Firm spread like a pandemic throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom. In just a dozen minutes or so, the initially fading hype over the Candlelight Trading Firm surged once more. Players throughout the kingdom were behaving even more wildly than before.
The Light Stone was merely common goods. Although it was of significant help to players, it did not provide any direct improvements towards a player’s strength. It belonged to the category of support items. However, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kit was different; this was an item whose sole purpose was to increase a player’s Attributes. Moreover, it provided a considerable increase.
Upon receiving news regarding this matter, many elite parties and teams that were out in the field immediately dropped what they were doing and rushed back to their respective cities. They made a straight dash to the Candlelight Trading Firm to purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. If they were even a little too slow, other players would no doubt buy out the kits. It would be just like the Basic Mana Armor Kit, which had already passed into legend.
According to the legend, many players who had managed to purchase the Basic Mana Armor Kits when they were initially released had already become experts by now. Some ordinary teams had also become top-tier teams capable of challenging Hard Mode, and even Hell Mode, Team Dungeons. However, Hell Mode was only limited to 10-man Dungeons.
To the majority of independent players, 20-man Team Dungeons were simply too difficult a challenge. The requirement of such Dungeons on a player’s equipment foundation was just too high. The requisite level in combat techniques was also extremely high. Only a small number of Guild elite teams could clear such Dungeons.
“Team Leader, I’ve just received news that the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits are selling for a fraudulent price of 5 Gold per kit! We can’t afford them even if we want to buy them!”
“They are indeed expensive. Even so, we still have to buy them. We must obtain them even if we have to borrow money to do so. I have deeply regretted not getting the Basic Mana Armor Kits. You should know our performance inside Team Dungeons as well. We are always short of just that small amount of damage and Defense. Unfortunately, no matter what we do, we aren’t able to upgrade our equipment any further. In the end, those teams that had the luck to buy three Basic Mana Armor Kits managed to brute-force their way through the Bosses.
“Right now, a single Intermediate Mana Armor Kit could match up to three Basic Mana Armor Kits. As long as we get our team’s MT three of these kits, we will be able to defeat the Bosses of the Team Dungeon. At that time, won’t it be easy to earn back the money we spent?”
…
Many independent teams out in the field maps began taking action, using all means to collect money.
To elite teams, collecting 5 Gold was still relatively easy. However, it would be very difficult if they wished to obtain 15 Gold. Even so, they still endured the hardship as they tried to amass 15 Gold.
After all, the effects of having an additional piece of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment on an MT was quite significant.
Normally, 20-man Normal Mode Team Dungeons dropped Mysterious-Iron rank; Secret-Silver Equipment only dropped if one possessed heaven-defying luck. Meanwhile, there were only three or four Bosses inside a Team Dungeon, and each Boss dropped just two or three pieces of equipment. On average, one could get roughly ten Mysterious-Iron Equipment with each Dungeon run. After factoring in the money and items obtained from the Dungeon monsters, a team earned around 4 Gold to 5 Gold each time they raided a 20-man Normal Mode Team Dungeon.
There was also the need to factor in the team’s various expenses, loss of EXP, and such, which further reduced the team’s profits.
Not to mention, the team’s twenty members would split this profit. In the end, each member of the team would receive only a meager amount of money.
However, the income one could obtain from a Hard Mode Team Dungeon was significantly higher. The Bosses inside such a Dungeon would drop at least one Secret-Silver Equipment with nearly a 100% certainty. There was even the possibility of Bosses dropping two or three pieces of Secret-Silver Equipment at the same time. Even the monsters of the Dungeon had a fixed chance of dropping Mysterious-Iron Equipment. Another point was that only Hard Mode Team Dungeons dropped certain necessary raw materials. After adding up the various types of income, a team would typically earn at least 10 Gold from every Dungeon run—more than double that of Normal Mode Team Dungeons.
If a team managed to clear a Normal Mode Team Dungeon, they would be able to sate their hunger at most. However, if they succeeded in raiding a Hard Mode Team Dungeon, they would be able to dine like kings.
Every time inside bars, there was bound to be some amazing teams celebrating their successful raid over a Hard Mode Team Dungeon, earning the envy of the surrounding players.
Now that everyone received such an opportunity again, the players naturally had to make a desperate effort for it.
For a time, players swarmed the Candlelight Trading Firm. However, a majority of the players who came were only here to act as a placeholder for now.
That was right—a placeholder.
The teams backing these players were currently still in the midst of collecting money. As soon as they gathered enough, they would immediately purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits from the Trading Firm, afraid that the kits would sell out.
Although few independent players could afford the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, it was an entirely different story for Guilds. Guilds were already willing to invest thousands of Gold in a single Shop, not to mention spending several hundred Gold to equip their core teams with Intermediate Armor Kits. If Guilds could fully outfit their core teams with Intermediate Armor Kits, the combat power of these teams would rise to a whole new level. There was no question that it was a worthwhile investment.
All the Guilds that had received news regarding the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits immediately hurried over to the Candlelight Trading Firm. Moreover, these Guilds were incredibly ambitious, each and every one of them asking to buy 100 or more kits without hesitation.
“What did you say? Why aren’t you selling it to me?” a Guild representative shouted angrily. “Have a good look! I don’t lack the money to pay for them!”
“Sir, my apologies, but since the supply for the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits is too limited, we are only selling it in limited quantities. Ordinary players are allowed to buy at most one kit each time. As you are representing a Guild, you will only be allowed to buy a maximum of nine kits. If you are from one of the Guilds partnered with the Candlelight Trading Firm, you will be allowed to purchase up to 21 kits at a single time.” The beautiful NPC saleswoman smiled faintly, paying no heed to the actions of the angry player before her.
“Damn! Give me nine for now, then!” The Guild representative was helpless about the situation as the Guild he belonged to was not a partner of the Candlelight Trading Firm. He had no choice but to buy nine kits for now and have the Guild send more members to make additional purchases. Only, they would have to waste a lot of time using this method. There were just too many players coming to buy the kits, and even lining up was extremely troublesome and time-consuming.
Although the Candlelight Trading Firm had only set up Shops in a few cities, when players and Guilds of other cities heard of the news regarding the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, they had promptly made their way over to cities that housed the Candlelight Trading Firm.
Among them, the number of players running over to White River City was the highest.
The Candlelight Trading Firms based in White River City had the largest allocation of Intermediate Mana Armor Kits. That number was practically the total of all of the branch Shops. Hence, many players from the various major cities and Guild representatives all came over to White River City.
Moreover, this allocation was something Shi Feng had deliberately instructed Melancholic Smile to do. He had done so with the intention of increasing White River City’s population. Once everyone realized the uniqueness of White River City, some players would surely consider developing themselves here instead, out of convenience. Meanwhile, this would indirectly increase Zero Wing’s strength.
At this moment, the Guilds that had previously chosen to partner themselves with the Candlelight Trading Firm were celebrating in joy. Previously, most, if not all, of them felt that they had taken a huge loss by partnering with Candlelight. Now, however, they had become the envy of all the other Guilds. Being able to purchase 21 kits at a single time had saved them plenty of trouble.
Right now, the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits were priceless. Currently, people were offering to buy the kits for 8 Gold Coins, and this price was still rising. Even so, nobody was willing to sell their kits. Moreover, under the oversight of the system, independent players could purchase only one Intermediate Mana Armor Kit. Nobody wished to waste this precious opportunity, so they would not readily sell the kits they had obtained.
—
Just as many Guilds were fighting to purchase the Intermediate Mana Armor Kits, silence filled Overwhelming Smile’s Guild Residence in White River City.
Inside the Guild Residence’s meeting room, several veins were bulging on Feng Xuanyang’s forehead. He was very nearly at the point of erupting.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Feng Xuanyang violently slammed his fists down on the wooden table, and after a few consecutive blows, even the wooden table shattered.
“Young Master Feng, you must calm down!”
“Calm down?! How do you want me to calm down?!”
Feng Xuanyang’s eyes had already turned blood-red by now. If possible, he wished he could devour the Candlelight Trading Firm whole, right this instant.
In order to purchase the Light Stones in large quantities, he had invested another 100 million of his own money. Meanwhile, he had done so with the intention of earning back the 50 million he had previously lost. He had even thrown in all the earnings of the Overwhelming Trading Firm into the mix. But all he had accomplished was purchasing a bunch of goods that had a seemingly endless supply. The most infuriating part was that, upon receiving news regarding the Candlelight Trading Firm, his superiors had immediately ordered him to buy 300 Intermediate Mana Armor Kits.
However, where was he supposed to get so many Coins?
Three hundred kits would cost 1,500 Gold. Previously, he had indeed possessed this amount of money. Now, however, it was already gone.