Chapter 2376 - Leveling Heaven
Star-Moon Kingdom, White River City:
Several dozen lights flashed in the Teleportation Hall as Burning Owl and his team arrived in White River City.
“So, this is Zero Wing’s territory?” Burning Owl muttered, surprised as he observed his surroundings.
Usually, one could determine how prosperous an NPC city was based on how much activity there was in its Teleportation Hall. The average level of the players in the hall was also a testament to the region’s average standards.
White River City’s Teleportation Hall was extraordinarily lively. Although the city couldn’t yet rival imperial capitals, it could easily compete with empires’ top-ranked cities.
God’s Domain’s empires were incredibly large, with easily several times the player population found in the largest kingdoms. Thus, even empires’ top-ranked cities were more prosperous than kingdoms’ capital cities.
As far as Burning Owl knew, very few kingdoms had cities like White River City.
He was also surprised by these players’ average level. Most of the players in the Teleportation Hall had already reached Level 96, with many experts at Level 98. White River City’s players could even rival those in imperial capitals in terms of levels.
While Burning Owl assessed the situation in the Teleportation Hall, several more lights flashed behind him. As these players arrived, they attracted a lot of attention. They were rather hard not to notice.
The moment this group appeared, everyone in the Teleportation Hall was overwhelmed by a sense of dread. Players’ instincts urged them to flee as the newcomers’ auras washed over them.
What? Starlink actually dispatched its newly-formed Hellfire Legion? Burning Owl frowned when he saw them.
After the Planar Passages had opened, Starlink had allied with the superpower that ruled over the Demonic Hell World, one of the six large-scale Otherworlds that were connected to the eastern continent. Like Dark Players favored areas, the Demonic Hell World focused on slaughter, and many of its players possessed a powerful Legacy[l]. Individually, these players were even stronger than those from the Sea God’s Realm.
Relying on the Demonic Hell World’s special Legacy, Starlink had formed the Hellfire Legion, which was now the strongest legion under the Guild’s command. The weakest of the legion’s members was a Refinement Realm expert, and with their special Legacy, even peak experts would find these players incredibly difficult to kill.
With the individual members so powerful, it was easy to imagine how horrific all 1,000 Hellfire Legion members would be when they worked together. Because of this, the various superpowers were even more afraid of Starlink.
Now, Starlink had dispatched 300 Hellfire Legion members to White River City. If they had to fight those players, even Burning Owl’s Heaven Piercer team would be annihilated.
“Vice Guild Leader, Elder Long has contacted me to inform us to avoid conflict with Starlink as much as possible,” a Level 100, black-clad Assassin quietly reported. “Aside from sending in the Hellfire Legion, Starlink has posted a bounty on Zero Wing through the adventurer alliances it supports. Starlink is offering 100 CPs for Zero Wing’s elite members and 1,000 CPs for core members. The Guild is even offering half of the posted bounty to players who can prove they’ve assisted with the kills. Moreover, Starlink has declared that this bounty will remain in effect until Zero Wing has been removed from God’s Domain.”
“What a high price. Even I find it tempting. It seems that Starlink truly intends to go all-out.” The bounty astonished Burning Owl. He hadn’t expected Starlink to be so vicious.
Many independent players had joined the adventurer alliances Starlink had established with the various Otherworld powers, and among them, many were powerful experts that could even rival superpowers’ peak experts.
The adventurer alliances’ Contribution Points were quite valuable. Players could use them to purchase combat techniques, weapons, equipment, rare materials, and even Legacies. Members could even spend the points to hire a team of experts to assist with quests and Dungeons.
But those uses paled in comparison to their true value.
Once members had accumulated enough CPs, they’d earn a promotion within the alliance, rising from Bronze to Silver, or Silver to Gold rank. As one rose through the ranks, not only would they receive a discount on any CP purchases, but at Gold rank, they’d also earn a fixed Credit salary each month. To top it all off, there were almost no restrictions on these benefits. The policy had lured many independent peak experts and top adventurer teams to join these adventurer alliances.
A CP in Starlink’s adventurer alliances was worth 3 Silver, but players couldn’t exchange CPs for Coins. Hence, the CP reward for Starlink’s bounty on Zero Wing was powerfully attractive to the adventurer alliances’ members. It was even enough to motivate peak experts.
Even a superpower would suffer against this strategy, not to mention Zero Wing.
Not even God’s Domains various superpowers had thought Starlink would to go such great lengths to destroy Zero Wing.
Meanwhile, when Xuanwu Chisa, who was raiding a Level 95, super-large-scale Team Dungeon in the Ore Empire, heard of Starlink’s bounty, it surprised her a little.
“Vice Guild Leader, I doubt Zero Wing will last much longer now that Starlink is relying on its full strength. Should we take advantage of this opportunity?” the Elementalist Jing Yang suggested.
“That won’t be necessary. All we need to do right now is capture the Ore Capital City as soon as possible. Everything else is secondary,” Xuanwu Chisa said, shaking her head. However, after giving the matter some thought, she smiled faintly and said, “That being said, send someone to keep an eye on Zero Wing. The Guild has grown strong enough that its members should force Starlink to reveal its current strength.”
“Understood,” Jing Yang replied. Although he was a little disappointed that he wouldn’t have a hand in Zero Wing’s downfall, he didn’t dare disobey Xuanwu Chisa. He immediately notified some of his subordinates to watch Zero Wing.
In Zero Wing’s White River City Residence, tension had risen among the Guild’s members due to the news of Starlink’s bounty. Everyone was worried about the situation. They wouldn’t only have to face Starlink’s experts this time; independent experts from multiple kingdoms and empires were joining this fight. If they were not careful in the fields, they could easily be surrounded and slain.
Zero Wing was exceptionally strong and had absolute control over a few maps, but as they reached higher levels, they’d have to explore areas outside of the Guild’s influence. Leveling up would almost certainly become far more difficult.
While some Guild members considered continuing their development in a new Guild, others noticed that the Guild Residence had a new teleportation point.
“Quick, look! We can teleport to Stone Forest City again!”
“Crap! There’s a Level 98 requirement, and the Guild Transfer Scrolls cost 500 GCPs each?!”
“Wait, something’s not right! Stone Forest City has been moved to the Cold Spring Forest? Cold Spring Forest’s a Level 100 neutral map!”
“What?! Stone Forest City is located in a Level 100 neutral map now?!”
When they saw the Residence’s new teleportation point, everyone was dumbfounded. They had never thought the Guild would transfer Stone Forest City to a Level 100 neutral map. Even the various superpowers only dreamed of accomplishing such a feat.
Some of the Level 98 Guild members gritted their teeth as they purchased a Guild Transfer Scroll for Stone Forest City. Curious, they activated the scrolls the moment they received them.
As soon as these Level 98 members arrived in the city’s Residence, they were stunned by what Stone Forest City had to offer. Not only were their five senses sharper within the city, but they also spotted plenty of neutral NPCs selling Level 100 weapons and equipment. Most importantly, they sensed the chaotic energy that corroded their bodies dissipating twice as fast as normal.
With Stone Forest City’s unique environment, it was a leveling haven!
Shortly after Zero Wing’s members arrived in Stone Forest City, they spread the news throughout the Guild, causing an uproar.
Naturally, the spies within Zero Wing reported to their respective superiors immediately.