Chapter 1909 - Witch's Sin "Only for rent? How fraudulent!"
“Does Zero Wing think that it’s the only Guild that will have a town in the Witch’s Hill?”
“Since Zero Wing doesn’t plan to sell, forget it. We’ll just wait a few more days. The kingdom’s other large Guilds will set up their own Guild Towns in the map, and we’ll just purchase storefronts there. Zero Wing will regret its decision!”
When the various corporations and companies received Aqua Rose’s reply, some laughed, while others raged. As for the auction Aqua Rose had mentioned, they pushed the matter to the back of their minds. Only a fool would participate.
The situation frustrated Aqua Rose a little. They had just lost a golden opportunity to fund Zero Wing’s internal training program.
Fortunately, this wasn’t the end of the world for Zero Wing. With Zero Wing’s current potential, luring investors to the Guild would be a piece of cake. With the current state of God’s Domain, various corporations and companies were even fighting to invest in second-rate Guilds, not to mention Zero Wing.
After Aqua Rose set the matter aside, she focused on recruiting new members for the Guild.
After transferring a large number of Guild members from White River City and Zero Wing City to the Secret Stone Fortress, both cities had lost a lot of manpower. Thus, they needed to replenish their member count.
Moreover, with the Otherworld Gate’s activation, some well-known adventurer teams that had hesitated about joining Zero Wing had made up their minds.
Although Zero Wing City was relatively far away from the Million Forest, Zero Wing City’s teleport service could reach the forest. Furthermore, even if these adventurer teams didn’t want to develop in Star-Moon Kingdom, they could develop in the Ore Empire after joining the Guild. Zero Wing’s current resources were now beyond that of a first-rate Guild, after all.
As fewer resource maps were available in the kingdom, living space for the various adventurer teams dwindled. If the various adventurer teams wanted to maintain an adequate development speed, they’d have to copy the top and large-scale adventurer teams. They would have to venture to remote and dangerous maps to level and acquire resources.
However, this wasn’t an easy task. Like the Guilds, God’s Domain’s adventurer teams faced fierce competition. In fact, the intensity of the competition between adventurer teams was no less than the competition between Guilds. Only, the scale was not as large.
Hence, if the well-known adventurer teams, which had already reached a bottleneck in their development, wished to grow their strength, joining a powerful Guild was a wise move.
Because of this, as many as 30 adventurer teams had petitioned to join Zero Wing. The smaller teams only had several hundred members, while the larger ones had thousands. Every adventurer team had accumulated a certain amount of resources and quite a few experts, as well as bountiful experience fighting as a team and raiding Team Dungeons. If Zero Wing could annex these adventurer teams, it would save the Guild a lot of effort when integrating their players in Guild operations.
Elsewhere, Shi Feng spent one Magic Crystal to activate the teleportation array leading to the Otherworld Gate. He was then teleported to a massive, dark cavern. Within the cavern, he found a ruined town.
A gigantic set of doors had been erected inside this ruined town. There was a small gap between the pitch-black, stone doors, and a turbid mist seeped out and filled the cavern.
As Shi Feng encountered the mist, he felt his five senses dull. He had been able to see up to 50 yards away, but now, he could only see a dozen or so yards past his nose. Both his mind and his body felt lethargic.
Sure enough, this Primordial Gas is as powerful as always. Shi Feng revealed a bitter smile after trying to move his body a little. It seems that this gas is still too much for Tier 2 players.
The Witch’s Hill’s Otherworld had once been a part of the God’s Domain continent, severed by the Gods during ancient times. Humans had been weak then, one of the most ordinary races among the many that had lived on the continent
God’s Domain had been chaotic then, its environment too harsh for humankind. However, after a catastrophic war between the Gods, the continent of God’s Domain had been divided into various sections, thoroughly changing the environment It was no longer as chaotic or violent. As a result, the human race had gradually grown stronger.
But even to this day, certain sections retained their harsh environments. Meanwhile, the turbid gas flowing out of the Otherworld Gate was none other than Primordial Gas.
When Shi Feng had first entered the Otherworld Gate, he had already Tier 3, so the Primordial Gas hadn’t significantly affected him. This time, however, he could feel the gas’s negative effects. His combat power had just decreased by roughly 30%.
The Primordial Gas affected more than just his reaction speed and senses; even his physique had considerably weakened.
Shi Feng now, more or less, understood why only Tier 2 and higher players were allowed through the Otherworld Gate.
Only a small trace of Primordial Gas leaked out of the Otherworld Gate, yet its effect on a Tier 2 player like him was so powerful. If players entered the Otherworld, filled with Primordial Gas, its effect would be absolutely terrifying.
Not only did the Primordial Gas suppress players, but it also created a perfect environment for monsters to thrive. The Primordial Gas drastically increased monsters’ combat power, and once the Otherworld Gate opened fully, the gas would spread throughout the Witch’s Hill. The area would become chaotic and violent, which was why only four Guild Towns had survived in Shi Feng’s previous life, despite so many Guilds establishing Guild Towns.
The towns hadn’t fallen because of the various first-rate Guilds suppressing its weaker counterparts, but because the second- and third-rate Guilds hadn’t been able to fend off the monsters that had assaulted their towns at night.
As Shi Feng prepared to enter the ruined town, a wizened, dignified voice reached his ears.
“Young adventurer, are you the one who activated the teleportation array I had left behind?”
When Shi Feng turned around to the origin of this voice, he discovered an old woman in black robes and carrying a wooden staff.
This woman was none other than the Otherworld Gate’s guardian. She was also a legendary existence in God’s Domain. The Jealous Witch!
Shi Feng had only thought of the Jealous Witch as an incredibly powerful, Tier 5 NPC during his previous life, but after learning about Demigods, Shi Feng concluded that this NPC was one such being. She was only a step short of becoming a Tier 6 God and was one of the strongest NPCs on the continent of God’s Domain right now.
“Yes, Esteemed Lady Witch.” Shi Feng nodded.
He did not dare to hide information from the Jealous Witch. She was known for being unpredictable. Sometimes, she would help slaughter the dark forces, but other times, she would casually massacre tens of thousands of innocent humans. Her behavior had frustrated God’s Domain’s human population.
The Jealous Witch maintained her unpredictable behavior towards players. There had been instances in the past when she had exterminated players she had encountered. When those players had died by her hand, their accounts had been so crippled that their only option of maintaining a career in God’s Domain had required a new account. After dozens of these incidents, players had learned to fear the Jealous Witch in the Witch’s Hill and did their best to avoid her.
Meanwhile, Shi Feng had visited this ruined town despite knowing that the Jealous Witch would be here to pick up an important Epic quest. If he could complete the quest, he could obtain the rumored Advanced Field Magic Array, Void Field. Field Magic Arrays were insanely rare among magic arrays, and if not for the chance to obtain one, he wouldn’t have risked meeting the Jealous Witch.
“Excellent! Since you have opened this Origin of Sins, I’ll give you a quest. Go and collect 200,000 Magic Crystals for me within seven days. If you fail, you and all of Star-Moon Kingdom will perish,” the Jealous Witch announced. “Alright, you can leave now! Remember, you only have seven days!”
With a wave of the Jealous Witch’s hand, a bright flash blinded Shi Feng. By the time Shi Feng’s vision recovered, he noticed that he had returned to the Million Forest.
System: Congratulations! You have accepted the Inferior Legendary Quest “Witch’s Sin.”
Quest content: Collect 200,000 Magic Crystals in seven days. Rewards unknown.