Chapter 1834 - Frightening Zero Wing
Looking at the woman approaching her, Liang Jing could feel the weight of the surrounding players’ gazes. The long line of players waiting to enter the Candlelight Trading Firm turned to look at her, as well.
If these people were focused on the woman approaching her, she’d could, more or less, understand their reactions.
After all, the woman before her was tall and elegant, with a face and temperament to match. It was only natural that such a graceful woman would attract attention.
But these players were focused on her, not this woman. A moment ago, these people had ignored her, yet she had instantly become a sensation the moment this beautiful young woman had called out to her…
The beauty greeting Liang Jing was none other than Melancholic Smile.
According to Shi Feng, he had found her a capable assistant, although her Guild Leader had asked that she show Liang Jing the ropes first.
“Hello, I am Melancholic Smile. I will be helping you learn about the Candlelight Trading Firm and all there is to know about our business. If there is anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me,” Melancholic Smile introduced herself.
After Melancholic Smile’s introduction, the nearby players went into an uproar.
“Crap! Who is that woman!? Melancholic Smile actually came out to greet her?!”
“Could she be some sort of Master Lifestyle player?”
“That can’t be it. She’s only Level 10, and she isn’t wearing a Lifestyle Insignia. She’s definitely a newbie, but she must be someone important if Melancholic came to welcome her personally. Maybe she is the heiress of some major corporation, here to visit the Candlelight Trading Firm?”
For a time, the Lifestyle players seeking to join the Candlelight Trading Firm quietly discussed Liang Jing’s identity, glancing at the woman with envy and admiration.
Not only was Melancholic Smile the Candlelight Trading Firm’s manager, but she was also a Master Forger. She was one of Zero Wing’s core upper echelons. Rumors had it that many superpowers and major corporations had even offered astronomical prices to hire her, but she had rejected them all.
Melancholic Smile was an idol to Lifestyle players like them.
Not only was she very beautiful, but her forging standards also ranked at the apex of God’s Domain. They all dreamed of a life like the one Melancholic Smile enjoyed.
That was also the reason that so many Lifestyle players had come from neighboring kingdoms to join Candlelight
Meanwhile, overhearing the nearby Lifestyle players’ discussions, Liang Jing was inwardly shocked as she examined the player before her. She never thought that this woman held such a high position.
She also blushed with embarrassment as she heard the players guess her identity.
The heiress of a major corporation? She was only the assistant of the Big Dipper Group’s Chairman. She was insignificant compared to an heiress.
After Melancholic Smile and Liang Jing introduced themselves, they entered the Candlelight Trading Firm.
White River City’s Candlelight Trading Firm was the sole 3-star Shop in Star-Moon Kingdom. When Liang Jing entered the building, she felt as if she had stepped into a modern shopping mall. Only, the Shop had magical elements, unlike a mall in the real world.
Customers crowded the first-floor hall, stupefying Liang Jing. She hadn’t imagined that a Shop in God’s Domain could be so lively.
Melancholic Smile simply smiled at Liang Jing’s reaction before leading the new recruit to the third floor.
The third floor and up were not open to the public; only Candlelight’s members had access.
“Currently, the Candlelight Trading Firm has over 20,000 Lifestyle players. They’re split across multiple branches. Among them, over 4,000 have officially signed a contract to become internal members. You could say that Candlelight is the bona fide number one trading firm throughout Star-Moon Kingdom. This Shop alone houses a little over 2,000 Lifestyle players. In the future, you will manage this Shop and its employees,” Melancholic Smile explained as she gestured to the various workshops, which contained Candlelight’s Lifestyle players hard at work. “Although you won’t have to manage a lot of people at first, once you get used to the job and perform well, I’ll have you take over managing Silverwing Town. Things are getting hectic in Silverwing right now. We just increased the entry limit to 1,800,000 people. We’ll have to increase this number slowly in the future, so we have a lotto do.”
As Liang Jing listened to Melancholic Smile’s explanation, she wondered if she had heard wrong.
Candlelight had over 20,000 employees?
Moreover, over 4,000 were officially contracted to the trading firm?
In other words, there were over 4,000 players working as full-time employees for Candlelight. This was several times more than the Big Dipper Group’s employees.
Later, she’d even have to manage a town with 1,800,000 players…
This was simply madness…
If the situation was as Melancholic Smile had described, as the assistant of the Big Dipper Group’s Chairman, she was certain that Zero Wing was far wealthier than the Big Dipper Group. There was simply no comparing the two.
She had always wondered why Shi Feng acted so nonchalantly towards the Big Dipper Dojo’s offers. It had offered a salary and benefits that countless people dreamed of, yet Shi Feng had settled for a temporary position, focusing his efforts on God’s Domain.
Now, she finally understood.
It turned out that the Big Dipper Group’s offers, which it had deemed quite generous, were little more than a farce to Shi Feng. He had only been working for the Big Dipper as a pastime.
Meanwhile, Shi Feng had offered her a position with Zero Wing in God’s Domain because he had appreciated her management skills, and Xiao Yu wanted to use the opportunity to learn more about Shi Feng’s affairs. Whether she chose to work for the Big Dipper Group or Zero Wing Workshop in the future would be up to her. However, right now, she had no idea how she was supposed to report her discoveries to Chairman Xiao.
What Liang Jing did not know was that Silverwing Town wasn’t Zero Wing’s most populated territory. Rather, Star-Moon Kingdom’s Zero Wing City saw far more traffic with a player population several times higher than Silverwing Town.
Elsewhere, Shi Feng, ignorant of Liang Jing’s thoughts, still focused on forging All-rounded Devices.
Finally, after a full day of work, he had crafted over a hundred All-rounded Devices. He had also made quite a few standard Level 50 Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold Weapons. Thanks to all the EXP from forging, he had finally reached Level 68.
Although he had killed plenty of monsters when setting up the trade route, due to the NPCs’ participation, the EXP reward had been significantly reduced. He had only received a lot of EXP after he completed the quest. Even so, it hadn’t been enough to push him to Level 68.
However, compared to his recent level-up, the Philosopher’s Hand’s ability truly surprised Shi Feng.
When he used the Philosopher’s Soul to help guide him in forging Level 50 Fine-Gold and Dark Gold Weapons, the designs he had obtained from Titan City, the finished products had ranged between Level 50 and 55. It was a massive improvement.
Although a standardized Level 55 Fine-Gold Weapon was slightly weaker than Level 55 Fine-Gold Equipment acquired from monsters, it was still considerably stronger than a Level 50 Fine-Gold Weapon. This was also the case for standardized Level 55 Dark-Gold Weapons.
The highest-leveled players in the various large Guilds were currently Level 55. Hence, trying to acquire Level 55 weapons was extremely difficult. Currently, most of these Level 55 experts still used Level 50 Fine-Gold Weapons. If given the choice,
these experts would definitely wield a standardized Level 55 Dark-Gold Weapon.
If he sold these standardized Dark Gold Weapons in bulk, he could fetch a higher price than normal.
Suddenly, Melancholic Smile contacted Shi Feng and reported, “Guild Leader, the representatives from the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion and Unyielding Soul have arrived. They’re waiting in the second-floor VIP reception room.”
“Alright, I’ll head over now.” Nodding, Shi Feng collected his forged items and headed to the reception room.