In response to Feng Qianyu's counterquestion, Shi Feng directly shook his head, showing nothing close to the intense interest in Heavenly Thunder Island that Feng Qianyu had expected.
Then again, it made sense.
If one truly understood the current situation on Heavenly Thunder Island, they would know just how fierce the competition was.
Forget about the super-first-rate guilds — even the super guilds had already sent three parties into the fray, and they weren't just dipping their toes in. They had committed their elites in full force, each vying to seize control of Heavenly Thunder Island. With control, they could establish a temporary guild teleportation point, laying the groundwork for future exploration of the Sea of Death.
After all, the journey from land to the Sea of Death was no short trip. Even departing from the nearest coastal town in the Genesis Empire by speedboat, it would take over a day to reach the Sea of Death, passing through a stretch of dangerous waters along the way.
As for establishing a foothold on Heavenly Thunder Island, without a sufficiently powerful fleet, it was simply impossible.
Sea monsters were already stronger than their land-based counterparts, and dealing with sea monster bosses was harder still. Even Feng Qianyu's own Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion had sacrificed numerous Elites and experts just to take down a single sea monster boss. In the process, they had lost over thirty speedboats — a level of losses that even a first-rate guild would struggle to bear. And in the end, all that effort had yielded only one or two passes.
For Zero Wing Guild, which had absolutely no naval foundation to speak of, if they truly wanted to get involved, the cost of obtaining even a single pass would likely exceed what the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion had paid.
"Give me twenty spots. I can help you hold two Ancient Towers. The price is twenty thousand Magic Crystals plus a temporary teleportation point on Heavenly Thunder Island. If I can't deliver, I won't take a single coin, and I won't ask for any death compensation either." After a moment of contemplation, Shi Feng looked at Feng Qianyu and spoke.
Seizing a monster gathering ground on Heavenly Thunder Island was extremely difficult, because the monsters there were determined by the level of the players who entered. The creatures guarding gathering grounds were generally Leader-rank or above. Before any Tier 2 players appeared, the boss guarding a gathering ground would be a High Lord, and with other guilds potentially swooping in to contest at any moment, the difficulty could easily be imagined.
Most importantly, these monsters possessed extraordinarily high defense and magic resistance. Conventional strategies simply wouldn't work — players needed the buffs provided by the Ancient Towers to stand a chance.
And the more Ancient Towers one occupied, the easier it became to deal with those monsters.
However, the number of Ancient Towers on Heavenly Thunder Island was limited, and the major guilds would undoubtedly send people to contest them. That said, the number wouldn't be too large — the monster gathering grounds were what truly mattered.
To reliably defend a tower, one typically needed fifteen to twenty people. Being able to hold three or four towers, backed by an expert team, meant a hundred-plus people could be enough to take down a single gathering ground.
By taking on the defense of two towers in one go, Shi Feng could significantly lighten the load on Feng Qianyu's side, freeing up at least ten people to help contest the gathering grounds.
"Ensure the safety of two Ancient Towers?" Feng Qianyu couldn't help but sink into deep thought.
To secure the towers, she had originally planned to assign twenty people to guard each one — three towers meant sixty people. The remaining hundred-plus would be more than enough to take down a single gathering ground. That was her most conservative plan. The ideal scenario was to capture two gathering grounds, but that would be far too difficult.
If what Shi Feng said was true and he could hold two towers, she would save twenty people. Combined with her fleet making a stronger push on the island, she might even be able to secure two or three more passes before the battle for Heavenly Thunder Island officially began. That could indeed make capturing two gathering grounds possible.
But the guild temporary teleportation points were the real issue.
Securing one gathering ground on Heavenly Thunder Island yielded only two guild temporary teleportation points. She had already promised the other one to another allied major guild — without that promise, she wouldn't have been able to obtain so many passes in the first place.
In other words, she had to capture two monster gathering grounds. Period.
But the uncertainties were enormous.
And Feng Qianyu could hardly imagine when Zero Wing Guild had acquired so many formidable experts that they could hold two Ancient Towers with a mere twenty people.
"Is there a problem?" Shi Feng looked at the silent Feng Qianyu and asked, puzzled.
"I won't hide it from Guild Leader Hei Yan — capturing a single monster gathering ground only yields two guild temporary teleportation points. I've already promised one to the Firmament Guild. Firmament is only a first-rate guild, but they began developing their naval strength early on. Their current maritime forces surpass quite a few super-first-rate guilds. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get so many passes." Feng Qianyu explained slowly.
"The Firmament Guild..." Shi Feng couldn't help but recall information from his previous life.
In his past life, the Firmament Guild had indeed been a maritime hegemon. The reason was that early on, they had seized control of two coastal NPC cities with populations in the millions, establishing the foundation for their naval power. Combined with their unwavering focus on developing maritime forces, even though their overall guild strength lagged far behind the super-first-rate guilds, their naval combat power didn't rely solely on guild experts — the quantity and quality of their ships was what truly mattered. As a result, even some super guilds couldn't match the Firmament Guild's strength at sea.
No wonder the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion, which had only recently begun developing its naval power, had managed to secure so many passes.
"Pavilion Master Feng, when does the battle for Heavenly Thunder Island begin?" Shi Feng asked.
"The contest begins in seven days, but traveling to Heavenly Thunder Island takes a day. That means we have six days to prepare." Feng Qianyu looked at Shi Feng curiously, unable to understand why he was asking.
"Seven days should be enough." Shi Feng smiled and looked at Feng Qianyu. "Pavilion Master Feng, how about I make a different proposal? Give me sixty spots. As long as your side holds three Ancient Towers, my side can capture one monster gathering ground. Afterward, give me one hundred thousand Magic Crystals or land parcels of equivalent value, plus one temporary teleportation point. How does that sound?"
Feng Qianyu and Qing Feng both shot Shi Feng stunned looks upon hearing this.
They thought he had lost his mind.
The hundred thousand Magic Crystals were one thing, but they couldn't fathom where Shi Feng had found the confidence to spout such grandiose claims.
Even with three towers secured under normal circumstances, clearing out the sheer number of monsters in a gathering ground while watching for other guilds — even the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion would need at least a hundred people, and that was a conservative estimate.
Zero Wing Guild was how large, exactly?
Among ordinary players, they might seem brimming with experts, but when placed before the major factions, it was laughable. The experts worth mentioning could be counted on roughly ten fingers at most. Where was he going to conjure the other fifty from?
And even if he could somehow produce fifty capable fighters, capturing a gathering ground with just sixty people was still impossible.
"Pavilion Master Feng, your original plan was to capture just one gathering ground, wasn't it? You know the chances of taking a second one are slim. Now, letting our Zero Wing Guild attempt a second one shouldn't be much of a loss for you. If you're worried, I can draw up a formal contract — if we fail to capture the gathering ground, Zero Wing will compensate you with one hundred thousand Magic Crystals. How about that?"