Star Moon Kingdom, Zero Wing City, Zero Wing's guild base.
The vast guild base was permeated with an indescribable heaviness, as though an invisible pressure constantly weighed on everyone's hearts, leaving them drained and weary.
"Sister Shuisé, our people just received word — it seems the Sky Burial Guild has secured another round of investment from the Blackwater Consortium. They poured in 200,000 gold at once, and the Perceptive experts Sky Burial has been hiring against us keep growing in number. With just the recalled Conqueror squad, we can only play defense..."
"According to our mole inside Sky Burial, they made considerable gains in the Ancient Divine Ruins last time. Apparently they've obtained two sets of top-grade intermediate magic formations and a large number of level 50 Epic equipment, and they're preparing to clear a level 50 super-large team dungeon."
Yaya stood beside Shuisé Qiangwei and delivered her report slowly, her expression heavy with gloom.
In just a few days, although Zero Wing had been growing stronger — especially Zero Wing City, where more and more players were converging and the number of experts was steadily climbing — the number of members leaving the guild each day was also increasing. Not for any other reason, but because venturing out to level in the wild inevitably meant running into various ambushes.
If it had only lasted two or three days, it might have been bearable. But when it happened day after day, everyone was already thoroughly exhausted. It severely impacted leveling speed and equipment progression, and combined with Sky Burial's ever-expanding strength, many simply couldn't take it anymore. Seeing no hope, they had no choice but to quit.
"They're already planning to tackle a super-large team dungeon?" Shuisé Qiangwei's crescent brows knitted together.
Hundred-player team dungeons had been cleared by all the major guilds, but super-large team dungeons were like a wall of heaven, keeping every major guild locked outside. Only super-large team dungeons dropped level 50 Epic equipment and sets.
If Sky Burial managed to claim the First Clear of a super-large team dungeon within the Star Moon Kingdom, even if Zero Wing hadn't been worn down by them, the guild members would collapse under the sheer pressure.
Claiming the First Clear of a super-large team dungeon would not only elevate a guild to three-star status, but also grant them the ability to obtain large quantities of level 50 Epic equipment.
Why did players join guilds? Wasn't it for better weapons and equipment, and faster leveling?
Once Sky Burial pulled it off, countless fence-sitting experts would inevitably flood toward them. After all, super-large team dungeons were already beyond the reach of casual pick-up groups, and any free expert seeking level 50 Epic equipment would see clearing super-large team dungeons as the fastest shortcut.
Watching Sky Burial grow day by day, Shuisé Qiangwei was beginning to grasp just how terrifying a guild backed by a major conglomerate truly was.
With endless money to throw around — resources whenever they were needed, experts whenever they were needed — a guild like Zero Wing, which had started from scratch, simply couldn't compete. The fact that they could hold their ground at all was already a miracle. In the end, the gap in expert depth between the two sides was simply too vast...
Even though Zero Wing held an overwhelming advantage in top-tier experts, Sky Burial was willing to spend enormous sums to hire those same experts, which meant Zero Wing still couldn't gain any real edge. On the contrary, their disadvantage among ordinary experts was growing ever larger.
"Sister Shuisé, Sky Burial has issued an ultimatum. If our Zero Wing Guild is willing to surrender and hand over 51% of our equity, they will cease all further action against us. If we continue to resist stubbornly, they will make sure Zero Wing vanishes completely from the Divine Realm. They've given us two days to consider. This is the video they sent." Yaya's voice was low and strained.
"How can this be?"
Shuisé Qiangwei had originally intended to refuse outright, but after seeing the video Sky Burial had sent, her expression turned indescribably grave.
The footage showed dense masses of demonic creatures and beast fiends. Among them were legendary-rank beast fiends as high as level 72 and level 70 high-grade Great Lord-rank demonic creatures. There were more than five legendary beast fiends, as many as twenty level 70 high-grade Great Lord-rank demonic creatures, and additionally, large numbers of level 70 Great Lord-rank demonic creatures.
Though their overall numbers weren't particularly large — only twenty to thirty thousand — their quality was utterly unprecedented. The weakest among them were Lord-rank. In terms of actual threat, they far surpassed the two previous armies of demonic beasts.