As soon as Shi Feng clicked the upgrade button displayed by the system, a series of system announcements rang in his ears.
System Announcement (Orc Empire Region): Congratulations to Silverwing Town for becoming the first mid-tier town on a neutral map. Reward: Town Reputation +10,000 points; Caravan Guard Token acquired.
System Announcement (Silverwing Town): Silverwing Town is undergoing an upgrade. All players will be teleported out of the town in one minute.
System Announcement (Silverwing Town): The upgrade to a mid-tier town will take approximately thirty minutes. Please wait patiently.
...
The three system announcements were broadcast three times in succession, echoing in every player's ears.
"No way! It upgraded! Silverwing Town actually upgraded this quickly?!"
"What on earth did Zero Wing Guild do?!"
"Awesome! Now that it's upgraded, we're in for a treat!"
In an instant, all the players in Silverwing Town were abuzz, discussing how the town had managed to upgrade so quickly, while the higher-ups of the major guilds wore somber expressions.
Silverwing Town had always been a fat piece of meat that made every major power salivate, each scheming to get their hands on it. But the town's defenses grew stronger by the day, and the NPC guards it recruited became increasingly powerful. Having witnessed the might of the Magic Tower, they all felt their current strength was somewhat lacking and that they needed to build up more power.
But now that Silverwing Town had upgraded to a mid-tier town, this was a major problem.
Not only could Silverwing Town now construct more defensive structures, but more importantly, the town's NPC guard quota had doubled from one thousand to two thousand — effectively doubling the town's defensive power.
NPC guards were far superior to players in base stats, and their levels were generally over ten above current players, making them extremely difficult to deal with. The usual tactic was to swarm them with sheer numbers.
Now that the guards had doubled, it would take twice as many forces as before to breach Silverwing Town, making it even harder to capture.
Shortly after the system announcements, all the players in Silverwing Town were teleported outside the town. They all stood outside, and not a single one left. Instead, players leveling up throughout the Orc Empire began heading toward Silverwing Town.
And the news of Silverwing Town's upgrade quickly reached the ears of every major superpower.
"Zero Wing Guild sure moves fast. It's just a pity that upgrading Silverwing Town at this point doesn't really matter anymore." Yuan Tiexin glanced at the intelligence he had just received and let out a soft sigh.
"Uncle Yuan, Silverwing Town upgrading to a mid-tier town means it can accommodate more players, which would multiply Zero Wing's income. How can that be meaningless?" Ziqiong asked curiously from the side.
"It's normal that you wouldn't know. I only received the news yesterday. Jiulonghuang of the Dragon Phoenix Pavilion has secretly allied with Black Water and the Beast Emperor, and they've already prepared to seize the Scarlet Flame Fortress in the Orc Empire." Yuan Tiexin said slowly. "The Scarlet Flame Fortress sits at a vital crossroads deep within the Orc Empire — it's the key route to the Orc King's City that offers relatively safe passage. Add in the fortress's own teleportation capabilities, and once they capture it, they'll not only rake in enormous wealth but also be able to conquer the Orc King's City much faster."
"No way — that's the Scarlet Flame Fortress! Among all the fortresses we've investigated, its difficulty ranks in the top five at least. With the current player levels, capturing it would be incredibly hard, not to mention the Dark players who'd try to stop them. They actually dare to attempt it?" Ziqiong was stunned.
The orcs inside the Scarlet Flame Fortress numbered in the thousands — the weakest were level 60, the strongest reached level 75, and there were even Legendary-grade orcs guarding it. On top of that, the fortress housed numerous war machines capable of dealing with even Legendary monsters. It was simply not a place current players could hope to capture.
"That's exactly why they've allied with the Beast Emperor. The Beast Emperor can use his army of Evil Beasts to guard the perimeter while also helping Black Water's and Jiulonghuang's forces with the assault. Any Dark guilds or Dark players who want to interfere would have to face the Evil Beast army, so naturally no one would bother trying to stop them." Yuan Tiexin explained. "Once they capture the Scarlet Flame Fortress, Silverwing Town's position will become... awkward."
A preliminary investigation of the Orc King's City regional dungeon had already revealed resources beyond imagination — not only were there massive quantities of Magic Crystals, but leveling speed was at least fifty percent faster than outside. Most importantly, the Orc King's City within was a mid-tier city that could be occupied.
Securing this mid-tier city would be no less valuable than acquiring a Magic Crystal vein, and it wouldn't require dispatching large numbers of people to garrison it long-term.
If Black Water and Jiulonghuang obtained the Orc King's City and all those resources, destroying Silverwing Town would be child's play — and Zero Wing Guild within the Star Moon Kingdom would be in grave danger as well.
After all, the Beast Emperor had a blood feud with Zero Wing Guild. Setting aside the fact that many of the Beast Emperor's foundations were in the Star Moon Kingdom and he needed to conquer it, just the fact that Shi Feng had forcibly stripped away two of the five important titles the Beast Emperor held — impacting the Beast Emperor's future development — meant the Beast Emperor would never stop until Zero Wing was destroyed.
If the Beast Emperor obtained massive resources, conquering the entire Star Moon Kingdom was not beyond the realm of possibility, let alone dealing with Zero Wing Guild.
"Uncle Yuan, should we notify Zero Wing Guild right now?" Ziqiong suggested.
"Forget it. Even if we notified them, Zero Wing wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Their main squad may have demonstrated impressive combat power at the Eclipse Gate, but that doesn't change Zero Wing's current situation — they're strong enough to defend themselves but lack the strength to go on the offensive. That's the biggest problem for all rising powers without deep connections." Yuan Tiexin shook his head. "If Zero Wing had agreed to partner with our Heavenly Secrets Pavilion back then, we might have been able to intervene. But now, on their own — even with Feng Qianyu's full support — it's impossible."
In the Divine Realm, new powers rose every day, but all of them shared one massive flaw — they had no idea how high the heavens were or how deep the earth ran. Zero Wing Guild might have been one of the best among them, but climbing to the top was never easy, because countless other powers would find ways to crush them and use them as stepping stones.
Back in Silverwing Town in the Orc Empire.
After half an hour of waiting, the new Silverwing Town was finally revealed before everyone.
Compared to the previous Silverwing Town, the current one had doubled in area and was much closer to the Ancient Divine Ruins — the ruins now fell within the Magic Tower's attack range. Beyond the increased size, as a town on a neutral map, its walls had been built much higher than before — a full six to seven meters tall. Divine Runes inscribed on the walls not only made them impossible for players to scale but also significantly boosted their defensive capabilities.
"Guild Leader, look! The buildings inside the town have changed so much — they're completely different from before!" Melancholic Smile stared at the towering structures, her small mouth hanging open.
All the buildings in town had been uniformly raised significantly. Every structure had clearly been upgraded a full tier, making the place look like a small city rather than a town.
"Mm. Have everyone get ready — reopen Silverwing Town." Shi Feng nodded.
He had previously built Silverwing Town to the peak of luxury precisely for this moment — it was, in a way, one of the secrets to building a neutral town.