The three-story Transport Trade Company stood not far from the entrance of Silverwing Town. Ten level-100 NPC guards stood posted at its main gate, led by a level-100 Tier 3 defense captain.
The defense captain had a greatsword as tall as he was strapped to his back and wore a full suit of silver-white armor. His stern and imposing demeanor kept players from daring to approach, forcing them to merely observe from a distance.
Although players didn't dare get close, NPC merchants streamed into the Transport Trade Company one after another. Large caravans hauled their goods inside as well, with horse-drawn wagons lining up one after another. In just a few minutes, the stadium-like building had become a hive of bustling activity.
Some curious players couldn't help but want to venture inside and take a look.
"Wow, there are so many NPC merchants!"
Stepping into the first-floor lobby, one could see hundreds upon hundreds of NPC merchants queuing at various counters to process paperwork. The number of NPC merchants exceeded a thousand, and the surrounding area was piled high with all manner of rare and exotic goods, enough to make one's head spin.
But the most eye-catching feature inside the Transport Trade Company was the enormous crystal suspended high above the lobby. This massive crystal displayed today's transport missions and their reward payouts, along with mission difficulty, requirements, and other details.
The players who had entered could hardly believe their eyes when they saw the enormous translucent crystal.
[Transport to Bronze Fang Town. Difficulty: Two Stars. Requirement: Tier 2 class, must have completed five one-star missions. Reward: three gold coins, 300 contribution points, bonus item: Void Demon Metal. Recruiting: six.]
[Transport to Wildstone Town. Difficulty: One Star. Requirement: Level 50 or above. Reward: eighty silver coins, 50 contribution points, bonus item: Agility Armor Plating. Recruiting: ten.]
...
Line after line of information was displayed, each transport mission offering incredibly enticing rewards. The two-star missions in particular left many expert players in the audience straining at the bit.
Three gold coins in mission rewards was more than most expert players could earn in an entire day, to say nothing of the bonus items. While their monetary value might not match the coin reward, these items were things players desperately needed. Void Demon Metal, for instance, could be used to enhance weapons and increase their sharpness — though doing so would also accelerate durability loss in battle — yet it was simply unavailable on the open market.
For the expert players present, Void Demon Metal was worth even more than the so-called three-gold-coin reward.
As for the three-star missions above those, they made the representatives of every major power in attendance green with envy.
Three-star missions actually rewarded Tier 2 rare Skill Books. Possessing powerful skills meant a massive boost in combat strength — something every major power's experts desperately lacked. Aside from obtaining Tier 2 skills through Legacy Points, the only option was relying on drops, and the drop rate was abysmally low, to say nothing of rare Tier 2 skills.
After studying the mission bulletin crystal for quite some time, the crowd quickly discovered that the trade hall also contained an exchange counter. This counter allowed players to trade the contribution points and gold earned from missions for rare items sold by NPC merchants.
Every one of these exchangeable rare items was something unavailable anywhere else. There were even Epic-grade items on the exchange list. This revelation sent the entire hall into an uproar.
"Report this back to the guild leader immediately! We have to get our hands on those Epic-grade items before any other guild does!"
Representatives of every major power immediately began contacting their guild leadership, relaying everything they had seen in full detail.
As for the remaining free players, their eyes lit up with excitement.
Epic-grade items!
For ordinary players — even free experts — these were the stuff of dreams. Obtaining them had always seemed like an impossible fantasy. But now Epic-grade items were sitting right there, available to anyone with enough gold coins and contribution points. In other words, they too now had a real shot at Epic-grade items.
Before long, the news spread like wildfire throughout the nations surrounding the Beastman Empire.
"Epic-grade items can be directly exchanged for with mission-earned contribution points? No status or rank restrictions? If that's the case, even our adventuring party can go toe-to-toe with those big guilds for those Epic-grade items!"