Witch's Hill, Zero Wing City.
The entire city had grown livelier ever since Zero Wing seized Barbarian Hammer Town. Merchant players and independent players flooded back in, their cries of hawking goods and calls for teammates echoing through every street. Tier 2 Class experts could be seen practically everywhere — the bustling prosperity was something not even the Star Moon Kingdom capital or White River City could match.
Thanks to Zero Wing Guild's battle, every major guild in the Star Moon Kingdom had dispatched teams to Zero Wing City to gather intelligence on Zero Wing, making the bars and restaurants along the main commercial street exceptionally lively.
In front of a high-end bar on Zero Wing City's commercial district, a handful of players clad in black cloaks, concealing their identities, warily scanned their surroundings. Once satisfied that no one was watching, they pushed through the doors and entered.
The interior of the high-end bar was already packed with players, many of whom were also wearing black cloaks.
If any player capable of seeing through the black cloaks' concealing skills were present, they would discover that none of the people here were ordinary independent players — they were all from various major guilds, and each one was remarkably powerful. The weakest among them was a level 58 Tier 2 Class expert.
In the Divine Realm, for a small guild to survive, even if they wouldn't form an open alliance like the Starlight Alliance, they would at least cooperate covertly to avoid being swallowed up by larger guilds. At the same time, to foster better mutual development, exchanging intelligence became a necessity.
And this high-end bar served as the central hub for major guilds to exchange intelligence on Zero Wing.
The reason they gathered at such a venue was twofold: first, to protect their identities, and second, for private item trades.
The group of players who had just walked in headed straight for a corner, sitting down at a stone table where only one person was already seated.
"So, what have you found out? Have you figured out how Zero Wing took Barbarian Hammer Town?" The lead figure — a Tier 2 female Elementalist with skin white as snow — addressed the tattooed assassin seated at the stone table, sipping his drink.
This assassin was different from everyone else present. He hadn't concealed his identity at all — a completely independent player. Yet none of the major guild representatives present dared look down on him, because this independent player was the proprietor of this intelligence hub. He was a middleman who specialized in brokering intelligence trades, purchasing and selling information related to Zero Wing.
The major guilds allowed this assassin to serve as their middleman not only because he was an independent player, but also because behind him stood a member of one of the Divine Realm's top adventurer teams — Azure Eye.
Azure Eye was unlike other adventurer teams. It was a team dedicated entirely to intelligence gathering. Its members were not only powerful in combat but also boasted extensive networks. They never sold false intelligence, which was why the major guilds trusted them.
Of course, given Azure Eye's limited manpower, they didn't gather intelligence on just any guild — only first-tier guilds and above. Second-tier guilds simply didn't qualify.
"We've already found the answer. But we only accept gold coin or Magic Crystal payment for this information. If you pay in Magic Crystals, we can offer a ten percent discount at market rate." The Tier 2 assassin with the tattoo glanced at the female Elementalist and spoke flatly.
"How many gold coins?" the Elementalist asked immediately.
For an adventurer team like Azure Eye, critically important intelligence was always paid for in gold coins or Magic Crystals. After all, strength was the foundation of everything, and for the team's development, gold coins and Magic Crystals were the top priority. With strength secured, Credit Points would flow in endlessly.
"Five hundred gold!" the assassin said.
"Five hundred gold? That price is outrageous!" At this, the players standing behind the female knight immediately voiced their displeasure.
Five hundred gold was an astronomical sum even for top-tier players. After all, the weapons and equipment an expert player could ordinarily obtain might sell for a few gold or perhaps a dozen at most. Anything beyond that wasn't something a single player could easily acquire.