As the guild system notification chimed, the entire conference hall fell silent, as if time itself had frozen. It took a full three seconds before the Hundred Flowers Palace members recovered from their shock.
"East Valley Town has been taken? How is that even possible?"
"What on earth did the Star Ring Guild do?"
"Quick! Get in touch with someone in East Valley Town right now and find out what went wrong! Why did Star Ring manage to conquer East Valley Town?"
...
The guild leaders present lost no time issuing orders to their subordinates, launching a full investigation into the matter. Every one of them wore an anxious expression, their earlier composure gone entirely. Even Vice Guild Master Mu Yun's face had turned grim, a trace of panic in her eyes.
East Valley Town was currently one of the Hundred Flowers Palace's top three stronghold towns.
The reason it held such status was that it sat close to Thorn Ridge, a neutral map for levels 60 to 80. Not only was it convenient for players to level up, but resources were also easy to obtain. For players at the current level range, there was simply no better location, which was why the guild prized it so highly. It wasn't far from developing into a mid-tier town.
Under normal circumstances, East Valley Town was garrisoned by thirty to forty thousand defending players. Although the vast majority were Elite members with only about a thousand true experts among them, it was still far from a place that could be conquered at a whim. To prevent hostile takeovers, the town boasted eight turrets, ten arrow towers, a thousand hired NPC guards, numerous war machines, Tier 3 Summoning Scrolls, and Tier 3 Large-Scale Destruction Magic Scrolls on standby for emergencies.
Yet despite defenses like these, they hadn't received even a whisper of intelligence before East Valley Town was seized...
For such a major stronghold to fall so easily, how could anyone not be worried?
While the Hundred Flowers Palace members waited anxiously, intelligence reports quickly came back. But upon reading them, every face in the room darkened further.
"Vice Guild Master Mu Yun, what's the news about East Valley Town?" Shi Feng asked.
"We've received word from East Valley Town. The Star Ring Guild first cut off all communications, then suddenly several thousand of their Tier 2 experts appeared at the town garrison. It was so sudden that our people had no chance to mount a defense. Star Ring seized the Founding Token." Mu Yun's expression was complicated as she delivered the report.
This surprise assault tactic was identical to the one Zero Wing had used against the Starlight Alliance.
It was very likely that the Star Ring Guild had simply copied Zero Wing's strategy and replicated it. If Zero Wing had never employed this tactic, Star Ring probably couldn't have taken the important East Valley Town so easily.
Although this might have shown the Hundred Flowers Palace members just how formidable Zero Wing was, such rather indirect assistance would probably make even more of the palace's leadership resent Zero Wing.
"Our guild's town raid tactic, huh?"
Can Yun and the others standing beside Shi Feng were momentarily stunned upon hearing Mu Yun's words.
"I know it's a bit rough on the Hundred Flowers Palace," Man Gu muttered, but he and Can Yun secretly felt a small surge of satisfaction.
The Hundred Flowers Palace had been so confident they could stand firm like Zero Wing against a superpower like Miracle Guild. Yet now, because of a tactic Zero Wing had already used, they had directly lost a major stronghold.
Shi Feng was not the least bit surprised by this. In his previous life, after an adventurer team had used this tactic to destroy a guild town, similar incidents had cropped up constantly. After all, who could resist such an easy way to take a town?
The only catch was that pulling off such a tactic required certain conditions.