Less than ten minutes after Zero Wing won the Auction House in White River City, the news had already reached every major superpower—and every one of them was stunned.
White River City wasn't exactly an important NPC city, but it was still one of the first batch of cities to open an Auction House. No superpower could afford to ignore that. The fact that four major superpowers had fought over it, only for Zero Wing—not even a superpower—to come away victorious made the news seem almost absurd no matter how you looked at it.
The various superpowers couldn't help but speculate. One after another, they suspected that Zero Wing either had a super guild backing it or a major financial conglomerate pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Regardless of the guessing, Zero Wing's name was added to every superpower's priority watchlist. After all, obtaining an NPC city's Auction House meant a massive boost to their finances—and a remarkably stable source of income at that. No other power could compare to that kind of economic foundation. Even if Zero Wing wasn't truly a superpower backed by some financial empire, it was getting awfully close.
"Zero Wing actually succeeded?" Feng Qianyu stared at the intelligence report that had just been delivered, her surprise unmistakable.
Before the auction competition began, she had even offered Shi Feng some assistance, though he had turned her down. After learning that four major superpowers were all vying for White River City, even she had found the situation thorny. Yet the report now sitting in her hands said Zero Wing had achieved a resounding victory.
It felt unreal.
She had watched Zero Wing grow from the very beginning. She couldn't figure out when the guild had become this powerful. If not for the name being the same, she would have suspected this Zero Wing was an entirely different guild altogether.
"Sister Qianyu, the Grand Pavilion Master just sent word. He's calling an Elder Council meeting and wants you to prepare. He says it concerns Zero Wing." Qing Huang hurried over with an urgent, excited look on her face.
"I see." Feng Qianyu let out a bitter laugh.
She had originally intended to lend Zero Wing a hand. She never expected that now, it was Zero Wing that had given her a boost instead.
Beastman Empire, Crimson Flame Fortress.
After a long period of development, Crimson Flame Fortress had grown to rival any small NPC city in scale. With NPC guards stationed within, it was one of the safest rest areas in the entire Beastman Empire. Its proximity to the Beastman Royal Capital—accessible through a simple teleportation—made it the preferred hub for players heading to the regional Dungeon of the Beastman Royal Capital, and it was immensely popular among adventurers.
But inside the Black Water Guild's outpost office in Crimson Flame Fortress, the atmosphere was suffocating. Jing Yang, standing in the middle of the office, was already drenched in sweat.
"This Zero Wing really does have quite a few experts," Xuanwu Chisha remarked with a faint smile after reviewing the report.
Xuanwu Chisha's voice carried neither joy nor sorrow—it was perfectly level. Yet the pressure it conveyed was staggering. Even Nan Chen, who stood behind Jing Yang and possessed Domain mastery, felt his legs wobble.
"Vice Leader, Zero Wing's strength has far exceeded our estimates. Are we still going to pressure them going forward?" An imposing blue-robed elder, whose presence dwarfed even Nan Chen's, spoke up from behind Xuanwu Chisha.
Zero Wing now boasted a number of peak-level experts that rivaled any ordinary superpower. Against a guild of that caliber, using peak experts to suppress them in the open world was practically a non-starter.
Such a guild already had the capability to hunt down peak experts. If any peak expert they sent out got caught, the consequences would be severe. Every peak expert was invaluable to a superpower—unlike independent players, who had nothing to lose and didn't fear death.
And given the strength Shi Feng had displayed, it wouldn't even require a massive guild-wide manhunt. Shi Feng alone would be more than sufficient.
That left only one option: mobilizing a superpower's full peak-level strength in a prolonged war of attrition. But that benefited no one. It would stall the guild's development and risk being overtaken by rival superpowers. Short of absolute desperation or an overwhelming advantage, no superpower would resort to such a measure.
This was precisely why superpowers limited their conflicts to clashes between their top-tier experts and were reluctant to deploy peak experts lightly. Peak experts were the key to acquiring rare and powerful items—they were simply too valuable to risk.
Apart from deploying experts, the only other avenue in a guild-vs-guild struggle was economic warfare. But Zero Wing now held White River City. Shaking them economically would be extremely difficult.
"Of course we continue." Xuanwu Chisha glanced sideways at the blue-robed elder. "Zero Wing won White River City, but that's only the beginning of their troubles. Star Ring managed to secure three NPC cities in this auction competition—including the Dark Night Imperial Capital. Their strength has surged enormously. Backed by the Star Navigation financial group, they're only getting stronger. While Star Ring didn't take White River City this time and didn't strike at Zero Wing's foundation directly, they won't let Zero Wing off so easily. After all, Zero Wing just acquired White River City—their economy hasn't ramped up yet."
"Understood. I'll make the arrangements immediately." The blue-robed elder bowed and departed.