Star Moon Kingdom, an upscale bar on the commercial avenue of White River City.
The entire three-story bar had been reserved. The first and second floors were empty save for a few NPCs. Only in the VIP suites on the top floor sat several players whose levels soared past 65, clad in top-tier level-60 gear. At their head sat a white-haired elder in blue robes, gazing quietly through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the bustling streets below.
"Elder Yi, we've just received word that the Candlelight Trading Company in the Dark Night Empire suddenly started selling large quantities of Stamina Potions. And beyond Stamina Potions, they're also selling a type of Stamina Gem. Each Stamina Gem increases a player's stamina recovery by 7%, and all of these items can only be exchanged using unique materials from the Dark Night Empire." A level-64 assassin in black robes stepped into the room and addressed the blue-robed elder. "Right now, prices for unique materials across the entire Dark Night Empire have doubled, and the major powers have stopped selling those materials to outsiders entirely."
"Stamina Gems?" The blue-robed elder's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How many?"
"According to our investigation, roughly sixty Stamina Gems are set to be auctioned at the Candlelight Trading Company in Dark Night City."
"Sixty—what a massive move!" Xue Hen, seated beside the blue-robed elder, could not hide the shock on her face. "Has Zero Wing lost its mind?"
Any player who frequently fought on neutral territory knew exactly how valuable Stamina Gems were.
And the greater the quantity, the higher their value.
Sixty Stamina Gems were enough to equip an entire twenty-man squad. A twenty-man squad that could roam freely across neutral territory—that translated into enormous profits, especially on newly opened neutral maps. It could give an entire guild a decisive edge.
Yet Zero Wing was actually willing to sell them off, handing that golden opportunity to others. Only a madman would do something like that.
"We really underestimated Zero Wing. The Star Ring's economy is going to feel the impact whether it likes it or not. Prepare materials immediately—we're heading to Dark Night City right now." The blue-robed elder thought for a moment, then rose to his feet.
He had originally assumed that Zero Wing charging into the Dark Night Empire to challenge Star Ring was nothing but a joke—an exercise in public humiliation. But now it seemed the whole world had underestimated Zero Wing's resolve and strength, let alone the cunning of a move like this.
In the past, the major powers might have given Star Ring face. But when the profit was on the table, no one was going to back down.
Using Stamina Gems as bait and Dark Night Empire unique materials as currency meant those materials were destined to skyrocket in price.
These unique materials were nothing like ordinary rare materials—they were the sole ingredients for crafting Dark Night Empire exclusives, and they formed the very foundation on which the Star Ring Trading Company competed across other kingdoms and empires. If Zero Wing drove their prices through the roof or cornered the market entirely, Star Ring Guild's income would take a massive hit. After all, the primary revenue stream for any super-guild was its trading company and far-reaching distribution network, all built upon exclusive goods. Without that foundation, making money through trade was nearly impossible.
Meanwhile, in the Star Ring outpost at Dark Night City within the Dark Night Empire, the guild master's office where Lu Xingluo sat was steeped in dead silence. Every senior officer present did not dare utter a word.
In just one short hour, the Star Ring Guild had gone from being able to acquire upward of ten thousand unique material units to managing only a few hundred—and the number was still shrinking. This was severely hampering their production of exclusive items while simultaneously driving costs through the roof.
The guild's gold coin income rested on three pillars.
First was the guild's trading company.
Second came the profit shares from gold-farming parties and guild quest rewards.
Third was revenue from guild towns.
Though a fourth stream had recently appeared—income from an NPC auction house—this was still in its infancy, and generating substantial returns would take time.
A slight dip in trading revenue would have been tolerable, but this was a 20% plunge, and it was still falling. This was a serious blow to the guild's development. Many guild towns were in the process of being relocated, which demanded enormous capital. With funds drying up, plans would have to be delayed…
"Good! A fine move, Zero Wing! Ruthless!" Lu Xingluo stared at the report in his hand, his expression dark as a storm cloud. He turned to Su Luo at his side. "Issue the order immediately—raise the purchase price for unique materials in the Star Moon Kingdom!"
"Guild Master, by how much?" Su Luo asked.
"Fifty percent! Let's see which one of us blinks first!" Lu Xingluo said.
"And the Stamina Gems?" Su Luo pressed. "If other powers get their hands on those, clearing the neutral maps around the Dark Night Empire will be much easier for them."
"We never had many materials to begin with. Let them have it. It's only fifty or sixty Stamina Gems—sixty gems can equip a single twenty-man squad at most. That's hardly enough to stir up any real storm." Lu Xingluo scoffed. "Besides, how long can Zero Wing keep this up in Dark Night City? Your main focus should stay on the Star Moon Kingdom. Now that Zero Wing has lost access to the Heavenly Secrets Trading Company's distribution channels, they can only scramble around in the Star Moon Kingdom."
The Dark Night Empire had well over a dozen neutral maps suited to players' levels—if not two or three dozen. No matter how strong a twenty-man squad was, it could only operate on one neutral map at a time. There was simply no way to cover the rest, let alone threaten Star Ring.
On the contrary, if Star Ring kept pushing the prices of unique materials in the Star Moon Kingdom higher and higher, Zero Wing's operating costs would continue to climb while its revenues shrank. Even with the auction house in White River City, their development would grind to a halt—and they would have no choice but to watch as the surrounding kingdom powers surpassed them.