After Shi Feng clicked on the system panel, the system notification chimed once more in his ears.
System: Confirmed. The player has initiated the transfer of Stone Forest Town to the designated area. Transfer conditions have been met.
System: Stone Forest Town will be shut down in one minute. The estimated transfer time is thirty minutes. The area will be temporarily inaccessible to players. Players will be automatically teleported to the area in ten seconds.
"Thirty minutes?" Upon hearing the system notification, Shi Feng couldn't suppress a flicker of excitement.
For the major guilds, nothing was more important than resources and elite players. Once Stone Forest Town was relocated, it would become far more valuable than Zero Wing City — and that was before even mentioning the profits, which would be absolutely incomparable.
While Shi Feng was contemplating his next move, the system teleported him out of the magic barrier.
Meanwhile, in Stone Forest Town within the Star Moon Kingdom, every player inside the town was completely stunned.
"What's going on? Stone Forest Town is being transferred to a different location?"
"Damn it! I just got here to level up!"
"What is Zero Wing playing at? Stone Forest Town only just recovered some of its population, and now they're moving it? Do they really think it'll attract more people somewhere else?"
"This is outrageous! We need to boycott Zero Wing! They're abandoning us new players just to chase more traffic. I'm never setting foot in a Zero Wing town again — let's see how they keep their towns running without us!"
The players in Stone Forest Town buzzed with discussion over the system announcement. New players were especially upset — Stone Forest Town was currently the go-to leveling hub for levels 30 through 50, and the Auction House there carried everything a player could want. Even NPC cities couldn't compare.
And now, before they'd even had time to enjoy the benefits, the town was being relocated. It was as if the entire trip had been for nothing.
The news of Stone Forest Town's sudden transfer quickly reached the ears of every major power in the Star Moon Kingdom.
"What? Stone Forest Town is being relocated?"
"It took ages for the town to build up its population, and it generates a steady supply of magic crystals every day — and now they're just moving it? Has Zero Wing found a better location?"
"Find out immediately! Get the spies inside Zero Wing to report the exact destination!"
For free players, the transfer meant losing a leveling spot — and mainly a concern for newcomers. But for the major factions in the Star Moon Kingdom, the stakes were far higher.
A town's relocation meant a shift in territorial influence. Right now, no one in the entire Star Moon Kingdom dared to oppose Zero Wing. If they moved a town into another faction's sphere of influence, that faction would be in serious trouble. One by one, they frantically scrambled to find out where Stone Forest Town was being transferred.
While the major powers of the Star Moon Kingdom were thrown into a panic, Yuan Tiexin was sitting in an upscale restaurant in White River City, his eyes fixed intently on the message his subordinate had just forwarded.
"Uncle Yuan, what did our spies find?" Zi Qiong asked curiously. "Is it true what Black Flame said — that Stone Forest Town is really being transferred into the Bottomless Abyss?"
The Bottomless Abyss was the subject of intense interest among every major superpower. If not for the dangerous monsters and hostile environment inside, their own faction — the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion — would have dispatched large teams of experts as well.
According to their intelligence, even a super guild had already sent elite teams to secretly explore the Bottomless Abyss, though they'd taken considerable losses. From what the scouts had reported, the Abyss was not yet a viable leveling area for current players — it would be at least level 70 before anyone could handle it.
Zi Qiong found it hard to believe Zero Wing had the capability to relocate Stone Forest Town into the Bottomless Abyss. But she recalled Shi Feng's expression that day — so confident, so composed. He hadn't seemed to be joking. And if he couldn't pull it off, then all of Zero Wing City would become the property of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
"We can't confirm it," Yuan Tiexin said, shaking his head. "However, based on what we've gathered, Black Flame was spotted in the Undead Ancient Kingdom not long ago, and he made Star Ring's vice guild leader Chen Hui lose quite a bit of face. The likelihood seems fairly high. After all, relocating Stone Forest Town requires the owner's authorization."
He himself was only half-convinced. If the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had been fully confident that Zero Wing could pull this off back then, they would have invested far more heavily in the guild rather than leaving Zero Wing's current situation unattended.
"If Zero Wing really can do it, they're set for a meteoric rise," Zi Qiong said. "Just Stone Forest Town alone would give them the capital to stand against the superpowers. And if their legacy foundation keeps up, becoming a top-tier guild is only a matter of time." She understood all too well how terrifying the resources of the Bottomless Abyss were. Whoever controlled them would develop at a staggering pace. And until level 100, it would be extremely difficult for any superpower to deal with Zero Wing — even the current Star Ring would struggle to threaten them.
Back at Zero Wing's headquarters, guild members were also buzzing with speculation about Stone Forest Town.
"Where do you think the guild is moving it?"
"Probably some neutral map. Every guild's been targeting neutral zones lately, and we're no exception. Just not sure which one around us."
"I think so too. Star Ring has us pinned down in the Orc Empire — we can't operate in the central region at all, only around Silver Wing Town, which means no real development. If they moved Stone Forest Town to the heart of the Orc Empire, things would be a lot easier for us."
"Even outside the Orc Empire would be fine. Star Ring has a fortress there, but not on other neutral maps. If Stone Forest Town lands on a different one, we'd have a real edge. And our Auction House is fully stocked — even on a less popular neutral map, leveling speed wouldn't be worse than in the Orc Empire."
Zero Wing's members speculated endlessly about where Stone Forest Town would end up, and anticipation ran high.
Even though Fire Dance had recently driven off Star Ring's elites outside Silver Wing Town and given the guild a morale boost, Star Ring's continued blockade still prevented them from leveling peacefully on neutral maps. Other guilds' members were powering up on those maps every single day. To claim they didn't feel the sting would be a flat-out lie.
Time passed amid the chatter, and before long the thirty minutes were up. Players who had been closely monitoring the guild teleport suddenly discovered that Stone Forest Town was once again available for transfer — and the level restriction was set at 60.
"What?"
"Why is there a level requirement to teleport to a guild town?"
While guild members were still puzzling over this, some players above level 60 couldn't resist purchasing a guild teleportation scroll and zipping straight to Stone Forest Town.
It wasn't until the Zero Wing members arrived that the system notification sounded in their ears, and every single one of them froze in place.
System: Player has discovered the Bottomless Abyss.