Star Moon Kingdom, White River City.
The bustling commercial main street, lined with towering buildings, was absolutely packed with people — its prosperity rivaling even the capital cities of those powerful kingdoms.
At this moment, a man and a woman wearing the Crimson Emperor insignia strolled along the street. The man was tall and imposing, the woman both elegant and intelligent, and both of them had already reached level 68. If they hadn't used black cloaks to conceal themselves, they would have drawn every eye on the street.
"Zero Wing really is impressive — developing White River City to this level. Even after losing Stone Forest City this time, they'll most likely become a dominant power in the Divine Realm in the future," Huanyu said, watching the players streaming along the main street.
Ever since Zero Wing had seized control of White River City's Auction House, the city's development had been advancing by leaps and bounds. Players poured in by the thousands every single day. Generally speaking, any city with a controlled Auction House saw this kind of growth, but White River City's was clearly on another level entirely.
The players flocking to White River City weren't like those heading to other NPC cities — they weren't mostly newcomers. Every one of them was either a member of a well-known adventurer team, a merchant player, or a skilled crafting player.
These players couldn't be compared to beginners. Newcomers who had only recently entered the Divine Realm were weak both in personal strength and financial resources, and couldn't directly contribute much to a city or guild. But well-known adventurer team members, merchant players, and capable crafting players were a different matter altogether.
The gathering of experts gave the guild ready-made combat power. Merchant players boosted the city's economy. Crafting players provided a steady supply of goods to sustain everyday player consumption. The pace of the city's development was simply incomparable to what newcomers could offer, and it also generated far more revenue for whichever guild controlled the city.
Their Crimson Emperor controlled two NPC cities — both capital kingdoms — and they had poured considerable resources into developing them. But compared to White River City, those two NPC cities were noticeably weaker. Only the imperial capital could hold a slight edge.
"A dominant power in the Divine Realm?" The imposing man beside her, Chi Jiuchong, gave a soft snort. "Huanyu, you're overestimating Zero Wing. Becoming a dominant power is easier said than done. It requires not only a sufficient number of experts and heritage legacies, but also massive financial resources to sustain it all. Even if Zero Wing manages to hold Stone Forest City this time, whether they'll succeed in the long run is still an open question — let alone the fact that they probably can't hold it. That said, Zero Wing isn't completely without a chance. As long as they know their place, they could still get a share of the profits when the time comes."
"Know their place?" Huanyu didn't disagree with what Chi Jiuchong had said. She glanced at the members of other supreme powers resting along the street and couldn't help but shake her head with a sigh. "I'm afraid that even if Zero Wing does agree, whatever share they get will be negligible."
Stone Forest City was far too important. Every major supreme power was eyeing it now. Even those who had originally been willing to negotiate with Zero Wing had changed their plans, and their Crimson Emperor was no exception.
To get a piece of the pie, all the major supreme powers had dispatched representatives. Based on the intelligence they had gathered, more than ten supreme powers had already assembled in White River City.
The scale of it was simply staggering!
Even within an empire in the Divine Realm, it would be rare to see more than seven or eight supreme powers gather in one place. Yet now, over ten had converged on White River City — a spectacle that hadn't been seen in the virtual gaming world since the Dark Arena, and that was God knows how many years ago.
The only reason they hadn't yet headed for Zero Wing's headquarters was that they were all waiting for the various factions' armies to finish assembling at Stone Forest City.
"Even if Zero Wing doesn't want to cooperate, it won't matter. This is no longer something Zero Wing can decide — not even the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion behind them can change it," Chi Jiuchong scoffed. "If Zero Wing dares to refuse, all that awaits them is destruction. They won't even get a nominal claim to Stone Forest City."
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was indeed formidable — one of those rare transcendent factions in the virtual gaming world that even ordinary supreme guilds didn't dare provoke.
But the virtual gaming world was never a one-faction show, let alone the current Divine Realm.
A lone tiger cannot fight a pack of wolves, and the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion certainly understood that. When the time came, abandoning Zero Wing would be the most natural thing in the world.
Just as Chi Jiuchong and Huanyu were having their private discussion, quietly waiting for the supreme powers' armies to muster and march on Stone Forest City, a sudden commotion rippled through the supreme power members resting along both sides of the main street.
"What's gotten into them?" Chi Jiuchong asked, watching the expressions of the supreme power members change drastically. A look of confusion crossed his face. "Could the armies have arrived already?"
"No!" Huanyu's eyes were fixed on the incoming intelligence, and her expression was complex as she turned to Chi Jiuchong. "We just received word — Zero Wing has repelled Star Ring's assault at Stone Forest City."
"Repelled it?" Chi Jiuchong was mildly surprised. Star Ring was a rising supreme power, and apart from being slightly weaker in heritage, their overall strength actually surpassed Crimson Emperor's. "It seems Zero Wing is more capable than I thought — to actually withstand Star Ring's full-force offensive. No wonder the other factions are acting so strange."
"That's not all…" Huanyu's face turned grim. "According to insider reports, everyone Star Ring sent… was wiped out. Every last one of them."
"Everyone wiped out? That's impossible!" Chi Jiuchong couldn't believe it. "The intel must be wrong. Let me see for myself."
As old rivals of Star Ring, they knew full well just how powerful Star Ring was. When Star Ring mobilized its full reserves, even Crimson Emperor would struggle to hold them off — otherwise War Soul Undying wouldn't have been so badly devastated.
That Zero Wing could leverage Stone Forest City's advantages and repel Star Ring's assault was shocking, but it wasn't completely inconceivable. After all, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion was backing them, and Zero Wing had proven resourceful before. There was at least a sliver of possibility.
But Star Ring being completely wiped out? That was flat-out ridiculous!
Even if Star Ring had assembled its forces in a rush this time, given their strength, fielding a army of two to three thousand experts in short order would be no trouble at all. And with Star Ring's reserves backing them up, even if Crimson Emperor threw everything it had into the fight, managing to kill off half of them would be an impressive result. These weren't ordinary players — once the experts truly decided to flee, how many could anyone chase down and eliminate?
So the notion that Star Ring had been wiped out was nothing short of a joke!
But after Chi Jiuchong confidently reviewed the uploaded intelligence, the expression on his face froze completely.
One person had single-handedly repelled the Tiandemon and Jiaolong teams!
One person had suppressed Star Ring's four great experts, instant-killing two of those monsters!
One person had commanded a Duke-tier Greater Demon to slaughter Star Ring's forces!
After reading through all of this, Chi Jiuchong wasn't the only one left feeling shaken. Every high-ranking member of every supreme power who received this report was rendered speechless for a long, long time.
Was this even human?
Compared to the heroic deeds and mythic legends of the Divine Realm, this was on par with the very best of them!