Abyssal Rift,
The moment
"What's going on? Why the rush to reach me?" Shi Feng asked with a frown, looking at Melancholic Smile's video feed.
As for the bounty that Star Ring kept posting, that went without saying. Thanks to Stone Forest City, nearly all of Zero Wing's core members were now grinding in the Abyssal Rift. This had massively relieved the guild's burden when it came to leveling resources, allowing both elite and ordinary members to advance comfortably within their own territory. Even if Star Ring's experts launched sneak attacks, the casualties they could inflict were quite limited.
Star Ring, on the other hand, was hemorrhaging money because of the bounty. Every single day, a flood of players showed up at Zero Wing to collect the head bounties.
While this couldn't truly cripple Star Ring in the long run, it was still draining a considerable amount of their liquid capital and hampering the guild's development.
With all the major powers currently scrambling for resources on neutral maps, the daily demand for high-grade consumables was enormous. Most superpowers' own production couldn't come close to meeting that demand, and a large portion had to be purchased with gold coins. If liquid capital was tight, progression on neutral maps would easily grind to a halt.
"Guild Leader, just a short while ago, several major superpowers led by Star Ring, together with three large merchant associations, formed a direct monopoly over the raw materials for Advanced Shadow Potions and Advanced
"That's quite the move, monopolizing both of those high-grade potions. It seems Star Ring is truly getting desperate," Shi Feng said, unable to hide a flicker of surprise.
Advanced Shadow Potions were among the rarer potions in the high-grade category. They not only boosted a player's dark resistance but also enhanced vision in areas of darkness, making them the ideal choice for environments saturated with dark energy.
Advanced Forest Potions were likewise rare. They improved a player's corrosion resistance and slightly expanded their perception range.
Both potions were the best consumables available for leveling and grinding in the Kingdom of the
The raw materials for these potions weren't scarce in absolute terms — no single superpower could corner the market, since the materials were scattered across many locations, and buying them all out would require staggering sums of gold.
However, monopolizing both potions would dramatically slow down opponents' progression in the Kingdom of the Undead and the Abyssal Rift.
"That's not what has me worried," Melancholic Smile said, shaking her head. "What worries me is that Star Ring is now offering outrageous contracts, aggressively poaching our
Previously, the trading firm's crafting players had earned their income through profit-sharing on the goods they produced, converting the gold they earned into Credit Points at will. Now, Star Ring's Credit Point employment model was delivering a devastating blow to the crafting community.
As player levels continued to climb, gold coins became more plentiful, and the exchange rate kept declining — gold was simply not as valuable as it used to be. But a guaranteed base salary in Credit Points didn't depreciate along with gold. The temptation for crafting players was obvious.
"They're throwing capital at this, are they?" Shi Feng chuckled.
The Credit Point employment model for crafters was nothing new to Shi Feng — in fact, he was intimately familiar with it. In his previous life, once the Divine Realm reached level eighty, every major superpower had realized just how crucial crafting players had become, and they'd adopted this very approach to poach talent. Eventually, all factions had been forced to follow suit.
The result was devastating for any faction without deep pockets. Some were sent straight back to the Stone Age, while others collapsed and disbanded entirely.
Once this system took hold, a guild's Credit Point expenditure would essentially double — the number of crafters far exceeded the guild's internal members. And converting gold into Credit Points depended largely on the superpowers' whims. Holding a small amount of gold was fine, but trying to liquidate large quantities for Credit Points meant getting terrible rates, essentially handing the superpowers a massive bargain.
"Guild Leader, if we don't take action soon, even more people will leave the trading firm," Melancholic Smile said worriedly. "But if we try to match their offer, the Credit Points our guild currently earns wouldn't be nearly enough to sustain all of Candlelight. And if we sell off gold to make up the difference, that would be playing right into Star Ring's hands."
It was only now that Melancholic Smile truly understood how terrifying a superpower could be — how one could simply crush people to death with money alone.
"I don't know who came up with this idea for Star Ring," Shi Feng said with a grin, "but if Star Ring wants to go toe-to-toe with Zero Wing in a capital war, they'd better watch out for their own teeth!"
Had this been before Stone Forest Town had been promoted to Stone Forest City, Star Ring's maneuver might have genuinely crippled Zero Wing. But now, with Stone Forest City in hand, Zero Wing was no longer the same guild it had been.
None of the major superpowers truly grasped what Stone Forest City represented now.
"How are those private residences I had you build next to the arena coming along?" Shi Feng asked.
"About seventy percent are complete. The remaining thirty percent should take another two or three days," Melancholic Smile replied. Though she found Shi Feng's question somewhat puzzling, she quickly sent him the progress report.
Construction of these private residences had already consumed over one hundred and sixty thousand gold coins in the past few days — by far Zero Wing's single largest expenditure to date.
"Seventy percent?" Shi Feng reviewed the progress report and nodded. "Over seven thousand units — that should be enough. Release the announcement immediately. Stone Forest City will officially begin renting out private residences, with auctions held across all Candlelight Trading Firm locations. Payment in Credit Points. Starting bid: thirty thousand Credit Points per month."
"Thirty thousand Credit Points per month? Isn't that a bit... steep?" Melancholic Smile drew in a sharp breath.
Private residences were nothing like shops — shops could generate income. Rented residences were pure consumption. Most players would be willing to pay a few thousand Credit Points, and that was already generous. Thirty thousand was practically a joke.
"Don't worry about it. Just have your people start preparing right away. The faster, the better," Shi Feng said with a smile, offering no further explanation.
In his previous life, cities that had established themselves in the Abyssal Rift were like holy cities — countless powerful players dreamed of owning a private residence in such a place. But the major powers never sold them, only rented them out. Even so, the renters were innumerable, and the demand far outstripped supply.
At the peak, monthly rents had exceeded fifty thousand Credit Points, which had been the first time anyone truly understood just how outrageously profitable the Divine Realm could be. A starting bid of thirty thousand was, in fact, quite a bargain.
Shortly after, Melancholic Smile had the announcement published on the official forums of every major kingdom and empire.