The system announcement for the region rang out three times in succession, drawing every player grinding in the Core Mountain Range into stunned silence.
"The Northern Fortress has been captured? What's going on?"
"Isn't the Northern Fortress the biggest fortress in the north?"
"You've got to be kidding me! Zero Wing actually took the Northern Fortress?"
"Is Zero Wing really that powerful?"
……
There was hardly a player milling about in the Core Mountain Range who didn't know about the Northern Fortress. After all, there were only three medium-sized fortresses in the entire Core Mountain Range, and they had long been a topic of whispered discussion among the player base.
One needed only to look at the Thirteen Royal Courts for proof. After obtaining a single small fortress, never mind the profits it brought — the sheer fact that they had managed to conquer a fortress had catapulted the Thirteen Royal Courts into one of the hottest factions on Dragon Heart Island, to the point where even the other super guilds seemed a shade below them.
However, a small fortress was still too cramped for the vast number of players flocking to Dragon Heart Island. The area of a medium-sized fortress was several times that of a small one.
Once one was captured, players would no longer have to worry about finding a safe place to rest in the Core Mountain Range.
Everyone had been speculating about which super guild on Dragon Heart Island would be the first to claim a medium-sized fortress. Yet now it was Zero Wing that had taken the first one — a result that far exceeded anyone's expectations.
But compared to the widespread astonishment among ordinary players, the major factions on Dragon Heart Island were utterly dumbfounded upon receiving the news.
"How is that possible? That's the Northern Fortress! How could a mere guild like Zero Wing have captured it?"
"Investigate! Dig deep and find out! Even the Thirteen Royal Courts couldn't take the Northern Fortress — Zero Wing must have found some special method. Once we know that method, those fortresses in the Core Mountain Range will be ours!"
For the major factions, they understood all too well just how difficult it was to conquer a fortress. Many superpowers had tried, but every attempt had ended in failure.
And what kind of guild Zero Wing was, the major factions couldn't have been more familiar with.
Even with the Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion's help, conquering the Northern Fortress should have been impossible. Otherwise, the super guilds would have already seized seven or eight fortresses by now.
The only explanation was that Zero Wing had discovered some special method for taking fortresses.
At the Thirteen Royal Courts' headquarters in Dragon Heart City, intelligence on Zero Wing's conquest of the Northern Fortress quickly found its way onto Li Hen's desk.
"Interesting. I didn't think they'd actually manage to take the Northern Fortress." Li Hen looked over the detailed report brought by his subordinate and couldn't help but express a measure of surprise.
On the entire Dragon Heart Island, no one understood better than he did just how difficult it was to conquer a fortress. Before, he had simply assumed Zero Wing was gambling everything on a desperate gamble — after all, the War Blood Adventure Team had been acting as though it had gone completely mad.