Earthcore Mountain Range, Rock Nest Fortress.
The entire Rock Nest Fortress towered on the sheer cliffs of the canyon. It had earned its name from the way it resembled a nest when viewed from outside — easy to defend, hard to take. But right now, tens of thousands of players, all Level 85 and above, were tearing through the fortress in a frenzy, clearing out the Black Stone Orcs within.
The hundreds of thousands of Black Stone Orcs that had originally garrisoned the fortress were now down to fewer than one hundred thousand. At the center of the fortress, an Orc King who stood well over four meters tall lay silently on the ground, weapons, equipment, and all manner of materials scattered around him in a dazzling display.
"I never imagined that conquering a fortress would bring such incredible rewards," Nine Dragons Emperor marveled, gazing at the sea of weapons, equipment, and rare materials strewn across the ground. "No wonder the Thirteen Royal Courts are in such a hurry to take the second one."
Great Lord-tier monsters and above were quite difficult to find in the Earthcore Mountain Range, but inside Rock Nest Fortress they came in clusters. And because this was a first-time clear, the drop quality was even better than what you'd find outside.
Just clearing out the Black Stone Orcs within the fortress had yielded at least ten thousand pieces of weapons and equipment — all of them Level 90 or above, with some even reaching Level 100. Though the quality of these items was generally modest, mostly Mythril Rank with only a smattering of Gold-grade pieces, they served perfectly well as transitional gear. At the very least, the moment anyone hit Level 90, they could immediately begin tackling the Level 90 super-large-scale Team Dungeon without needing extensive preparation.
"Of course," Oath Blood War Soul said, his gaze icy. "You could say every fortress in the Earthcore Mountain Range is a treasure vault. Blood War and Star Ring originally planned to take a medium-sized fortress together, but who would have thought Zero Wing would actually capture the North Fortress? We had to move up our timeline." His eyes narrowed. "Zero Wing seems to think that capturing the North Fortress lets them challenge us on Dragon Heart Island. Soon enough, I'll show them that even with the North Fortress, they still won't last a single day here."
"Exactly! Zero Wing is far too arrogant for their own good — how could they possibly comprehend Commander Oath Blood's methods?" Nine Dragons Emperor nodded with a chuckle. "Right now, Zero Wing must be in a panic. No players heading to their fortress means even the best fortress is nothing more than junk."
Blood War, Crimson Shadow, and Sword of Knights — the top three adventure teams on Dragon Heart Island — had joined forces. If any other adventure team on Dragon Heart Island wanted to keep operating, they wouldn't dare defy the will of these three. On top of that, Blood War and Star Ring had sealed off the entire northern region. The moment any Zero Wing member set foot there, they wouldn't be coming back out.
That meant the North Fortress, aside from Zero Wing and Feng Qianyu's people, would have no one at all.
A fortress taken under those conditions wouldn't become a gold mine — it would become a massive meat grinder, endlessly devouring Zero Wing's capital.
The fortresses in the Earthcore Mountain Range were nothing like those on the outside. Beast tides were a regular occurrence. Never mind the subsidies paid to garrison members — the maintenance costs of a single small fortress alone were enough to drive someone to ruin, let alone a medium-sized one.
Just as Nine Dragons Emperor and Oath Blood War Soul were talking, a striking woman with an ancient bow slung across her back approached them.
"Commander, Zero Wing has made a move. They've put out the word that they're going head-to-head with us — anyone who dares enter Rock Nest Fortress will be barred from the North Fortress," Mo Xinyu said with a smile, holding the message she had just received.
"Trying to compete with Blood War for influence on Dragon Heart Island? This Zero Wing has truly lost its mind — do they think Dragon Heart Island is the Star Moon Kingdom?" Oath Blood War Soul let out an incredulous laugh. "Or perhaps they think pulling a stunt like this will make the major powers on Dragon Heart Island play both sides and cut into our profits?"
"Commander Oath Blood, that Black Flame probably doesn't even know we recovered the Mana Spring from Rock Nest Fortress," Nine Dragons Emperor added with a grin. "If he did, he'd be tearing his hair out over his little decision."
The Mana Spring was a unique structure found only in Rock Nest Fortress. Restoring it would require a steep price — enough to drain their current liquid reserves — but its effect made it absolutely worth the investment.
The Mana Spring could fully restore a player's mental and physical stamina in just half an hour, which was an enormous draw for anyone grinding levels in the Earthcore Mountain Range.
After all, the main reason players entered fortresses was to rest and recover their stamina and mental energy. Now, for a single Ancient Gold Coin, they could achieve full recovery in half an hour. Every elite player on Dragon Heart Island would kill for that kind of effect.
Once this news got out, every major power on Dragon Heart Island would rush to Rock Nest Fortress — not just the teams that might have considered heading to the North Fortress, but even those currently allied with the Thirteen Royal Courts. They would all make Rock Nest Fortress their temporary base.
"If Black Flame wants to dig his own grave, I'll be happy to speed him along," Oath Blood War Soul said, turning to Mo Xinyu. "Xinyu, send the Mana Spring information covertly to every major power on Dragon Heart Island right now. Once they know, they'll figure out what to do on their own."