The moment news of Stone Forest City broke, every major power that received the information went red-eyed with envy.
"This can't be real! Isn't it said that you need to clear the Level 100 team Dungeon to relocate a town to a Level 100 neutral map?"
"Damn it — Zero Wing still had this card up their sleeve!"
"Find a way to investigate! We have to figure out how Zero Wing pulled this off!"
……
For a time, the various major powers stared at the environment within Stone Forest City, and all their earlier schadenfreude over Star Ring going after Zero Wing evaporated completely. All that remained was jealousy and envy — they would have given anything to seize Stone Forest City for themselves.
Right now, every superpower in the Divine Realm was scrambling to pioneer the Level 100 neutral maps, but even after all this time, none of them had found a way to make headway. And yet those Level 100 neutral maps represented the future of the Divine Realm.
Setting aside the fact that only Level 100 neutral maps could yield Level 100 weapons and equipment, the experience gain rate alone on those maps was several times that of sub-Level 100 areas. The catch was that surviving on a Level 100 neutral map was incredibly difficult.
But if you could stay on a Level 100 neutral map for an extended period, that changed everything.
An abundance of Level 100 weapons and equipment could help players advance to Tier 3 class changes, and their leveling speed would skyrocket. More importantly, the maps also provided a significant boost to a player's overall strength — Level 100 monsters and sub-Level 100 monsters were practically two different species.
Now that Zero Wing had Stone Forest City, they possessed an unimaginable advantage over all the other superpowers when it came to pioneering the Level 100 neutral maps.
Meanwhile, in Night City of the Dark Night Empire, the major superpowers that received the news were thrown into an uproar.
"No wonder Zero Wing dared to sever one of Star Ring's arms before — they had this kind of backing all along." Huan Yu, the Vice Chairman of the Crimson Emperor Guild, stared at the news about Stone Forest City, a flicker of jealousy and shock in her eyes.
The advantage a guild city on a Level 100 neutral map brought wasn't just faster leveling — it was primarily the access to the rich resources of those maps.
After all, the resources on Level 100 maps were far more plentiful than those on sub-Level 100 maps, and they were all geared toward Level 100 players. Gaining early access to these resources would have a massive impact on a guild's strength and development.
Moreover, now that Stone Forest City was established, Star Ring would probably have an even harder time dealing with Zero Wing — the two sides were no longer playing in the same league.
Even if Star Ring leveraged the vast numbers of the Adventurer Alliance to target Zero Wing, they could only threaten Zero Wing members who hadn't grown yet. Any Zero Wing member who reached Level 95 or above could use Stone Forest City to survive comfortably on the Level 100 neutral maps and earn far more resources than they could on sub-Level 100 areas.
And the mainstream player base in the Divine Realm was already approaching Level 95, let alone a major guild like Zero Wing?
As for Star Ring trying to suppress Zero Wing on the Level 100 neutral maps — that was practically a joke.
If Star Ring dared to make a move on Zero Wing in the Level 100 neutral maps, Zero Wing could leverage Stone Forest City's advantages and beat Star Ring so badly they wouldn't know which way was north.
And trying to choke off Zero Wing's resources? Even more laughable.
Sure, the various powers' shops still had high demand for sub-Level 100 resources, but their demand for Level 100 neutral map resources was even greater. If Zero Wing was willing to trade the Level 100 map resources it obtained, there probably wasn't a single power in the entire Divine Realm that would refuse — to say nothing of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion standing behind them.
"Vice Chairman, Stone Forest City is located on a Level 100 neutral map. That's a huge help for Tier 3 class changes. If we could station ourselves in Stone Forest City, we'd definitely gain a massive lead over the other superpowers in the race to advance to Tier 3," the Level 100 Berserker beside her said, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
The Tier 3 class change quests were completed on the Level 100 neutral maps, but those maps were vast and dangerous. Finding the lost Tier 3 legacies was easier said than done, to say nothing of actually completing the quests.
It required their Level 100 players to spend extended periods exploring the Level 100 neutral maps. With a city like Stone Forest City, they could not only save an enormous amount of time but also make the Tier 3 class change quests considerably easier.