After ordering the other Mythril Guards to be summoned, Shi Feng was about to return to the Candlelight Trading Company's top-floor Meditation Room to rest and quietly wait for the Mythril Guards from Silverwing Town to arrive when Liang Jing suddenly contacted him.
"Guild Leader, something huge has happened to our Zero Wing in the Dark Night Empire!" Liang Jing said, her face taut with anxiety.
"The Dark Night Empire? What happened?" Shi Feng asked, puzzled by how agitated she looked.
Their Zero Wing hadn't been operating in the Dark Night Empire for long, but thanks to the help of War Spirit's Fall, things had been going quite well — both commercially and in terms of branch development. Now, thanks to Stone Forest City, more and more top players in the Dark Night Empire were looking to join Zero Wing.
Moreover, with both War Spirit's Fall and Crimson Emperor supporting them, Star Ring had been unable to do anything about Zero Wing for a while. Things had been on a clear upward trajectory.
"Star Ring used some unknown method to build a city near Dark Ruins — a Level 100 neutral map — on the Dark Hills. Not only does it provide easy access to Dark Ruins, but they've also announced it's open to the public. Any member of Star Ring's Adventurer Alliance can enter and leave freely. This has caused a massive number of top players in the Dark Night Empire to flood over to Star Ring's side," Liang Jing explained. "Because of this, every major power in the Dark Night Empire has shifted toward Star Ring. Even Crimson Emperor is considering cooperating with them. Some experts and adventurer teams that had originally been planning to join our Star Moon Alliance have changed course and headed to Star Ring instead."
"On top of that, Star Ring has announced that private housing rentals will be available in the new city, with a starting bid of just ten thousand. Now, all the major powers and adventurer teams in the Star Moon Kingdom are thinking about heading to the Dark Night Empire."
A large part of why their Zero Wing had managed to hold its ground in the Dark Night Empire was that two superpowers — War Spirit's Fall and Crimson Emperor — could contest Star Ring. Beyond that, the various powers in the Dark Night Empire had banded together to support Zero Wing, making it very difficult for Star Ring to target them directly. Even when Star Ring did make a move, they could only suppress Zero Wing on their own territory.
But if Crimson Emperor and the other powers all shifted to Star Ring's side, then Zero Wing's people would be in real danger. The city on the Dark Hills, in particular, would make it impossible for Zero Wing's experts to operate on that Level 90-plus resource map, let alone venture into Dark Ruins in the future.
On top of that, with so many free experts and adventurer teams joining Star Ring's Adventurer Alliance, the number of people ambushing Zero Wing's members would skyrocket.
If things continued this way, it wouldn't be long before Zero Wing was completely squeezed out of the Dark Night Empire.
Zero Wing's guild membership had grown substantially, but high-level maps were limited in number, and the higher the level, the fewer maps there were. The high-level maps available in the Star Moon Kingdom alone simply weren't enough.
Cold Spring Great Forest was rich in resources, but very few experts were capable of operating on a Level 100 neutral map like Cold Spring Great Forest. Typically, top-tier combat power was needed to lead the way, and Zero Wing's top-tier combat power was far too scarce compared to the major superpowers. A tremendous advantage was being wasted.
Not to mention that with the new city's appearance, Stone Forest City's plans to generate rental income would be seriously impacted.
"So they're trying to steal our people and our resources?" Shi Feng said after hearing Liang Jing's report, roughly grasping Star Ring's strategy.
Their new city might not compare to Stone Forest City, but being right next to a Level 100 neutral map provided enormous help for accessing it. Combined with the low price, plenty of player organizations would be tempted. For Zero Wing, which was in desperate need of resources and Credit Points, the impact would be significant.
"Guild Leader, quite a few adventurer teams and experts who had come to White River City have already redirected to the Dark Night Empire. If this continues, not only will our rental income plummet, but the number of experts targeting our guild will also surge," Liang Jing said.
The main reason the Star Moon Adventurer Alliance could attract so many top players was access to Stone Forest City — but you needed to reach Silver Rank first. Now that Star Ring was letting anyone who joined their Adventurer Alliance enter the city, the appeal of the Star Moon Adventurer Alliance would naturally drop. Before long, a wave of free experts working against Zero Wing would emerge.
"Sacrificing the hard-won resources of a guild city just to target our Zero Wing. It seems Star Ring really is determined to fight this to the bitter end," Shi Feng said with a slight frown. "Since Star Ring wants to play the guild-resources game, I'll play along. Notify everyone that the Contribution Points required to reach Silver Rank in the Adventurer Alliance are halved. At the same time, open an auction for Crimson Twilight within the Star Moon Adventurer Alliance — only Silver Rank members may participate. The starting bid is thirty thousand Magic Crystals and ten thousand gold coins!"
"An auction for Crimson Twilight?" Liang Jing gasped. "Guild Leader, that's one of our guild's core assets — it's what gives our members the ability to operate on the Level 100 neutral maps. If we sell it…"
For players and major powers alike, nothing was more important than increasing their own strength. Once Crimson Twilight went on the auction block, it would undoubtedly attract a massive number of experts and factions. But Crimson Twilight was the very foundation and advantage that allowed Zero Wing to operate on the Level 100 neutral maps.
If they opened it up for auction now, they'd essentially be giving every major power a massive boost — which would be extremely detrimental to Zero Wing's development on the Level 100 neutral maps.
"It doesn't matter," Shi Feng said with a smile. "Crimson Twilight is precious, but it's ultimately a consumable — its value will only decrease as players' levels rise. Right now, the experts of all the major superpowers have generally reached Level 100. This is the perfect time to sell."