The reception room, packed with dozens of people, fell deathly silent the moment Shi Feng finished speaking. Every member of the Divine Intent Tribe present cast a look of contempt in his direction.
"This guy's ambition is outrageous!"
"Are you kidding me? Star Valley? He really doesn't see himself as an outsider — wants us to throw our lives away for him."
There wasn't a single major superpower on the Western Continent that wasn't familiar with the place called Star Valley. In fact, many superpowers had been longing to establish their own town there for a long time.
Star Valley not only held abundant mineral vein resources but also contained numerous ancient ruins.
And within this level-100-plus Forbidden Land of Life, there existed one of only two God-tier regional dungeons known on the Western Continent. Even ordinary players understood just how bountiful the resources inside were, and it was certain to remain a target that every major power's experts would fight tooth and nail to seize and conquer.
Now Shi Feng wanted them to march in and take Star Fortress, just like that? What a beautiful dream.
"Guild Leader Black Flame, that's a Forbidden Land of Life. You think too highly of our Silver Lion Legion. Even with the Grand Elder's hundred-thousand-strong army added to ours, I doubt we could even breach the interior of Star Fortress, let alone occupy it." Maka Frey looked at the dead-serious Shi Feng and, rather than getting angry, let out a bitter laugh.
If their Divine Intent Tribe could have taken Star Fortress, they would have done so long ago. Holding a fortress in a place like Star Valley was simply too lucrative a prospect for any superpower to ignore.
But wanting it was one thing. To this day, no superpower had managed to capture a single fortress inside Star Valley.
He knew Shi Feng and his companions were far stronger than ordinary peak experts, but conquering a fortress — especially one inside a Forbidden Land of Life — was beyond what a handful of players could accomplish. It required a formidable army, or even several powerful armies working together.
This wasn't a fight. It was war.
"Vice Commander Maka, I understand your concerns. I've already done some preliminary research on Star Fortress. With the Silver Lion Legion's support, I believe we have a real chance of taking it," Shi Feng explained.
In his previous life, Star Valley had been one of the Western Continent's most celebrated treasure troves of resources, and the fortresses within it were like mountains of gold and oceans of silver that every major power yearned for. As such, there was a wealth of relevant information available.
On top of that, he had already assessed the Silver Lion Legion's combat strength, which was precisely why he had chosen Star Fortress.
Of all the fortresses in Star Valley, this was the one most likely to fall. After all, Star Valley was a level-100-plus Forbidden Land of Life — dangerous even for fully developed Tier 3 players, let alone the current crop of Tier 3 players who were still lacking in many areas.
But that was exactly why he wanted to target Star Fortress.
These were fortresses left behind from the ancient era. Inside them lay ancient legacies that were utterly incomparable to the fragmented inheritances still surviving in the outside world.
In the ancient age, there had been far more Tier 3 classes for humanity than there were now. Advancing to Tier 3 hadn't even been particularly difficult. But because so many of humanity's legacies had been lost, the progress of Tier 3 players in the present era had become painfully slow.
If they could conquer Star Fortress, the strength of Zero Wing's Tier 3 experts would improve by a significant leap.
"Since you've already made preparations, Guild Leader Black Flame, I won't say anything more. The Silver Lion Legion can depart as soon as we've finished restocking and refitting." Maka Frey looked at the supremely confident Shi Feng and decided not to press the matter. After all, the Divine Intent Tribe had already reached an agreement with Shi Feng — which towns to attack was his prerogative. Whether or not he could actually take them wasn't something he needed to worry about.
Soon, all eight thousand members of the Silver Lion Legion began restocking their weapons and equipment, preparing the potions and magic scrolls needed for a venture into a Forbidden Land of Life like Star Valley. All that remained was to rest and then set out.
Meanwhile, in the meeting room of their forward base, Maka Frey and the others relayed the news to Grand Elder Adolf.
"He wants to assault a fortress in Star Valley? Doesn't he know that Star Valley is a highly unusual Forbidden Land of Life? Burst skills are completely disabled inside — you can only rely on your own base strength to seize anything?" Grand Elder Adolf could not conceal his surprise upon hearing Maka Frey's report.
Star Valley was a uniquely restrictive Forbidden Land of Life. Players inside it were unable to use any burst skills whatsoever. That was precisely why every major superpower had been powerless against its fortresses — the Legendary monsters inside received a stat boost from the fortress itself, making their combat power utterly incomparable to Legendary monsters in the outside world.
Tier 3 experts without burst skills stood virtually no chance against such Legendary monsters, and the fortresses contained more than just one.
According to investigations by the various superpowers, every visible fortress held at least three Legendary monsters, with some housing as many as five. Add to that the massive numbers of Great Lords and High Great Lords, and the thought alone was enough to make your scalp tingle.
Facing such a fortress, forget their own Tier 3 players — even deploying their Divine Intent Tribe's trump card, the Tier 4 Heroic Spirit Summoning Scrolls, would be useless. And yet Shi Feng actually dared to try conquering one…
"He said he's already done his research, and he's brimming with confidence that the odds of taking Star Fortress are quite good." The Crimson Witch standing nearby also voiced her disdain.
Star Valley, as things currently stood, was still in the exploration phase for every major superpower. To genuinely assault the fortresses there, they would need to wait until their superpowers had several thousand Tier 3 experts at their disposal. Otherwise, never mind the Tier 4 Legendary monsters inside — the sheer numbers of Great Lords and High Great Lords alone could wipe them all out with ease.