Cold Spring Great Forest, Stone Forest City.
As news about Stone Forest City continued to spread and more and more free players learned of it, the number of small independent adventure teams heading for Stone Forest City kept growing. In less than a single day, the already-expanded Stone Forest City had become somewhat congested, and the queue of people waiting to enter showed no signs of shrinking — if anything, it was still growing.
Among the queue, one six-person squad stood out. Every member wore a black cloak, and a faint aura of darkness seeped from their bodies. The free players lined up around them didn't dare come even half a step closer.
"The killing intent on these people is insane! Even those dark-aligned players who spend all their time slaughtering monsters in the wild probably don't have half as much. Who are they?"
"It's not just the killing intent. Look at their gear — even with the stat effects hidden, there are mana inscriptions engraved on the equipment. That quality has to be Gold-grade at minimum. Even the main squad members of the major superpowers aren't necessarily better kitted out than this."
The free players queuing nearby whispered among themselves as they eyed the six-person squad, admiration clearly written on their faces.
Ever since the mainstream player base in the Divine Realm had crossed the level-one-hundred threshold, Mythril Rank weapons and equipment above that level had become increasingly scarce — and rather than dropping in price, they had only climbed higher.
It was fair to say that even a main squad member of one of the major guilds who managed to get their hands on a single piece of level-one-hundred-plus Gold-grade equipment could show it off for ages. For ordinary expert players, such gear was practically a mini Artifact.
Yet the worst piece of equipment any member of this six-person squad wore was level-one-hundred-plus Gold-grade — and inscribed with mana markings at that. In the eyes of ordinary players, it was nothing short of a full set of god-tier gear.
As for the envious stares and gazes from the surrounding players, the six of them paid them no mind whatsoever.
"It seems the so-called experts of the Divine Realm continent aren't all that impressive. Their weapons and equipment are mediocre, they've gone soft from living in comfort, and they don't even know about mana-forged enhancements. Once our army finishes assembling on the other side and floods through in one surge, this place will probably become territory of our Great Dark World in the blink of an eye," a flat-haired, gray-robed Tier 3 Dark Warlock remarked with undisguised disdain, glancing at the envious expert players from various adventure squads around them.
"Don't be so harsh, Brother Moshan. After all, the environment here is nothing compared to our Great Dark World. Even when they venture into the wild, the worst they have to worry about is monsters. It's not like us — step outside and you have to watch for ambushes from other players at every turn, constantly thinking about how to grow stronger." The burly, bearded middle-aged man standing beside him chuckled good-naturedly. "Besides, these are just ordinary experts. The ones belonging to the major powers are genuinely strong — otherwise our two guilds wouldn't have agreed to cooperate with Zero Wing and keep out of each other's way."
"Fair enough. But I really don't understand why our two guilds chose to cooperate with Zero Wing. You saw the army that was gathering when we came through — the scale was terrifying. Forget the Cold Spring Great Forest; even the surrounding leveling zones probably wouldn't be enough to divide among them. How could a single Zero Wing possibly stand in their way, let alone cause us any trouble?" the Tier 3 Warlock named Moshan grumbled unhappily.
Five hundred thousand Dark Mana Crystals!
That was no small sum even for their two guilds. Spending it purely to keep Zero Wing from interfering seemed like a terrible deal. Even if Zero Wing did try to cause trouble down the line, what could they actually do against an endless tide of Great Dark World players? They'd be forced to hole up in their guild city and do nothing.
"Beats me. The higher-ups probably have their own reasons. We just need to do our jobs," the middle-aged man said with a shake of his head. Truthfully, he found it just as puzzling.
The number of Great Dark World players preparing to head for the Cold Spring Great Forest was no joke.
Just a rough estimate put the figure at several million, and it would only grow from here. The gateway had only just opened, and news took time to spread. The well-informed major power members were, after all, a minority compared to the vast free player population.
Once tens of millions — even hundreds of millions — of dark players poured through, forget about a single Zero Wing. Even the kingdoms and empires in the surrounding regions probably wouldn't be able to hold out. It would inevitably trigger a massive upheaval across the entire Divine Realm continent.
As the six members of the squad chatted quietly among themselves, they had — almost without noticing — walked through the gates and into Stone Forest City.
"The mana density here really is remarkable. If our guild city had mana like this, we could probably become the number-one guild in the Great Dark World without even breaking a sweat," Moshan said, feeling the intoxicating mana in the air and unable to help but feel a twinge of envy.
"Truly astonishing mana," the middle-aged man agreed with a nod. "No wonder, based on the intelligence our guild gathered, every major superpower seems to be eyeing this city."
"What a shame. If the Heart of the Abyss hadn't opened the passage to the Great Dark World, Zero Wing might have become a genuine threat down the road," Moshan said, watching the ceaseless flow of players and NPC merchants along the streets. He was beginning to understand why the higher-ups had decided to cooperate with Zero Wing.
Stone Forest City was already as prosperous as any major NPC city. With that kind of foundation, Zero Wing had no reason not to flourish. The players who gathered here all had a certain level of strength, and with the conveniences Stone Forest City provided, the guild's experts would only grow in number — and gradually outpace those of other powers. Becoming a major faction in the Divine Realm wasn't some far-fetched dream for them.
"Maybe so. But let's hurry up and contact Zero Wing. Once we finish this, we need to get back immediately. If we're late and miss moving with the main force, we'll be dead in the water in the Cold Spring Great Forest," the middle-aged man reminded the sighing Moshan.
"I already reached out to Zero Wing. They said to head straight for the tallest building on the main avenue — someone will escort us to meet their Guild Leader," Moshan replied.
"That one over there?" The middle-aged man's gaze drifted toward the Freedom Inn towering in the center of Stone Forest City, and even he couldn't help but let out a murmur of astonishment. "Zero Wing really is something. To think they could build a structure this tall — the tallest building in either of our two guilds is barely fifty meters, isn't it? This one has to be at least a hundred and fifty."