Beastman Empire, Silverwing Town.
With Zero Wing's victory, not only were the free players roaming the Beastman Empire converging on Silverwing Town, but members from numerous nearby factions and superpowers had also arrived at Silverwing Town to see what was going on. For a time, Silverwing Town was bustling with extraordinary activity.
Among the many players streaming into Silverwing Town, a team composed of a twenty-person squad walked in orderly formation through the town gates.
As these players entered the town, the surrounding players couldn't help but turn and stare in astonishment.
"No way! Are they all planning to develop in Silverwing Town?"
Every single one of these twenty players was at least Level 115 and a Tier 3 expert, and their equipment was nothing short of magnificent. The weakest among them wore Gold-grade gear at Level 110, while the two leading the group sported Epic-grade equipment—something that was exceedingly rare even among the top players of superpowers.
But compared to these players' levels and equipment, what truly stunned everyone was the identity of these people.
These were none other than members of Frostsky Sword—one of the newly risen superpowers from the Frozen Tundra World, currently commanding several neighboring kingdoms. Their strength ranked among the top ten of newly emerged superpowers, and coupled with the unique bloodline legacies of the Frozen Tundra World, countless expert players had tried to join this guild. Unfortunately, Frostsky Sword's selection requirements were extremely strict, and they imposed numerous additional conditions, resulting in the rejection of many aspiring members.
Now, members of Frostsky Sword—who never operated in the Beastman Empire—had suddenly shown up here. How could that not surprise everyone?
As the surrounding players whispered among themselves about these newcomers, the Frostsky Sword members paid them no mind whatsoever, calmly walking along the main street and observing all of Silverwing Town.
"So this is Silverwing Town?" A black-robed female Summoner who had reached Level 116 surveyed the surroundings and remarked in a flat tone, "The town's defenses are decent enough, but compared to several other allied guild towns, it's still lacking quite a bit. It's entirely propped up by those NPC bodyguards."
"This is already quite impressive. At the very least, it managed to withstand the Sacred Sculpture army's assault—that alone makes it worth recruiting as allies." Beside her, a similarly Level 116 female Warlock in Tier 3 robes gave the black-robed Summoner a wry smile.
The Sacred Sculpture army's power was such that even ordinary NPC cities couldn't hold them off, let alone guild towns. The fact that Silverwing Town had withstood—and even defeated—the Sacred Sculpture army made it a genuinely rare find. Not every guild town had the special means their Frozen Tundra World possessed.
"Those NPC bodyguards are powerful, sure, but those Sacred Sculpture creatures are no pushovers either. Given how those Sacred Sculpture creatures are spreading across more than a dozen kingdoms and the Black Dragon Empire at such speed, it won't be long before a massive number of Tier 4 Holy Sculpture Devourers emerge. When that happens, those NPC bodyguards alone will likely struggle to hold the line, let alone proactively hunt down the Sacred Sculpture creatures." The black-robed female Summoner shook her head and spoke slowly. "Isn't the whole point of our visit to assess whether Zero Wing has the capability to deal with the Sacred Sculpture creatures alongside us?"
Relying on NPC bodyguards was ultimately a crutch. First, NPC bodyguards were exceedingly rare. Second, NPC deaths were extremely troublesome to deal with. Third, NPC bodyguards couldn't venture out into the wider world to proactively clear Sacred Sculpture creatures the way players could.
The current player population in Silverwing Town might not be small, but the number of Tier 3 experts was pitifully low—let alone among the Zero Wing members walking the streets.
"That's true. Right now, Zero Wing looks magnificent on the surface, but underneath, things are precarious. They have no idea that the Hand of Sacred Heart has already reached cooperation agreements with numerous superpowers. Even if the Sacred Sculpture creatures don't attack directly, just the auxiliary items the Hand of Sacred Heart is providing to those superpowers will allow them to thrive within the Sacred Sculpture creatures' territory. Those superpowers can freely suppress Zero Wing's members from the shadows, and if Zero Wing doesn't have enough players to fight back, relying solely on the bodyguards who can only defend the guild town—they won't be able to do a thing." The gray-robed female Warlock in Tier 3 also nodded in agreement.
A guild that could only hunker down and defend without ever striking back truly had no right to join their alliance as a partner.
Just as the two Frostsky Sword members were exchanging quiet words, a system notification suddenly chimed in their ears.
System: Silverwing Town has been promoted to a Basic City. Players will be teleported out of Silverwing Town in thirty seconds.
"What's going on?"
"It's already been promoted?"
With the system notification sounding off, every player in Silverwing Town froze in place. They stared at the notification in their system panels, unable to snap out of their daze. The Zero Wing members, in particular, couldn't help but beam with unrestrained joy.
Silverwing Town had already been able to effortlessly repel the Sacred Sculpture army's assaults. If it was now promoted to a city, then the Sacred Sculpture army would find it even harder to threaten Silverwing Town in the future.
But before anyone could fully process what was happening, players throughout Silverwing Town began being teleported out one after another, and the entire town was enveloped by a massive magic array.
"How is this possible?!" The black-robed female Summoner, now teleported outside Silverwing Town, stared in disbelief at the town wrapped in the glow of the magic array. "How could a guild town possibly be promoted to a Basic City so easily? Setting aside Silverwing Town's level of prosperity, even the player population falls far short. It should take at least another month before promotion is possible—how could it have been promoted so quickly?"
When it came to guild town promotions, Frostsky Sword had extremely extensive experience.
The guild towns that had managed to promote to Basic Cities were, without exception, painstakingly developed projects by major superpowers. The process required not only massive resource investment but also a sustained, long-term player population—a critical prerequisite for promotion.
Silverwing Town certainly met the defense requirements, but its established player population was far from sufficient. It would need a long period of accumulated reputation to qualify.
And yet it had just been promoted like this?
At that moment, not only was the black-robed female Warlock of Frostsky Sword stunned, but even the members of various superpowers who had been hiding within Silverwing Town were completely dumbfounded.
A third guild city!
It was worth noting that some superpowers didn't even possess three guild cities, yet Zero Wing now not only had three guild cities—each one was situated at an extremely critical strategic location. Silverwing Town in particular stood out.
Surrounding the town were more than a dozen kingdoms and the Black Dragon Empire, all of which had fallen within the Sacred Sculpture creatures' range of activity. The appearance of these creatures had caused significant changes to the regional maps, transforming many areas into high-level zones. Some maps had even risen to Level 120 and above. On top of that, with kingdoms and empires mobilizing against the Sacred Sculpture creatures, a massive influx of kingdom and empire quests would inevitably be issued in the future.
It was safe to say that players from over a dozen surrounding kingdoms and the Black Dragon Empire would be developing within the Sacred Sculpture creatures' territory going forward—and yet those regions had almost no places where players could rest and recuperate.
Now, with a Basic City appearing in the midst of all this, one didn't need to think hard to imagine how terrifying its future growth would be.
Not long after Silverwing Town had finished teleporting its players out, the news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the ears of every major faction and setting off yet another wave of frenzy.