Fire Dragon Empire, Fire Dragon City.
In a VIP lounge on the thirty-third floor of the Flame Restaurant, which stood along the central avenue of Fire Dragon City, Cold Light Poetic Shadow had just logged in when she spotted a tall, elegantly featured woman standing inside the private room. The moment the woman noticed Cold Light Poetic Shadow's appearance, her expression was unmistakably somber.
And this woman was none other than Yubai, who had logged in not long ago.
"Has something happened?" Cold Light Poetic Shadow looked at Yubai, a flicker of surprise in her silver pupils.
"I just received word that Zero Wing's Silverwing Town has begun its promotion to a city. This has prompted quite a few factions from the surrounding areas of the Beastman Empire to send representatives to Silverwing Town, hoping to establish long-term cooperation with Zero Wing. Some of them are even superpowers that are considering partnering with Zero Wing," Yubai reported quietly.
"Promoted to Silverwing City?" Cold Light Poetic Shadow was briefly taken aback, then she broke into a knowing smile. "So that's why he rejected my proposal without a second thought. He actually had some leverage after all."
"Vice President, now that Silverwing Town has been promoted to a city, if those superpowers really band together to offer Zero Wing protection, it'll become much harder for us to obtain the method for reaching the Transcendent rank. Should we notify the Sacred Hand and have them warn those superpowers?" Yubai asked, worried.
The task given to them from above was singular and clear: obtain the method for reaching the Transcendent rank. If several superpowers jointly shielded Zero Wing in the real world, it would be no easy feat even for other superpowers to strike at Zero Wing covertly.
"There's no need. So what if they've secured the backing of those superpowers?" Cold Light Poetic Shadow glanced over the intelligence Yubai had sent and smiled faintly. "With Black Flame's identity exposed this time, Star Ring—who has been itching to kill Zero Wing—will absolutely not let this opportunity slip. Before I entered the Divine Realm, I received word that the old fox behind Lu Xingluo has finally grown impatient and plans to wipe out every shred of new power Zero Wing has in Fenglin City, reducing them to a rootless tree. Given Zero Wing's current manpower, they should be able to hold out for a while. When that happens, we simply sit back and reap the rewards."
Lu Xingluo himself was hardly competent. The Star Ring guild he had assembled owed its current stature entirely to the old fox standing behind him.
Against that old fox, even if all the major superpowers joined hands to protect Zero Wing, it wouldn't matter. Within Illusion Myth, only a handful of people could hope to stand against him.
"Understood. I'll have our people keep a closer eye on things during this period," Yubai nodded.
While Cold Light Poetic Shadow and Yubai were conversing, far away in the Beastman Empire, Silverwing Town had finally completed its promotion. A magnificent, sprawling city now rose above the sand dunes. Compared to the former Silverwing Town, it was superior in every respect—size, defenses, and more. Even from the outside, one could feel the ambient magical energy converging from all directions.
"This magical energy is truly astonishing!" Shi Feng gazed at the mana pooling around the city and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.
He had to admit that with Silverwing Town's promotion to Silverwing City, the Mana Conversion core magic array had received a tremendous boost as well. Combined with the five Magic Towers, the sheer density of mana here was in no way inferior to Stone Forest City.
If players rested here, it might not rival Stone Forest City—with its Freedom Inn—but for the current player base, it was still a sanctuary for rest that doubled their recovery efficiency.
Moreover, Silverwing City sat right in the midst of the Sacred Sculpture creatures' territory. Many maps in the area had changed as a result, converting into neutral maps of Level 100 and above. However, these Level 100 maps were plagued by thin mana, intensified energy erosion, and restrictions on flying mounts and Town Return Scrolls, so relatively few players were willing to venture into them.
Now, with Silverwing City in place, many of those problems were alleviated. At the very least, players no longer had to trek back to NPC cities for recovery—and resting in Silverwing City actually restored them faster.
But what truly excited Shi Feng was the transformation of the Air Harbor.
The original Air Harbor had been roughly the size of a sports stadium, but with Silverwing Town's promotion, the harbor had undergone a significant upgrade. It was now three times larger, and the docking platforms for airships had multiplied several times over. This was the kind of benefit that only came with a natural town promotion.
"Now that Silverwing Town has been promoted to Silverwing City, all I need to do is spend some gold to open air routes with the royal capitals of the surrounding kingdoms, and players from those kingdoms will be able to travel directly to and from Silverwing City. At that point, the transport fees alone should rival the profits of the Freedom Inn," Shi Feng gazed at the distant Air Harbor, his heart swelling with excitement.
In his previous life, the Air Harbor had been one of the primary income sources for every major guild's city. After all, not every player owned a flying mount, and not every player had a private residence in a guild city. The airship transport service was thus the main mode of travel for most people.
Previously, since the Air Harbor had only been built in Silverwing Town, there was just one route available. But after its promotion to a city, five routes were now open, and as the Air Harbor continued to upgrade—or the city itself further advanced—those routes would only continue to increase.
Five routes might not sound like much compared to the main guild cities of the great powers in his previous life, but in the current Divine Realm, this was something other factions wouldn't dare dream of. And in the desolate Beastman Empire at that—just counting the money would be enough to cramp one's fingers.
However, before Shi Feng could fully recover from the pleasant surprise of the Air Harbor's transformation, a system notification chimed in his ear.
System: Congratulations! The player's Silverwing Town has been promoted to Silverwing City. The Transport Trade Company has met the criteria for promotion to Bronze Rank. Does the player wish to promote the Transport Trade Company?
"It's already reached Bronze Rank?" Shi Feng stared at the system notification, momentarily stunned.
This wasn't him making a fuss over nothing. The Transport Trade Company was a highly unique building. It represented an entire merchant guild system, and its promotion pathway was entirely different from that of normal buildings.
It wasn't something that could be upgraded simply by having money or a promotion token. A whole series of conditions had to be met.
In his previous life, any faction that had a Transport Trade Company had typically only seen it promoted after their guild city had already reached Intermediate City rank—and normally, it wouldn't be promoted to Bronze Rank until the city had advanced to Advanced City.
Now Silverwing Town had just barely been promoted to a Basic City, yet the Transport Trade Company was already eligible for promotion. How could he not be surprised?
After all, a Transport Trade Company reaching Bronze Rank meant that a guild city had truly gained the capacity for commercial trade.
A Bronze Rank Transport Trade Company was no longer limited to operating within a single region or a single nation. It functioned like a transportation hub—a transit point that could connect the surrounding kingdoms and empires. Even NPC merchants from neutral factions would use it as a waystation.
In other words, items for trade from various nations and neutral factions would appear within the Transport Trade Company, and it would become a thriving center of commerce for numerous NPC merchants.
Simply put, any guild city that possessed a Bronze Rank Transport Trade Company would not only be well on its way to promoting into a Main City—but the profits it could bring to guild members alone would be a massive boost.
After staring at the system notification for a moment, Shi Feng didn't hesitate. Without a second thought, he selected the option to promote the Transport Trade Company.