System: The Transport Trade House promotion allows for one upgrade, requiring 40,000 gold coins and 100,000 magic crystals. Would you like to proceed with the upgrade? (Note: The promotion can be completed without the upgrade as well.)
"Upgrade it," Shi Feng said without hesitation upon seeing the prompt.
Zero Wing was currently strapped for cash, but they still had nearly 100,000 gold coins and 400,000 magic crystals set aside as emergency reserves.
The Transport Trade House upgrade wouldn't add any new features to the building, but it served one enormous purpose—it would allow more NPC merchants to set up shop inside.
The more NPC merchants there were, the more quests they would offer players, and the wider the variety of goods they would sell. Just these two benefits alone were enough to attract large numbers of players to develop in the city.
Once Shi Feng gave the order, the gold coins and magic crystals he had already withdrawn from the guild treasury immediately decreased by 40,000 gold and 100,000 magic crystals.
Moments later, the Transport Trade House situated at the edge of the city transformed into a mass of dark mist, visibly expanding at a rapid pace. In just five or six seconds, it had swelled into a cloud of dark mist roughly four stadiums in size. When the mist finally receded, a five-story Transport Trade House stood before him.
As Shi Feng quietly examined the newly upgraded building, Youlan suddenly contacted him.
"Guild Leader, Silverwing City's defenses are fully in place, and the entry fee has been set at ten silver coins. We're ready to open Silverwing City to the public at any time," Youlan said with barely contained excitement in the video call.
Before this, merely the news that Silverwing Town had been promoted to Silverwing City had drawn players from surrounding kingdoms eager to come and see it for themselves. Now that the promotion was complete, the entire area outside the city was packed with players—a rough estimate put the number at well over two million.
Just the entry fees alone would bring in a staggering sum.
Previously, Silverwing Town had been unable to charge entry fees. Its primary income had come from shop rentals and items sold through the Candlelight Trading Company. With entry fees now in the mix, it would go a long way toward solving Zero Wing's current funding shortage.
"Good. Open it up," Shi Feng said with a nod and a smile.
At his signal, Youlan deactivated the magical barrier that had been blocking outside access from the City Lord's Mansion.
Instantly, the magical barrier that had shrouded all of Silverwing City shattered and vanished, revealing the city's full appearance to everyone.
The sudden opening of Silverwing City left the crowds waiting outside the walls completely dumbfounded.
"Holy crap! That's incredible! It's on par with Stone Forest City!"
"It's not just the exterior. I can feel the ambient mana density radiating from Silverwing City—it doesn't seem any less than Stone Forest City's."
"The real question is how much the entry fee is. If it's too expensive, us regular players probably won't be able to develop here…"
……
Regarding the newly revealed Silverwing City, the onlookers could do nothing but marvel and speculate, their curiosity about the city's current state running wild.
If it were any other guild's city, they might not have cared. But Silverwing City was the only guild city situated in the Sacred Sculpture monsters' activity zone. Before this, even as a town, it had held off an army of over four million Sacred Sculptures. Now that it had been promoted to a full guild city, the Sacred Sculpture army would likely have no way of threatening Silverwing City at all. It was, without question, the safest place within the Sacred Sculpture activity zone.
For the vast majority of players—whether casual or elite—safety came first.
In this day and age, dying just once could push many players to the brink of despair. Not only was leveling past 100 incredibly difficult, but high-quality equipment above Level 100 was extremely precious. Losing a single piece could make someone want to die for real. Safety mattered above all else.
Silverwing City could guarantee that safety, and it was arguably even more secure than NPC cities. After all, many had witnessed the power of that Tier 4 NPC firsthand—Tier 3 players were nothing more than ants before her. Anyone who tried to cause trouble inside the city would simply be courting death. On top of that, farming Sacred Sculpture monsters yielded far more experience than the open world, and the various kingdoms' quests were another draw. All told, there were plenty of players who wanted to live within the Sacred Sculpture activity zone.