As Tier 3 experts from the various major powers and adventuring parties entered the city one after another, Silverwing City's once-spacious streets gradually grew bustling.
"Since its promotion to city status, it's gotten so much bigger, and the mana capacity has increased significantly. What a shame the entry fee is so high—if they'd set it at five silver coins, I bet players from all the surrounding nations would flood in." Mad Ox sighed as he gazed at the streams of people and carriages after entering the city.
If he had his way, he really wouldn't want to leave Silverwing City to develop elsewhere. But an entry fee of ten silver coins was simply too steep for ordinary Tier 2 experts.
After all, Silverwing City was just a transit hub. Many players might enter and exit the city several times a day—Tier 2 players struggled enormously against otherworldly energy corrosion and simply couldn't survive long in Level 100+ maps. The good thing was that Tier 2 players' otherworldly energy corrosion dissipated quickly, so it was entirely normal for a Tier 2 expert to make two or three round trips to Level 100+ maps in a single day.
One trip cost ten silver coins. Two trips, twenty. Three trips, thirty.
In the Sacred Sculpture monsters' territory, there was already precious little material income to be had. On top of that reduced earnings, a daily expenditure of twenty to thirty silver coins was, without exaggeration, a crushing burden for Tier 2 players. Tier 2 players needed excellent equipment and powerful Tier 2 magic skills to advance to Tier 3 Classes—not to mention daily arena training, repair costs, food and drink, lodging, and a long list of other expenses. The money just never stopped flowing.
Some Tier 2 players, desperate for income, ended up spending huge amounts of time farming rare materials in low-level maps or grinding low-level wild monsters, causing them to fall further and further behind the main body of players in level.
Right now, only Tier 3 experts could shoulder Silverwing City's ten-silver-coin entry fee without feeling the pinch. But how rare were Tier 3 experts? Moreover, Tier 3 experts had plenty of places to level up—they had no reason to fixate on the Beastman Empire.
The other Tier 3 members of Blood Oath Alliance nodded in agreement, feeling that Zero Wing was essentially driving players away. Meanwhile, the guild towns in the Beastman Empire would thrive, and Zero Wing would be left with nothing but an empty guild city.
As the Blood Oath Alliance members chatted quietly among themselves, they arrived, almost without noticing, in front of the Transport Trade House, ready to turn in the missions they'd completed earlier.
But when Mad Ox and the others saw the Transport Trade House—now the size of four football fields and over thirty meters tall—they froze in their tracks.
"What the hell happened here?"
"What did Zero Wing do?"
Compared to before, the Transport Trade House was utterly transformed. Not only that, but the number of NPCs streaming in and out was simply absurd.
Previously, the Transport Trade House had maybe a few dozen NPCs coming and going. Now, the number exceeded two hundred—and among them were numerous aristocratic NPCs and neutral-race NPCs, the kind that were normally almost impossible to encounter.
Before Mad Ox and the others could even process what they were seeing, several teams—each composed of more than ten Tier 3 experts—emerged from the Transport Trade House. Every single one of those players wore expressions of sheer excitement and elation. Following behind these Tier 3 experts were either lavishly dressed high-ranking noble NPCs or neutral-race NPCs. It was clear that each of these teams had received commission missions from these NPCs.
"Am I dreaming? How can there be so many noble NPC and neutral-race NPC commission missions?" Mad Ox rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he watched the high-ranking noble NPCs and neutral-race NPCs being escorted out by teams of Tier 3 experts. He simply couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Previously, the Transport Trade House might get one such commission per day—or even once every few days. And each of those commissions was the kind that would make every major adventuring party and even the big guilds green with envy.
These commissions were all at least three-star high-level missions. Not only did they offer generous gold coin and contribution point rewards, but there was also a chance of obtaining Level 100+ top-tier weapons and equipment, or Tier 3 magic Skill Books.
Even without the top-tier equipment, simply completing a commission meant every member of the team could walk away with at least one excellent Level 100+ item. Because of this, many adventuring parties had secretly come to blows over the chance to take such missions.
And now, several teams had already accepted these missions? How could he believe it?
"Quick! Let's go in and check it out!" Ning Feng was the first to snap back to reality.
At Ning Feng's words, the other Blood Oath Alliance members nodded and rushed into the Transport Trade House, desperate to find out what had happened to produce so many three-star high-level commission missions.
Once Ning Feng and the others burst inside, they were completely dumbfounded.
The main hall—roughly the size of a sports stadium—was filled wall-to-wall with NPC merchants queuing at the reception counters. There had to be four or five thousand of them, including no shortage of high-ranking noble and neutral-race NPCs.
As for the massive semi-transparent mission crystal that had once dominated the hall, its commission listing was now packed with three-star high-level missions. And the missions ranked at the very top were four-star missions—the likes of which they had never even seen before.
*Transport to the Black Dragon Empire border fortress of Fleurite. Difficulty: Four Stars. Requires a Tier 3 Class. At least one team member must have completed ten three-star high-level missions and twenty three-star missions; all other members must have completed at least ten three-star missions. Reward: 50 gold, 3,000 contribution points, unknown bonus. Recruits: 50 players.* *Transport to the neutral zone, Quietword City. Difficulty: Four Stars. Requires a Tier 3 Class. At least one team member must have completed twelve three-star high-level missions; all other members must have completed at least five three-star high-level missions. Reward: 60 gold, 2,000 contribution points, Gift of the Elves (15% chance of receiving a same-tier dark-gold-grade item, 25% chance of receiving a same-tier Gold-grade item). Recruits: 100 players.* ...
The four-star missions on display left Ning Feng and every other Blood Oath Alliance member with gleaming eyes, barely restraining themselves from rushing up to accept them on the spot.
Setting aside whatever additional bonuses they might receive, the gold coins and contribution points alone were enough to drive any Tier 3 expert wild with excitement.
"Mad Ox, get offline immediately and contact the guild leader! Tell her to negotiate with the other adventuring parties right away—we have to snag one of those four-star commission missions before anyone else does! We need to move fast!" Ning Feng urged.
A four-star commission mission was far too much for a single adventuring party to handle. It would take at least two parties working together. But if they could complete even one such mission, it would elevate Blood Oath Alliance's overall strength by a significant margin.
"Got it. I'm going offline now." Mad Ox didn't hesitate for a second and immediately clicked the logout button.
Ning Feng, meanwhile, quickly contacted the other Blood Oath Alliance members still outside the city, ordering them to rush to the Transport Trade House at once. The sheer intensity of her excitement was palpable enough for surrounding players to notice.
But those nearby players weren't the least bit surprised—because it wasn't just Ning Feng's group scrambling for the four-star missions. Other adventuring parties and even members of major guilds who had come to scout Silverwing City were already contacting their superiors, urging their own teams and guildmates to get to the Transport Trade House immediately.
In moments, the massive crowd of Tier 2 players who had been waiting outside Silverwing City surged toward the main gate as if driven mad, their eyes red with urgency. The gate was instantly packed so tightly that not a single person could squeeze through—and if not for everyone's wariness toward the NPC-escorted guards, outright fights would have broken out on the spot.
The black-robed woman Summoner and her companions, who had just entered Silverwing City, stared at the near-riot outside the gate in stunned silence.
"What on earth is going on?"