The Blue Moon Fine Dining Restaurant in White River City had been entirely reserved by Smile of the City. Dozens of Smile of the City elite players stood guard outside, every one of them looking fierce and clearly in a foul mood. Any player passing by gave them a wide berth, not daring to get close for fear of inviting trouble upon themselves.
With Zero Wing and Smile of the City locked in an all-out war, Zero Wing's members didn't cause much fuss, but Smile of the City's players were infamous bullies. The moment something displeased them, they would go looking for trouble. Their favorite pastime was clearing out open-world areas, leaving many of White River City's free players seething in silence.
The war between Zero Wing and Smile of the City had brought cheers from countless independent players.
Especially since Smile of the City's death toll had surged dramatically in recent days, climbing past eight thousand — a number that felt incredibly satisfying to witness.
Inside a private room on the second floor of the Blue Moon Fine Dining Restaurant, two people sat across from each other — a man and a woman. The man was Feng Xuanyang of the Underworld, and the serene beauty across from him was You Lan.
"I've reviewed the materials you sent over. Well written — I'm very satisfied. I passed your analysis report up the chain, and management has confirmed that Zero Wing is indeed a thorn in the Underworld's side. If we can't acquire them, we destroy them before they become a future threat. On top of that, management is very bullish on White River City."
"The player population in White River City has already exceeded two million. Players from other cities, even from other kingdoms and empires, have been pouring in. It's already become the second-largest city in the Star Moon Kingdom. We must control White River City — so this time, management has not only dispatched a large number of reinforcements from elsewhere but also increased funding. They're officially treating Smile of the City as a priority guild to cultivate."
"I heard Zero Wing raised their death compensation and kill rewards. You've matched their increases, which must be putting quite a strain on your resources. But don't worry — go all out against Zero Wing. Management has assembled five hundred gold coins and three hundred million Credit Points. The Credit Points have already been transferred to you. The gold coins should arrive within an hour or two, and more will follow after that. I can tell you that management is dead serious this time. The total investment in Smile of the City — just the gold alone could exceed five thousand coins, not to mention the Credit Points."
Feng Xuanyang snapped his fingers, and twenty people filed in through the door. Each radiated an intense killing aura, their powerful builds resembling gray bears. They looked nothing like ordinary players — more like battle-hardened soldiers.
"These are the Underworld God Guards that management sent over. All twenty of them are squad leaders, each commanding a six-man team — a hundred and twenty people in total, all at your disposal." Feng Xuanyang smiled. "They're different from the other God Guards. You can probably tell — they all used to be mercenaries. Real combat veterans. Now that Smile of the City is in a full-scale war with Zero Wing, just let them loose. Players who've never tasted blood won't stand a chance. Even Zero Wing's fifty-some first-tier players won't last."
"I'm handing them over to you now. What you do with them is up to you."
"Rest easy, Young Feng. I won't let you down." You Lan had originally felt confident she could grind Zero Wing down through attrition, but seeing the Underworld God Guard squad leaders standing in two neat rows before her, her heart swelled with elation.
Zero Wing's fifty-plus first-tier players had caused Smile of the City no end of grief, keeping them on the defensive at every turn. Smile of the City had needed their own experts or first-tier players to counter them — without them, those first-tier players were untouchable.
But then You Lan noticed something.
Smile of the City had plenty of elites. What they lacked were experts and first-tier players.
These men before her might not all be top-tier — their levels hovered between twenty-three and twenty-four — but they were all combat-proficient. As Divine Realm's combat system grew increasingly realistic, it gave people like them a tremendous advantage, making them far superior to ordinary elite players. Combined together, they would be a terrifying force in open-world battles.
This time, the Underworld's leadership was playing for real.
Every major guild was frantically buying up gold coins, and who knew how many gold-farming operations had been established in secret behind the scenes.
Coming up with five hundred gold in one go was no easy feat, let alone a total investment of five thousand. That kind of money to take down Zero Wing — it wasn't going to be simple.
With the Underworld's ongoing financial backing, she no longer needed to worry about equipment. There were three main sources for weapons and gear: running dungeons, the Auction House, and the Virtual Trading Center. Buying equipment through the Virtual Trading Center was different from the in-game Auction House — everything was purchased with Credit Points, so prices ran higher. But for those with deep pockets, that didn't matter.
First, it offered the widest selection, since many studios and individual players looking to earn Credit Points listed their equipment there for sale.
Second, it was convenient. Earning money inside Divine Realm was painfully slow, and in-game transactions were cumbersome.
With a massive influx of Credit Points, Smile of the City's guild treasury could be restocked immediately, restoring members' confidence and putting enormous pressure on Zero Wing.
That very day, You Lan purchased a large quantity of equipment from the Virtual Trading Center — everything from level fifteen to level twenty, quality ranging from Bronze to Gold-grade, totaling over five thousand pieces. Smile of the City's morale soared. She further increased the death compensation and kill rewards, and seeing all of this, even more Smile of the City members were eager to join the open-world fights.
In White River City, Smile of the City's momentum temporarily eclipsed Zero Wing's.
However, Shi Feng, Zero Wing's guild leader, was completely unaware of all this. He remained focused on crafting the Dragon Scale set, frantically pushing his forging proficiency higher.
Lately Shi Feng had been busy with other matters, and his forging proficiency had stagnated. He had been the first to become a Senior Forging Apprentice, yet he'd long since been surpassed by Shuang Keke and the others. Those future master blacksmiths had already advanced to the Blacksmith rank, while he himself still lagged far behind in forging proficiency.
Going from Intermediate Apprentice to Senior Apprentice required three thousand proficiency points. Advancing from Senior Apprentice to Blacksmith demanded ten thousand — more than three times as much. Moreover, crafting ordinary forged items as a Senior Apprentice no longer granted proficiency, making advancement even slower.
Youyou Weixiao and Shuang Keke had leveled up so quickly entirely because of the Basic Reinforced Armor Plate blueprints that Shi Feng had provided. But the further they progressed, the less effective even those basic plates became.
Fortunately, the Dragon Scale set Shi Feng was crafting was different. It was extremely high-level, and each successful craft granted bonus proficiency on top of the normal amount. Combined with his forging talent, his proficiency climbed at a blistering pace. On top of that, the Dragon Scale set was Gold-grade equipment, so each completed piece rewarded a generous amount of experience.
However, crafting the Dragon Scale set required ten Starfire Essences for every single piece, plus various auxiliary materials, and the success rate sat below twenty-five percent.
But Shi Feng was more than satisfied with that success rate. Anyone else would have been thrilled with even ten percent, let alone twenty-five. Besides, the materials for the Dragon Scale set weren't particularly rare, and he had Starfire Essences in abundance.
So he crafted without regard for cost. And as he grew more skilled with each piece, aided by his heightened mental acuity, his grasp of every nuance in the crafting process became increasingly precise. His speed improved, and so did the quality.
Shi Feng had never imagined such good fortune.
Finally, after spending over an entire day, he had produced more than a hundred complete sets, consuming the vast majority of his materials. Shi Feng officially advanced to the Blacksmith rank — at a speed that left people stunned. Even his character level had risen to twenty-six, leveling faster than grinding mobs in the White Mist Canyon. (To be continued...)