Star Moon Kingdom, Stone Forest Town.
Ever since the Stone Fang Mountains were discovered, the upper echelons of every major guild had recognized the enormous strategic value of Stone Forest Town. All the major guilds within Star Moon Kingdom were scrambling to rally their forces and rush over.
Guilds in other cities that had caught wind of the news were also springing into action, though teleportation fees remained a stumbling block, making it impossible to send large numbers of members. However, every person they did send was an elite of the guild, and their combat power was nothing to scoff at.
A considerable number of guilds that arrived sent their level 30 main-force members into the Stone Fang Mountains to farm Magic Crystals, while the vast majority of their elites were stationed not far outside Stone Forest Town, keeping watch for any developments.
At that moment, Stone Forest Town was completely encircled—three layers deep, then three more. The player count exceeded three hundred thousand, a spectacle so awe-inspiring that the dark-aligned players living inside Stone Forest Town were visibly unnerved.
These three hundred thousand-plus players were no ordinary gamers. Every last one was an elite handpicked from the major guilds, their individual strength far surpassing that of three million regular players. If they all surged into Stone Forest Town at once, the town's large contingent of level 55 dark-faction NPCs would likely be unable to withstand the onslaught, despite their numbers.
The only saving grace was that these people all belonged to different guilds. They were far from united, each harboring their own calculations.
"I thought this was going to be our chance to rise quietly as a dark guild. Who knew the guilds of Star Moon Kingdom would find out about the Stone Fang Mountains too? Now we don't even have a place to level up anymore."
"Why worry? Don't forget Stone Forest Town has three Leaders holding it down. Add to that the fact that the guilds outside are not of one mind—how could they possibly actually attack? Unless some guild has a death wish and wants to hand the spoils to the others."
"That may be true. But in Star Moon Kingdom, Snake of the Body and Star River Alliance—two top-tier guilds—have both sent out their full elite rosters. Among these three hundred thousand-plus elite players, more than a third belong to just those two guilds. Even if the entire three hundred thousand don't pour in, those two guilds alone might be enough to take the town."
The red-named players inside Stone Forest Town buzzed with discussion, none of them sure what to do next.
Life had been perfectly fine before. When they had nothing to do, they could hunt a few players for some easy money or tackle high-level quests—living a life of carefree leisure. Who could have guessed they would end up tangled up in something like this.
Not far from Stone Forest Town, on a stretch of elevated hills, a group of players—all level 30, all outfitted in gear of Gold-grade quality or above—quietly surveyed the town below. Behind them, stretching across the hillside in disciplined ranks, were more than seventy thousand players, every one battle-ready and standing in perfect order.
The lowest level among these players was 27, with most sitting at level 28—two or three levels above the current mainstream average.
These were the forces of Star River Alliance, led by Xinghe Wangxi, and they were the guild that had dispatched the largest contingent to Stone Forest Town.
Seventy thousand elite troops—that was the might of a top-tier guild, something second-rate guilds could never hope to match. An ordinary second-rate guild might have grown to a hundred thousand or so members by now; the more formidable ones could reach two or three hundred thousand. But the number of elites they could actually put on the field topped out at thirty to forty thousand, and those had to be spread across multiple cities. Assembling even twenty thousand in one place was already a remarkable feat.
But compared to a top-tier guild like Star River Alliance, it simply did not count for anything.
"Guild Master, I've conducted a thorough investigation of Stone Forest Town. There are roughly a thousand NPCs inside, the vast majority being level 55 elite guards. First-tier NPCs number over a hundred, all at level 60. Second-tier NPCs number around thirty, also at level 60. If a fight breaks out, I expect those numbers will increase considerably. But the most troublesome issue is Stone Forest Town's three Leaders." Liu Qianqian, her graceful figure clad in a suit of deep-blue leather armor, delivered her report in a measured voice.
"Are those three Leaders really that formidable?" Xinghe Wangxi asked.
"Based on what I've gathered from the red-named players, these three Leaders are only second-tier NPCs, but their intelligence is extremely high. Their true combat power far exceeds that of ordinary second-tier NPCs. In particular, the chief Leader, Cyrea, is a second-tier mage rumored to be capable of wielding large-scale destructive magic."
When Liu Qianqian mentioned large-scale destructive magic, every face in the group creased with worry.