Watercolor Rose had been explaining for quite a while, but Glory Echo acted as though he hadn't heard a word. His expression darkened, and he said coldly, "The terms I've offered you are more than generous. If it weren't for your family's standing, you wouldn't have had the chance to become a guild elder in the first place, let alone have us buy your shares in
"Or do you really think you could afford that penalty with what you have now?"
As a veteran first-tier guild, Dusk Echo had very few holes in its management.
Watercolor Rose had been Dusk Echo's Honorary Elder and held an extremely high position within the guild. She had been required to sign a guild contract—no exceptions, not even for someone whose family sat on Dusk Echo's board of directors.
Now that Watercolor Rose had left and joined another guild, this was a serious breach of contract.
If it were the old Watercolor Rose, her family's backing would have made paying that penalty no problem. But now, her own family wanted her to accept Glory Echo's demands, so they certainly weren't going to foot the bill for her.
With the God-Demon Arena now open,
Stone Forest Town, being the closest settlement to the Stone Claw Mountain Range, was prime real estate. Setting geography aside, the gold coins and Magic Crystals it earned daily from the major guilds were enough to make them drool. Every guild wished they could swallow Stone Forest Town whole, but the town had level-150 guards on patrol. On top of that, there were NPC guards hired by the guild. Forget local first-tier guilds—even super guilds could only stare helplessly with no recourse.
In Dusk Echo's view, Zero Wing owed its current standing entirely to Watercolor Rose. Otherwise, a no-background, no-funding, no-training-resources new guild had no business reaching its current scale.
Watercolor Rose had once been Dusk Echo's Honorary Elder and a celebrity in the virtual gaming world. Her sudden decision to join a no-name guild must have come with a staggering price tag. And given how crucial Watercolor Rose was to Zero Wing now, her authority within the guild had to be enormous.
Forget establishing a Dusk Echo outpost in Stone Forest Town—even demanding nine-tenths of the town's land shouldn't be out of the question.
If they could get their hands on Stone Forest Town, Dusk Echo would have the capital to rise again.
For a veteran first-tier guild, the one thing they never lacked was manpower—they had vast reserves of elite players. But cultivating a Divine Realm expert wasn't easy; it required enormous quantities of Magic Crystals. Acquiring Stone Forest Town meant access to massive amounts of Magic Crystals, and with Magic Crystals came the ability to train a large number of powerful players. When the time came to compete against the other first-tier guilds, Dusk Echo's chances of dominating the entire
So Stone Forest Town—Dusk Echo was determined to take it.
Hearing all this, Watercolor Rose fell silent.
Her family pressuring her into a marriage was one thing, but she had joined Zero Wing and devoted herself to managing the guild, watching it rise step by step, all because she wanted to prove her abilities to her family and earn their recognition. Instead of recognition, she'd become a tool to be used.
"Glory Echo, if you have nothing else, you can leave now. You're not welcome here!" This time, Watercolor Rose dropped the title of Guild Master and addressed him by his real name—a clear sign of her fury.
Since joining Zero Wing, she had been genuinely happy. She'd learned so much here. It wasn't at all like the rest of Dusk Echo believed—it wasn't her who made Zero Wing stronger. It was Zero Wing who had made her stronger.
Asking her to betray Zero Wing? That was a pipe dream.
Seeing Watercolor Rose's absolute resolve, Glory Echo's expression turned grim as a storm cloud.
"Oh, right—I nearly forgot to introduce the young lady beside me." Glory Echo's expression shifted, and he smiled warmly as he made the introduction. "This is Miss Liu Shishi, the Divine Realm representative of the Kaiyuan Consortium, with full authority over all Divine Realm affairs."
Liu Shishi, dressed in a purple robe, offered a faint, dismissive smile and said nothing—as if the Watercolor Rose before her didn't warrant a single word.
"Why is someone from the Kaiyuan Consortium here?" Watercolor Rose's face filled with shock.
The Kaiyuan Consortium was ranked among the world's top five hundred corporations, and near the top at that. In the eyes of the Kaiyuan Consortium, Dusk Echo was an ant that could be crushed at will—they weren't even in the same league.
"You may not know this, but the Kaiyuan Consortium has invested in Dusk Echo and become its largest shareholder. While your parents strongly opposed this plan, it was to no avail." Glory Echo sneered. "If this partnership falls through, I imagine Miss Liu Shishi won't be pleased. And if Miss Liu Shishi is displeased, the Kaiyuan Consortium might accidentally destroy both you and your family. I'd think carefully before answering."
"So that's how it is." Watercolor Rose suddenly understood, a self-mocking bitter smile tugging at her lips.
No wonder her family hadn't stood up to oppose this, no wonder they'd been so ruthless—it was the Kaiyuan Consortium behind it all.
If the Kaiyuan Consortium wanted to crush her family's business, it would be laughably easy. Facing such a colossal entity, her family had no choice but to bow its head.
"This is your only choice, and the best one. Why make things harder for yourself?" Glory Echo urged in a soft voice. "Besides, we're not asking for Stone Forest Town's land for free. We'll absolutely pay a price your guild master finds satisfactory. If you can convince him to hand over Stone Forest Town, I can promise you—not only will you become a board member of Dusk Echo, but Hei Yan will receive shares and a board seat as well. With the Kaiyuan Consortium's investment, Zero Wing will quickly become the number one guild in the Star Moon Kingdom. Isn't that better?"
"Glory Echo, stop dreaming. I won't agree to this." Watercolor Rose took a deep, steadying breath, looked Glory Echo square in the eye, and spoke with absolute finality.
Betraying her own people—she simply couldn't do it.
Though it might let her family down, she believed that with her own abilities, even if the family's business collapsed, she could still rebuild it stronger than before.
"Good. Very good." Glory Echo nodded repeatedly, though his face had turned pitch black and his voice turned icy. "Since you refuse to know what's good for you, I'll go have a chat with your guild master. I'm sure he'll be more reasonable than you. Don't come crying when you regret it."
With the Kaiyuan Consortium's backing, no guild could possibly refuse. As long as Hei Yan had even half a brain, he'd be begging for the Kaiyuan Consortium to become Zero Wing's largest shareholder.
"You wanted to talk to me?"
At that moment,