The first-floor lobby of the Zero Wing Tower.
The entire first-floor lobby stood nine meters high, resembling a small stadium. Beyond serving as the daily reception area for outside visitors, the lobby also housed a café, a lounge, and even a virtual combat room where guild members could entertain themselves, rest, and give outsiders a chance to observe.
Because of all this, the spacious lobby regularly drew quite a crowd.
As Muxin and the others walked in, they could see several hundred people gathered in front of the large screens of the virtual combat room, watching Zero Wing's internal members duel in heated matches. The atmosphere was lively.
"Welcome to the Zero Wing headquarters. Are you here for a tour, or is there something else we can help with?" the receptionist at the front desk asked, walking over to greet Muxin's group.
"My two nieces are very interested in Zero Wing, so I've brought them here for a tour today," Uncle Hong said with a smile.
"No problem at all." The receptionist smiled and produced four visitor passes. "These are your tour passes. You're free to visit floors nine and below. Everything above the ninth floor is restricted to internal staff. If you have any questions after your tour, feel free to come back to the front desk."
"Thank you." Uncle Hong nodded and accepted the passes.
The receptionist then returned to the front desk, letting Muxin's group begin exploring at their leisure.
"Zero Wing is actually generous enough to let outsiders wander around freely. That saves us quite a bit of trouble," Kerui remarked, taking her visitor pass and expressing mild surprise at the policy.
Normally, the headquarters of major guilds were strictly controlled. Apart from the first-floor lobby, they would never allow something like an open tour.
"Maybe they're trying to attract more people to join Zero Wing," Muxin said.
She had some understanding of Zero Wing's situation.
While Zero Wing had been making waves inside the Divine Realm, in the real world it was still largely unknown. Having finally established a guild headquarters, it was severely lacking in talent.
Occasionally letting outsiders visit would help the wider player base understand what kind of guild Zero Wing really was.
"There are quite a few people here, but unfortunately none of them are particularly strong. Even the two fighters in the arena have only half a step into the Subtle level," Kerui glanced at the combat footage on the distant screens and quickly assessed the skill level of the two combatants. "If we're going to cooperate with a Zero Wing like this, I think we should tread carefully. The plan ahead involves quite a bit, and if word gets out that Frost Sword couldn't even find decent allies, people will look down on all of us."
After Kerui finished speaking, however, Uncle Hong and the other two beside her oddly said nothing. All of them were focused on a group of young men and women in the crowd.
"I never expected Zero Wing to have this kind of hidden talent," Uncle Hong said, offering a quiet word of praise as he looked toward the young people in the distance.
"Talent?" Kerui looked at the rather ordinary-looking young men and women in confusion.
"Miss, don't underestimate them. Their bearing may not stand out, but they're genuine experts. That blue-haired young man, in particular, has completely concealed his aura — if you weren't looking carefully, you might not even notice his existence," explained the seemingly frail but honest-looking young man, Tiancheng, in a low voice. "Even I wouldn't be confident I could defeat him."
"What? How is that possible?" Kerui was stunned, thinking Tiancheng must be joking.
That was way too generous an assessment!
Who was Tiancheng?
He was a peerless prodigy that Frost Sword had invested everything into cultivating. Not only had he mastered a Domain at a young age, but his brain was naturally gifted — his thinking speed far surpassed ordinary people. Even the older-generation monsters who had mastered the Domain might not be his match.
How could Zero Wing possibly have produced such a powerhouse?
"They probably aren't Zero Wing members," Muxin observed after watching for a while.
"Not members?" Uncle Hong was slightly taken aback.
Such young experts appearing at Zero Wing's headquarters — how could they not be members?
"I've seen their files. Their appearances in the Divine Realm are slightly different, but roughly the same. That blue-haired young man should be Gu Han, the top prodigy of the Azure Chamber of Commerce's younger generation. I've heard he's highly valued by the Violet Sword," Muxin explained.
Unlike Uncle Hong, who had been quietly managing the guild behind the scenes, she was responsible for intelligence gathering. Her knowledge of the Divine Realm's major factions surpassed even Uncle Hong's, and the younger generation of the great superpowers was always a key area of focus.
"Why would the Azure Chamber of Commerce's top prodigy come here?" Kerui was filled with questions.
The peerless geniuses of each great superpower were treated like precious treasures — carefully guarded and subjected to rigorous training every single day. They were never allowed to go out freely.
Like Tiancheng — if not for this mission to investigate Zero Wing, he would never have been permitted to leave.
"Zero Wing really is something. Not only did the Azure Chamber of Commerce's top prodigy show up, but even one of the old fogeys from the Azure Chamber of Commerce tagged along," Uncle Hong said, glancing toward a cold, stern-looking middle-aged man sitting in the corner of the lobby, enjoying a cup of tea.
"Old fogey?" Kerui looked blankly toward where Uncle Hong was gazing, her mouth dropping open.