Chapter 217 – Shocked

Asura Mercenary Alliance’s headquarters, top-floor conference room:

In the conference room that was the size of two basketball courts, twelve seats were arranged around the central round table that took up a good portion of the room’s space. Not only were every one of these players at Level 110, but the equipment they wore was also enough to cause even peak experts to drool.

Of these twelve players, even the weakest among them was geared in a Hall of Fame-level Epic Equipment Set. Three of these players even had equipment that carried the glow effect unique to Fragmented Legendary items.

However, rather than the equipment of these three people, what made them feared by the nine other players present was the powers these three people represented.

This was because these three people were representatives of Witch’s Sin, World Dominators, and Blackwater. Every one of these Guilds was a publicly recognized superpower in God’s Domain. Blackwater, in particular, was not only the ruler of the Iron Empire on the main continent, but it was also publicly recognized as one of the Ten Great Guilds in God’s Domain.

It was also because of Blackwater joining the Asura Mercenary Alliance that the Flower of Seven Sins had suffered as much damage as it did.

“Elder Liu, what do you think Guild Leader Black Flame is trying to do? Is he attempting to tie the entire alliance to Zero Wing?” a middle-aged man seated near Liu Wusheng asked coldly. The man wore Blackwater’s Guild Emblem on his chest and carried an amethyst staff in his hand. “If Guild Leader Black Flame is really bent on acting so willfully, Blackwater will have to consider withdrawing from the Asura Mercenary Alliance.”

“Don’t be so hasty, Brother Jing Yang. Didn’t Guild Leader Black Flame gather here to discuss this matter?” Liu Wusheng said, smiling as he looked at the middle-aged man named Jing Yang. “Not to mention, the Flower of Seven Sins has taken things too far this time. Even if we don’t wage an all-out war against the Flower of Seven Sins, we should still think of a way to deal with it. Otherwise, we’ll have trouble doing anything in the Boundary Mountain Range.”

“This isn’t a difficult problem to solve. So long as we withdraw from the fight between Asura and the Flower of Seven Sins, the Flower of Seven Sins naturally wouldn’t continue finding trouble with us,” Jing Yang said disdainfully. “I heard that this matter all started because of a problem between Zero Wing and the Flower of Seven Sins. Rather than try to continue taking advantage of the alliance’s strength, Guild Leader Black Flame should consider changing the benefits offered by the alliance.

“More and more Guild Towns are appearing near the Boundary Mountain Range now. Although the environment in these towns is vastly inferior to Abyssal Star City’s environment, they will offer all Guilds who join them a temporary Residence. Yet, despite all our contributions to Asura, the only ones who have Residences in Abyssal Star City are Zero Wing and Witch’s Sin. Don’t you think this is unfair?”

The several first-rate Guild representatives present nodded their heads in agreement when they heard Jing Yang’s words.

To those with an administrative seat in the Asura Mercenary Alliance like themselves, it was no longer a secret that Black Flame was the mercenary alliance’s spokesperson. Or, more specifically, Black Flame was responsible for establishing the Asura Mercenary Alliance.

Meanwhile, if they were asked whether a great power was backing the Asura Mercenary Alliance, the answer would be a yes and no. After all, the power behind Black Flame was based in another God’s Domain, not their Miniature Ancient World. The help it could offer to the mercenary alliance was considerably limited.

Now that Asura was already running out of Lineage Crystals, the only things the mercenary alliance had to offer were Abyssal Star City’s temporary Guild Residences. If the mercenary alliance couldn’t offer them these Residences, it’d be pointless for them to continue clashing against the Flower of Seven Sins.

Liu Wusheng’s complexion turned a little ugly when he heard Jing Yang’s words. Although he had long since known that these powers with administrative seats in Asura were only trying to obtain more benefits from the mercenary alliance, he didn’t think their greed would be so insatiable.

The Residences of Abyssal Star City were different from the various Guild Towns’ temporary teleportation points. The city only had a limited number of Residences available. Not to mention, Witch’s Sin had thoroughly tied itself to Zero Wing’s ship to acquire its Residence in Abyssal Star City. Meanwhile, of the powers with administrative seats in Asura, aside from the Star Alliance, Mysterious Moon, and Hundred Flower Palace, everyone else was here solely for Asura’s Lineage Crystals. They had practically exchanged everything good that the mercenary alliance had to offer.

As for the matter of clashing against the Flower of Seven Sins, that was nothing but an excuse. Most of the Flower of Seven Sins members that these powers had killed were merely the organization’s outer members. The loss of these outer members was of no significance to the Flower of Seven Sins. Meanwhile, the Flower of Seven Sins had also formed a tacit understanding with these powers and likewise targeted only their normal members. Never had the Flower of Seven Sins touched these powers’ core members.

Yet, despite knowing the act these powers were putting on, there was nothing Liu Wusheng could do about it. If Asura didn’t have the help of these powers, particularly Blackwater and World Dominators, the mercenary alliance couldn’t even set foot into the Boundary Mountain Range.

This was also why Liu Wusheng felt that Shi Feng’s actions were a little too crazy this time.

While making these fence-sitters take a side right now might reduce the number of leeches attached to it, the departure of these powers would also cause Asura’s strength to plummet. This, in turn, would make Asura an easier target for the Flower of Seven Sins.

“You want a Residence in Abyssal Star City? Not a problem!” At this time, the doors to the conference room suddenly opened. Then, under everyone’s gaze, Shi Feng walked into the room and smiled, saying, “So long as you become an affiliated Guild of Zero Wing or pay a contribution of 30,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystals per month, I can let you have a temporary Residence in Abyssal Star City.”

“Becoming an affiliated Guild or pay a monthly contribution of Seven Luminaries Crystals?” Jing Yang laughed when he heard Shi Feng’s words. “What a big appetite you have there, Guild Leader Black Flame. Or do you think you can go against the Flower of Seven Sins by yourself now that you have the help of five hundred peak experts?”

Several of the other representatives nodded in agreement with Jing Yang’s words.

Peak experts and apex experts cost an astronomical amount of resources to maintain and develop. Otherwise, the various superpowers wouldn’t have only so few Tier 6 God-ranked experts despite having so many peak and apex experts under their command.

Zero Wing’s 500-plus Tier 3 peak experts might be powerful now, but that wouldn’t necessarily be the case in the future. As time went on and players continued leveling up, unless Zero Wing could ensure that its peak experts kept up with other peak experts in terms of weapons, equipment, Skills, and Spells, it wouldn’t matter even if these peak experts retained their combat standards. Their combat power would quickly fall behind other peak experts.

Take the current situation where the various powers were fiercely competing over Tier 4 promotion resources, for example. If Zero Wing couldn’t get its hands on any of these promotion resources, it didn’t matter how many Tier 3 peak experts it had under its command. No amount of Tier 3 peak experts could compare to one Tier 4 peak expert.

Meanwhile, their various powers were crucial in determining whether Asura and Zero Wing could get their hands on those Tier 4 promotion resources.

The Boundary Mountain Range’s underground area had a harsh environment that drastically increased players’ Stamina and Concentration consumption. Fighting in the underground area was similar to fighting in the real world. Even Tier 6 God-ranked experts could, at most, kill a hundred players before running out of Stamina and Concentration. Once they exhausted themselves, they’d be helpless to the point where even ordinary players could kill them.

A force of 500-plus peak experts might seem very strong, but such a force could do very little in the Boundary Mountain Range’s underground area. A force of 500 peak experts might not even be worth as much as a force of 5,000 Refinement Realm experts in the underground area. This was also why Asura could secure a place for itself in the Boundary Mountain Range’s first underground level despite having very few peak experts.

“You don’t need to concern yourselves with this,” Shi Feng said nonchalantly. “I have only called you all here today to inform you that the Asura Mercenary Alliance will openly start a full-scale war with the Flower of Seven Sins. If you are willing to stay with Asura, grow with Asura, and fight against the Flower of Seven Sins, we are more than willing to welcome you. If not, we will not force you to stay.”

After saying so, Shi Feng didn’t even bother to look at everyone’s reactions as he turned around and left the conference room, leaving everyone in the conference room in a daze.