Chapter 2799 – Returning to Dragonheart City
In response to Divine Shadow’s question, Yu Luo faintly smiled and nodded.
“Mhm. I was lucky to get promoted, thanks to Guild Leader Black Flame.”
Despite Yu Luo’s humble response, her affirmation still dumbfounded Divine Shadow. However, the life aura Yu Luo radiated couldn’t be faked. Basic Attributes couldn’t make up for the difference in Life Rating he sensed.
“Team Leader Yu Luo, you’re amazing!” Cleansing Flame was similarly stunned by the revelation. After snapping out of her daze, she exclaimed joyfully, “Now that you’ve gotten promoted to Tier 4, that makes you Dragonheart Island’s second Tier 4 expert! If the commander finds out about this, she’ll definitely be tickled pink!”
The current era no longer belonged to Tier 3 players but to Tier 4 players. So long as a power gained a Tier 4 player, it would receive a significant boost to its status and authority, and even NPC forces would not dare offend it recklessly.
When Divine Shadow remained in a daze even after a long time had passed, Yu Luo smiled and prompted, “Vice Commander Shadow, may I return to Dragonheart City together with Guild Leader Black Flame now?”
“You are now a Tier 4 player, so I naturally can’t stop you. There is also no need to stop you,” Divine Shadow replied, sighing. He never thought that after not seeing each other for only a month, Yu Luo would’ve already grown into an existence he had to look up to. He then continued, “However, I will return with you. Things on Dragonheart Island have changed significantly after the major update. You can avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble if you have me guiding you.”
“Vice Commander, I’ll go with you too. Currently, after the commander, I have the highest status in Dragonheart City out of everyone in Heaven’s Blade. With me around, those NPCs shouldn’t make too much trouble for us,” Cleansing Flame volunteered.
“Status? Trouble?” Yu Luo was confused by Cleansing Flame’s words.
Since when did players require a certain degree of status to enter Dragonheart City?
On the other hand, Shi Feng understood what Cleansing Flame meant.
After the system’s first major update, aside from NPCs becoming the majority in God’s Domain, NPCs would also start behaving more realistically. This was especially true for the various NPC forces.
Although NPC forces were powerful, most of them still operated under the banner of specific kingdoms, empires, or neutral cities like Dragonheart City. Hence, ostensibly, these NPC forces wouldn’t dare mess around with players in NPC cities. However, that did not stop these NPC forces from abusing their positions to harass player forces. One example would be imposing pointless inspections on players trying to enter or exit the city, which wasted their time.
Hence, a player’s status in NPC cities became very important.
However, the status mentioned here was different from the noble ranks players gained. Having status in an NPC city meant obtaining a position carrying actual power in the city.
As for the noble ranks players gained previously, they were merely empty titles after the major update took place. Noble ranks no longer granted players actual power in an NPC city, only benefits such as the ability to recruit Personal Guards.
Take Shi Feng’s visit to the Twin Towers Kingdom’s capital city, for example. The way the senior administrator of the City Hall there referred to him was completely different from how most NPCs referred to him before the major update.
The senior administrator hadn’t addressed Shi Feng with honorifics such as Bronze Legatee, Lord Earl, etc. Instead, the NPC merely addressed him as “Sir.” Only after Shi Feng had taken out the War God’s Temple’s certification did the NPC change his address to “Lord Guild Leader.”
This was because he was the Guild Leader of a Guild the War God’s Temple recognized officially. In NPC cities, his status was roughly equivalent to the Deputy City Lord’s.
Without the War God’s Temple’s certification, though, Shi Feng would merely be an insignificant existence to the senior administrator.
Of course, had Shi Feng revealed his Tier 4 ranking, he would similarly receive different treatment. Only, compared to that of players holding actual positions of power, his treatment would still be slightly inferior. After all, no individual Tier 4 player would dare cause a ruckus in an NPC city unless they were tired of living. Hence, so long as an NPC wasn’t an adventurer that frequently operated out in the fields, they wouldn’t fear Tier 4 players at all.
“Alright, you can come with us.” Divine Shadow couldn’t help feeling a little helpless as he looked at Cleansing Flame. However, what she had said was also true.
Previously, if not for Cleansing Flame holding the position of a squadron captain in Dragonheart City’s Dragonheart Knight Legion, they would’ve had trouble even stepping out of the city’s entrance, let alone escaping Dragonheart Island.
Afterward, Divine Shadow secretly led Shi Feng’s group back to Dragonheart City. As for the other Heaven’s Blade members, they used this opportunity to depart from Dragonheart Island’s vicinity quickly to avoid the Secret Hand Association’s pursuit.
Dragonheart Island, Dragonheart City:
Due to the system’s major update, Dragonheart City had become much livelier.
Now, NPCs of foreign races were everywhere in the city’s port, and previously scarce Tier 3 NPCs crowded the port. Most of these NPCs were at Level 130, with some even reaching Level 150. They were practically comparable to the Tier 3 NPC guards of Dragonheart City.
Meanwhile, Dragonheart City’s player population had also increased significantly. This was especially true of Tier 3 independent experts. Roughly 30% of the Tier 3 independent experts operating in the major sea zones surrounding Dragonheart Island gathered here.
As for the reason, firstly, Dragonheart City’s trade market was much more prosperous than other locations. Here, one could purchase many items that normally couldn’t be found in the outside world. For example, Dragonheart City’s Auction House sold Epic Weapons and Equipment usable by players. The only problem was that the currency used here was not the standard Coins but Ancient Coins.
Secondly, the World Tower’s fourth underground floor had Tier 4 Legacy Lands.
Moreover, aside from independent experts, many of God’s Domain’s superpowers had also dispatched their members to develop on Dragonheart Island. Because of this situation, Dragonheart City most likely housed the largest number of Tier 3 players out of the various cities in God’s Domain.
This was also one of the reasons why Shi Feng decided to visit Dragonheart City in person.
However, before Shi Feng and the others could enter Dragonheart City, they came across Ink Feather once more. At this time, Ink Feather and several hundred other War Blood members were carefully inspecting the players trying to enter the city.
Even Blood Oath was standing by the entrance and quietly observing the moving crowd.
His appearance at the entrance garnered a lot of attention from the surrounding players.
“What’s going on? Why is Blood Oath here?” “I heard that someone killed one of War Blood’s executives in the nearby waters. Blood Oath must’ve come to deal with those offenders personally.”
“Crap! Who’s the daring bastard that killed War Blood’s members?”
The players began a quiet discussion among themselves as they looked at Blood Oath. They admired the person who dared kill War Blood’s executive.
After all, even the superpowers had to behave themselves around War Blood on Dragonheart Island. Otherwise, they would meet a tragic end. A single death definitely wouldn’t be enough to compensate for the offense of killing one of War Blood’s executives near Dragonheart Island.
“Hush! Keep your voice down! Don’t you see that man beside Blood Oath?” a Level 122, Tier 3 Ranger said, berating his guildmates. Pointing at a stalwart man clad in silvery knight armor standing beside Blood Oath, the Ranger said, “That person is Sabrid, one of the Secret Hand Association’s Tier 4 NPCs. He is also one of the vice commanders of the city’s knight legion. If he hears you, you’ll be locked up for several days!”
At the Ranger’s warning, his party members promptly stopped speaking.
The name Sabrid was one they were very familiar with. This NPC was precisely why the various superpowers seeking to establish roots on Dragonheart Island had suffered severe losses. These foreign superpowers had many of their Tier 3 experts caught and jailed in Dragonheart City’s prison for three days. The reason for their imprisonment was that they had offended Sabrid.
“Dammit! Blood Oath actually managed to get Sabrid here in such a short time!” Divine Shadow’s complexion darkened when he saw the knight standing beside Blood Oath. “That Sabrid will definitely cause all sorts of problems for us to prevent us from entering the city, and so long as we show even the slightest sign of aggression, he’ll abuse his authority to have guards capture us.” Before Divine Shadow could finish explaining, Blood Oath noticed Shi Feng’s group, and a sly smile appeared on his face.
“Lord Sabrid, I found those troublemakers,” Blood Oath said to Sabrid as he pointed at Shi Feng’s group. “It’s those people. That man standing in the lead even let Heaven’s Blade’s remnants get away, disrupting War Blood’s expansion plans completely!”
“Is that so?” Sabrid, who looked to be in his early 40s, looked at the location Blood Oath indicated. Narrowing his eyes, he said to the soldier standing beside him, “Bring them to me. If they resist, you know what to do, right?”. “Leave it to us, Vice Commander!” The Level 150, Tier 3 soldier smiled and nodded. He then led a team of around a dozen guards and approached Shi Feng’s group.