Chapter 2506 – Fame Spreads

News of Mythology’s defeat was like a Magnitude 8 earthquake. None of the various superpowers could believe it.

Previously, Netherworld Empire’s concession had already been plenty shocking to them. However, Netherworld Empire’s decision was still understandable, as the Divine Dragon really wasn’t an existence that players could oppose.

Now, despite Mythology having gained a method to evade the Divine Dragon’s detection, it had still failed to gain control over the Starlight Fortress. Moreover, Mythology’s failure wasn’t even due to the Divine Dragon, but Shi Feng, a Tier 3 player. How could they possibly bring themselves to believe this news?

This was one of the virtual gaming world’s Five Great Super Guilds they were talking about!

It had already been many years since an individual player could resist the assault of one of the Five Great Super Guilds. Every person who had attempted to do so had been thoroughly suppressed, left with no choice but to submit to the will of the five titans.

Now, however, not only did Shi Feng stand in Mythology’s way, but he had even single-handedly killed eight of Mythology’s monstrously strong experts.

The various superpowers’ upper echelons immediately took action. They not only abandoned all plans to make things difficult for the Starlight Fortress but also forbade the expert teams they had dispatched to Star Valley from causing any trouble inside the Starlight Fortress, especially when Shi Feng was known to be present inside the fortress.

The reason for their decision wasn’t just Shi Feng’s repulse of Mythology’s assault but his monstrous strength. Let alone killing a few Tier 3 experts, even annihilating a 100-man team of Tier 3 experts would be child’s play for him. Shi Feng was truly a one-man army and an existence that had to be feared.

In addition, the Starlight Fortress was currently the only captured fortress in Star Valley. If the various superpowers wished to develop properly in the forbidden land, then having access to the Starlight Fortress was a must. If they ended up barred from the fortress, they would definitely die of regret.

As for taking direct action to capture the fortress, that was utterly impossible. After all, if even Mythology was helpless against the Starlight Fortress, what could they possibly do?

For a time, the various superpowers’ experts that arrived inside the Starlight Fortress could be seen behaving obediently like harmless sheep.

Meanwhile, inside the Starlight Fortress’s Fortress Lord’s Mansion, Shi Feng was currently swamped with work.

Due to Mythology’s defeat and the various superpowers becoming meek, the number of players willing to visit the Starlight Fortress had skyrocketed. These new visitors included many merchant players. Some trading firms had even sought to partner with Zero Wing and offered to rent the Starlight Fortress’s Shops at a high price. The entire Starlight Fortress became very crowded.

“Guild Leader, according to our latest statistics, the Starlight Fortress’s player population is nearing 500,000 already. Rough estimates put us at a daily net profit of over 250,000 Magic Crystals,” Aqua Rose reported, her eyes practically glowing as she looked at the latest statistics report in her hands. “At this rate, it will only take us a few more days before we can repair the Large Battlefield inside the Fortress Lord’s Mansion. Then, our people will be able to use it for all sorts of combat training and greatly improve their control over Mana.”

Although the Starlight Fortress was an ancient fortress, it couldn’t be expanded. In other words, it was impossible to raise the population limit of the fortress. However, it was still possible to conduct repairs on the fortress’s basic facilities and increase the fortress’s abilities.

Among the various facilities available inside the Starlight Fortress, the one that was most useful to players was the Large Battlefield. Unfortunately, it cost 1.5 million Magic Crystals to repair it.

Originally, it should’ve been impossible for Zero Wing to repair the Large Battlefield in the near future. However, now that the Starlight Fortress had such a large player population, the amount of time it would take to gather funds for repairs should be significantly shorter.

The Large Battlefield was something like a special Dungeon on the first underground floor of the Fortress Lord’s Mansion. Inside this Large Battlefield, players could fight against all kinds of simulated monsters in the Starlight Fortress’s ancient environment. By training inside the Large Battlefield, players could make tremendous progress in improving their Mana control. After all, fighting in a life-or-death battle was many times more efficient than sparring with other players in a combat room.

So long as this Large Battlefield was repaired, Zero Wing could continuously transfer its core experts over from the eastern continent to undergo training here, allowing them to unlock their Mana Bodies several times faster than experts of the various superpowers.

The population has increased to such an extent already?” Shi Feng was a little surprised by Aqua Rose’s report.

Although he had long since known that his battle with Mythology and the activation of the Demon God’s Shrine would trigger a period of rapid development for the foreseeable future, he never thought that the fortress would develop this quickly.

“It’s a pity that the Starlight Fortress is only a Small Fortress. Otherwise, we would earn many more Magic Crystals,” Aqua Rose said with some disappointment.

Magic Crystals were becoming increasingly important to current players. This held true even on the eastern continent.

The reason for this was the demand for Magic Crystals for the production of high-level weapons and equipment.

Now, despite Zero Wing having gained an opportunity to earn a large amount of Magic Crystals, this opportunity was restricted due to the Starlight Fortress’s limitations.

“A Small Fortress is already more than enough for us. After all, our foundations on the western continent are too shallow. Even if a Medium, or even Large, Fortress were presented to us, we wouldn’t be able to manage it,” Shi Feng said when he saw the disappointed look on Aqua Rose’s face.

“I understand this, as well. The limitation of sending only ten players to the western continent per week is really restricting. It would be great if we could increase that number slightly,” Aqua Rose said.

She had experienced the western continent’s benefits already. The development of Mana control here was especially excellent compared to the eastern continent. If possible, she really wished she could transfer all of Zero Wing’s main force members over. With the help of the Starlight Fortress, Zero Wing wouldn’t have to worry about its Tier 3 members lacking strength.

“Let’s not rush the matter of sending more people over for now. Since we can activate the Large Battlefield soon, have Yan Tianxing’s side make the necessary preparations to start an adventurer’s alliance branch here. Members of the alliance can accumulate points by completing alliance-issued quests. Afterward, they can use these points to exchange for time inside the Large Battlefield or other items. In fact, if their rank in the alliance is sufficiently high, they can even exchange their points for a private house inside the Starlight Fortress,” Shi Feng said.

It would take too long for Zero Wing to send an adequate number of members over to the western continent. Moreover, as players continuously leveled up, more Tier 3 players would fully unlock their Mana Bodies. Shi Feng might be able to defend the Starlight Fortress all by himself now, but he couldn’t do so forever. After all, he had plenty of other matters to attend to. He couldn’t stay cooped up in a single location for long.

If he wanted the Starlight Fortress to experience long-term stability or Zero Wing’s development on the western continent to accelerate, he needed sufficient manpower and resources.

Previously, he had still been troubled as to how to go about doing so. However, with the Starlight Fortress’s current popularity and the soon-to-be-repaired Large Battlefield, attracting a large number of independent experts to join or ally with Zero Wing was definitely feasible. Meanwhile, with a sufficiently large number of experts on its side, Zero Wing would have an easy time establishing itself on the western continent and securing a sizable chunk of the western continent’s resources.

“Guild Leader, Hell Rush just sent a message stating that Netherworld Empire’s higher-ups have agreed to our offer. They are willing to accept our employment, but they have one condition we absolutely must meet: all of the Hell Legion’s members should fully unlock their Mana Bodies within one month. Otherwise, they want 20% of the Starlight Fortress’s shares as compensation,” Aqua Rose reported, frowning.

Fully unlocking one’s Mana Body was easier said than done. She and the others had managed to accomplish this feat only because they had the fortune of entering the Starlight Fortress’s Legacy Gate and Legacy Room. Meanwhile, Netherworld Empire was asking Zero Wing to help the Hell Legion fully unlock their Mana Bodies. No matter how she looked at this situation, it was simply impossible.

“It seems they have finally thought things through.” Shi Feng smiled when he heard Aqua Rose’s words. “Alright, agree to their conditions.”

Originally, he had considered Netherworld Empire’s agreement to his offer unlikely. After all, the Hell Legion was Netherworld Empire’s strongest trump card legion. Not only did the legion consist of 300 Tier 3 experts, but these players were experts among experts.

Fortunately, it seemed that the performance he had put on with Mythology was quite effective.

The Holy Annihilation Mana Technique was incredibly powerful. Just the First Sword, Lightshadow, already allowed him to exhibit power at the Tier 4 standard. However, the complexity of Lightshadow was far greater than even Bronze Combat Techniques. The burden it placed on its user’s Concentration was likewise much greater than that of a Bronze Combat Technique.

After executing Lightshadow 11 times in a row, he had expended more than half of his Concentration already. Had he executed Lightshadow a few more times, he might’ve entered a state of mental exhaustion; then, his opponents could have slaughtered him.

“Guild Leader, we’re talking about helping them fully unlock their Mana Bodies in one month,” Aqua Rose said worriedly.

If Netherworld Empire’s demand were simply to upgrade the Hell Legion’s level or equipment standard, she wouldn’t have been too concerned. However, players mainly had to rely on themselves to unlock their Mana Body. There were too many variables that could affect this process. Meanwhile, as more time passed, the number of Tier 3 experts Zero Wing possessed would continuously increase. There was no need for Zero Wing to be in such a rush to gain Tier 3 experts, using even the Starlight Fortress as a wager.

“Relax. The process of unlocking the Mana Body isn’t as difficult as you think,” Shi Feng said, chuckling as he looked at Aqua Rose. “Moreover, many matters in God’s Domain need to be done sooner rather than later. A delay would mean missing out on many opportunities. In any case, now that Netherworld Empire has agreed to our offer, it’s time we returned to the eastern continent.”

If it were before he had fully unlocked his Epic Mana Body, he really wouldn’t be confident of fulfilling Netherworld Empire’s condition. However, after absorbing the bountiful knowledge in Eliadi’s Memory Crystal, helping the Hell Legion’s experts fully unlock their Mana Bodies within one month wasn’t a difficult task at all. After all, every one of the Hell Legion’s experts was a genius even in the eyes of the various superpowers.