Chapter 2031 – Strong Team

Inside the grand, solemn meeting room, the Hundred Flowers Palace’s upper echelons and Guild Elders were silent as they stared at Zero Wing’s players standing behind Cleansed Rue.

“How is this possible?! Level 62?!”

“How does Zero Wing have so many Level 61 experts and above!?”

“Are these people really from Zero Wing? I thought the players Fire Dance and Cola were Zero Wing’s peak experts.”

The Hundred Flowers Palace’s members whispered to each other as they examined Silent Blade and the dozen or so Zero Wing members from afar, confusion filling their gazes.

Although many of the players in the meeting room had reached Level 60, a massive amount of EXP was necessary to rise from Level 60 to 61. Currently, fewer than 30 people in the Dark Night Empire had reached Level 61, and even if they included the experts that chose to hide their levels, there were still less than 50 Level 61 players in the empire. Moreover, most of these players were from the three superpowers in the Dark Night Empire.

Yet, the fourteen representatives from Zero Wing could make up one-third of the empire’s highest-leveled players. Furthermore, ten of them were Level 62. If these Zero Wing members migrated to the Dark Night Empire, they would instantly monopolize the top ten positions on the empire’s Ranking List...

Although a player’s level was not proof of strength, the equipment these players wore was at least on par with the equipment the three players who accompanied Crimson Heart wore.

When these fourteen Zero Wing members stood together, their combined aura was significantly stronger than the combined aura of Crimson Heart’s three subordinates. Even the Guild upper echelons felt greatly pressured by this aura, not to mention the Guild members outside of the meeting room. It was no wonder why there had been such a commotion beyond the meeting room’s doors.

“So, this is Zero Wing? It is even more powerful than the rumors claim!”

A hint of surprise flashed across the male Berserker’s face as he looked at Silent Blade, Stubborn Bone, and the others. He was particularly surprised to see the young man leading Zero Wing’s members. Despite having used an Advanced Identification Skill, he couldn’t learn any details about him. The only thing he discovered was the young man’s name, Ye Feng.

“It seems that Zero Wing isn’t all talk. No wonder it dares to meddle in our Guild’s affairs,” Crimson Heart commented as she glanced at Shi Feng and the others. “Unfortunately, they came for nothing!”

A Guild could not become more powerful by relying on a small number of peak experts.

Although Zero Wing had sent a shocking number of peak experts, Guilds had to rely on the cooperation of a large force of ordinary expert and elite players when safeguarding its territory.

The greatsword-carrying Berserker nodded in agreement with Crimson Heart’s statement.

From an outsider’s point of view, the Hundred Flowers Palace had fallen from its peak. However, that wasn’t entirely true. At most, the Guild had two-thirds of its previous power.

Moreover, that didn’t include the forces Crimson Heart had been nurturing in the Holy Hill Kingdom. Her forces alone made up one-third of the Palace’s previous strength. Now that Crimson Heart had returned to the main branch, the Guild had, in a way, recovered to its peak.

With such strength, the Guild would have no problem fending off Starlink’s offensive. Starlink’s main target, after all, was Unyielding Soul.

After a brief discussion among the Hundred Flowers Palace’s upper echelons, the Guild Leader, Shadow Flower, finally arrived, marking the meeting’s official start.

So, she’s Shadow Flower? Shi Feng was a little taken aback when he saw the masked woman sitting in the Guild Leader’s throne.

The Hundred Flowers Palace was one of the few Guilds in the virtual gaming world that favored women over men. Meanwhile, among the multiple Guild Leaders that had led the Hundred Flowers Palace, Shadow Flower had accomplished the most. The Hundred Flowers Palace had eventually grown into a quasi-super-first-rate Guild under this woman’s lead during Shi Feng’s previous life. Although the Palace never managed to become a super-first-rate Guild, it had amassed the strength to rival one.

However, Shadow Flower’s identity had even been a mystery in the past.

She almost never appeared before the public. People only knew of her existence, but no one had ever seen her in person.

Many had speculated that Shadow Flower was in her thirties or forties, but when Shi Feng inspected her with Omniscient Eyes, he discovered that she was barely over 20. She was even younger than Cleansed Rue, and she was no less beautiful. Her Level was even more impressive as a Level 61, Tier 2 Assassin.

While Shi Feng quietly observed the Hundred Flowers Palace’s upper echelons, the players before him fell into a heated debate.

Overall, these upper echelons had split into two main groups. The first group supported the idea of accepting Zero Wing’s help, but with the condition that part of the remuneration was paid in resources, rather than solely Shops and Lands. The second group vehemently wanted to refuse Zero Wing’s offer since, due to Crimson Heart’s return, the Hundred Flowers Palace had enough power to stop Starlink’s merciless invasion.

Cleansed Rue and Crimson Heart led these two groups, and both argued intensely.

“Big Sis Crimson, although Starlink hasn’t officially been recognized as a super-first-rate Guild, it’s in no way weaker than actual super-first-rate Guilds! It has even surpassed Unyielding Soul! It’s targeting us to ensure that it can focus on Unyielding Soul later! Starlink is not playing around and will do everything in its power to eliminate us! With just our Guild’s strength, resisting Starlink will be incredibly difficult!” Cleansed Rue said.

“While you’re correct, you know that there have been cases where Guilds that rival first-rate Guilds have stopped a superpower’s offensive. Zero Wing’s success against Miracle in the Black Dragon Empire is one such example. I admit that our Guild doesn’t have weapons like the Basic Combat Device and Magicbreaking Crossbows,” Crimson Heart said as she shot Shi Feng a glance, who currently lounged in a guest seat. Revealing a faint smile, she continued, “But we have an absolute advantage when it comes to terrain. We also have a large stock of Blood Source Potions. Replicating Zero Wing’s success and chasing Starlink out of our territories isn’t necessarily impossible.”

The Blood Source Potion was a unique Berserk Potion, which she had the recipe for. After consumption, players would instantly rise by five levels for three hours. During the potion’s duration, they’d also enjoy a 20% Basic Attribute increase, and their physique would improve by 40%.

The potion’s side effects were its only flaws. Once the potion’s duration ended, the player would lose one level and enter a Weakened state for 12 hours. Because of this, it was considered taboo, and most players refused to use it unless absolutely necessary.

If the Hundred Flowers Palace used Blood Source Potions against Starlink in the fields, it might achieve a greater victory than Zero Wing’s against Miracle. The Palace had thousands of experts it could dispatch, whereas Zero Wing’s forces had been limited to the number of Basic Combat Devices and Magicbreaking Crossbows in its possession.

Cleansed Rue fell silent at Crimson Heart’s words. The other Guild upper echelons also found her opinions reasonable. After all, Crimson Heart had relied on the Blood Source Potion to secure a sizable territory in the Holy Hill Kingdom with a small number of Guild members.

Starlink couldn’t afford to fight a drawn-out war with the Hundred Flowers Palace if it wanted to deal with Unyielding Soul. Once it discovered that the Palace was too tough to finish off in a short time, it would give up on the Palace. It was a similar mentality to the one Miracle used when it withdrew from its fight with Zero Wing.

Since Zero Wing was capable of stopping a superpower’s offensive, why couldn’t their Guild do the same?

Furthermore, the Hundred Flowers Palace could dispatch far more experts than Zero Wing had during that fight.

As the upper echelons discussed Crimson Heart’s view and agreed with her suggestion, a system notification rang in their ears.

Guild System: Starlink has captured East Valley Town’s Town Order. East Valley Town is no longer be under the Hundred Flowers Palace’s jurisdiction. Guild Popularity reduced by 2,000.