Chapter 1822 – Town Opening Silverwing Town:
Under Shi Feng’s command, it took less than 20 minutes to complete the preparation work for Silverwing Town’s reopening. Moreover, thanks to the reserve NPC guards Magic King Craig Midlands had prepared beforehand and the large number of NPCs that had come looking for work after the town’s promotion completed, they had quickly filled the additional 1,000 NPC soldier slots Silverwing Town had gained.
Craig Midlands himself had inspected all 1,000 of these new NPC soldiers.
Due to Silverwing Town’s steady development, not only had more NPCs arrived to apply for a soldier position, but higher- quality NPCs had applied.
Normally, when a Basic Town was upgraded to an Intermediate Town, it would struggle to fill the additional 1,000 soldier slots within a short time. The town would be fortunate to recruit around 300 Tier 1 NPCs and a dozen Tier 2 NPCs during the first week after the town’s promotion. Most NPCs that applied were only Elite rank. The town would slowly have to accumulate, nurture, or replace its NPC soldiers to increase the number of Tier 2 NPC soldiers it had.
Yet, due to Craig Midlands’s fame, over 3,000 NPCs had applied to work for Silverwing Town as soon as the promotion was complete. Including the 300 Tier 1 NPCs Craig Midlands had kept on reserve, it took no time for Silverwing Town to recruit 1,000 NPCs. Among the NPCs recruited, over 100 were Tier 2 NPCs, with the rest being Tier 1 NPCs.
Normally, an Intermediate Town would need around two weeks to accumulate 100 Tier 2 NPCs. More Tier 2 NPCs would only show up and apply to work for the town after it increased its Popularity. After all, Tier 2 NPCs were not abundant in God’s Domain.
Even Zero Wing City only had a little over 2,000 Tier 2 NPC soldiers thus far, while the rest were Tier 1 NPCs.
However, although Silverwing Town had plenty of high-quality NPC soldiers, Zero Wing had spent over 20,000 Gold to outfit these NPCs with proper weapons and equipment.
In God’s Domain, NPC soldiers did not come with their own items. Like players, they had to be armed. This was an important factor in strengthening a town’s defenses.
Of course, some NPCs would bring their own weapons and equipment when applying to become soldiers, but their items were usually low-quality. They were much weaker than the standardized weapons and equipment the system provided. Naturally, the combat power these NPCs would be able to display would depend on the quality of their weapons and equipment. For example, an NPC with Bronze Equipment and an NPC in Mysterious-Iron Equipment would have around a 20% difference in combat power.
While 20% might not seem like much to players, but it was a lot for NPCs, who possessed much higher Basic Attributes.
When Stone Forest Town and Zero Wing City had been constructed, Zero Wing had lacked funds; Shi Feng had only been able to outfit his NPC soldiers with the cheapest Bronze Weapons and Equipment available. He had only started to upgrade the NPCs gear after the Guild had money to spare.
A large fraction of the investments needed to develop a town had to be spent on the NPC soldiers’ weapons and equipment In addition, these weapons and equipment needed regular repairs, which would also cost a considerable amount of money.
These reasons were why most of the various large Guilds avoided owning too many towns. This even held true for the various superpowers. Although the superpowers occupied many towns, they would not arm every one of them to the teeth. Instead, they would focus on developing a few select towns.
However, arming the NPC soldiers with better items was why many first-rate Guilds’ headquarters were able to withstand sieges from super-first-rate and Super Guilds.
The longer a town developed, the stronger the NPC soldiers guarding it would become. When fully equipped with top-tier equipment, NPC soldiers could even contend with players of a higher tier.
Fortunately, with the exception of some extremely powerful top-tier equipment, the majority of the weapons and equipment NPC soldiers used could be purchased from the system with Coins. There was no need for players to invest time and effort into farming weapons and equipment. Hence, Shi Feng had spent over 20,000 Gold to arm the newly recruited NPCs.
A full set of Level 50 to 100 Bronze Equipment would cost 2 Gold Coins. This was extremely cheap compared to players’ equipment However, as equipment quality increased, so did the price.
Level 50 to 100 Mysterious-Iron Equipment cost 10 Gold per set, while Secret-Silver Equipment cost 100 Gold, Fine-Gold Equipment cost 600 Gold, Dark-Gold Equipment cost 1,500 Gold, and Epic Equipment cost 6,000 Gold per set.
With how many NPC soldiers a town had, it was no exaggeration to say that a town’s development was a bottomless pit financially. For Silverwing Town, Shi Feng had decided to arm the Tier 2 NPCs with Secret-Silver Equipment and Tier 1 NPCs with Mysterious-Iron Equipment.
Although Zero Wing had earned a lot of funding through Zero Wing City and Stone Forest Town, Shi Feng planned to invest the majority of that money in the Lost Town. The Lost Town was, after all, far more important and valuable than Silverwing Town.
“Guild Leader, we have assigned duties to all of our NPC soldiers. Should we open the town now?” Aqua Rose asked, smiling she looked at the rows of weH-equipped NPCs before her.
Due to their continuous investment in Silverwing Town, these NPC soldiers had far better equipment than those in Stone Forest Town and Zero Wing City. Among the initial 1,000 NPC soldiers, over 100 Tier 2 NPCs wore Fine-Gold Equipment, while the remaining NPCs wore Secret-Silver Equipment. This was unimaginable for other Guilds. Normally, other Guilds would, at most, arm their NPC soldiers with Mysterious-Iron Equipment, spending the majority of their money on building the town’s infrastructure.
“Alright, let’s open the gates!” Shi Feng said, nodding.
“Oh, right. Guild Leader, should we limit the number of visitors?” Aqua Rose asked.
“Although Silverwing Town can accommodate far more people now, for the sake of the NPC merchants, it’s best if we set a limit. Let’s set it at 1,500,000 players,” Shi Feng said after giving the matter some thought.
“We’re letting so few people in?” Aqua Rose was somewhat confused.
After the upgrade, Silverwing Town occupied twice as much space. Even if they allowed 2,000,000 players in, the town would, at most, be as crowded as it had been as a Basic Town.
“That’s quite a lot already, actually.” Shi Feng could not help but laugh at Aqua Rose’s greed. “Moreover, Silverwing Town isn’t just meant for players. We need to leave some space for NPCs.”
“Leave space for NPCs?” Aqua Rose’s confusion grew after listening to Shi Feng’s explanation.
“In any case, open the town to the public. You’ll understand what I mean in a moment,” Shi Feng said as he gazed at the anxious crowd outside of the town. He did not bother to explain further.
In God’s Domain, while players were important to a Guild Town’s development, NPCs were equally important, but in a neutral map, NPCs were even more so.
This was because NPCs could increase a town’s Popularity. Most importantly, they could create opportunities that would allow some players to get rich overnight or instantly become peak experts.
However, players had only discovered this later in the game.
Shi Feng had to focus on preparing for that inevitability now. This was especially true now that he had the Caravan Guard Order.
Aqua Rose said nothing more after receiving Shi Feng’s order. Immediately, she had some Guild members gather at the town’s entrance and open the gates.
When the town finally reopened, a swarm of players surged into Silverwing Town. When these players saw the various buildings inside the town’s walls, they were stupefied.
“Is this really Silverwing Town?”
“Crap! This is too extravagant! This place can rival a small NPC city!”
Everyone exclaimed in shock when they saw the town’s tall buildings.
Quick, come over here and take a look! There’s a five-story-tall smithy!’
“Amazing! What kind of smithy is this?! It’s actually run by NPC Master Forgers!”
“We can place custom orders and break down our old weapons and equipment here! Even if I never raid Team Dungeons, I can now get my hands on top-tier equipment!”
“Stop dreaming. Didn’t you see the price for custom-made items? You also have to provide the required materials.”
“It’s still better than having no access to top-tier weapons and equipment Look; you can even order Level 50 Dark-Gold Weapons and Equipment! Do you think the various large Guilds would sell Level 50 Dark-Gold Equipment to independent players like us?”
When the independent players discovered the Advanced Smithy’s abilities, they went crazy with excitement. The services even tempted quite a few Guild players.
While the players in Silverwing Town discussed the Advanced Smithy, Shi Feng paid a visit to Star-Moon Kingdom’s Star- Moon City. When he arrived, Shi Feng made his way towards the headquarters of the kingdom’s Adventurer’s Association.
“Lord Protector, how may I be of service?” Elk, an NPC senior administrator, respectfully asked as he approached Shi Feng.
“I wish to commission the Association to set up a trade route to Silverwing Town,” Shi Feng stated as he took out a token made of black iron. This token was none other than the Caravan Guard Order.