Chapter 1865 – Garrisoning the Fortress

After Shi Feng received the golden token, he could not help but breathe out a sigh of relief.

During this period, due to the decrease in Silverwing Town’s population, the town’s income had declined considerably. Fortunately, thanks to the rare materials acquired from the Ice Crystal World and the continuous growth of Zero Wing City’s popularity, he had just barely managed to earn the 60,000 Gold required.

Now that he had become the Secret Stone Fortress’s Advanced Manager, he could officially allow Zero Wing to garrison the fortress. Although doing so would incite the jealousy of the various superpowers, so long as the next step of his plan succeeded and Zero Wing displayed sufficient strength in the Ore Empire, these superpowers would think twice about attacking Zero Wing.

Following which, Shi Feng made his way to the Administration Building’s office hall.

Currently, over a thousand players were seated inside the office hall, every one of whom was Level 55 or above. They were also fully equipped in Level 50 Secret-Silver Equipment, with some powerful ones even sporting several pieces of Level 50 Fine-Gold Equipment

Aside from being high-leveled and well-equipped, these players also shared another similarity—they were all Guild players. Currently, these Guild players were grouped in parties as they waited for their turn to meet with the NPCs at the front desks.

“The queue is moving so slowly! Hopefully, the leader will pick up a good quest The previous quest we got was simply fraudulent. It actually required us to collect 500 Ore weapons yet gave only three Guild Contribution Points in return. There weren’t even any additional rewards.”

“You guys got it a lot better. Our quest was the real fraudulent one. We were actually required to steal three Medium Rapidfire Ballistas from an Ore fortress. The designated Ore fortress was chock-a-block with Ores at the Chieftain rank and above. Even Level 60-plus Great Lord ranked Ores were present in large numbers. Our party got wiped out twice doing this quest If not for our party’s healer having the Intermediate Resurrection Skill, which reduced the death penalty we suffered, every member in our party would’ve lost two levels already.”

The various Guild parties in the hall were all grumbling about the Contribution Quests given out by the Secret Stone Fortress. Not only was the difficulty of these quests extremely high, but the rewards given were not particularly good, either. However, they also couldn’t refuse to do the quests. Otherwise, their Guilds wouldn’t be able to gain the garrison rights to the Secret Stone Fortress.

Just as the various parties were conversing with each other, Shi Feng, who was wearing a Black Cloak, arrived at the exchange counter a short distance away from the quest counters. His presence soon attracted the attention of the players inside the hall.

“Crap, who is that person? Is he actually using his Contribution Points to exchange for items?”

“Impossible. Just activating the exchange counter function requires an individual to have 200 CPs and be an Honorary Warrior of the Secret Stone Fortress. After my party did a high-ranking quest, each member only got between five to ten CPs—and that quest took my party over five hours to complete. Even if that guy doesn’t sleep and does quests one after another, there’s no way he would have 200 CPs right now.”

“He should be asking about the available items for exchange.”

Currently, the Secret Stone Fortress had been opened for only four days. Gaining access to the fortress’s exchange function was simply impossible at the moment.

Meanwhile, just as everyone was having such thoughts, the NPC beauty, who wore an indifferent and aloof expression on her face, suddenly smiled and bowed respectfully after seeing Shi Feng.

“Lord Protector, how may I be of service to you today?” the NPC beauty asked respectfully.

“I wish to accomplish the Guild garrisoning procedures,” Shi Feng replied, nodding.

Upon hearing Shi Feng’s request, the NPC beauty immediately took out a form and explained, “Alright. Please fill up this form. Afterward, you will have to pay a 500-Gold security deposit. Once that is done, your Guild will be officially recognized by the Secret Stone Fortress.”

“Here is 500 Gold,” Shi Feng said, handing over the money, before he started filling up the form before him.

Meanwhile, the NPC beauty’s actions immediately had the Guild players inside the hall gaping in shock.

“Who is he? Why is the NPC being so respectful toward him?”

“That guy is carrying out the Guild garrisoning procedures?”

“How is that possible?! Didn’t they say that the exchange function is only available after an individual has accumulated 200 CPs? How can he complete the Guild garrisoning procedures already?”

For a time, the members of the various large Guilds failed to react to what was going on. When Shi Feng was done filling up the form and the NPC beauty confirmed that Zero Wing had become a Guild recognized by the Secret Stone Fortress, the sound of a system announcement suddenly entered everyone’s ears.

Ore Empire Region System Announcement: Congratulations to Zero Wing for becoming the first Guild to garrison the Secret Stone Fortress. Rewarding 500 Secret Stone Fortress Guild Contribution Points and the rights to rent a Large Residence in the Secret Stone Fortress.

The system announcement repeated three times. Only after the system’s voice faded away did the various Guild players inside the office hall snap out of their daze.

“Zero Wing?!”

“Damn it! How did Zero Wing acquire the garrison rights so quickly?!”

“There must be a secret to this! We need to report to our superiors immediately!”

At this moment, the eyes of the various Guild players present had already turned bloodshot.

The large Guilds had long since made the Secret Stone Fortress a priority. In order to secure the garrison rights to the fortress, their Guilds had invested a ridiculous amount of manpower. However, even now, their Guilds still had little to show for their efforts. Nevertheless, Zero Wing acquired not only the garrison rights but even a Large Residence. This benefit would provide significant help to a Guild in competing for the Ore Empire’s resources.

Very quickly, news of this matter entered the ears of the various superpowers’ upper echelons.

“Isn’t Zero Wing just an up-and-coming Guild? Now, it has not only an airport but also the garrison rights to the Secret Stone Fortress. Not bad. If our Guild can obtain these things, we’ll be able to monopolize at least half of the Ore Empire’s bountiful resources. Have someone contact Zero Wing and tell them that King’s Return is willing to invest in Zero Wing and let it become a subordinate Guild of King’s Return.”

“Good! Very good! Zero Wing’s development speed is truly surprising! It’s no wonder Blackwater is constantly trying to devour it and has gone as far as to send that woman over! Immediately have someone contact Zero Wing and tell it that the Crimson Emperor is willing to deal with Blackwater together with it and help it protect the resources it has. In return, however, Zero Wing has to become Crimson Emperor’s subordinate Guild.”

Upon receiving this piece of news, the various superpowers all started taking action.

Previously, they could ignore the existence of Zero Wing, as the Guild still couldn’t threaten their interests. However, the Secret Stone Fortress was a strategic location that involved a significant portion of the resources available in the entire Ore Empire. This was not a realm that Zero Wing should be allowed to touch.

Shortly after the system announcement, Aqua Rose, who was currently in Star-Moon Kingdom arranging for the transfer of members to the Ore Empire, received invitations for a meeting from various superpowers—as many as seven at this point—which made her scalp tingle.

Just dealing with Blackwater, a large Guild with a powerful background, was already enough to put Zero Wing in a precarious situation. If Zero Wing were to provoke all these superpowers now, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Finding herself at a loss as to what to do, Aqua Rose immediately contacted Shi Feng and asked, “Guild Leader, more and more superpowers have sent representatives to meet with me. Do I accept their invitations?”

Even if the representatives of the various superpowers did not state their intentions, she could already guess the purpose of these meetings. Back when Zero Wing was still operating solely in Star-Moon Kingdom, it could afford to provoke these superpowers, as it had the home-ground advantage. At worst, the superpowers would only feel slighted by Zero Wing’s rejection. They wouldn’t take any real action against Zero Wing. After all, they had more important matters to deal with. They simply didn’t have enough time and manpower to do something unprofitable.

However, the situation was different now. The Ore Empire was the competition ground for the various superpowers. Meanwhile, the matter regarding the Secret Stone Fortress involved the future of the entire Ore Empire. Hence, these superpowers would not take Zero Wing’s refusal lightly.

If the various superpowers got serious, they were very likely to destroy Zero Wing. After all, if they could not acquire the Secret Stone Fortress, then they wouldn’t allow others to acquire it, either, much less leave Zero Wing to monopolize it.