Chapter 1035: Times Have Changed

Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat

Chapter 1035 – Times Have Changed

Before Shi Feng realized it, he had already spent half an hour inside the serene and elegant lounge, reading through the files. The more he read, the more shocked he felt.

High-Wisdom NPCs, which were usually difficult to encounter, were now available to him in the thousands.

Shi Feng had even found an NPC with 80 Wisdom.

If not for the Main God System stipulating that NPCs hired from the Adventurer’s Association could not be made into players’ Personal Guards, Shi Feng would very much have considered taking all these NPCs back with him to form an army of Personal Guards.

“I’ll choose these ten, then.”

After Shi Feng was done going through the name list, he selected the names of ten advanced NPCs; nine had over 70 Wisdom, while one had 82 Wisdom.

In God’s Domain, an 82-Wisdom NPC’s intelligence was already equivalent to that of a Tier 3 NPC.

Although Shi Feng still wished to hire more, he had already reached his hiring limit.

A small-sized town could hire at most ten advanced NPCs.

Moreover, hiring advanced NPCs was not a simple task. Unlike ordinary NPCs, which could be hired without limit and would only cost two Gold Coins a month in wages, one had to satisfy not only the salary demanded by these NPCs but also their conditions.

Just the conditions of the 82-Wisdom NPC Shi Feng had pointed out could choke an ordinary Guild to death.

This was because said NPC actually demanded a salary of ten Gold Coins per day. Shi Feng also needed to pay a one-month deposit in advance. In addition, the Shop the NPC managed had to have at least 500 other workers.

To an ordinary Shop, having around 20 NPCs managing it would already be more than enough. One could run more than a dozen Shops with 500 NPCs. Fulfilling this condition would be impossible for a single, ordinary Shop.

Fortunately, Shi Feng was running a large-scale Battle Arena. He needed to hire a lot of ordinary NPCs to run the establishment. Otherwise, there would be no way to cope with the large number of players visiting the Arena every day.

After Shi Feng confirmed his choices, the NPC beauty beside him happily tallied the bill and very quickly provided him with a figure, saying, “Lord Spirit Slayer, you have chosen to hire ten advanced managers and 500 normal managers. You will need to pay a one-month deposit for all of them. The total is 4,000 Gold. Once you complete the payment, we will have them sent to Stone Forest Town within an hour. May I know if Lord Spirit Slayer has any other requests?”

“That will be all.” Shi Feng nodded. He then paid the 4,000-Gold deposit, his heart feeling a slight sting.

The average level of players had risen considerably by now, and the money they could earn was much higher than before. However, Copper Coins still possessed quite a significant purchasing power, not to mention Gold Coins. Most likely, there was not a single Guild in the entire God’s Domain that was as generous as himself, directly spending 4,000 Gold to hire NPCs to manage just a single establishment.

However, Shi Feng knew that this was a necessary expenditure. It was simply impossible for players to keep up with the management of a Battle Arena.

After Shi Feng was done hiring the NPCs, he checked the time. Seeing as there was not much time left before his meeting with the representatives of those major companies, he promptly left the Adventurer’s Association and took an advanced horse carriage to the Candlelight Trading Firm.

...

Inside the VIP room on the Candlelight Trading Firm’s seventh floor...

The representatives of the various major companies had already been waiting here for quite some time now. However, none of them showed any signs of indignation. On the contrary, expressions of shock filled their faces.

At this point, White River City was the most populous city in Star-Moon Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Candlelight Trading Firm was situated in the central business district of White River City. Aside from NPC-run establishments, the Candlelight Trading Firm’s building was the tallest one in this area. From the top floor of the building, their view of the city streets was unobstructed. They felt as if they were kings overlooking the entire city.

However, this unique scenery was still only secondary when compared to the report they had just received.

During this period, the number of players residing in Stone Forest Town had already hit the 500,000 mark. In the future, that number was sure to double.

A player population of one million was equivalent to the population of a major NPC city. If they could set up a virtual store in this bustling town, said store would definitely have no lack of customers.

The only problem was that Stone Forest Town was too small.

If the town were a medium-sized town, then that would be perfect. However, Stone Forest Town’s protection period had ended just recently. The town was only beginning to attract NPCs. It would still take a considerable amount of time to get promoted.

Furthermore, Zero Wing was simply asking for too much money.

With one billion Credits, these major companies could establish a large Guild of their own or invest into a second-rate Guild. With the latter option, they could even obtain a considerable number of shares. By cooperating with Zero Wing, however, they would only get priority in investing into a town. They would only receive a guarantee that they could directly rent a golden Land in one of the towns Zero Wing captured. The rent of these Lands would be gradually deducted from this one billion deposit. This condition was truly a little outrageous.

Of course, after they signed the agreement, if they did not wish to continue renting Land from Zero Wing, they could get back their remaining deposit after half a year.

However, the representatives of the various major companies still intended to negotiate this price.

After all, the current situation in Star-Moon Kingdom was not particularly stable. There was also the Blackwater Guild persistently plotting against Zero Wing. Hence, they intended to use this opportunity to reduce the price.

Just as everyone was pondering how they should go about negotiating with Zero Wing, the doors to the lounge suddenly opened. A woman with an extraordinary figure walked into the room. Although she had hidden her face with a Black Cloak, judging from her graceful figure, her countenance was no doubt heavenly as well.

“Could this beauty be trying to cooperate with Zero Wing as well?”

Everyone in the room immediately started quietly discussing this beauty’s identity among themselves. However, they very quickly discovered that this woman’s seat was right next to the seat of honor. One could just imagine how much importance Zero Wing placed on this peerless beauty.

Meanwhile, this peerless beauty was none other than Phoenix Rain.

When Phoenix Rain entered the room, she, too, was momentarily surprised.

She had never imagined that there would be so many companies interested in cooperating with Zero Wing. Moreover, these companies all possessed extraordinary backgrounds that rivaled even Aqua Rose’s Sun and Moon Group.

After she entered, she also discovered that Aqua Rose had become significantly stronger. Although the Cursemancer had hidden her level, the aura she radiated was indubitable. In addition, Violet Cloud, who stood beside Aqua Rose, was even more amazing. Phoenix Rain herself felt a significant amount of danger coming from the young lady.

As for Alluring Summer, on the other side of Aqua Rose, she, too, was relatively powerful. A Level 41 Elementalist could easily rank at the top of any Guild. Moreover, Alluring Summer looked to be rather young, so she should still have great potential for growth.

Is this really the Zero Wing I know?

After Phoenix Rain observed Violet Cloud further, she suddenly noticed that the young lady’s every motion looked very natural, and this discovery shocked her greatly.

She had seen Violet Cloud fighting at the Dark Arena before. Although the young lady had not moved much at that time, Phoenix Rain could still tell that Violet Cloud had yet to reach the Refinement Realm. Nevertheless, after just a short time, Violet Cloud had gone directly from the Half-step Refinement Realm into the Refinement Realm.

Violet Cloud was clearly only a teenager, yet she had actually managed to reach the Refinement Realm at such a young age. If she were in the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion, she would definitely be considered one of the Pavilion’s top geniuses and nurtured heavily. After all, even a genius like Blue Phoenix had not reached the Refinement Realm at Violet Cloud’s age.

Shortly after Phoenix Rain took her seat, Shi Feng entered through the doors.

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