Chapter 2167 – Stone Forest City’s Opening

Unlike Zero Wing City, which had been a city upon its conception, Stone Forest City’s City Lord’s Mansion wasn’t a castle. It was merely a house atop a spacious compound. Thick, stone walls lined the compound, and the only entrance was through a set of sturdy, iron gates. Two Tier 2 NPC soldier parties stood guard.

When Shi Feng arrived, the NPCs opened the gates for him and respectfully welcomed him to the mansion.

Sure enough, this City Lord’s Mansion is far more secure. Shi Feng could not help his rueful sigh when he saw the water barrier beyond the gates.

The Isolation Barrier!

Not even Zero Wing City had this mechanic.

The difference between a Guild Town and a Guild City was massive in God’s Domain. The method to capture each was also different. To capture a Guild town, one simply needed to claim the Town Token from the ruling Guild’s Residence, but to capture a Guild City, players needed to secure the City Lord’s Mansion.

While the difference between the two might not seem large, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

The first reason for this gap was the difference in their magic arrays. A Guild had to set up the defensive magic array around its Residence itself, and Advanced Defensive Magic Arrays were particularly difficult to acquire. However, a City Lord’s Mansion came equipped with its own defensive magic array, and it was even stronger than the magic barrier that protected the city. Only, it stored far less Mana, so it couldn’t last as long as the city’s defensive magic array.

The second reason was that no Guild Residence, regardless of how powerful it was, could affect a city’s performance, but the City Lord’s Mansion would.

The City Lord’s Mansion acted as the city’s heart. The stronger it became, the stronger the city would be.

However, upgrading a City Lord’s Mansion wasn’t easy. Doing so required a lot of money and super-rare resources.

This was why Guild Cities’ development in God’s Domain was generally quite slow. Guild Towns, in comparison, only needed Popularity, money, and players.

Normally, Guild Cities that had grown from Advanced Towns were much stronger than directly built Guild Cities. Needless to say, a Guild City promoted with a Gold Town Promotion Order would be even stronger.

The Isolation Barrier before Shi Feng was the best proof of this.

Shadow’s Guild Cities in the past had only acquired an Isolation Barrier once they had become Intermediate Cities, yet Stone Forest City had gained one the moment it had become a Basic City.

Unlike defensive magic arrays, Isolation Barriers couldn’t block incoming attacks, but they weren’t any less important. An Isolation Barrier was capable of stopping unseen attacks and isolating the City Lord’s Mansion from the outside world.

If players entered the mansion without explicit permission, they wouldn’t be able to contact others outside of the compound’s walls.

This ability had allowed Guilds in the past to hold meetings within the City Lord’s Mansion without having to worry about information reaching their enemies too quickly.

Now that Stone Forest City’s City Lord’s Mansion had an Isolation Barrier as well, Zero Wing could use this place to discuss confidential matters. The Guild wouldn’t need to take the numerous precautions it usually did when preparing for an important operation, and it could afford to consider even riskier plans.

Shi Feng entered the City Lord’s Mansion, greeted by a garden filled with plants and flourishing flowers. Birdsong and floral fragrance filled the air. The garden had an easy-to-capture vibe, a stark contrast to Zero Wing City’s heavily fortified City Lord’s Mansion.

But Shi Feng remained unperturbed.

After all was said and done, Stone Forest City had only recently become a city. It would still take a lot of time, money, and resources to develop this City Lord’s Mansion to rival that of Zero Wing City. This was also why the various superpowers had tried to capture Stone Forest City so soon after its promotion.

The City Lord’s Mansion was still undeveloped and at its weakest.

Once Zero Wing fully developed the mansion, not even Tier 5 players could infiltrate it.

Although he had defeated the various superpowers and defended Stone Forest City this time, repelling future attacks wasn’t guaranteed. He needed to upgrade the city as soon as possible.

Initially, the Secret Pavilion had suggested they wait for two or three days before opening Stone Forest City to the public. By then, most of the city’s defenses would be operational. However, the Secret Pavilion wasn’t aware that Shi Feng couldn’t afford to wait that long.

Silverwing Town, Stone Forest City, and Zero Wing’s development desperately needed Coins and resources, but due to the ongoing war with Starlink, Zero Wing severely lacked both.

Even though Shi Feng had acquired quite a few top-tier weapons and equipment pieces from the various superpowers, it was a pitiful amount compared to what the Guild needed, and selling the items would simply be foolish.

Hence, to ensure Zero Wing’s future, he had to open Stone Forest City to the public as soon as possible.

Shi Feng soon arrived at the three-story house within the compound. An elderly butler, the City Lord’s Mansion’s manager, waited for him. Although the old man was only Level 10, he was invulnerable; no player could damage him.

“City Lord, how may I be of service?” the butler asked as he greeted Shi Feng with a smile.

“I wish to remove the seal on Stone Forest City,” Shi Feng answered.

After its promotion, Stone Forest City had been sealed. Without the owner’s permission, players would have to destroy the city’s defensive magic array and walls to get into the city. If he wanted to attract visitors, he’d have to remove the seal.

“I will see to it immediately, but once the seal has been lifted, how much would my lord like to charge as an entry fee?” the butler asked. “With Stone Forest City’s current scale, the lowest entry fee available to you is 40 Copper Coins.”

“The lowest is 40 Copper?” Shi Feng could not help but chuckle. “What about the highest?”

He had gone to great lengths to relocate Stone Forest Town to the Bottomless Abyss. He had even upgraded it into a city. Naturally, he couldn’t charge the lowest entry fee.

“Currently, you can collect up to 3 Silver per person. If you wish to raise the entry fee further, you will first have to upgrade the city,” the butler explained.

“In that case, set it to 3 Silver,” Shi Feng decided without hesitation.

Players couldn’t set a city’s entry fee to any amount they desired in God’s Domain. There were lower and upper limits, and the city’s geographical surroundings and development determined these limits. When Zero Wing City had first established, the lower limit had only been 30 Copper, yet Stone Forest City’s was 40 Copper.

To attract more players to Zero Wing City, Shi Feng had initially set the entry fee to the minimum, gradually raising it as more players arrived. Now, players had to pay 80 Copper to enter Zero Wing City.

However, Stone Forest City’s situation was different. It rested on the Bottomless Abyss’s first underground floor, and it was almost guaranteed that only a small number of players would visit. Unfortunately, that meant that he couldn’t choose the lowest entry fee available. He wouldn’t make any money if he did. Furthermore, Stone Forest City was the only rest area in the God Mode Regional Dungeon, and unlike Zero Wing City, this city was essential for the players that wanted to grind in the area.

“Understood. I’ll get it done immediately.” The butler bowed before leaving.

In less than five minutes, a Regional System Announcement alerted all players in the Undead Forest that Stone Forest City was officially open.