Chapter 372 - Five Big Cities

Walking in the middle of the street in White River City, Shi Feng had used the Demon Mask to change his appearance back to Ye Feng. The color of his ID reverted to white as well.

All this while, Shi Feng had used his artificial ID of Black Flame. It had been a long time since he used his actual ID. In a rapidly changing game like God’s Domain, not only were there tons of new players flooding into the game every day, but there were also many experts rising and falling with every passing moment. Meanwhile, the duration of Ye Feng disappearance from the public eye had been long enough for everyone in White River City completely forget about him.

Throughout Shi Feng’s whole journey to the bank, not a single player he passed by had recognized him. Although some players had glanced his way, they had not done so because of Shi Feng’s identity. Instead, it was because of the equipment he wore.

The Magic Weapon Abyssal Blade and the Dark-Gold ranked Purgatory’s Shadow hung from his waist. Even if Shi Feng had removed the two weapons’ glow effect, when one saw the intricate patterns carved onto the swords as well as the flowing lights flashing on the blades, no one believed they were ordinary weapons.

White River City sure has changed. Even the average level of ordinary players is almost the same as Star-Moon City.

Making a casual observation, Shi Feng discovered that a majority of the independent players wandering the streets were Level 15 or 16 and armed with a few pieces of Bronze Equipment. Shi Feng occasionally saw some independent players who were Level 17 or 18 and fully geared in Bronze Equipment with a few pieces of Mysterious-Iron Equipment. In the past, this sight could not have been found in White River City.

Suddenly, Shi Feng thought of an idea.

What if he transformed White River City into the heart of Star-Moon Kingdom?

Originally, Shi Feng had intended to develop a Branch Guild in Star-Moon City once Zero Wing was sufficiently powerful to compete for the resources available there. After all, Star-Moon City was the heart of Star-Moon Kingdom. It was a gem that incited fierce competition among the many first-rate Guilds. Star-Moon City was also the hub for elites. The player population there was simply immense, with no other city within Star-Moon Kingdom capable of being its rival. Meanwhile, controlling Star-Moon City meant obtaining the large number of elite players and resources there. A Guild’s development in Star-Moon City would be much faster than in any other city in Star-Moon Kingdom.

However, when Shi Feng saw the current state of White River City, a thought suddenly came to his mind. Why must he torture himself to compete over Star-Moon City with all those first-rate Guilds?

Most players went to Star-Moon City was because it had far more opportunities for development. The city also contained many advantages that no other city possessed.

But, what about now?

Due to Zero Wing’s existence in White River City and the fact that the Guild did not recruit members in any other city, many players had now migrated to White River City. As for the reason behind this migration?

Wasn’t it because Zero Wing offered advantages that no other Guild possessed?

As long as Zero Wing offered its members more benefits than other Guilds, players would continue to flood into White River City. Moreover, as players’ levels increased, their income would increase as well. Soon, the teleportation fee between cities would no longer be a problem. At that time, it was not entirely impossible for White River City to surpass even Star-Moon City.

“Hm? Is it about Underworld’s inside information?” Shi Feng suddenly heard the arrival of a message; Absolute Heaven had contacted him.

Meanwhile, the Assassin’s message was perfectly timed.

Underworld had already become the dominant force in the several cities surrounding White River City. As for how much control they possessed over those cities and exactly which cities they controlled, Shi Feng had no clue. Without that information, he could not take appropriate measures against Underworld. Shi Feng did not want to waste too much time searching for Underworld and subsequently ruining the organization’s plans.

If he could find access to detailed information about Underworld, he would have a much easier time preparing for the future.

“There sure is a lot of information here.” Shi Feng was inwardly surprised when he opened up the file attached to Absolute Heaven’s message. The file was dozens of pages long, and its level of detail was above and beyond what Shi Feng had expected. An outer member like Absolute Heaven should not have had access to the kind of information contained in the file. Most likely, only those at Feng Xuanyang’s level would possess the authority to know such information. “Did Absolute Heaven kidnap and interrogate Feng Xuanyang? I’m impressed that he could obtain such detailed information.”

Now that he had such detailed information about Underworld, without wasting any time, Shi Feng quickly found a quiet spot inside the bank and sat down. He then started carefully reading through the file Absolute Heaven had sent him.

Two hours later, Shi Feng finished reading the final page. He could not help but exhale deeply.

“Although I already expected as much, I did not realize that Underworld is actually so terrifying. They control a total of 316 Guilds in Star-Moon Kingdom’s eastern region. It is no wonder even Gentle Snow is wary of Underworld.” Making a rough estimate, Shi Feng guessed that Underworld controlled over a million players in Star-Moon Kingdom’s eastern region alone.

Zero Wing’s current member count was just over 5,000. To Underworld, Zero Wing was no more intimidating than an ant.

Furthermore, there were also the Underworld Guards, a group of elites that the organization secretly nurtured. Although the Underworld Guards only had around 400 members, each one was an expert. If they formed a 100-man team, they could effortlessly annihilate hundreds of elite players out in the fields.

In addition, Blue Frost City, Maple City, Gale City, Twin Lion City, and Coldstar City, the five big cities neighboring White River City, had all been dominated by the Guilds under Underworld’s control. Moreover, these Guilds were not inferior to Underworld in the slightest. Without any powerful enemies, these Guilds had grown rapidly. Of these Guilds, Overwhelming Smile, the Guild holding dominance over Gale City, was currently even more powerful than Dark Star had been during its peak.

Without any obstructions, it was a matter of time before these powerful Guilds became the overlords of their respective cities.

“Underworld really is a headache. This situation is much worse than what I had imagined.” Shi Feng wrinkled his brows and scratched his head, considering the situation carefully.

Based on Zero Wing’s current strength, moving out and dealing with just one of the five cities under Underworld’s control would be a massive undertaking. As for dealing with all five, it was simply impossible. Setting aside the disadvantages of fighting in enemy territory, Zero Wing would first need sufficient strength. With the current number of members Zero Wing possessed, it wouldn’t even be a threat for any of these Guilds. For such an endeavor, not only would Zero Wing need to pay a large number of teleportation fees, but it also had to waste a lot of manpower and material resources.

As for Shi Feng himself, although he was strong as an individual, he wasn’t strong enough to threaten an entire Guild with tens of thousands of members.

“I need to hurry and get my class change done,” Shi Feng looked at the Sword in the Stone inside his bag, a sense of urgency overwhelming his thoughts of upgrading his class.

No matter how Shi Feng wracked his mind, he could not think up of a proper solution. The only thing he could do now was to increase his own strength.

There was a large gap in combat power between a Tier 1 player and a Tier 0 player, not to mention a hidden class. If Shi Feng could successfully upgrade his class and become a Tier 1 player, he could cause some trouble for the Guilds controlled by Underworld and buy Zero Wing more time to grow.

Following which, Shi Feng walked towards the bank’s counter, retrieving the larger of the two Philosopher’s Stones from inside his personal warehouse. He then retrieved a large number of Magic Crystals from the Guild Warehouse.

Guild members had come across these Magic Crystals while they had raided Dungeons. Originally, these Magic Crystals were intended for equipment crafting, but as of yet, nobody within the Guild could produce equipment that required Magic Crystals. Hence, a large stockpile had accumulated inside the Guild Warehouse. Now, however, Shi Feng emptied their stock.

Following which, Shi Feng returned to his forging room inside the Starstreak Trading Firm. He then took out the Philosopher’s Stone and all of the Magic Crystals.

Mana Stones were originally born from the minerals inside Magic Crystals. If Magic Crystals were refined, there was a chance to obtain a Mana Stone. Hence, Shi Feng intended to utilize the Philosopher’s Stone to refine Mana Crystals into Mana Stones.

However, Mana Stones were extremely rare and precious. The chances of obtaining a Mana Stone from refining a Magic Crystal were extremely low, and even Shi Feng himself wasn’t very confident in success.

“Hopefully, this works.”

Shi Feng then grabbed a transparent Magic Crystal with one hand and the Philosopher’s Stone in the other. Praying silently, he refined the Magic Crystal.