Chapter 2051 – Struggle for Hegemony
The system announcement drove God’s Domain’s players into an uproar. They all wanted to learn more about this Auction Arena System, and the various major powers promptly launched investigations into the matter.
To these players, a new game function meant a new opportunity.
The power behind this new function was even more important. It was no exaggeration to say that this event could overturn the current status quo in God’s Domain. Naturally, the various major powers would place great importance on this Auction Arena System.
It’s activating already? Shi Feng could not help but frown when he saw the system announcement.
He knew that the Auction Arena System’s activation wouldn’t be far off after White River City had been promoted, but he hadn’t expected it this soon.
Although the Auction Arena System wouldn’t bring about as much of a change as a system update, its influence was staggering. The system was related to management rights in NPC cities, which would finally give players a substantial level of control in NPC cities and allow them to manipulate the city’s economy.
With control of an NPC city’s economy, rival powers would have a far more difficult time spreading their influence throughout the city. Moreover, one could secure an extraordinary amount of income from the Auction House after securing control of it The higher a city’s player population was, the more profits one could earn from the Auction House they controlled.
Hence, the Auction Arena’s activation would shake God’s Domain to its very core, signaling a new era. This would also intensify the competition between the various major powers in the game.
This competition between the game’s powers would reach new heights. Not only would the dark forces participate in the struggle, but the various adventurer teams would join as well. A power did not need to be a Guild to take control of a city’s Auction House, and the Auction House’s manager didn’t need to protect anything. Even a solo player could manage the Auction House and earn a massive amount of profits. With such a tempting treasure trove before them, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity?
Before today, the various major powers had controlled themselves when competing to protect their foundations from harm, but the Auction Arena would push them to desperation. Some large Guilds, which had been afraid of provoking superpowers, would jump into the competition with these giants without hesitation.
The true struggle for dominance in God’s Domain was about to begin!
After Shi Feng settled the management rights transfer for the Hundred Flowers Palace’s Shops, he teleported back to White River City using a Return Scroll. He did not bother to waste any more time in Silver Pine City.
Star-Moon Kingdom, White River City:
As Shi Feng stepped out of the magic array, he noticed even more players in White River City than before. Despite the Teleportation Hall’s several new floors, the building was still crowded. The number of merchant and Lifestyle players, in particular, had significantly increased.
However, Guild players still made up the majority of White River City’s visitors.
Sure enough, they’ve come to investigate, Shi Feng thought to himself as he watched the cloaked players move about the hall. With the help of Omniscient Eyes, he clearly saw the Guild Emblems these players hid under their Black Cloaks. Many of these players were from Guilds outside of Star-Moon Kingdom. There were even some players from superpowers and Dark Guilds in the Teleportation Hall.
So far, only 100 NPC cities had been promoted and activated the Auction Arena System. On average, not even every kingdom and empire had an NPC city with an active Auction Arena.
Fortunately, White River City was one of the 100 NPC cities, which had attracted many major powers, all of them wanting to learn more about the Auction Arena.
Shi Feng walked to one of the Advanced Restaurants in the Teleportation Hall. Melancholic Smile and 30-plus merchant players already waited for him in one of the restaurant’s VIP rooms.
“Guild Leader, I’ve brought all of the 2-star Merchant members you requested,” Melancholic Smile quietly reported as Shi Feng entered the room.
“Good. From now on, I want them to memorize the materials on this list. I also want you to use this Thunder Axe Crystal to teleport them to Thunder Axe City. Have everyone purchase the materials from the NPC merchants there. Buy as much as you can,” Shi Feng said as he passed a list of materials and the Thunder Axe Crystal to Melancholic Smile.
The Auction Arena’s competition tested more than players’ combat standards. It also tested players’ resources. Players were allowed to use their resources to increase their strength in the competition. Unlocking equipment was a basic example of this.
In the Auction Arena, players had limited choices when it came to their equipment. Equipment past Fine-Gold rank would be temporarily frozen at Fine-Gold rank. To remove the seal and improve one’s equipment rank, players had to pay resources. This was why one’s victory hinged on the resources they possessed.
A power would only be able to secure control over more NPC cities with enough resources and experts.
However, the Auction Arena didn’t accept just any resources; it only accepted Epic materials, which was why the various major powers had such an advantage in the Auction Arena.
Normally, one only had a chance of acquiring Epic materials when raiding 50-man Hard Mode Dungeons or greater, but they were guaranteed to drop in 100- and 200-man Team Dungeons.
Ordinary large Guilds could easily raid 50-man Team Dungeons, but 100-man Hard Mode Team Dungeons was more of a challenge. Only their main force would likely succeed. In comparison, the various major powers had multiple teams that could raid 100-man Hard Mode Team Dungeons. Superpowers easily surpassed ordinary large Guilds when collecting resources.
There was no doubt that Zero Wing’s combat power in the fields was extraordinary, but when it came to raiding 100-man Team Dungeons, it was no match for superpowers.
However, Zero Wing wasn’t exactly doomed. After all, there was more than one way to acquire Epic materials.
Trading with special NPC merchants was another method, although doing so required a lot of time. Moreover, players had to become 2-star Merchants to trade with these NPCs. Fortunately, these special NPC merchants were common in a super- large-scale neutral city like Thunder Axe City. It was one of the best places to collect Epic materials through trade.
Initially, Shi Feng had planned to accumulate Epic materials from Thunder Axe City’s NPCs slowly through his 2-star Smithy. Collecting Epic materials through the Smithy would be far easier than sending merchant players to trade with NPC merchants, but now that the Auction Arena System had activated sooner than he had expected, he had no choice but to use every available method to acquire the necessary resources.
Shi Feng also instructed Melancholic Smile to send some of her subordinates to collect Epic materials from the various major cities. Although the various major powers would never sell these items, there was a chance than an expert player was lucky enough to come across some.
Settling the matters regarding Thunder Axe City and the Epic material collection, Shi Feng contacted Aqua Rose, instructing her and the others to focus on raiding 100-man Team Dungeons. He then returned to his Special Forging Room in the Candlelight Trading Firm and retrieved the Ancient God’s Secret Key.
He hadn’t bothered to use the Ancient God’s Secret Key because he hadn’t spent time raising his combat power past his current limit. If he used the key recklessly, he’d only waste a golden opportunity. Not even God’s Domain’s various superpowers would get many of these chances. However, he had increased his strength as much as possible, and there wasn’t a lot of time left before the Secret Key expired.
Shi Feng tapped on the key made of Red Luminaries Stone, and a silver magic array manifested under his feet. Mana surged toward the magic array, and space seemed to freeze due to the influx. After a short moment, Shi Feng transformed into a streak of black light and vanished from the room.