Chapter 2067 – New White River City

Star-Moon Kingdom, White River City:

When Shi Feng returned to White River City, he discovered that the city had undergone massive changes while he had been gone.

He had only been away for two weeks or so, yet experts from well-known adventurer teams now crowded the streets. Even the weakest among these experts was Level 63, Tier 2, and they all wore Level 60 Secret-Silver Equipment It almost seemed as if such equipment had become widely available, something so common that it wasn’t worth players’ attention.

Bronze Mounts were also a common sight in the city now. Occasionally, Shi Feng even noticed players atop Mysterious-Iron Mounts. White River City had become almost as prosperous as an empire’s imperial capital.

Shi Feng had very nearly failed to recognize the city due to these massive changes.

Moreover, Star-Moon Kingdom’s Guards used to protect the city, but now, Guards from other nations patrolled its streets. Shi Feng even spotted players from multiple foreign first-rate Guilds as he walked through the city, including a few peak experts from these Guilds. Shi Feng wasn’t the only player to notice these experts. Players who visited White River City for the first time were just as shocked.

“Amazing! Isn’t that player wearing the Dawn Light Set for Berserkers!?”

“Look at that Elementalist! He’s wearing the Level 60 Fine-Gold ranked Wind Spirit Set! I’ve heard that the set only drops from Level 60, 100-man Hell Mode Team Dungeons!”

“So, this is White River City? Isn’t the equipment these players are wearing here a little too amazing? I have only seen a handful of people with Level 60 Fine-Gold Set Equipment in the Black Dragon Empire’s Black Dragon City. How are there so many people with that kind of equipment here?”

The players visiting White River City for the first time couldn’t help but asp when they saw the well-equipped experts wandering the city, but the original residents merely spared these experts an indifferent glance. White River City had been developing too quickly, practically every day, and this was no longer an unusual sight.

The city’s rapid changes were all due to the Auction Arena System’s activation. As the only NPC city in Star-Moon Kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms to have the Auction Arena System, White River City had instantly become the heart of these kingdoms. The various major powers swarmed to the city in an attempt to compete for control of it. Hence, the quantity and quality of the experts here had skyrocketed.

The Auction Arena System also provided a development opportunity for merchant and independent players, who had come running to the city, as well. As a result, White River City had grown into a large-scale NPC city with a player population exceeding 20,000,000. It also had more powers than any other NPC city in Star-Moon Kingdom and its several neighbors.

As for weapons and equipment, even the Level 60 Secret-Silver rank, which was rare in other cities, was almost a standard in White River City. Many experts even wore Level 60 Fine-Gold Equipment. At this point, only Level 60 Dark-Gold Equipment could draw attention in White River City.

Unlike White River City’s newest players, the city’s original residents paid no attention to the wandering experts and their equipment as they rested and chatted by the roadside. Instead, they were focused on their discussions over the fight for White River City.

“The official struggle for White River City is going to start in two days. Independent players like us will get to enjoy a good show.”

“I’ve heard that there are already four superpowers fighting for supremacy. I wonder how Zero Wing will hold its position? If Zero Wing loses White River City, all of its investments in the city will go to waste.”

“Why are we even talking about this? Zero Wing can’t hold the city. One of those superpowers will take it in the end. The Auction Arena’s competition isn’t like field combat Players can’t rely on tools in the Auction Arena. Participants will have to rely on powerful experts and resources to win it Zero Wing is much weaker than a superpower in this regard, especially when it comes to the number of peak experts it has. Zero Wing has no chance against the participating superpowers.”

“I guess you’re right If Zero Wing had another six months, it might have enough resources and experts to contend with superpowers. Unfortunately, White River City has been developing too fast. It was actually one of the first NPCs to get promoted. If it had been a part of the second or third batch to get an Auction Arena, Zero Wing wouldn’t have had any issues securing its hold over the city.”

Nowadays, nothing grabbed players’ attention than the fight for White River City in the Star-Moon Kingdom. Not only would the upcoming fight determine who controlled the city, but it was also the first time these major powers seriously clashed.

The Auction Arena also presented an opportunity for independent players to display their skills in front of these powers in hopes of reaching greater heights.

While this sounded like a joke, it was the best way to become famous overnight.

Now that God’s Domain had more influence in the real world, more corporations invested in the game, and they all needed talented experts to work for them. If one could show off in the Auction Arena, one of the various superpowers might extend an olive branch.

As expected of one of the first promoted NPC cities. Its development speed and competition truly are frightening. Shi Feng could not help his surprise as he noticed various Guild players wandering the city streets.

He had seen more than 30 second-rate Guilds and as many as 10 first-rate Guilds since his return to White River City. Not even imperial capitals had this many Guilds, yet this was only what he saw on the surface. Who knew how many more powers lurked in the city in secret?

In the past, Shadow hadn’t had any connection to the first wave of promoted NPC cities. At the time, Shadow had already been struggling for its survival in God’s Domain, and the Guild had expended all of its available resources just to secure leveling spots and raid Dungeons for its members’ equipment How could it have had the strength to compete for a major NPC city?

Shi Feng had only heard stories of how powerful the various entities participating in the Auction Arena’s competition were and the competition’s intensity. He hadn’t actually gotten a realistic sense of how extraordinary the competitions had actually been.

Now that he was a participant, he couldn’t help his rueful sigh.

Shi Feng returned to Zero Wing’s Residence to organize the materials he had obtained during his trial.

However, as he entered the Guild Hall, Shi Feng noticed that the hall’s atmosphere was odd. He could sense a depressing energy throughout the building, and the number of experts in the hall had visibly decreased.

“Youlan, did something happen? What’s with the strange atmosphere?” Shi Feng asked Youlan, who currently sorted through the Guild members’ information.

“Guild Leader, you’re back!” Youlan’s face lit with joy when she saw Shi Feng, but then she frowned and said, “While you’ve been gone, Twilight Echo’s survival in the Storm Empire has become unsure. Aqua Rose doesn’t want to see the destruction of her family’s Guild and doesn’t want to implicate Zero Wing, so she has temporarily resigned as Vice Guild Leader to help Twilight Echo under her own name. Many of the players that were originally from Twilight Echo have gone with her. I tried to contact you about this, but I couldn’t get through to you.”

“Twilight Echo is having an existential crisis?” Shi Feng was surprised to hear the news. “What happened?”

“According to what we know, it seems that Nature Hall is trying to monopolize the Storm Empire and wants every Guild in the area to submit as a subordinate. Since Twilight Echo refuses to submit, it tried to move out of the empire, but Nature Hall refuses to let the Guild get out safely and has threatened to remove Twilight Guild from God’s Domain. Thus, the Guild is in danger of perishing,” Youlan explained.

“I see.” Once he had a general understanding of the situation, Shi Feng revealed a bitter smile and wondered aloud, “Is Zero Wing really that unreliable?”

Twilight Echo was everything to Aqua Rose’s family. Although she had broken away from her family’s influence to develop independently, if Twilight Echo perished, so would Aqua Rose’s family. Naturally, she couldn’t just sit by and watch.

However, Nature Hall was not the first-rate Guild it had been in the past. It had secured major corporations’ investments and not long ago, had successfully removed a super-first-rate Guild from the Storm Empire. Since it had a long time to develop after that incident, it was easy to imagine how powerful Nature Hall had become.

Considering Zero Wing’s current problems, if Aqua Rose used her identity as one of Zero Wing’s Vice Guild Leaders to help Twilight Echo, Nature Hall would turn its ire on Zero Wing, increasing its number of enemies.

“Guild Leader, should we send some people to help her?” Youlan asked.

“Of course, we should! Not only are we going to send some of our people, but I also want you to send someone to inform Nature Hall that Twilight Echo is under Zero Wing’s protection!”