Chapter 2303 – Beginning of Turmoil

When news of the Northern Fortress’s Shops availability went public, the various major powers that had already shifted their bases to the fortress heard about it immediately.

No power would turn down the opportunity to own a fortress’s Shop, especially one in the Northern Fortress. At this point, the Northern Fortress was almost guaranteed to become the heart of the Gravity Mountain Range. The various superpowers might capture the map’s other fortresses, even one of the two remaining Medium Fortresses, but they weren’t likely to secure a fortress as popular as the Northern Fortress. The Northern Fortress had already begun to build its advantages, while none of the others had been captured yet.

However, before Dragonheart Island’s various powers could focus on the Northern Fortress’s Shops, a system announcement reached every player in the game.

System Announcement: A player has triggered an Epic Main Storyline Quest and activated the new expansion pack, ‘Invasion of Other Planes.’ Planar Passages connecting to Otherworlds will begin to open in three hours.

Every player on the God’s Domain continent was stunned, not to mention the players on Dragonheart Island.

After a dazed moment, they were all ecstatic.

Everyone knew that Otherworlds were resource treasure troves, but it wasn’t easy to enter an Otherworld. It was wonderful news that passages to multiple Otherworlds were about to open.

“Guild Leader, this is wonderful! With these Planar Passages, we won’t have to worry about securing Level 100 weapons and equipment anymore!” Aqua Rose exclaimed.

Zero Wing had a better understanding of Otherworlds’ available resources than other powers. Take the Ice Crystal World, for example. The Ice Crystal World possessed various unique materials and superior forging techniques. The Guild had earned a fortune by exploiting these advantages. Unfortunately, when the teleportation gate to the Ice Crystal World had opened in Lake Heart City, Zero Wing’s income from the Otherworld had significantly decreased.

This system announcement regarding the Planar Passages was undoubtedly good news for Zero Wing.

How did this happen so soon? In contrast to Aqua Rose’s reaction, Shi Feng’s expression turned gloomy when he heard the system announcement.

The Planar Passages’ activation would bring an abundance of rare resources to God’s Domain’s main continent, but it would also bring trouble. The flood of new players to the continent would be one of the biggest problems.

Many players resided in Otherworlds, and once these Planar Passages began to open, those players could travel between the main continent and the Otherworlds as well. Because of this, these Otherworlds’ players would surge to the main continent in droves, as would many new powers.

Competition on the main continent was already intense. It was easy to imagine what kind of outcome God’s Domain would see if a large number of new competitors suddenly joined the fray.

Even now, Shi Feng could clearly remember what had happened when the Planar Passages had opened during his previous life. A massive change had rocked God’s Domain’s various powers, with countless powers perishing during the invasion. Not even superpowers had been spared.

Although Otherworlds were small, only half the size of a kingdom, their players’ standards differed due to the Otherworlds’ environments. Some Otherworld players were weaker than those on the main continent, while others were stronger. The Ice Crystal world was among average among the multitude of Otherworlds. In some of the stronger Otherworlds, players had no issues obtaining Legacies, while others made it easier for players to convert to stronger races. These players tended to have greater combat power and higher levels than those on the main continent.

Zero Wing had just recently become a pseudo-superpower and had yet to reinforce its foundations. Dealing with these Otherworld players and powers wouldn’t help Zero Wing.

As far as Shi Feng could remember, many players had already risen to Tier 3 when the Planar Passages had activated in the past. Since this expansion had been triggered so early in this life, the competition between players would become even more intense than he remembered. Back then, the main continent’s powers had already solidified their rule in Level 100-plus neutral maps. Attempting to dethrone them had been an incredibly difficult task. However, players hadn’t claimed the Level 100-plus neutral maps in this life yet, and once the Otherworld players and powers arrived on the continent, the competition for these maps would grow to unprecedented levels.

I need to move forward with my plans. Shi Feng gritted his teeth as he examined at Zero Wing’s current statistics. After giving the matter some thought, he turned to Aqua Rose and commanded, “Aqua, notify the management in Zero Wing City and tell them to only accept credits in the Shops! Also, we need to expand and recruit throughout the Dark Night Empire!”

The Planar Passages would open all over the main continent. If Zero Wing wanted to survive the upcoming war, it needed to increase its overall strength as soon as possible.

Shi Feng hadn’t wanted to expand the Guild too quickly, originally. More Guild members meant higher costs for the Guild, and if Zero Wing couldn’t afford the new expenditures, the Guild’s development would regress. Thus, Shi Feng had decided to slow the Guild’s expansion, allowing Zero Wing to develop organically, unlike powers that rapidly increased their member count.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to wait with the Planar Passages about to open.

The gears of a new era had already begun to turn. If Zero Wing didn’t have enough manpower, others would easily invade and usurp its territories, especially now that the Fang Family had decided to target the Heaven’s Rumble Training Center.

Having received her orders, Aqua Rose quickly contacted the players that managed Zero Wing City, informing them that the Guild would only accept Credits as payment in its Shops.

Shi Feng also instructed Aqua Rose to find a method to recruit more Secret-Silver Guards with the Growth Potential to nearly rival Fine-Gold rank.

He currently possessed quite a bit of Soul Essence on him, which he could use to increase Personal Guards’ Growth Potential. Although he could also use the Soul Essence on the Guild’s Fine-Gold Guards, it wasn’t so easy to collect. Even after slaying all of the monsters in the Northern Fortress, he had only acquired 90 drops. With so little, he’d only be able to upgrade a few Fine-Gold Guards. Rather, he could upgrade a large number of Secret-Silver Guards with high Growth Potential to Fine-Gold rank.

Although there was only one rank between Secret Silver and Fine-Gold Guards, the difference between them was akin to the difference between peak experts and apex experts. If he could acquire a large group of Level 100-plus Fine-Gold Guards at this stage of the game, he’d have a mobile killing machine.

Shi Feng also intended to use the two remaining teleportation tokens to send Fire Dance, Gentle Snow, Violet Cloud, and Aqua Rose to train in the Tower of Four Gods.

Zero Wing had more than 100 Refinement Realm experts and barely any peak experts. It was the Guild’s fatal flaw. As players started to reach Level 100, and the system removed their restrictions, the difference between experts’ combat standards would grow, as well. It would become a lot more challenging to make up for that difference by relying on Basic Attributes.

It was absolutely crucial that Zero Wing nurture more peak experts as quickly as possible.

Once Shi Feng had handled these affairs, the sound of another system notification reached his ears.

System Announcement: Planar Passages have opened. Players can now visit their local Planar Passage to travel between worlds.