Chapter 2736 - Crazy Zero Wing? Cold Spring Forest, Stone Forest City, Freedom Hotel:
Chapter 2736 – Crazy Zero Wing? Cold Spring Forest, Stone Forest City, Freedom Hotel:
“What is Zero Wing thinking?” Mu Lingsha, who was resting in a room in the Freedom Hotel, stood up reflexively in surprise when she saw the announcement Zero Wing made in Stone Forest City. “Prohibiting NPCs from entering the city at such a time? Even Stone Forest City wouldn’t be able to afford such a loss!”
After reading the city announcement, Unyielding Heart, who sat nearby, pondered before saying, “But this is indeed one way to solve the NPC problem.”
“But at the cost of more than half of the city’s revenue? Isn’t this too huge a price to pay? Moreover, Zero Wing directly raised the city’s entrance fee to 20 Silver to make up for the loss. I’m afraid ordinary players won’t be able to accept such a fee. Even the present Stone Forest City would have a hard time justifying it, let alone Zero Wing’s two other Guild Cities,” Mu Lingsha said in confusion. “The Dark World’s side is keeping an eye on us. If we show any signs of weaknesses, the Dark World’s powers will make a move.” “I don’t know the exact reason for Zero Wing’s decision, but this is undoubtedly good news for our Guild,” Unyielding Heart said, smiling.
“Good news?” A blank look appeared on Mu Lingsha’s face. She couldn’t understand how this situation was beneficial to Unyielding Soul in any way.
“The increase in Stone Forest City’s entrance fee will undoubtedly drive away many players. Meanwhile, you know how excellent Stone Forest City’s environment is. It is the best place among the Level 100-plus neutral maps for players to get rid of the foreign energy invading their bodies. There is also nothing currently available that can compete with the Freedom Hotel,” Unyielding Heart explained. “If players start leaving Stone Forest City, empty slots will appear in the Freedom Hotel. We can have our Guild members fill these slots.”
“You’re right.” Mu Lingsha’s eyes glowed in realization. “I’ll notify the Guild Leader and have him make the necessary preparations.”
Even before the first major update, Stone Forest City was incredibly crowded already. Meanwhile, the sudden influx of NPCs had only made the city even more crowded. The city’s population had grown so much that the city’s management had no choice but to limit traffic into the city. If many NPCs and players left Stone Forest City, it would indeed be a perfect opportunity for Unyielding Soul to develop there.
Stone Forest City was one of the few player-owned Intermediate Cities in God’s Domain. If Unyielding Soul leveraged this opportunity, its Guild members’ average level might surpass that of other Guilds.
Orc Empire, Silverwing City: “This is crazy! Zero Wing must be crazy!”
“It doesn’t matter if those NPCs are driven away, but why did the rent become more expensive too? This must be Zero Wing’s conspiracy! Zero Wing must be trying to drive merchant players like us out of Silverwing City!”
“Zero Wing is awesome! I support Zero Wing! Good riddance to those NPCs! This is a city built by players! I can’t even pick up a quest, thanks to all those NPCs!”
The players residing in Silverwing City had mixed opinions regarding Zero Wing’s new regulations. Some criticized Zero Wing for being money-crazy, while others approved of the decision.
Meanwhile, when the various major powers received word of Zero Wing’s decision to prohibit NPCs from entering its cities, they were amused.
“How bold of Zero Wing! I want to see how it’s going to continue operating its three Guild Cities!” “While everyone else is frantically recruiting members and thinking about how to keep themselves alive, Zero Wing is chasing people away! It seems Zero Wing has grown arrogant after helping Frost Heaven become one of the twelve reserve Guilds!”
“Now that Silverwing City has taken the initiative to step back in the Orc Empire, it’s a good opportunity for our Guild to grow! Relay my orders immediately! We’ll halve our Guild
Town’s entrance fee! We’ll also lower the membership requirements for our Guild!”
When the various major powers saw Zero Wing driving players away from its cities, they promptly took advantage of this opportunity to increase their market share in the Orc Empire.
In less than half an hour, the number of players entering Zero Wing’s three Guild Cities decreased significantly. Many ordinary players operating in the Orc Empire opted to visit other Guild Towns instead. The income Zero Wing generated from NPCs also fell sharply.
“Guild Leader, this really won’t do. In less than half an hour, our three cities have lost more than 20% of their traffic. At this rate, we would be fortunate to retain even 10% of our usual traffic,” Youlan said after urgently contacting Shi Feng. She felt herself going crazy over this situation.
All of this was money!
As Gentle Snow and Aqua Rose currently weren’t in a suitable state to manage Zero Wing, the Guild’s management was left to Youlan and Liang Jing.
Previously, they still weren’t aware of Zero Wing’s exact situation. However, after shouldering the two Vice Guild Leaders’ responsibilities, they discovered that Zero Wing had always been walking a tightrope. Now, the Guild’s financial situation was just barely balanced.
However, if Zero Wing were to lose most of its three cities’ income, the Guild would most likely lose the ability to operate normally. After all, the training system in the real world required a lot of energy to operate. Moreover, the Guild had increased its internal member count to 5,000. Thus, the amount of money the Guild spent every day was staggering.
To make matters worse, Zero Wing did not accept the investment of major corporations. If the Guild lost its income of Coins now, it wouldn’t take more than a week for the Guild to go bankrupt.
“I understand.” Shi Feng nodded and chuckled when he saw Youlan’s anxious expression. “But this is only spare change.”
“Spare change?” Youlan felt as if she was going to faint.
They were losing hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins per day!
Moreover, the various large Guilds operating in the Orc Empire hadn’t been slacking in developing their respective Guild Towns. Although none of them had created a Basic City yet, they did have Advanced Towns. In addition, these Guilds received a lot of funds from their investors. Hence, the facilities their towns had weren’t that far from matching Silverwing City’s. The main difference was that the security and convenience level in these towns were far from comparable to Silverwing City’s.
Shifting his camera angle, Shi Feng smiled and asked, “Can you tell what this building in front of me is?”
The next moment, what appeared on Youlan’s screen was a massive, five-story-tall building. High walls surrounded this building, thoroughly isolating it from the outside world. The density of the Mana within the walls was also considerably higher than that of the outside world. Moreover, the building looked the same as the Teleportation Halls found in NPC cities.
“A Teleportation Hall?” Youlan gasped.
“That’s right. A Teleportation Hall.” Shi Feng nodded. “Moreover, this Teleportation Hall is the same as the ones found in NPC cities. The only difference is that this thing can teleport people to only one designated NPC city.”
“But even if it can teleport players to an NPC city, I’m afraid the teleportation fee isn’t something ordinary players can afford,” Youlan said after calming down.
It was indeed a great convenience for a Guild City to have a Teleportation Hall. That way, players seeking to travel to Silverwing City or NPC cities could do so within a short period.
However, this convenience did not come for free.
The cost of teleporting between countries was incredibly high, ranging from several dozen Silver Coins to several Gold Coins. This was the reason most players opted to travel by Mount or by Airship.
If players were merely using Silverwing City as a teleportation hub, they wouldn’t save themselves much trouble. As for teleporting from the Orc Empire to NPC cities, they could use Return Scrolls.
“What you say is correct, but this Teleportation Hall is linked to a somewhat special location,” Shi Feng said, smiling. He fully understood what was going through Youlan’s mind.
“Isn’t the destination an NPC city?” Youlan asked, puzzled.Even if Silverwing City’s Teleportation Hall were connected to an empire’s capital, it wouldn’t be of much help to the current Zero Wing
“The target destination is indeed an NPC city, but this NPC city is somewhat different from others.” Shi Feng nodded. He then added slowly, “You won’t understand even if I explain it to you. The Teleportation Hall is already constructed. Contact Unyielding Soul and Crimson Emperor and have them send representatives to Silverwing City. Tell them I have a business proposition for them.”
“Are we inviting them over now?” Youlan asked in confusion.
The various superpowers were currently shrinking their spheres of influence, and none of them were having a good time. Even if Shi Feng invited Unyielding Soul and Crimson Emperor for a discussion, the two Guilds would most likely be incapable of solving Zero Wing’s predicament.
“Yes, right now. I’m afraid this is something Zero Wing will have difficulty monopolizing, so we’ll need some helpers,” Shi Feng said, nodding.
“Guild Leader, what are we going to do?” Youlan couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.
The Zero Wing of today was no longer the same as before. It already possessed incredible strength. Yet, Shi Feng intended to ask two superpowers for help. This was undoubtedly going to be a huge operation. Moreover, he had even chosen such a precarious time to carry it out. Any mistake could easily lead to huge problems for the Guild.
Hearing Youlan’s question, Shi Feng chuckled and said casually, “It’s nothing. It’s just an operation to turn Zero Wing into a true giant in God’s Domain!”