THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 2 - Season 5 Episode 77

In White River City, shortly after Overwhelming Smile had established its Guild Residence, the street outside the Guild Residence was already packed with players hoping to join the Guild. Over ten thousand players waited for their evaluation, far surpassing Zero Wing’s Guild recruitment.

Currently, Overwhelming Smile offered three to four times more benefits than their rival. In addition, Overwhelming Smile had already become the unshakable overlord of Maple City. Now that Overwhelming Smile had its own Guild Residence, its momentum was unstoppable.

As a result, many independent players who had observed the situation from the sidelines had decided to take action.

In White River City, Zero Wing only had three advantages.

The first was the presence of Black Flame, the number one expert of Star-Moon Kingdom. There were also plenty of experts in Zero Wing, making the Guild a good place to seek guidance and improve oneself.

The second was the Guild Residence. Members of Zero Wing could receive a large number of high-level Guild Quests, allowing them to level up and earn money easily. The fact that members could accumulate a Double EXP buff while resting in the Guild Residence was also quite attractive.

The third was Zero Wing’s Guild Warehouse. A lot of top-tier equipment was constantly available for Guild members to earn; these items were not available outside of Zero Wing.

However, to the majority of the players in White River City, Zero Wing’s most attractive benefit was its Guild Residence. It was the reason that many had hesitated when choosing between Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile. However, that issue had been resolved. Now that the well-funded Overwhelming Smile had its own Guild Residence as well, Zero Wing had lost its advantage. Currently, compared to Overwhelming Smile, the overlord of a city, Zero Wing was inferior.

It was obvious which Guild they should join.

“Ah… We are too late…” a Level 23 female Cleric sighed helplessly when she saw the long line of players outside Overwhelming Smile’s Guild Residence. The Cleric then turned to the Level 25 female Elementalist beside her, grumbling to the innocent-looking girl in silver clothing, “Rain, this is your fault! I told you that, as long as Overwhelming Smile establishes its Guild Residence, a ton of players are going to try to join. Now we’ve gotta wait so long if we want to join.”

“Blue Bamboo, I’ve said it before; I’m only playing God’s Domain because I am curious about this world. I want to understand more about this realistic fantasy world, and I don’t really mind not joining a Guild.” Thoughtful Rain shook her head in response to her friend’s words. She was not particularly interested in joining any Guild.

“Rain, you’re wrong about this. God’s Domain is such a vast world, and there are plenty of dangerous places. If we’re not strong enough, how can we explore those places? Meanwhile, joining a Guild is undoubtedly the fastest way to grow stronger,” the female Cleric named Blue Bamboo countered. “Just look at how poorly we are faring right now. We bought a majority of our equipment. To make things worse, our equipment is crappier than what Guild members have.”

“In that case, shouldn’t we join Zero Wing?” Thoughtful Rain asked, confused. “I hear that Zero Wing’s Warehouse contains plenty of top-tier equipment that no other Guild can match.”

Speaking of Zero Wing, Thoughtful Rain suddenly recalled the man named Ye Feng who had helped her before. She remembered that he was one of Zero Wing’s members.

The Library Emblem he had given her had helped her greatly, and she wondered how that man was faring.

“Don’t you know? A war has recently broken out between Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile, and each report is more amazing than the last. As a result, the independent players who had originally hesitated are now desperately trying to join Overwhelming Smile. Do you know why?” Blue Bamboo asked mysteriously. “That’s because Zero Wing no longer has an advantage over Overwhelming Smile! Previously, Zero Wing slaughtered Overwhelming Smile’s members, driving the Guild into a corner. Now, however, the situation has completely changed. Overwhelming Smile has somehow managed to recruit a large number of experts, and these experts have slaughtered Zero Wing’s members, scaring them from leaving the city. It probably won’t be long before Zero Wing is destroyed, which is why so many players are rushing to join Overwhelming Smile.

“Moreover, Overwhelming Smile no longer targets Maple City. It has shifted its focus to White River City. The fact that the Guild has established its first Guild Residence in White River City rather than Maple City had made that obvious. If we don’t join Overwhelming Smile now, it will only be harder to do so in the future.”

Thoughtful Rain nodded, seeing the logic in Blue Bamboo’s words. However, she looked at Blue Bamboo and said softly, “You are correct. However, I still don’t want to join Overwhelming Smile.”

Saying so, Thoughtful Rain immediately turned and left.

“Fine, then! I’ll listen to you, but you better not regret your decision later!” Blue Bamboo took one last glance at Overwhelming Smile’s Guild Residence before following Thoughtful Rain.

—

Meanwhile, inside Overwhelming Smile’s Guild Residence, all of the Guild members were currently in a celebratory mood.

Initially, Zero Wing had been a thorn in their side. Now, however, their problems had been solved. With over 200 experts from their Guild ambushing the members of Zero Wing, the war had turned to their favor. Many of Zero Wing’s members were too afraid to leave the city. This greatly boosted the pride of everyone from Overwhelming Smile.

At this moment, however, the atmosphere in the Guild Residence’s meeting room was extraordinarily tense.

“What? You’re saying that Little Deep’s party was completely wiped out? How is that possible?” Feng Xuanyang was unable to stomach the news he had just received.

The new batch of Underworld Guards that had been sent consisted of live combat veterans. Although not all of them were experts in God’s Domain, they were only slightly inferior.

Even if these Underworld Guards encountered one of Zero Wing’s Tier 1 expert parties, they could still drag one or two of their opponents to the grave with them if they went all-out.

However, a single player had annihilated one of these parties. They could not even escape. How could Feng Xuanyang possibly believe this?

“Young Master Feng, there are countless experts in God’s Domain. The Underworld Guards aren’t invincible, either. There is nothing strange about the slaughter. However, based on Little Deep’s report of their assailant, it is likely that they ran into Black Flame. We already know the majority of the experts in White River City. Aside from Summer Sunshine, Black Flame is most likely the only player capable of this massacre,” Youlan explained.

Feng Xuanyang had never watched a battle between true experts of God’s Domain. However, Youlan had personally witnessed Black Flame and Summer Sunshine’s frightening encounter. Hence, she was not the slightest bit surprised about the appearance an expert capable of destroying an Underworld Guard party single-handedly.

“You’re saying that Black Flame is responsible? Is Black Flame really that strong?” Feng Xuanyang asked skeptically.

In his opinion, Black Flame was just a frog in a well. How could he possibly defeat a party of Underworld Guards by himself?

“Young Master Feng, I guarantee that Black Flame is more than capable of performing such a feat. However, this is not the most important information we have received. Based on what Little Deep said, after they died, they could not log into God’s Domain for some time. Moreover, every Underworld Guard is currently a Red Name. If they die, they will lose at least half of their equipment. We will suffer a massive loss.

“Now that Black Flame has involved himself and is using such methods, if he focuses on hunting down the Underworld Guards, it will be a disaster for us. I suggest that we have the Underworld Guards stop their ambushes, retreat from the Watch Cemetery, and go elsewhere to level up,” Youlan suggested.

From the moment she met him, she had never been able to see through the man known as Black Flame. Now, Black Flame had suddenly begun to act and killed a party of Underworld Guards. This was not a good sign, and Youlan began to worry.

Hence, she thought it best to quit while they were ahead.

“Youlan, you worry too much. Even if Black Flame is powerful, the Watch Cemetery is a massive area. Do you really believe that he can scour the entire map by himself?” Feng Xuanyang said disdainfully. “Little Deep was simply unlucky and coincidentally encountered Black Flame. Losing one party isn’t significantly damaging. On the other hand, our rampant ambushes on Zero Wing are severely wounding the Guild. Moreover, there are so many treasures in the Watch Cemetery. If we give the area up, not only will it greatly reduce our Guild’s morale, but we will also lose a huge source of income.

“Besides, while Zero Wing has Black Flame, do you think that Underworld does not possess experts aside from the Underworld Guards?” Feng Xuanyang laughed.