THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 5 - Season 8 Episode 59

Shi Feng could not help his bitter smile as he heard the NPC receptionist’s words.

Sure enough, it isn’t that easy to establish a city. Shi Feng had thought it strange that Sharlyn had so kind-heartedly given him a City Building Order in exchange for only 10,000 Immortal Souls. This reward was much too extravagant for an Epic Quest. Sure enough, there is another test to this.

God’s Domain was currently still in its early stages.

Even a first-rate Guild would have to spend a relatively long time just to collect several thousand Gold. After all, for a Guild to develop, expand, and improve itself, it would have to spend an exorbitant amount of money. Normally, having even 1,000 Gold lying around was considered a luxury for a first-rate Guild.

Only Zero Wing, which had the Candlelight Trading Firm, Stone Forest Town, and a large number of Guild Quests, had a daily income of several thousand Gold. However, after expanding the Guild, they had a wider variety of expenditures. After deducting operating costs and salaries, Zero Wing raked in a clean profit of roughly 1,000 Gold each day. After a month, the Guild would make around 30,000 Gold.

The other Guilds could only dream of such wealth.

However, Shi Feng understood that, in reality, he was still just a poor bastard.

This was only a fraction of what he needed to establish his city.

The basic construction fee alone cost 120,000 Gold. After including the cost of dealing with monster attacks, it was practically impossible for him to earn what he needed to construct the city. He also had to think of the necessary building construction that he would need after the city itself was complete.

Shi Feng thought back to when Shadow had constructed a Mana Tower in its first city.

The Mana Tower’s required raw materials had cost close to 10,000 Gold. The Guild had also hired a bunch of NPCs to deal with the construction. Overall, the Mana Tower had cost Shadow 35,000 Gold.

The Black Market, on the other hand, had been somewhat cheaper. Even so, its construction still cost over 20,000 Gold.

If one added all the costs together, they would discover that the initial construction fee was only the first step to constructing a city.

Even so, a large Guild would willingly sacrifice everything it had, seeking sponsors and selling small portions of the Guild’s shares, to build a functioning city. Once the city was built, however, it would be a money magnet.

In the past, to construct its first city, Shadow had sought out over a dozen sponsors. It was also then that Shadow split its shares between many financial groups and corporations.

If Zero Wing did not wish to rely on external powers to construct a Guild City, then it needed to earn a lot more money.

When Shi Feng thought about the need to multiply his current income by several times, he felt his head throb.

When Shadow had constructed its first city, there were far more people playing God’s Domain, and it had been much easier to earn money. Currently, the majority of the players in God’s Domain had yet to reach Level 30. Hence, the challenge of earning more than 100,000 Gold was significantly more difficult than it had been.

Moreover, the Candlelight Trading Firm’s daily income was nearly at its max. It would be very difficult to increase it.

As for Stone Forest Town, the town’s income mainly came in the form of Magic Crystals. Moreover, it was also impossible to increase the town’s income within a short time. As for the income from Guild Quests, it could not even begin to compete with the income of the Candlelight Trading Firm and Stone Forest Town.

It seems I’ll have to look for a new source. Shi Feng began to consider the matter. Currently, the most profitable trade involved selling top-tier weapons and equipment. Consumables were the next most profitable items. Zero Wing did not even have enough top-tier weapons and equipment to equip all of its members, so how could it possibly afford to part with those items?

Just as Shi Feng’s headache over searching for a new source of income grew, Aqua Rose contacted him.

“Guild Leader, I have the post-war report ready for you! We struck gold this time!” Aqua Rose said excitedly. “After deducting the compensation and rewards for our Guild members, we obtained 18,456 pieces of Level 25 Mysterious-Iron Equipment, 3,187 pieces of Level 25 Secret-Silver Equipment, 549 pieces of Level 25 Fine-Gold Equipment, 84 pieces of Level 25 Dark-Gold Equipment, 1,427 pieces of Level 30 Mysterious-Iron Equipment, 241 pieces of Level 30 Secret-Silver Equipment, 53 pieces of Level 30 Fine-Gold Equipment, and 4 pieces of Level 30 Dark-Gold Equipment.”

There were always spoils after a great war. However, Shi Feng had never imagined that they would enjoy such a bountiful harvest.

This was all net income.

With this equipment enriching the Guild Warehouse, they could increase Zero Wing’s strength by a large margin.

If they had purchased all of this equipment, they would have had to spend over 50,000 Gold.

“With this equipment and the equipment we already had in the Guild Warehouse, we will have no problems expanding the Guild by another 30,000 to 50,000 members.” Previously, Aqua Rose had still struggled with her headache over the issue of equipment after expanding the Guild.

Zero Wing had already become a large Guild, acknowledged by every player in Star-Moon Kingdom. Its fame had even surpassed the Star Alliance and Ouroboros. As a result, more players reached out in an attempt to join the Guild each day. Hence, this was the perfect time to expand.

However, they would suffer if they did not have enough equipment in the Guild Warehouse for the new recruits.

Initially, Aqua Rose had considered limiting the number of new members they recruited to 10,000. Now that they had obtained so much new equipment, however, they could recruit an additional 30,000 to 40,000 players.

“However, most of the equipment’s Durability has nearly been depleted. The repair fees will cost us a lot. I was thinking of taking out a portion of the Guild funds to repair the equipment,” Aqua Rose suggested.

If it were only a small amount of money, Aqua Rose could make the decision herself. However, too much equipment needed repairs. Hence, she needed Shi Feng’s permission before she moved forward.

Hearing this, Shi Feng felt another headache bloom.

“There isn’t a lot left. Sell some of the lower quality equipment and use the money to repair the rest,” Shi Feng said after some thought.

“I understand.” Aqua Rose then disconnected the call.

After speaking with Aqua Rose, Shi Feng suddenly recalled the forging design inside his bag.

The Strengthening Device!

This item was capable of strengthening a player’s equipment, reducing the consumption of Durability.

This was a must-have for current players.

During lower Levels, the majority of players in God’s Domain would not think much of their equipment’s wear and tear. However, as players reached higher levels, they encountered far more powerful monsters. Naturally, the burden on their equipment grew as they began to take more damage. The repair fees alone would demand the majority of a player’s earnings.

Selling the Strengthening Devices would be a great source of income. Shi Feng could not help but smile. Previously, he had considered selling the Magic Devices. However, Magic Devices were too precious and expensive. Only the various Guilds’ upper echelons could afford to purchase and use them. Moreover, there weren’t even enough Magic Devices to outfit Zero Wing’s members. Fortunately, it was a different story for the Strengthening Devices.

Shi Feng immediately left the City Hall and hurried towards the Candlelight Trading Firm.

“Huh? Isn’t this the broken sword that Galaxy Past had dropped when he died?” While Shi Feng searched through his bag for the Strengthening Device Forging Design, he discovered an extraordinarily eye-catching, broken sword.

The broken sword’s aura alone was enough to make Shi Feng’s heart skip a beat, despite it sitting idle in his bag.