THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 5 - Season 8 Episode 61

In the spacious Special Forging Room, Shi Feng carefully took out the Philosopher’s Stone and placed it on the stone table. He then began his Alchemical Synthesis.

“Hopefully, 10,000 Magic Crystals will be enough.” Shi Feng still felt a slight sting he saw the synthesis success rate of 50%.

During the war in the Stoneclaw Mountains, the Mana Pulse Cannon had needed to consume 1,000 Magic Crystals for each shot.

Aqua Rose had fired the cannon over 30 times.

Although it had been magnificently effective, over half of Zero Wing’s Magic Crystal supply had been depleted during the war. Now, the Guild had barely 15,000 Magic Crystals remaining, and he was about to use another 10,000. Even to Zero Wing, this expenditure was considerable.

While Shi Feng synthesized Mana Stones, Fire Dance sat out of his way and watched quietly.

When will I truly become an asset to Guild Leader? When Fire Dance recalled the danger she had faced during this war, frustration filled her heart.

If not for Shi Feng, the Flower of Seven Sins would have wiped out Zero Wing’s main force.

Despite having an advantage in Attributes, she had been utterly helpless against that Seven Sins party leader.

Although their Guild had won, they were still far from being a match for God’s Domain’s major powers.

—

Stone Forest Town:

After the war between the Star Alliance and Zero Wing, Stone Forest Town’s atmosphere had transformed.

Originally, the various large Guilds had quietly eyed Stone Forest Town and waited for Zero Wing to suffer defeat. Once Zero Wing lost its prestige, the Guild would lose members. After that exodus, they simply needed to gang up on Zero Wing to obtain Stone Forest Town. However, their plans had vanished into thin air when the Star Alliance had been defeated.

Moreover, they had finally seen Zero Wing’s true strength.

The Star Alliance had suffered over 50,000 casualties. The various Guilds’ shared a similar death count. In total, the Star Alliance and the various large Guilds had lost over 100,000 elite players. In contrast, Zero Wing had only lost 4,128 members, while Ouroboros had only lost close to 30,000 members.

Based on the death counts of either side, Zero Wing’s power was apparent.

Despite only dispatching an army of 10,000 elite players, Zero Wing had defeated an enemy several times its size. Meanwhile, Zero Wing had over 20,000 elite members in its midst.

With such strength, what Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom would dare to challenge Zero Wing?

The Star Alliance’s fate served as the best example.

After the Star Alliance had been defeated, several thousand members had withdrawn from the Guild within an hour. Moreover, due to the disappearance of the upper echelons, despite the Guild Elders’ attempts to stabilize the situation, over 30,000 players had left the Star Alliance. As time passed, this number would only increase.

Making a rough estimate, the various large Guilds guessed that the Star Alliance had lost at least 20 to 30% of its members from just this single war. It would be extremely difficult for the Guild to recover from such a huge loss.

Although Zero Wing and Ouroboros had both lost close to half their members in this war, they had recruited far more than those they had lost. Moreover, due to their overwhelming victory, both Guilds managed to collect plenty of weapons and equipment, filling their Guild Warehouses. Not only had the Guilds’ prestige grown after this war, but they had also increased their overall strengths.

Many of the other Guilds grew envious of this situation.

As a result of this war, Ouroboros had also replaced the Star Alliance as Star-Moon City’s overlord, becoming the city’s number one Guild.

One was the number one Guild of Star-Moon City, while the other was the number one Guild of White River City.

With these Guilds working together, who would dare attack Stone Forest Town?

On the contrary, now that Zero Wing had already taken care of its main enemy, it shifted its concentration towards the other Guilds that plotted against it.

For a time, the various large Guilds that had joined hands with the Star Alliance felt an impending doom.

None of them knew what Zero Wing would do next.

Even if Zero Wing joined hands with Ouroboros and laid claim over the Stoneclaw Mountains, none of the other Guilds could do anything about it.

The Stoneclaw Mountains had become an important source of Magic Crystals for the various Guilds. If they were banished from Stone Forest Town, their harvest would be limited. They would stagnate.

Hence, immediately after the war, various Guild Leaders and upper echelons hurried to Zero Wing’s Guild Residence in hopes of negotiating with Shi Feng.

However, Shi Feng did not have that much time to waste on these people. Hence, he had passed the responsibility to Aqua Rose.

Currently, the Guild Leaders and upper echelons from the various Star-Moon Kingdom Guilds occupied Zero Wing’s residential reception hall. Normally, these individuals were extremely secretive about their intentions, and arranging a meeting was rare. Yet, now, all these powerful individuals sat obediently, waiting for their turn.

“Next!” Xiao Zhao, Aqua Rose’s female assistant, shouted in the reception hall.

Immediately, Unparalleled, the Guild Leader of the second-rate Guild Heaven’s Gate, stood and walked into Zero Wing’s meeting room.

Unparalleled was a Level 34 Ranger. He wore Level 30 Fine-Gold rank or above equipment. He was an expert who had reached the Trial Tower’s sixth floor. In an ordinary NPC city, he would be considered one of the top experts. Unfortunately, in front of Aqua Rose, he was no one special.

Heaven’s Gate was a second-rate Guild that occupied two cities within Star-Moon Kingdom. Even here, it was a relatively powerful Guild. However, when Unparalleled entered the meeting room, he had no choice but to show Aqua Rose proper respect.

Heaven’s Gate was indeed the overlord of two cities. However, those cities’ total player population had not yet reached 400,000. On the other hand, White River City’s population closed in on 5,000,000. Moreover, the city housed numerous elite and expert players. Other cities could not compare to White River City.

“Guild Leader Unparalleled, let’s not waste each other’s time. Here’s the contract. If you have no issues with it, please sign here,” Aqua Rose said as she took out a contract and handed it to Unparalleled.

The contract was quite simple. If Heaven’s Gate wished to remain in Stone Forest Town, the Guild would have to hand over 15% of its total Magic Crystal income to Zero Wing. Otherwise, Heaven’s Gate would be banished from Stone Forest Town.

At the end of the day, Stone Forest Town was just a town, not a city. It could only contain a limited number of players.

Initially, not many players had visited Stone Forest Town, so it had not mattered whether or not they collected fees from the various large Guilds. However, once mainstream players reached Level 30, the town would begin to see an influx of activity.

Hence, they could not just allow the other Guilds and players to occupy the town’s limited space for nothing. They had to collect a small fee, similar to how cities charged entry fees. After all, they had not established a town for charity, but to increase their profits.

Of course, it was impossible for a town to collect an entry fee like cities. However, it was possible to adjust the repair fees and accommodation fees in Stone Forest Town. Guilds that did not sign Zero Wing’s contract would experience doubled repair fees and tripled accommodation fees during their future visits to the town. For those who signed the contract, however, the rates would remain the same.

“You bastards!!” Unparalleled paled. He had never imagined that Zero Wing’s demands would be so vicious. This contract was an agreement to join Zero Wing’s labor force!

“If you have nothing else to say, then please leave.” Aqua Rose gestured towards the door.