Chapter 2663 – He’s Back
Cold Spring Forest, Stone Forest City, Freedom Hotel:
Inside a splendorous meeting room, several dozen Tier 3 experts exuding powerful auras were currently seated around a round table. However, despite the number of people present, the room was remarkably quiet.
Careful observation of the people present would discover that quite a few of them radiated intense bloodlust and were enveloped by extremely dense darkness energy. Ordinary Dark Players were no match for these people in these two aspects. These people were none other than Dark Rhapsody’s upper echelon and the commanders of a few of the Dark World’s top adventurer teams.
Aside from these experts from the Dark World, the other Tier 3 experts seated around the table also had extraordinary origins. Among them were the upper echelon of the super-first-rate Guild Unyielding Soul and the Guild Leaders of first-rate Guilds, as well as the commanders and vice commanders of top adventurer teams.
Meanwhile, every one of these VIPs was looking at a woman wearing an Advanced Master Forger’s Insignia. Despite this woman lacking a powerful aura, everyone was treating her as the chairperson of this meeting.
Currently, however, this woman appeared indescribably haggard.
“I hope that everyone present can increase the support you provide to counter Starlink and the various superpowers’ harassment. Zero Wing will make sure that everyone receives proper compensation. Aside from this topic, does anybody have anything else they wish to raise?” Melancholic Smile asked as she swept her gaze across the people present.
Ever since Shi Feng and Zero Wing’s main force members left for the western continent, Starlink and the various superpowers had constantly been harassing Stone Forest City. Economic suppression, material plundering, and field ambushes occurred at almost every instant. To make matters worse, as the number of Tier 3 players the various superpowers possessed increased, the area the Knight Legion could protect also shrank.
Moreover, aside from Shi Feng, both Vice Guild Leaders of Zero Wing were also inaccessible. As a result, Melancholic Smile had to shoulder the burden of leading Zero Wing temporarily.
However, with the unstable factors surrounding Stone Forest City increasing continuously, the number of players that dared operate in Stone Forest City decreased. This took a toll on the city’s economy. At this point, the city’s daily income wasn’t even half of what the city made during its peak. Meanwhile, in order to ensure the safety of Stone Forest City, Zero Wing City, and Silverwing Town, Zero Wing had no choice but to increase the security measures implemented, which, in turn, increased the Guild’s daily expenditure substantially.
“We are facing some problems in the Dark World as well. Recently, because of the increase in the number of Tier 3 players, many of the Dark World’s powers have partnered up and launched several attacks on the Teleportation Gate already. Currently, we are still able to stop these attacks, but I’m afraid this situation won’t last for very long,” Dark Rhapsody’s Blue Rainbow said helplessly to Melancholic Smile. “In addition, World Domination is growing restless. Judging from the information we collected, we believe World Domination will mount a large-scale operation soon. Hence, we hope that Zero Wing can give us more of the Freedom Hotel’s resources, so that we can rope in more of the Dark World’s powers and maintain a stable hold over the Teleportation Gate.”
Upon hearing Blue Rainbow’s words, Liang Jing, sitting beside Melancholic Smile, frowned slightly.
A large part of the reason why Stone Forest City could maintain its current income was the Freedom Hotel. In order to ensure Stone Forest City’s safety, they had obtained the help of the various powers and adventurer teams in exchange for the Freedom Hotel’s rooms.
Thus far, they had already given out quite a few rooms. If they gave out even more, not only would Zero Wing have fewer rooms for its own use, but the Freedom Hotel’s income would also decrease significantly—possibly to the point where Zero Wing’s current expenditures became unsustainable.
However, the Dark World’s Teleportation Gate was also provided a considerable portion of Zero Wing’s income. This was especially true for Magic Crystals. It was similarly something that Zero Wing could not afford to lose.
“I understand. I’ll consider this matter and give you an answer as soon as possible,” Melancholic Smile said as she massaged her temples. “If there are no other problems, we’ll adjourn for today.”
After Melancholic Smile said so, everyone present promptly left their seats. At this time, Unyielding Soul’s Mu Lingsha approached Melancholic Smile.
“Miss Melancholic, please feel free to ask if you come across any difficulty in funding. Unyielding Soul and Zero Wing are old allies. While we might not be able to provide additional manpower, we can still allocate some funds to help Zero Wing,” Mu Lingsha said quietly as she looked at Melancholic Smile, who currently wore a worried expression on her face.
“Thank you,” Melancholic Smile said. “In reality, we don’t really have any problems with regard to funding. The crucial problem is the various superpowers that are targeting Stone Forest City, as well as the management of Star-Moon Kingdom and the Black Dragon Empire. If the main force members were around, those superpowers would hold back somewhat instead of working with Starlink to target Zero Wing’s members. Now, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Zero Wing’s members to develop in Star-Moon Kingdom and the Black Dragon Empire.”
Currently, funding was still a small problem for Zero Wing. The really urgent matter now was the Guild’s lack of Tier 3 experts. If not for Unyielding Soul sending quite a number of its Tier 3 experts to help maintain Stone Forest City’s security during this period, Stone Forest City would’ve definitely ended up in an even more miserable state.
“Right, Vice Guild Leader Mu, is there still no news about the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion’s Phoenix Pavilion Master?” Melancholic Smile asked.
Zero Wing had partnered with the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion’s Phoenix Rain on many occasions before. The two sides could be considered to be in an absolute alliance. Melancholic Smile and Phoenix Rain were also fairly close friends, as the two of them had come into frequent contact with each other because of the business relationship between their two Guilds.
Originally, after the various superpowers started targeting Stone Forest City, Melancholic Smile had sought Phoenix Rain’s help to solve some of the problems Zero Wing encountered in the Black Dragon Empire. However, no matter how she tried contacting Phoenix Rain, she couldn’t get through at all. It was as if Phoenix Rain had disappeared from God’s Domain. In fact, even the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion’s members did not know Phoenix Rain’s whereabouts.
“We have already sent a lot of people to investigate this matter. It is truly strange. Let alone Phoenix Rain and her trusted subordinates, even the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion’s Ku Rong, Nine Dragons Emperor, and many others of the Guild’s upper echelon have disappeared. Currently, the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion is relying entirely on its Grand Elders to operate. According to the information we got, even those Grand Elders don’t know what is going on,” Mu Lingsha said.
“Disappeared?” Melancholic Smile was stunned when she heard Mu Lingsha’s words.
The core upper echelon of a super-first-rate Guild had actually disappeared overnight without any news. Who would possibly dare believe this?
“However, I also heard that Mythology invited the Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion to the Faux Saint alliance discussion that it is holding in the Fire Dragon Empire. Once this alliance discussion ends, we might receive some news regarding the Phoenix Pavilion Master,” Mu Lingsha said.
“Alliance discussion?” Melancholic Smile’s complexion turned even more haggard when she heard this phrase. “It seems we are really in trouble this time.”
Ostensibly, Mythology’s alliance discussion would focus on the problem of the Faux Saint monsters. In reality, Mythology was simply trying to rope in the various superpowers to capture Stone Forest City.
If the various superpowers come to an agreement on how to split Stone Forest City’s profits during this upcoming discussion, then the next step would be for them to attack Stone Forest City.
With Stone Forest City’s current defenses, it could fend off the various superpowers’ joint assault, but such a war would destroy Stone Forest City’s economy.
Melancholic Smile wasn’t the only person suffering a headache over this matter. Mu Lingsha was not having a good time, either. After all, Mythology’s alliance discussion this time wouldn’t target just Zero Wing but also Unyielding Soul. Unyielding Soul was falling into an increasingly precarious situation, yet she couldn’t do anything about it.
This was because 15 superpowers were attending the alliance discussion this time, three of which were Super Guilds—making it undoubtedly the grandest meeting ever held on the eastern continent. If all of these superpowers worked together, the strength they could unleash would be unimaginable.
Just as Melancholic Smile and Mu Lingsha were feeling helpless, Liang Jing, who was at one side, reading a message, suddenly revealed a rare smile.
“No! It’s not us who are in trouble, but them!” Liang Jing exclaimed excitedly.
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“What happened?”
Both Melancholic Smile and Mu Lingsha were confused by Liang Jing’s sudden about-face. They could not understand why she was smiling at all.
“He’s back!”
“He?”
“The Guild Leader! The Guild Leader is back!”