Chapter 1 An Advanced Bar

Star-Moon Kingdom, a high-end bar on White River City’s Commercial Street.

The entire three-story bar had been reserved. Except for the NPCs, the first and second floors were empty. Only a few players, all above level 65 and clad in top-tier level 60 equipment, sat in the VIP lounge on the top floor. The leader, an old man in blue robes, quietly gazed at the bustling scene outside the French windows.

"Elder Yi, just received news that the Candlelight Firm in the Dark Night Empire is suddenly selling a large number of Stamina Potions, and in addition to Stamina Potions, they are also selling Stamina Gems. Each Stamina Gem can increase a player's Stamina recovery effect by 7%, and these items require the Dark Night Empire's unique materials to exchange for them." At this time, a level 64 Assassin in black clothes entered the room and reported to the blue-robed old man, "Now the price of materials in the entire Dark Night Empire has doubled, and the major forces are not even selling these unique materials externally."

"Stamina Gems?" The blue-robed old man was immediately surprised upon hearing this. "Are there many?"

"According to our investigation, there are about sixty Stamina Gems prepared for auction at the Dark Night City’s Candlelight Firm," the Assassin said.

"Sixty, what a grand gesture!" Xue Hen, sitting next to the blue-robed old man, couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise. "Is Zero Wing crazy?"

Anyone who frequently fought in neutral maps knew the value of Stamina Gems.

Moreover, the more there were, the higher their value.

Sixty Stamina Gems were enough to equip a twenty-man team. A twenty-man team that could move freely in a neutral map could generate incredible profits, especially in newly opened neutral maps, allowing a guild to gain a significant advantage.

But now, Zero Wing was willing to sell them, giving away a great opportunity to others. Only a madman would do such a thing.

"We really underestimated Zero Wing. It will be difficult for Star Ring's economy not to be affected. Immediately prepare the materials. We're heading to Dark Night City now." The blue-robed old man thought for a moment, then stood up and said.

Originally, he thought Zero Wing running to the Dark Night Empire to challenge Star Ring was a joke, just courting humiliation. But now, it seemed everyone had underestimated Zero Wing's determination and strength, and no one expected them to play such a move.

The major forces might have given Star Ring face before, but with such great benefits at stake, no one would back down.

Using Stamina Gems as bait and unique materials from the Dark Night Empire as currency, these unique materials were destined to be driven to sky-high prices.

These unique materials were different from ordinary rare materials. They were the only ingredients for crafting unique items in the Dark Night Empire and were the foundation for Star Ring's merchants to compete with other kingdoms and empires. If Zero Wing were to drive up the prices or monopolize them, Star Ring's income would definitely be greatly reduced. After all, the main way for major super forces to make money was through merchants and vast channels, all based on unique goods.

Without this foundation, it would be too difficult to make money through merchants.

Meanwhile, in the Star Ring Residence in Dark Night City of the Dark Night Empire, the atmosphere in Lu Xingluo's office was deathly silent. None of the executives present dared to say a word.

In just one hour, they had only managed to purchase a few hundred copies of the unique materials that Star Ring Guild could have acquired ten thousand of, and the amount was constantly decreasing. This not only seriously affected the number of unique goods they could produce, but also made the cost higher.

They had to know that Star Ring's source of gold coins mainly relied on three parts.

The first was the guild's merchants.

The second was the profit sharing from the gold farming teams and the rewards from completing guild tasks.

The third was the income from the guild's towns.

Now, there was a fourth source of income from the NPC auction house. However, the NPC auction house had only just started operating, and it would take some time to generate a large amount of revenue.

A slight drop in merchants' income would have been fine, but the current 20% drop, which was continuing to fall, seriously affected the guild's development. Especially at this stage, many guild towns needed to be transferred, which required a lot of funds. With reduced funding, the plan would have to be postponed...

"Good! Good move, Zero Wing! So ruthless!" Lu Xingluo looked at the report in his hand, his face as dark as water. He immediately instructed Su Luo, who was beside him, "Immediately notify everyone to raise the purchase price of unique materials in the Star-Moon Kingdom!"

"Guild Leader, how much should we raise it?" Su Luo asked.

"Raise it by 50%! I want to see who can last longer!" Lu Xingluo said.

"Then what about the Stamina Gems?" Su Luo said quickly, "If other forces get these Stamina Gems, it will be much easier to develop the neutral maps around the Dark Night Empire later."

"We don't have many materials to begin with, so just let those forces have them. Anyway, it's just fifty or sixty Stamina Gems. Even if you collect sixty Stamina Gems, you can only equip a twenty-man team, so it won't cause much trouble." Lu Xingluo said disdainfully, "Besides, how long can Zero Wing play around in Dark Night City? Your main focus should still be on the Star-Moon Kingdom. Now that Zero Wing doesn't have the channels of the Tianji Merchant Firm, they can only struggle in the Star-Moon Kingdom."

There were more than a dozen neutral maps suitable for players' levels around the Dark Night Empire, if not twenty or thirty. No matter how powerful a twenty-man team was, they could only operate on one neutral map. They simply didn't have the time to go to other neutral maps, let alone affect Star Ring.

On the contrary, if Star Ring continued to raise the price of unique materials in the Star-Moon Kingdom, Zero Wing's operating costs would continue to rise while their income decreased. Even with the White River City auction house, their development would stagnate, and they could only watch as other kingdom forces around them surpassed them.

In this era, all the major forces were rapidly developing in neutral maps. If they stagnated, even if Zero Wing's combat power was heaven-defying now, they would eventually be eliminated. After all, their current strength was only their current strength. Players' levels were constantly increasing, and weapons and equipment were constantly being replaced.

"Yes!" Su Luo nodded.

On the other side, in the Candlelight Firm in Dark Night City, the entire firm was bustling with activity. Almost all the major forces of the Dark Night Empire had gathered here, and even forces from other kingdoms and empires had come. They had all exchanged one gold coin's worth of unique materials. As for Star Ring's ban, no one cared about it anymore.

Unless Star Ring wanted the Dark Night City auction house to collapse, only a fool would issue a ban on everyone.

Now, everyone only cared about one thing: Stamina Gems!

"Everyone, a set of three Stamina Gems, starting price 300 gold worth of unique materials, each bid must not be less than 10 gold. Let's begin!"

As Youlan announced the start of the Stamina Gem auction in the hall, the entire hall became agitated.

"400 gold!"

"450 gold!"

…

"600 gold!"

The major forces present shouted out sky-high prices, but after all, the major super forces hidden in the dark were superior. The first set of three Stamina Gems was sold at the sky-high price of 1,250 gold, causing the major guilds and adventurer teams present to sigh in dismay.

More than a thousand gold!

That was enough for a player to wear a full set of top-tier equipment at the moment.

However, the players present couldn't be blamed for not understanding. After all, with three Stamina Gems, a master who could move freely in a neutral map was created. As for what kind of harvest they could get, it completely depended on the player's own ability, and the top masters of the super forces could definitely earn that amount from it, which was definitely a worthwhile deal.

If there were no material restrictions, the auction price would probably be even higher.

Soon, sets of Stamina Gems were snapped up by the major super forces. Twenty sets of Stamina Gems earned Zero Wing nearly 27,000 gold worth of materials, which far exceeded Shi Feng's expectations.

"Zero Wing has earned a lot of materials this time, but unfortunately, it's going to end here." Mu Cheng, wearing a black cloak in the hall, looked at the Stamina Gems that had been auctioned off and felt a little regretful.

Although selling Stamina Gems could indeed affect Star Ring, it was not a long-term solution after all. After this auction, Dark Night City would return to calm once again, and Zero Wing would only get some unique materials.

At this time, not only Mu Cheng thought so, but also all the major forces present.

Just as everyone was about to leave, Melancholic Smile suddenly walked to the center of the hall. The forging master badge he wore and his dignified aura attracted the attention of many players present. After all, any lifestyle master was a rare existence in a super force, let alone a forging master.

"The auction of Stamina Gems this time has come to a successful conclusion. The next Stamina Gem auction will continue at this time tomorrow. Customers who didn't buy them can come again tomorrow." Melancholic Smile said slowly, "In addition, as long as you become a member of our Candlelight Firm and spend more than three gold in the Candlelight Firm in this city on the same day, our Stamina Gem counter will randomly select one person every four hours and sell them a Stamina Gem for the price of 200 gold!"

As Melancholic Smile finished speaking, the entire hall suddenly fell silent. After a brief silence, there was a burst of exclamation.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Does Zero Wing still have Stamina Gems?"

At this time, not only were the free players surprised, but even the members of the major super forces present looked at Melancholic Smile in disbelief.

"How is this possible?" Elder Yi, who was in the hall, looked at Melancholic Smile, and his calm face showed a hint of emotion.

Selling sixty Stamina Gems at once was already powerful enough, but looking at Zero Wing's appearance now, it was obvious that this was going to continue for quite some time. Although he didn't know how long it would last, as long as it continued for one more day, it would affect Dark Night City for one more day.

Moreover, this impact would become greater day by day. After all, one day could create a twenty-man team that could move around the neutral map at will. It didn't need much, just five or six days, and it could probably change the power structure of the neutral maps around the Dark Night Empire.

At that time, the Dark Night Empire was likely to change!