Chapter 2009 – Thunder Axe City Activated

When s.h.i.+ Feng walked out of the Teleportation Hall, he was greeted by the sight of a very wide street with NPC Giants walking along it. If players were to visit this city, they would definitely feel very out of place.

The buildings in the city were also extremely large. Even the carriages used to travel around the city were much larger than the carriages found in other NPC cities. Moreover, the carriages here were pulled by the much larger and stronger herbivorous Earth Dragons, instead of horses. Aside from Giants, NPCs belonging to other neutral races also lived here, including the extremely rare Elves.

Although Elves looked very similar to Half-elf players, the Life Ratings of the two were as different as heaven and earth.

During the ancient era, Elves could be said to have been the messengers of G.o.ds. They were the beloved children of magical elements, and they could cast Spells above their tier effortlessly. However, as the G.o.ds in G.o.d's Domain fell, the Elven race also went into decline, the race's population continuously decreasing as the years went by.

Players visiting Thunder Axe City for the first time would definitely be very shocked by this scene. s.h.i.+ Feng, however, had long since grown accustomed to it. He immediately hailed an Earth Dragon carriage and made his way to the city center.

As a super-large-scale neutral city, Thunder Axe City was extremely large. Even the Black Dragon Empire's capital was only half the size of Thunder Axe City. Hence, traveling through the city took a lot of time. To make matters worse, Thunder Axe City's Teleportation Hall was located on the outskirts of the city. Players were also prohibited from using their own Mounts, Teleportation Skills, and teleportation tools inside the city. Players could only rely on the carriages pulled by the house-sized Earth Dragons if they wished to travel through the city quickly.

Of course, if players managed to reach the Viscount rank in Thunder Axe City, they would be allowed to ride their own Mounts. However, becoming a Viscount in a neutral city like Thunder Axe City was exceedingly difficult. As far as s.h.i.+ Feng knew, even after many players had reached Level 200 in his previous life, n.o.body had succeeded in becoming a Viscount of Thunder Axe City.

Meanwhile, while s.h.i.+ Feng was traveling toward Thunder Axe City's central district, a commotion erupted in the Witch's Hill.

“Did I hear it right? Zero Wing is actually having its members give up on grinding in the Witch's Hill?!”

“Zero Wing must not want to continue the pointless fighting. Haven't you seen how powerful those monster players are? Taking care of Tier 2 experts is like child's play for them. Just one monster player can easily annihilate a six-man party of Tier 2 experts. Not to mention, these monster players generally move around in groups.”

“Didn't Zero Wing manage to repel Miracle's attack in the Black Dragon Empire before? What's it doing now? It's already giving up after fighting for just a short while?”

“I never thought that the day would come when Zero Wing would fall into such a state. Previously, Zero Wing was slaughtering its enemies left and right. Now, it's forced to give up on a precious land like the Witch's Hill. With this, Zero Wing's development in Star-Moon Kingdom will definitely lag behind the other large Guilds by a significant margin. If this situation persists, Zero Wing might not even remain Star-Moon Kingdom's number one Guild in the future.”

“That's right! This is a good opportunity for small Guilds to rise up using the Witch's Hill.”

The players operating in the Witch's Hill all found Zero Wing's decision to pull back its forces to be very surprising. They had never imagined that the Guild would give up on the Witch's Hill so decisively. Zero Wing was clearly capable of fighting a war of attrition with the monster players, thanks to Zero Wing City, yet it did not do so.

Meanwhile, due to Zero Wing's decision to retreat, many of the small Guilds that had been maintaining a low profile in Star- Moon Kingdom started trying to join the Starlight Alliance formed by the Guilds operating the two Guild Towns in the Witch's Hill. After all, the current situation in the Witch's Hill was already clear for all to see: the Starlight Alliance, which was capable of transforming players into monsters, had the advantage in field battles. As long as Zero Wing's members dared exit Zero Wing City, they would definitely die.

Meanwhile, shortly after s.h.i.+ Feng gave out the command to retreat, the upper echelons of the Starlight Alliance's member Guilds gathered at Wildhammer Town, a short distance away from the Million Forest, for a meeting.

The Guilds responsible for leading this meeting was the Purple Thorns Kingdom's Sin Realm and the two Guilds that established the two Guild Towns in the Witch's Hill, Knight's Judgment and Warring Empire. Although Knight's Judgment and Warring Empire were only second-rate Guilds, the investments of multiple corporations boosted the strength of the two Guilds, which could now rival ordinary first-rate Guilds.

“Zero Wing has truly been frightened by our monster army this time. Now, not only are Zero Wing's members not coming out of Zero Wing City, but they're not even operating within its vicinity anymore. I'm sure everyone present knows about the defensive capabilities of Zero Wing City. Currently, we still can't break through the city's defenses. However, we also can't let Zero Wing continue developing the city. Do any of you here have a good suggestion for dealing with this problem?” Knight's Judgment's Guild Leader, Shadowlight Axe, asked as he glanced at the dozen or so Guild representatives present

In reality, they were all caught off guard by Zero Wing's decisiveness. This was not the outcome they wished to see at all.

From an outsider's point of view, the monster legion their alliance created might seem very powerful, but the public did not know that a large number of lives were necessary to sustain these players' monster forms. Moreover, these lives needed to be willingly offered by players that were Level 50 or above. Hence, the Guilds could not allow their fight with Zero Wing to drag out.

“Since Zero Wing is so decisive in abandoning the Witch's Hill, let's think of a way to prevent Zero Wing from giving it up. We'll force Zero Wing to fight us.”

“That's right. We'll make Zero Wing fight even if it doesn't want to. Since Zero Wing is relying on Zero Wing City for its development, we'll make it so that it can't rely on the city at all. We can set up a teleportation seal on Zero Wing City and announce that, so long as Zero Wing refuses to fight us out in the fields, we'll kill every player that comes out of Zero Wing City. We'll kill these players until Zero Wing is willing to come out and do battle. If Zero Wing still refuses to fight us then, n.o.body will dare to visit Zero Wing City. At that time, let's see how Zero Wing develops using Zero Wing City!”

“This is a good idea. Zero Wing's main source of income right now is Zero Wing City. If Zero Wing City fails, Zero Wing won't get off scot-free, either. If Zero Wing doesn't want to see its city fail, it'll definitely have to fight us.”

“That's right! If Zero Wing really refuses to fight, it'll become the laughing stock of the kingdom! I want to see how Zero Wing plans on developing in Star-Moon Kingdom then!”

Everyone present nodded in agreement upon hearing this plan. They were all adamant about forcing Zero Wing into a fight.

Meanwhile, as the Starlight Alliance was planning all of this, s.h.i.+ Feng had finally arrived at Thunder Axe City's central district.

There was a lot of traffic in the city's central district. Despite there being no players here, the street was still crowded. NPC merchants of neutral races could be seen doing business all around, selling all kinds of items and materials, the quality of their products not the slightest bit inferior to those sold by player Shops.

However, s.h.i.+ Feng did not waste time sightseeing. Instead, he walked straight to a mansion located near the main street. Twenty Giant soldiers stood guard outside the mansion, every one of them a Level 180, Tier 2 soldier. The captain leading these soldiers was even a Level 180, Tier 3 Giant.

This mansion was none other than the residence of the Giant race's Great Elder.

Upon arriving at the mansion's entrance, s.h.i.+ Feng immediately told the guards there his purpose for visiting. After the guards relayed his words and received a reply, they led him into the gigantic mansion. Very quickly, s.h.i.+ Feng arrived in an elegant study where a white-robed elder sat.

Giants were natural-born warriors and were not adept at magic, yet the Great Elder was actually a Level 200, Tier 5 Grand Wizard. He would be considered an overlord-level existence even in an empire.

“It's been a long time since a human adventurer has visited this city. I heard that you have the power to activate the ancient teleportation array outside Thunder Axe City. May I know if this is true?” the Giant Elder asked softly as he observed s.h.i.+ Feng.

“That is correct. Here is the ancient cube I found. It is capable of activating the ancient teleportation array,” s.h.i.+ Feng replied, handing the Rubik's Cube he obtained from the Seven Luminaries Treasure Chest over to the Giant Elder.

“Sure enough, this is the teleportation array's teleportation core,” the Giant Elder said, his eyes glowing after he inspected the cube. In a somewhat excited tone, he added, “Thank you, human adventurer. This item is indeed what our Giant race has been searching for all this time. With this item, our Giant race will finally be free of the defensive seal that has been in place since ancient times! Since you have provided such a great help to our race, we Giants definitely won't mistreat you. Take this precious Giant's Holy Stone as a token of our race's grat.i.tude.”

After the Giant Elder was done speaking and s.h.i.+ Feng accepted the Giant's Holy Stone, a series of system notifications entered his ears.