Gravity Mountain Range, Rock Nest Fortress:
The Rock Nest Fortress stood atop the northern canyon. From afar, it looked like a nest, which was how it had earned its name. The fortress was easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, the fortress was filled with tens of thousands of Level 85-plus players that were busy slaying the fortress's prior residents, the Blackstone Ores.
Several tens of thousands of Blackstone Ores had garrisoned the fortress, but less than 10,000 remained. Lying quietly in the fortress's heart was the four-meter-tall Ore King, and all sorts of weapons, equipment, and materials were scattered around its corpse.
"I hadn't thought that capturing a fortress would be this profitable. It's no wonder why Thirteen Thrones is so eager to capture a second one," Nine Dragons Emperor said, sighing ruefully as he gazed at the items on the ground.
Even in the Gravity Mountain Range, Great Lord rank and higher monsters were relatively rare, yet the Rock Nest Fortress had been home to tons of them. Since this was the first time these monsters had been slain, their drop-rate was much higher than the monsters that wandered the map.
Clearing out the Blackstone Ores had yielded over 10,000 weapons and equipment pieces. Moreover, every item as Level 90 or above. There were even some Level 100 weapons and equipment among the loot.
Although most of the weapons and equipment were only Secret-Silver rank, with a few Fine-Gold rank items, it was more than enough to serve as interim equipment. At the very least, his subordinates could use these items to start raiding Level 90 super-large-scale Team Dungeons as soon as they were the appropriate level.
"It's only natural. Every fortress in the Gravity Mountain Range is a treasure trove. We had planned to work with Starlink to capture a Medium Fortress, but I hadn't expected Zero Wing to claim the Northern Fortress successfully.
We had no choice but to move forward with our plans," Blood Oath said. His voice cold, he continued, "Even with the Northern Fortress, I'll ensure that Zero Wing has no place on Dragonheart Island."
"That's right! That Zero Wing is too arrogant! They look down on you, Commander Blood," Nine Dragons Emperor said, nodding. "I suspect the Guild's members have already begun to panic. Without any visiting players, even the best fortress in the world is useless."
War Blood, Crimson Shadow, and Knight's Sword, three of Dragonheart Island's top 10 adventurer teams, had agreed to work together against Zero Wing. Not a single adventurer team on the island would dare cross these three. Furthermore, War Blood and Starlink were collaborating to seal off the northern region. Anyone that dared to explore the area would be making a one-way trip.
Aside from Zero Wing's members and Phoenix Rain's subordinates, no one would visit the Northern Fortress.
They had ensured that the Northern Fortress would be nothing more than a bottomless pit, steadily devouring Zero Wing's funds.
The Gravity Mountain Range's fortresses weren't like the fortresses in the outside world. Monster attacks were more frequent here. Maintaining a Small Fortress cost enough of a fortune to give superpowers a headache, not to mention a Medium Fortress's maintenance, and that was excluding the subsidies a power would need to pay the players that guarded the fortresses.
While Nine Dragons Emperor and Blood Oath conversed, a woman with an ancient bow approached.
"Commander, Zero Wing has made a move. They've mimicked out declaration, announcing that any player that entered the Rock Nest Forest will have no place in the Northern Fortress," Ink Feather announced, smiling as she read the report she had just received.
"They're trying to compete with our influence on Dragonheart Island? Black Flame is a fool. Does he really think Dragonheart Island is the same as Star-Moon Kingdom?" Blood Oath laughed.
"Commander Blood, I doubt that Black Flame knows that we've found a Mana Well in the Rock Nest Fortress.
Otherwise, he'd have never made this decision," Nine Dragons Emperor said, smirking.
The Mana Well was the Rock Nest Fortress's exclusive construction. Although repairing it would deplete their liquid funds, the Mana Well's effects were well worth the cost. With this Mana Well, players could fully recover their Stamina and Concentration within half an hour. The Mana Well's effects would tempt every player grinding in the Gravity Mountain Range.
The main reason that players visited fortresses was to rest and recover their Stamina and Concentration, and for the cost of one Ancient Gold Coin, players could make a full recovery within 30 minutes. Countless players on Dragonheart Island would seek this benefit.
As news of the Mana Well spread, even the players that visited the Thirteen Thrones' Small Fortress would likely s.h.i.+ft their attention to the Rock Nest Fortress, not to mention the powers that were considering setting up a base in the Northern Fortress.
"Since Black Flame is so eager to die, I don't mind sending him to his grave." Turning to Ink Feather, Blood Oath commanded, "Ink, quietly inform the various major powers on Dragonheart Island of the Mana Well. I'm sure they'll know what to do once they receive the news."
"Understood!"
Ink Feather grew even more eager to see s.h.i.+ Feng despair. Unless they were stupid, the various powers would recognize the most beneficial fortress once word of the Mana Well spread.
...
Meanwhile, in Thirteen Thrones' Residence in Dragonheart City...
"Zero Wing thinks that it can suppress War Blood just because it has captured a Medium Fortress? The Guild still isn't aware of how foolish its being," Elder Wu, who rested in his office, said as he read the report his subordinate had sent. "Thousand, have Lu Xingluo pay me a visit. Tell him that it's about capturing a Medium Fortress."
"Understood." The masked woman named Thousand Lives smiled and nodded.
In her opinion, Zero Wing was extremely foolish. The Guild simply didn't realize how powerful superpowers' foundations were.
Elsewhere, in the Gravity Mountain Range's Northern Fortress...
While Phoenix Rain organized the fortress's repairs, s.h.i.+ Feng concentrated on restoring the Defensive Magic Towers' magic arrays.
The Magic Crystals and Seven Luminaries Crystals he had spent to repair the towers only repaired the core crystals. It was barely enough to activate the towers. To restore the Defensive Magic Towers to full power, players needed to repair the magic arrays and magic circuits within the towers.
However, this wasn't an easy task. It required an Advanced Magician at the very least, and the work was intensively time-consuming. Fortunately, s.h.i.+ Feng was almost a Master Magician, so he could repair the arrays and circuits smoothly and swiftly.
Once the four Defensive Magic Towers' final magic circuit had been repaired, the towers' system interface reported that the towers were complete.
System: The Northern Fortress's Defensive Magic Towers have been fully repaired. It will cost 8,000 Magic Crystals to activate them and 6,000 Magic Crystals per day to maintain them. Do you wish to activate the Defensive Magic Towers?
Running at 100% efficiency is certainly expensive. s.h.i.+ Feng was a little astonished when he read the system notification. The towers' operation cost was much higher than an ordinary Magic Tower. Not even ordinary first-rate Guilds could afford to keep the Northern Fortress's Defensive Magic Towers running constantly.
However, s.h.i.+ Feng did not hesitate, activating the towers immediately.
After s.h.i.+ Feng had sacrificed the required Magic Crystals, a twofold magic array appeared above the Northern Fortress, enveloping it. The twofold magic array then created a double-layered magic barrier around the fortress, which was much stronger than the barrier s.h.i.+ Feng and Phoenix Rain's army had broken through.
At the same time, all of the Mana within a 10,000-yard radius of the Northern Fortress began to gather within the fortress's walls. The fortress's Mana density skyrocketed, especially in the fortress's core. The Mana there was so dense that it transformed into a white mist. The players within the mist felt an indescribably pleasant sensation course through them, and a second experience bar appeared below their main bar, show that they had acc.u.mulated the Double EXP buff...
The Dragon-Phoenix Pavilion members were dumbfounded.
"Aqua, how are the fortress's repairs coming along?" s.h.i.+ Feng asked after contacting Aqua Rose.
"We're 60% done. According to your instructions, we've prioritized hotels and accommodations, so they're ready now," Aqua Rose reported.
"Good. In that case, we can open the fortress to the public," s.h.i.+ Feng said, smiling. He then called up the Northern Fortress's system interface and did just that.
