Chapter 767 – Town’s Debut

“Remove the seal!”

When Shi Feng saw the system notification, he chose to unseal the town without hesitation.

In God’s Domain, if players did not remove the magic barrier sealing their Guild Towns, not only would the town be incapable of increasing its popularity, but it also couldn’t recruit any NPC Guards.

Of course, players didn’t really need to worry about their Guild Town’s safety within its 30-day protection period. So long as players weren’t in a hostile relationship with the local NPC ruling power, other players usually wouldn’t try to take the town by force during this period. Players also wouldn’t have to worry too much about the security inside their town as the local NPC ruling power would temporarily send a batch of NPC Guards to patrol the town during the protection period.

Meanwhile, as soon as Shi Feng confirmed his decision, the translucent barrier covering Shadowring Town vanished, and the town itself was no longer invisible when viewed from a distance. The monsters wandering the surrounding forest also noticed Shadowring Town’s presence, and they could attack the town at any moment.

Aside from monsters, the many player teams grinding in the Shadowring Basin also noticed Shadowring Town’s appearance right away.

“There are powerful mana fluctuations coming from over there”!

“What powerful energy fluctuations. Did some incredible treasure just reveal itself?”

“A Guild Town! There’s actually a Guild Town there!”

When the magic barrier covering Shadowring Town dissipated, many players sensitive to mana noticed the resulting mana fluctuations and decided to investigate the source. Then, they were briefly stunned when they discovered that a town had appeared in the Shadowring Basin. Immediately afterward, though, they began contacting their respective superiors while looking like maniacs.

“What did you say?! A Guild Town appeared in the core area?!”

“Keep your eye on it! Do not move your sight away for even a second! Also, try to figure out which power is behind that Guild Town!”

“Investigate the Guild Town’s defenses! If possible, we must capture it before the other powers make their move!”

The powers that learned of Shadowring Town’s existence promptly gathered their forces. They behaved as if the town was a lamb to the slaughter, and they worried other powers would snatch it from them if they were late by even a moment.

…

Meanwhile, shortly after the discovery of Shadowring Town, news of its existence also reached the Soul Lake Resurrection Camp.

“Guild Leader Black Flame, don’t you think you’ve taken too big of a risk this time? You didn’t even give us any time to prepare,” Frey said to Shi Feng resentfully through their video call. “Everyone in the World Ark already knows about Shadowring Town by now. Aside from the various pseudo-apex powers, the various apex powers have also mobilized their armies to the town.”

“That’s right. I have also received information that the two royal powers operating in the World Ark have mobilized their forces. By the looks of it, they intend to capture the town by force,” Garut said as he massaged his aching temples. He never thought Shi Feng would act so rashly.

Although Shi Feng had told them he intended to construct a Guild Town in the World Ark’s core area, they never expected him to complete construction so soon. Moreover, he had even unsealed the town without giving them any prior notice. With the situation as it was, they wouldn’t even have time to send reinforcements to the town.

It should be known that the World Ark was one of the few high-level World Mode Regional Dungeons in the Eternal Realm. Merely the resources available in the inner area were enough to cause the various powers to fight tooth and nail.

The value of a Guild Town in the core area was immeasurable. No power in the Eternal Realm could resist its allure. They would undoubtedly attempt to capture it, regardless of its protection period. After all, the advantages a core area Guild Town offered were simply too vast to ignore. Whoever owned the Guild Town could gain a massive lead over all other powers in the World Ark.

Not to mention, now that most of the players operating in the World Ark had reached Level 180 and beyond, achieving victory against a bunch of Level 200-plus, Tier 6 NPC Guards would no longer be a dream. While assaulting the Guild Town would likely result in substantial casualties, the potential rewards far outweighed the risks.

Under normal circumstances, so long as Zero Wing, Azure Fang, and the Red Dragon Nation were willing to mobilize all their forces, combined with the defensive prowess offered to a Guild Town during its protection period, it would still be possible for them to defend the Guild Town.

But now, they didn’t have even a sliver of a chance to defend Shadowring Town…

Currently, powers from the human race and the Holy Race were marching their armies toward Shadowring Town. Even if their three Guilds could send some forces to defend the town now, they wouldn’t be able to send all their forces immediately, especially not their trump cards that were tied up in other locations. Meanwhile, without these trump cards, even resisting the armies of the various human race’s apex powers would be a dream, let alone the Holy Race’s royal powers.

“You two don’t have to worry about this. Even if all powers in the current Eternal Realm gathered, they shouldn’t think of capturing Shadowring Town,” Shi Feng said, chuckling when he saw the worried looks on Frey and Garut. “Rather than worry about the town, you two should make sure nobody learns that you own permanent shops and land in Shadowring Town. Otherwise, there is nothing I can do to save you.”

Shi Feng naturally understood the consequences of unsealing Shadowring Town so soon. In fact, he knew much more than Frey and Garut how crazily the various powers would react to Shadowring Town’s discovery. After all, the various powers of both races had fought intensely over the twelve settlements surrounding Holy Ring City. The battles had been so intense that some pseudo-apex powers had even been forced to retire from God’s Domain.

“Are you really confident in defending it, Guild Leader Black Flame?” Frey asked as she stared at Shi Feng with anxiety and expectation.

Previously, she had remained skeptical about Shi Feng’s claim of constructing a Guild Town in the World Ark’s core area. Even after formalizing their transaction with a God’s Domain Contract, she still found the matter surreal, and she had braced herself for the possibility of seeing her investment of 25 million units of Seven Luminaries Crystal disappear into thin air.

However, after seeing footage of Shadowring Town, she started to grow fearful. She feared that the opportunity to soar to much greater heights would slip out of her hands.

“Naturally. Well, you’ll know whether I am lying when the time comes.” When Shi Feng saw that Frey remained anxious despite his assurance, he decided to offer a simple response before disconnecting the call.

After hanging up the video call, Shi Feng shifted his gaze toward the NPC Recruitment tab in the Town System Interface before him.

Although the current Eternal Realm remained in its infancy phase, after witnessing the forces the various apex and royal powers possessed, Shi Feng knew it would be incredibly risky to rely solely on the temporary forces dispatched by Holy Ring City to defend Shadowring Town. If the various apex powers and two royal powers operating in the World Ark decided to go all out, they could even succeed at capturing one of the weaker Neutral Cities in the Eternal Realm, let alone a Guild Town in its protection period. It was only a question of whether these powers were willing to bear the cost of doing so.

Fortunately, Zero Wing had secured the Nameless City’s treasury, allowing it to obtain a large amount of Divine Water of Life. If used adequately, Shadowring Town could probably withstand an attack from even an entire royal power, let alone the limited forces the various apex and royal powers currently had in the Eternal Realm.

…

TL Notes:

[1]an entire royal power: This is referring to all the forces a royal power has in the Holy Race’s Greater God’s Domain.