Translator: Hellscythe_ Editor: Vampirecat
Chapter 1034 – Crimson Emperor
Upon returning to White River City, Shi Feng discovered that the number of players teleporting into the city had increased, particularly the members of other Guilds.
All around, he could see Guild players. Moreover, they were extraordinarily high-leveled, with the lowest being Level 39 and the team leaders being Level 40 experts at the very least.
This situation confused Shi Feng slightly. However, he quickly shook the thought out of his head. Right now, hiring NPC managers for the Battle Arena had utmost importance. To avoid attention, he took an advanced horse carriage to the Adventurer’s Association.
Shortly after Shi Feng left the Teleportation Hall, a team of 20 players appeared inside. These players each wore an emblem shaped like a crimson flame. The lowest leveled player among them was Level 40. The equipment they wore also radiated the glowing effects unique to Dark-Gold Equipment.
The white-haired man standing at the head of the group was even a Level 41 Guardian Knight, whose appearance suggested that he had experienced the vicissitudes of life. The man carried a diamond-shaped shield with a dragon printed on it slung on his back and a blood-red longsword inserted inside the shield. Despite this longsword clearly being a one-handed sword, the width of its guard was wider than the man’s shoulders, while the length of its hilt matched a two-handed sword’s. Combined with the blade, the sword was nearly as tall as he was.
Seen from afar, the man appeared to wield a bloody cross. As he stood in the spacious Teleportation Hall, he was extremely conspicuous.
Yet, despite the eye-catching composition of this team of 20, everyone who saw this team would almost immediately shift their gazes away, not daring to take a second look.
The reason for such a reaction was these players’ emblem, which indicated they belonged to the Dark Night Empire’s veteran super-first-rate Guild, Crimson Emperor. Crimson Emperor was also the ruler of the Dark Night Empire; no Guild in the entire empire dared to make an enemy of it.
The Guardian Knight leading the team was even head and shoulders above his team members. He was Crimson Emperor’s top five Guardian Knight, Cuttlefish, also known as the Iron Wall, and someone who had witnessed Crimson Emperor’s gradual growth from an ordinary Guild into the super-first-rate Guild it was today.
At this time, a middle-aged man on the team looked towards the leading Guardian Knight and asked, “Uncle Cuttlefish, we were in the middle of raiding a Hell Mode large-scale Team Dungeon. Why did you suddenly call us to come all the way over here?”
“I’ve also just received a notice about this from the Guild. It seems that some ancient ruins were found at the Twin Towers Kingdom. Currently, all Guilds that have received news about it have already dispatched teams. Crimson Emperor naturally cannot let this opportunity pass, either,” Cuttlefish replied. Although he was already an old man in his 60s, his voice was just like a young man’s, filled with energy.
“Ancient ruins?” An elegant and slim female Elementalist asked curiously, “Is there something special about those ruins? Is there really a need for us main force members to take action as well?”
“That’s right. The ancient ruins discovered are like a huge maze. It is massive inside; however, only teams of 20 are allowed. After entering, teams are immediately teleported to an area with monsters that have a chance of dropping a kind of slate fragment. Those who complete a set can exchange for a Mount inside the maze. Based on what we know so far, there are even Mysterious-Iron Mounts available for exchange. Moreover, this was only in the outer area. Currently, the various Guilds are frantically fighting over the monsters inside. It is very difficult to enter the ancient ruins. The requirement for personal strength is extremely high. For efficiency’s sake, the Guild Leader is sending us to pioneer the way,” Cuttlefish explained.
Everyone else on the team immediately gaped in shock upon hearing this.
The importance of Mounts to a Guild went without saying. Just the number of Bronze Mounts Crimson Emperor obtained was not even enough for the Guild’s internal experts, much less Mysterious-Iron Mounts. Yet, now, they could obtain Mysterious-Iron Mounts just by grinding in the outer area of some ancient ruins. Naturally, the upper echelons would freak out over this opportunity.
“However, before we head to the ruins, we need to establish a stronghold in White River City. So, Poisoned, you’ll be responsible for visiting Zero Wing’s Residence and negotiating with them. Based on our investigations, Zero Wing has purchased the several plots of Land around the teleportation house. Tell them that Crimson Emperor is interested in purchasing one. As for everyone else, split up and purchase some potions and scrolls,” Cuttlefish instructed.
“Uncle Cuttlefish, Zero Wing is just an upstart Guild. Is there a need for Poisoned to make a special trip there? We are Crimson Emperor. If we want to buy a worthless plot of Land, won’t it be a done deal so long as we say the word?” a Level 40 Assassin asked in a somewhat displeased tone.
Crimson Emperor was a veteran super-first-rate Guild. Nobody in the virtual gaming world did not know about it. The various Guilds in the Dark Night Empire also feared it greatly. Now, their Guild simply wanted to purchase a worthless plot of Land, yet they, members of Crimson Emperor’s main force, were actually sent to handle the negotiations. This was making a mountain out of a molehill.
“If things could really be settled with just a word, I wouldn’t have Poisoned head over, either.” Cuttlefish could not help but smile bitterly. “Alright, enough. Poisoned, you head over and negotiate with Zero Wing. Make sure to pay attention to your attitude when negotiating with them. If they really won’t sell, then there’s no need to force the matter. God’s Domain is unlike any other virtual reality game that has existed in the past. I believe that you guys have felt it as well. The waters in this game are much deeper than they appear to be. There is naturally a reason for Zero Wing being able to become Star-Moon Kingdom’s number one Guild.”
The female Elementalist named Poisoned Wine silently nodded her head. Inwardly, though, she, too, felt that Cuttlefish was making too much of Zero Wing.
…
Inside the Adventurer’s Association…
Shi Feng directly switched to his Spirit Slayer title and walked up to the front counter. Upon seeing Shi Feng, the blond receptionist with green eyes immediately received him with great respect.
“Lord Spirit Slayer, how may I be of service to you today?” the NPC receptionist asked respectfully.
“I wish to hire some advanced managers,” Shi Feng replied.
“Alright, then. Please follow me to the VIP room on the second floor. We’ll bring the related documents over to you right away.” The NPC receptionist bowed before leading Shi Feng up to the second floor.
This scene immediately stupefied the players who had come to the establishment to receive quests.
“Who is that person? He actually got the receptionist beauty to escort him. Even a Viscount of the city doesn’t get to enjoy such treatment!”
“That person is surely a top-tier expert. It would be great if I could get to know him.”
The players inside the main hall watched Shi Feng enviously as he walked upstairs.
Shortly after Shi Feng arrived at the VIP room on the second floor, the NPC receptionist handed a file to him.
The four-star treatment really is fantastic! After taking just a glance at the first page of the file, Shi Feng was shocked.
In God’s Domain, players who wanted to hire advanced NPCs could do so only through the Adventurer’s Association. However, there were differences between advanced NPCs, with some possessing higher intelligence and some lower. The higher the intelligence an NPC possessed, the more human-like they would be. NPC managers with higher intelligence would be able to manage their tasks more effectively. Some NPCs even possessed management skills that were superior to players’. They were also more professional.
Take Anna for example. Her intelligence was truly extreme. She could easily manage the entire Starstreak Trading Firm all by herself. However, NPC managers on Anna’s level could be encountered only with luck. Shi Feng had chanced upon Anna due entirely to a quest. Normally, encountering such an NPC was impossible.
Generally, NPCs with more than 50 Wisdom could already serve as considerably good managers, while NPCs whose Wisdom reached 60 points were quite remarkable already. As for NPCs with 70 Wisdom, only Tier 2 Mages could achieve that standard.
In the past, among the managers Shi Feng had met, even the one with the highest Wisdom had only 73 points in the Attribute. Moreover, that NPC had already been considerably advanced in age. Even so, Shi Feng had been quite excited when he found that old man. Back then, the old man had been able to manage an Auction House single-handedly with perfect order.
Now, however, among the 30 NPCs listed on the first page, Shi Feng could see more than ten with over 60 Wisdom. Among them, there was even one with 71 Wisdom—and this was only the first page. The file the NPC receptionist had handed him had over a hundred pages.
