Chapter 1750 - Establishing an Adventurer Alliance
Inside the silent hall, the handsome man's shout immediately made Hecate's upper echelon tremble involuntarily.
Although they were part of the upper echelon of Hecate and possessed great individual strength, when facing the handsome man before them, they instinctively felt a sense of awe towards him.
The reason for this was the identity of the male youth before them. He was none other than Carnage, the player nicknamed Hell Knight, who was also one of Hecate's Vice Guild Leaders.
Although Carnage was baby-faced, in reality, he was already over 40 years old, much older than they were. Moreover, he had worked as a mercenary and was nicknamed the God of Death.
It was no exaggeration to say that a large part of Hecate's current success was due to Carnage.
Moreover, Carnage was also the head instructor for Hecate's internal training program, and every one of them present inside the meeting hall right now had actually received his tuition. Even Vast Heaven owed the strength he had today to Carnage's tutelage. Meanwhile, the training they had undergone was akin to going through hell.
Hence, they knew exactly what kind of personality Carnage had.
Normally, he didn't lose his temper easily. When he did get angry, however, it was like hell descending on the world. And right now, they could sense that he was furious.
However, his reaction was only natural.
Of the 3,000 elite and expert members the Guild had sent to the Snow Rift, over 2,000 had gotten killed. Even when Hecate went to deal with the Centurion Dynasty, it had not suffered such a staggering loss. Yet, now, the Guild had sustained such casualties just because often players.
The Guild used tons of resources to nurture its elite and expert members. After opening up the path to Cold Wind City, it had sent only 1,000 expert players over. Only after arriving at Cold Wind City and annexing the entire Matchless Family did Hecate's Guild member count in Cold Wind City skyrocket, the number of elite and expert members breaching 10,000. Meanwhile, among the 3,000 players Vast Heaven had brought to the Snow Rift, nearly 400 were the Guild's original expert players. And among the 2,000-plus players that were killed, 300-plus were these original experts—the equivalent to losing more than one-third of the total number of experts Hecate had in Cold Wind City. This was a massive loss.
The levels lost was one thing; the crucial point was the weapons and equipment lost.
In the Ice Crystal World, Guild elites and experts relied mainly on Lifestyle Players for their weapons and equipment However, very few Lifestyle Players could produce weapons and equipment of suitable standards for elite and expert players. Not to mention, the materials needed to produce Level 50 Secret-Silver Weapons and Equipment were also extremely valuable and very difficult to acquire.
Meanwhile, based on the post-war statistics, they had lost over 200 pieces of Level 50 Secret-Silver Equipment Since producing just one piece of Level 50 Secret-Silver Equipment already required a lot of time and resources—all the more for 200 pieces—this loss would severely impact their Guild's raid progress of the Snow Rift.
"Vice Guild Leader, we've already done a thorough investigation. The people who targeted us this time are all experts of the Asura adventurer team that had disappeared previously. From what we heard, it seems that these experts had gone with their commander on an expedition. However, the strange part is that these experts weren't so strong before. Right now, we still don't know how they managed to gain the combat power they have," a Level 52 Elementalist reported in a careful tone.
"They suddenly became stronger?" Carnage's lips curled up slightly as he read the report his subordinate sent him. "This is interesting. They're just a bunch of hillbillies, yet not only did they gain a massive boost in Basic Attributes after going out on an expedition, but even their combat standards have undergone a qualitative transformation? It seems this Asura adventurer team has quite a huge secret
"Investigate this matter immediately! Use every means available to dig out this secret! As long as Hecate acquires it, then the day Hecate becomes the number one Guild in the north will be just around the corner!
"Right, also notify the main branch to send the Twelve Heavens to Cold Wind City."
Upon hearing Carnage's command, everyone in the room was shocked despite themselves.
They had never thought that Carnage would actually summon the Twelve Heavens to a backwater like Cold Wind City. The Twelve Heavens were the apex combatants of Hecate. In Cold Wind City, aside from Carnage, Vast Heaven was the strongest member of Hecate present. Even so, Vast Heaven's level was still insufficient for him to become one of the Twelve Heavens, only qualifying as a reserve member, at most.
Normally, the Twelve Heavens would be split up and dispatched to Hecate's various Branch Guilds. Nevertheless, Carnage was having all twelve of them come. Hecate's upper echelon shuddered in fear just thinking about this matter.
These people could still remember the last time the Twelve Heavens were all together. Back then, they were gathered to help repel the siege of a super-first-rate Guild's army. In the end, due to the Twelve Heavens, the invading super-first-rate Guild had no choice but to give up on capturing one of Hecate's Guild Towns. Yet, now, Carnage was actually mobilizing the Twelve Heavens just to deal with a single adventurer team. This was simply insane.
Elsewhere, Shi Feng and the others had already returned to Cold Wind City.
After reaching the city, the group discovered that nothing much had changed there. The player population in the city had increased only slightly, with the majority of the newcomers being new players to God's Domain, and a small portion being
Hecate's Guild members. Unlike on the continent of God's Domain, players belonging to the Ice Crystal World couldn't travel freely between different cities.
In the Ice Crystal World, travel between two different cities generally required players to unlock the gate separating the two cities first. Another method was to use a special pathway. However, activating such special pathways was very troublesome. These pathways also had many restrictions. Hence, ordinary players couldn't travel freely between different cities.
Currently, outside Asura's Residence, Asura's members crowded around the entrance as they welcomed Shi Feng and the others' return.
"It's the commander! The commander is back!"
"All hail the commander!"
"Asura is invincible!"
The Asura adventurer team's members were all thrilled to see Shi Feng. The shouting of thousands of players echoed throughout the streets of Cold Wind City, firing up the independent players that had come to join in on the fun.
Due to Shi Feng and the others defeating Hecate's army, Asura's fame in Cold Wind City had recovered to its peak. In fact, the adventurer team's fame was even greater than before. The strength Shi Feng's group displayed had captivated the independent players of Cold Wind City. As a result, many independent players were now hoping to join Asura.
"Commander, with this, I'm afraid the various large Guilds of Cold Wind City will target our adventurer team," Solitary Nine said, revealing a bitter smile as he looked at the crowded street around him.
The goal of Guilds was to take control of NPC cities. Meanwhile, unlike in the NPC cities on the continent of God's Domain, players could gain a small portion of control over the NPCs in the Ice Crystal World. Doing so required the support of a large number of players. At the same time, players also needed to complete a series of contributions to the city.
At this point, the Asura adventurer team's strength was completely different from before.
Currently, aside from Asura's members, hundreds of thousands of players crowded the street outside Asura's Residence.
One could easily imagine how high the Asura adventurer team's prestige and reputation were in Cold Wind City right now. With so many players willing to join the adventurer team, all Asura needed to do was complete a series of contributions to the city; then, it could become the true overlord of Cold Wind City.
With such a situation, how could the various large Guilds of Cold Wind City possibly let Asura operate unhindered?
The large Guilds would undoubtedly treat Asura as a thorn in their side and try to deal with it as soon as possible.
"Don't mind them. If they want a fight, we'll give them a fight," Shi Feng said, chuckling. "Moreover, my original goal was to take control of Cold Wind City and make it the foundation of our Asura adventurer team."
Solitary Nine and the others could not help their stupefaction at Shi Feng's words.
They had thought that Shi Feng's purpose behind revisiting Cold Wind City was simply a quest. Now, however, it would seem that Shi Feng's sights were set much higher than they had imagined.
The thought of an adventurer team taking control of an entire NPC city was simply too crazy.
"Since so many people have come, I'm making an announcement in my capacity as Asura's commander. From today onward, the Asura adventurer team will be establishing an Adventurer Alliance. We welcome all adventurer teams and independent players to join this alliance! Any adventurer team and independent player that joins this alliance will enjoy a portion of the benefits offered by the Asura adventurer team!" Shi Feng declared loudly as he looked at the crowded street around him.