Territory Contest, Alliances and Rivalries

The other members, who had come to help out of guild loyalty, didn't linger long after hearing this, and left after telling the three to be careful.

Zheng Guohua originally intended to suspend today's trading trip, but under the insistence of his two sons, he had no choice but to agree to continue.

"Ah, actually I'm safe now."

"The system has a five-times-death protection. After dying five times, it can't attack me anymore. I can walk around like a madman for 24 hours, haha." He reassured me, trying to sound relaxed.

"Who knows where those people come from?" Zheng Yingjie sneered. "They probably haven't gone far at all. They're just being annoying, knowing you won't drop any more items, yet they still insist on interrupting your trade run."

"Aren't there plenty of people like this in the God's Domain who enjoy disgusting others?"

He couldn't wait for them to reappear so he could have a chance to turn on them—a bunch of cowards who only know how to win by sheer numbers!

Meanwhile, the group that had long since fled were gathered in a secluded cave, tallying up the spoils of their "operation."

A dozen or so people sat in a circle, examining the various props in the team's inventory that had been obtained "effortlessly".

"I had good luck today, ran into several 'easy targets,' so at least I didn't lose money."

A voice rang out; it was the same player who had spoken with Zheng Guohua earlier.

He tallied his spoils, his tone quite satisfied. "Those Temporary Resurrection Array weren't cheap. If we don't grab as much as possible, it'll be a huge loss for the brothers to sacrifice their time farming and camping."

"How dare you say that?" His companion, who had interrupted him earlier, immediately rebuked him, "How many times have I reminded you? Better safe than sorry, talk less and do more!"

"You're just ignoring me?"

"If your loose tongue causes everyone's identities to be exposed, can you take the responsibility?"

"Tsk, I didn't reveal anything." The man who spoke earlier sounded a bit impatient. "But speaking of which, people from big guilds are different. That old man's equipment is in pretty good condition; it'll fetch a good price."

"He's just a casual player, but his two sons have some standing in the 'Against the Heaven-Defying Guild'."

"Don't cause any more trouble, understand?"

Seeing that he still looked so nonchalant, his companion couldn't help but raise his voice.

"Damn it! I told you I know what I'm doing! Are you deliberately picking a fight? You're asking for it!" The player, who had been repeatedly criticized, also got angry.

Seeing the two arguing and the atmosphere suddenly becoming tense, the team leader immediately stepped in to mediate. "Say less, both of you! Third Brother is just thinking about the team's safety; it's never wrong to be cautious."

"Fifth brother, don't take it to heart."

"If our identities are exposed, we won't be able to stay in our respective guilds anymore—don't forget, we won't even bother robbing our own guild members."

"If this gets out, everyone will want to kill him."

"Caution is necessary, but unity is even more important! We are all in the same boat now!"

Upon hearing the leader speak, the Third Brother and fifth brothers glared at each other. Although neither was convinced, they managed to suppress their anger for the time being.

The leader's words made sense: these people came from different guilds and were all players who wanted to take shortcuts to quickly improve their strength. They were secretly linked together by the leader to form this team.

No one wanted their guild to know about this, especially since they had a history of exploiting their own members.

However, it must be admitted that this "no-capital business" is incredibly lucrative.

Indeed, the ways ordinary people make big money are all hidden within certain methods.

They've only done it a few times, but the results are already quite considerable.

The haul included several pieces of decent equipment, as well as some miscellaneous items and coins.

If you rely on your own hard work, it would take six months to a year to achieve that.

Now it's just a few robberies; they've let go of their moral burdens and obtained the spoils directly.

No wonder Legend was so popular back then; it greatly catered to the mentality of many thugs.

Fighting monsters is nothing compared to the thrill of robbing!

The props and coins are easy to dispose of, but to avoid attracting attention, the equipment should not be sold immediately.

Replace any old parts you can with new ones; store the rest in the warehouse if you can't replace them yet.

We'll wait until this storm passes before making our move.

Viewing equipment requires the player's consent to be displayed; they can simply choose not to display it.

Of course, this is also a potential problem, as some people will forget this point in order to show off.

"As previously agreed, the proceeds from the sale of coins and materials will be split equally; the equipment will remain with me for now."

"I will set up a stall to sell my wares when the opportunity arises, trying to avoid auction houses to avoid attracting attention."

"Today's Temporary Resurrection Array has been exhausted; assemble as usual tomorrow."

"Everyone can return to the guild first. Those who need to farm should go farm, but remember to be careful with your words and actions, and observe more and speak less."

At this point, my gaze involuntarily swept over the fifth brother—his forgetful memory was truly worrying.

They are not the only team engaged in this kind of business.

Similar incidents are commonplace across various servers, and the forums are already filled with complaints. Some self-proclaimed righteous groups have even emerged, dedicated to searching for these clandestine gangs.

Someone angrily asked, "Isn't the Legion Guild going to do anything about this?"

"Let them disrupt players' leveling up? How many people have had to give up the game because of this! Those guys who sabotage us behind the scenes are truly hateful; they'll get their comeuppance sooner or later!"

"Damn it, is Junfu the game planner? How could he let these players rob us like this?"

"Another victim venting their anger on the forum? Watch out, you might get targeted."

"I heard that someone has been besieged for two days straight for talking too much, repeatedly sent back to the respawn point, basically saying goodbye to the God's Domain."

"Absolutely! It's outrageous!"

"They not only ambush lone players in the wild, but they also remember those who criticize them and seek revenge later."

"The most troublesome thing is that we can't find out their identities at all—the Concealment Mask from the Training Tower Marketplace are such a nuisance, they should really be removed!"

"Cancel? Who would you even contact? The game developers wouldn't care."

"The only option now is to stick together; the Legion Guild can't do anything about them right now."

The Legion Guild did attempt to track down these clandestine groups.

However, similar groups exist in each region, and it can be almost certainly concluded that they belong to different guilds.

After all, even members of major guilds had been victimized, so in this respect they were "equal in treating everyone".

And there must have been an undercover agent; otherwise, they couldn't have seized the opportunity so well.

This has caused large guild groups to lose their proper function as information platforms.

Many people exchange information in their own small groups, and they won't casually share their wilderness information with others unless they are absolutely reliable.

This chaos finally prompted the major guilds to unite in their hatred of the enemy.

At first, they remained neutral, unwilling to get involved in the "minor" sneak attacks, until their own members were successively harmed, even leading to infighting.

They then realized something was wrong and began discussing organizing patrol teams in conjunction with the Legion Guild of various regions.

They at least adopted a deterrent stance to curb that unbridled trend.

Currently, most Earth players are living in fear, and Zhang Mingzhen is probably the only one who dares to venture out alone in the wild.

He had glimpsed the turmoil on the forum, but hadn't taken it to heart.

Firstly, he has no fear of being surrounded and attacked; if he were to encounter misfortune, it would certainly not be him.

Secondly, he has been farming in high-level areas.

Since the update and its release, he has never left the area around the Undersea Dragon Palace —there have never been any other players there.

It wasn't that he didn't want to leave, but rather that he had found a suitable wilderness area on the outskirts of the Dragon Palace: there roamed an 84-level Warcraft called the "Bloodthirsty Shark," whose experience was no less than that of the beach murlocs.

Moreover, this place is closer to Dragon Palace City, and he still needs to return to the city to complete some tasks.

At this very moment.

A swarm of Bloodthirsty Shark launched a fierce attack on the intruders, but damage numbers kept flashing around Zhang Mingzhen, preventing the sharks from getting close.

He has maintained a high-intensity clearing pace for the past two days, simply because he is just one step away from reaching level 79.

He had already used up all his dungeon attempts for the week, and planned to level up to 79 and then take a break until he finished the Mechanism Island dungeon next Monday before breaking through to 80.

I haven't used any of the battlefield Experience Pill I've accumulated over the past few days, because I'm worried about leveling up too quickly and missing out on dungeon entry.

Sometimes, climbing the ranks too quickly can actually cause problems.

Unfortunately, he can only challenge the dungeon twice a week, with each Hell difficulty dungeon yielding twelve Amulet Fragment, for a maximum of twenty-four fragments per week.

Even if I play two more times next week, I still won't be able to collect the required number. I can only hope that the fragments will continue to drop in subsequent dungeons; otherwise, I'll have to buy them from other players.

The system notification finally appeared. "Congratulations on leveling up!"

His character has finally reached level 79, and today's chapter of Kiyono should come to an end.

Although Experience Pill can be accumulated, the daily number of fish-eating opportunities at the hot springs cannot be carried over to the next day; they must be used up, otherwise they will be reset the next day.

Fortunately, each major city has hot springs, and the Undersea Dragon Palace also has hot springs.

The hot springs were even of a higher quality than those in Fragrant Cloud City, which was one of the reasons he lingered there.

"Chongxing? Another hot spring bath? No one can resist the underwater hot springs of our Dragon Palace, haha! Want to grab a fish while you're at it?"

The moment Zhang Mingzhen stepped into the hot spring, he was spotted by a Fish-Dragon Clan merchant named "Jar" Undersea Dragon Palace.

This merchant always enthusiastically promoted his goods to foreign customers, and Zhang Mingzhen had previously purchased quite a few Chirping Fish from him.

The Chirping Fish is Spirit Seed. After consuming it, one can absorb abundant experience every moment for half an hour. However, only one fish can be used per day.

This fish is the most expensive and most effective among all the fish sold by hot spring vendors.

Zhang Mingzhen once compared the experience gained from the Chirping Fish and the Spirit Realm Fish. Although the total amount was similar, the Chirping Fish only required half the time to consume the Spirit Realm Fish.

However, it is expensive and cannot be obtained by fishing. It can only be redeemed with points from the Training Tower Marketplace or purchased at a high price from the hot springs unique to the Undersea Dragon Palace.

He bought a number of "Chirping Fish," consumed them, and then dived into a hot spring at the bottom of the sea.

I've decided to log off temporarily and take this opportunity to browse the recent forum discussions.

Due to the intense battle mode, the wilderness in various regions has fallen into chaos, but the fighting is sporadic and has not yet caused a major disaster.

The lone wolf has indeed been restricted, with some even afraid to wear high-level equipment when traveling, and a large number of people buying up Resurrection Medicine, clearly because experts are worried about losing their cultivation if they perish.

Having not returned to the inland for several days, he was unsure of the conditions in the wilderness and wanted to go and see for himself.

However, the next day was Sunday, and normally the news of the Territory War should have been announced long ago, and those guilds must have been anxiously waiting.

Just as I was thinking this, a world announcement appeared.

And the scope of the update actually exceeded expectations!

System announcement: "The first Territory War will begin this Sunday. Guilds in all regions need to register one hour in advance."

"Once the event begins, all guild members will be directly transferred to the central battle zone."

"You may only leave after the battle is over; those who leave midway may not re-enter."

"Guilds that occupy territory during wartime will grant their members a continuous experience boost."

"After the event ends and the guild leaves the central area, the guild that occupies the city will receive a share of the city's profits. Members will also receive additional rewards for occupying the city, and their experience gained from hunting in the wild will increase by one percent."

"During Territory War, players who die will not lose equipment or experience."

"The occupied cities will activate Teleportation Array, open to all players. By paying silver, players can use the arrays to travel between cities."

"The current average player level has exceeded the beginner level. Starting next week, the Experience Pill rewards for Capture the Flag will be updated to a fixed amount."

"We hope all players will frequently run dungeons to increase their combat power."

The announcement from this system left everyone stunned.

The large guild, which had been confident of victory, was caught off guard and urgently convened a meeting to reorganize its strategy.

After all, this time everyone was forced to participate, including the logistics staff.

That's very dangerous.

Smaller guilds that had not previously participated in the battle felt an increased sense of urgency due to the cancellation of battlefield Experience Pill.

Zhang Mingzhen did not care about the elimination of the Experience Pill.

After all, the benefits he had gained from the Experience Pill earlier had been diminished, and it was the announcement of the Territory War that piqued his interest.

Unexpectedly, this great battle is not limited to this region, but is directly aimed at players across all servers on Earth, making the difficulty increase significantly.

To seize a city among global guilds under such immense pressure is no easy feat.

Even he was surprised, and the other guild players felt as if they had been tricked.

"When did we say this was a battle for the entire server?"

"How can our small guild possibly contend with thousands of guilds, large and small?"

"Even if registration is required, there are already more than a dozen Powerful guilds in one region."

"Some guilds will definitely back down. What guild dares to say that it can stand alone against all the others and firmly hold its ground?"

"So, it's about forming alliances and counter-alliances?"

"They'll definitely form an alliance, large and small, to seize a city and take turns ruling."

"Yes, we need to visit a few major guilds and ask if they'd like to cooperate!"

"If we don't join forces, signing up will only be a joke."

Players are actively discussing this update.

Most members of small and medium-sized guilds, who had previously hesitated, have now completely given up.

"Forget it, I've said it before, capturing a city isn't easy. It's ultimately a battle between major guilds; we'd just be cannon fodder if we went."

"Yes, we can use the saved time for other things; there are still so many dungeons we haven't explored yet."

"That's not necessarily true. With alliances and strategic maneuvering, the major guilds will certainly be willing to pay a high price."

"Yes, what if we're lucky enough to capture a city? Champa also offers valuable experience. Even if we ultimately lose, holding onto it temporarily can still greatly increase the members' experience."

Since the Game System released the specific rules for the territory conquest event, prices in all regions have started to rise.

Many merchants have also begun contacting major guilds, offering services such as account boosting, infiltration, and provocation to incite hatred...

This game is actually a reflection of real-world warfare.

The prices of potions and weapons that can directly enhance combat effectiveness, in particular, have skyrocketed.

Several guilds even fought on the spot over a few top-tier pieces of equipment listed in the auction house, resulting in frequent conflicts.