Chapter 666 - Shocking Income
“What?!”
“Stone Forest Town is open to outsiders? And it has a smithy that can repair equipment?!”
When the various teams in Stoneclaw Mountain received this information, they acted as if they had just found out that the sky was falling.
Stone Forest Town was just an hour away from the Stoneclaw Mountains. Even a round trip would just take two hours. It was far less time compared to the supply parties that took over ten hours to travel from Star-Moon City.
“Let’s go; we’re going to Stone Forest Town.”
The leaders of the various teams immediately issued orders upon receiving this news and quickly made their way to Stone Forest Town.
In truth, they were going to Stone Forest Town not just to repair their equipment, but to hasten their Stamina and Concentration recovery as well. The recovery rate in the Field Tents was just too slow.
In just a few hours, the previously quiet Stone Forest Town became very lively.
“Guild Leader, I understand sheltering Ouroboros’s members, but why are you allowing everyone to rest in town? Aren’t we giving away our advantage?” Aqua Rose asked in confusion. Currently, she stood on the Guild Residence’s observation deck, looking down at the members of the various large Guilds. Seeing their merry spirits, it looked as if they were celebrating New Year’s Eve.
Although more Guilds gathered in the Stoneclaw Mountains as time passed, none of them had any chance of capturing Stone Forest Town. If they limited entry to Zero Wing and Ouroboros’s members, both Guilds could obtain far more Magic Crystals than their competitors. At that time, they could definitely nurture experts much faster than the other Guilds and could use the opportunity to widen the gap between themselves and the other Guilds.
Yet, now, after struggling through so many challenges to reconstruct the town, Shi Feng chose to permit entry to everyone. How were they supposed to widen the gap now?
“You’re placing too much importance on the profit right before your eyes. At the end of the day, the Stoneclaw Mountains is only a Regional Dungeon. It is not the only place players can obtain Magic Crystals. Moreover, as everyone’s levels increase, the various Guilds’ core members will be able to use Mounts at Level 40. At that time, we will regain our lead,” Shi Feng said, laughing. “Moreover, I didn’t build this town just so we could obtain more Magic Crystals. It’s also meant to earn money for the Guild.”
“Earn money?” Aqua Rose was confused. “Although we have the advantage of owning the town, most likely, the various large Guilds will use the Consumables they produced rather than purchase the items from the Candlelight Trading Firm. How are we supposed to make money?”
“Look at the smithy.” Shi Feng pointed towards the smithy in the distance. At the moment, there was a very long line outside of the smithy. “That’s where we’ll make our money.”
Currently, there were several hundred players outside the smithy. Every one of them carried an entire team’s worth of equipment. Several hundred players meant several hundred 100-man team’s equipment. One could just imagine how profitable the equipment repair business was.
“However, we don’t claim the smithy’s repair fees. We only collect taxes.” Aqua Rose was even more confused now.
“We collect a fixed tax. However, don’t forget that all the properties in the town are under our control. I have merely hired NPCs to man the smithy and repair equipment. As for prices, I have the final say,” Shi Feng explained with satisfaction. “Hence, I’ve tripled the smithy’s repair fees. These players can decide whether or not they want to pay the fee to repair their equipment.”
Aqua Rose gasped. She then said, “Triple? Why would anyone agree to that?”
It was not cheap to repair a piece of equipment. Repair fees were a Guild’s largest expenditure. Raising the fees to three times the original price would be fatal to a Guild.
“That’s the point. I don’t want them to spend Coins to repair their equipment because, aside from paying triple the original repair fee, there is another method of payment. This is something that can only be done in a Guild Town. Not only is it possible to pay for items and services using Credits in a Guild Town, but it is also possible to use certain items such as Magic Crystals as a form of currency.” Shi Feng smiled faintly. “If they pay with Magic Crystals, considering the current market value, the repair fees will only cost 1.5 times the usual rate. Meanwhile, all of the Magic Crystals the smithy receives will belong to us. We just need to pay some Coins in return.”
Before this, Shi Feng had already received a report from Ouroboros regarding the income of the various Guild teams and had set the repair fees accordingly.
If he set the repair fees at market rate, their rival Guilds would gain the advantage. Meanwhile, 1.5 times the market rate was just barely within the various large Guilds’ budgets.
Hence, the Guilds who had lined up outside the smithy to repair their equipment were gnashing their teeth while they waited.
With more than 10,000 pieces of equipment needing repairs, just how many Magic Crystals would it cost?
“Doesn’t that mean that the various large Guilds are currently earning Magic Crystals for Zero Wing?” A realization suddenly stuck Aqua Rose. It was no wonder why Shi Feng so generously allowed the various Guilds to enter Stone Forest Town.
Compared to grinding for Magic Crystals in the Stoneclaw Mountains themselves, not only would they earn far more Magic Crystals by letting the various large Guilds grind for them, but they could also save plenty of time and manpower.
“This is just the start. Soon, they will discover that, the moment they set foot in Stone Forest Town, the Magic Crystals in their inventories ceased to belong to them.” Shi Feng had never intended to monopolize the Stoneclaw Mountains for himself. With so much free labor available, why should he waste the time of Zero Wing’s core members?
In fact, the hotel and leisure centers employed a similar business model as well. These establishment’s prices were set according to normal rates if one paid with Magic Crystals, but double when using Coins. In other words, Stone Forest Town had already become a goldmine for Magic Crystals.
Based on Shi Feng’s initial estimates, the town could earn more than 2,000 Magic Crystals in a single day. Moreover, as time progressed and more players entered the town, this number would increase.
If it were up to Zero Wing’s main force and the Dark Gods Legion to grind for Magic Crystals in the Stoneclaw Mountains, even if they slaved all day, they would never obtain 1,000 Magic Crystals, let alone 2,000.
With a steady income of 2,000 Magic Crystals each day from Stone Forest Town, in addition to the Magic Crystals the Guild normally obtained from Dungeons, Shi Feng could support Zero Wing’s massive daily expenditures. Otherwise, the Magic Crystals Shi Feng had accumulated previously would last for only so long.
Meanwhile, the various large Guilds in Stone Forest Town were complaining about and gnashing their teeth at Zero Wing. However, they were utterly helpless against the Guild as Stone Forest Town was under Zero Wing’s control. Helpless, they could only hand over a portion of the Magic Crystals they had obtained. After all, they could earn more Magic Crystals during the time they saved by traveling here rather than to Star-Moon City. Overall, they would still earn more than they had been.
After Shi Feng finished with Stone Forest Town’s affairs, he passed the management of the town’s daily affairs to Aqua Rose. He then returned to White River City to focus on claiming the First Clear of the Frost Prison.
As a 100-man Team Dungeon, the Frost Prison was incredibly difficult.
Even until now, one could count on a single hand the number of Guilds that had obtained the First Clear of a 100-man Hard Mode Team Dungeon throughout God’s Domain. As for Star-Moon Kingdom, no one had earned this achievement yet.
This was not due to everyone lacking appropriate equipment. Rather, it was because everyone’s combat techniques were not up to snuff. Even Heaven’s Burial and Overwhelming Smile’s experts had quite a ways to go before meeting the minimum requirement. Hence, the various large Guilds in Star-Moon Kingdom were all stuck at the Final Boss of their respective 100-man Team Dungeons.
Precisely because of this, Shi Feng had never bothered leading Zero Wing’s team to raid the Frost Prison.
Now, however, the situation had changed. In order to improve the strength of Zero Wing’s main force, he had invested a large number of Magic Crystals into the team, allowing them to practice and improve their combat techniques at the Divine Colosseum undisturbed. He had even given them a taste of the Hundred Berry Wine’s effects. After a period of training, every member of the main force was now capable of reaching the Trial Tower’s fifth floor by relying on their own abilities, finally becoming experts.