Chapter 1 The Frenzy of Intermediate Mana Armor Plates

The emergence of Intermediate Mana Armor Plates instantly stirred up a frenzy.

News of the Candlelight Trading Firm spread like a virus. In just over ten minutes, the fervor, which had begun to die down, surged again. Players were even more frenzied than before.

Stones of Light were just common items. While they helped players, they didn't actually increase their strength; they were merely auxiliary items. But Mana Armor Plates were different. They genuinely improved a player's attributes, and by a significant amount.

Upon receiving the news, many elite squads and elite teams out in the field did only one thing: they immediately returned to the city to buy from the Candlelight Trading Firm. If they were late, others would snatch them all up, just like the Basic Mana Armor Plates, which were now legendary.

According to legend, many players had become experts precisely because they had obtained Basic Mana Armor Plates early on, and some ordinary teams had become top teams, able to challenge Hard Mode Team Dungeons, even Hell Mode Team Dungeons, although the Hell Mode Team Dungeons were only 10-man dungeons.

Twenty-man team dungeons were far too difficult for most free players. The required gear was too high, and the technical requirements were extremely demanding. Only a small number of guild elite teams could manage it.

"Guild Leader, I just got word. Those Intermediate Mana Armor Plates are highway robbery! Five gold coins each! Even if we wanted to buy them, we couldn't afford it!"

"They are expensive, indeed. But we have to buy them, even if we have to borrow money. I've regretted missing out on the Basic Mana Armor Plates for a long time. You know in team dungeons, we're often just a little bit short on damage and defense to get through, but we can't upgrade our equipment. As a result, some lucky teams bought three Basic Mana Armor Plates and barely managed to withstand the Boss."

"Now, one Intermediate Mana Armor Plate is worth three Basic Mana Armor Plates. As long as our MT equips three of them, we'll be able to beat this dungeon's Boss. Won't we earn it back then?"

...

Many free teams in the wilderness began to take action, gathering money where they could, and those with a financial foundation went straight to the virtual trading center to buy gold coins.

For elite teams, it was relatively easy to scrape together five gold coins, but gathering fifteen gold coins was difficult. Still, they gritted their teeth and coughed up the fifteen gold.

After all, the attributes of a Level 25 Dark-Gold equipment piece were a huge boost for an MT.

Ordinary 20-man team dungeons usually only dropped Mysterious-Iron equipment, and at best, Secret-Silver equipment. The dungeon Bosses only numbered three or four, and each Boss dropped only two or three pieces of equipment. On average, ten pieces of Mysterious-Iron equipment, plus the gold coins and items dropped by the mobs, meant that the earnings from an ordinary team dungeon were four to five gold coins.

After deducting the team's various expenses, experience point losses, and so on, they didn't actually earn much.

Besides, that had to be divided among twenty people, so each person earned even less.

However, the rewards from Hard Mode Team Dungeons were greatly increased. The Bosses almost always dropped one piece of Secret-Silver equipment, sometimes even two. Even the mobs had a chance to drop Mysterious-Iron equipment. Even better, Hard Mode Dungeons dropped some necessary raw materials. Adding up all the income, one run could earn more than ten gold coins, more than twice the earnings of an ordinary dungeon.

This made many pick-up groups extremely envious. Running ordinary dungeons was just surviving, but clearing Hard Mode Dungeons was like living high on the hog.

Every time in the bar, there were always some powerful teams celebrating their completion of a Hard Mode Team Dungeon, which was the envy of everyone else.

Now everyone had this opportunity, so naturally, they had to work hard.

For a time, the entire Candlelight Trading Firm was surrounded by players, but most of them were just holding spots.

That's right, holding spots.

Because behind these players, various teams were still raising money. As soon as they had enough, they would buy immediately, fearing that others would snatch them all up.

Few free players could afford them, but for guild players, it was nothing. A shop was worth thousands of gold coins. Equipping the guild's main team with Intermediate Mana Armor Plates only cost 300 gold, and what could be cheaper than spending 300 gold to raise the main team to a new level?

Every major guild that received the news rushed to the Candlelight Trading Firm to buy them, and each of them had great ambitions, wanting to buy 100 at a time.

"What did you say? Why won't you sell them to me?" a guild purchaser roared angrily. "Take a good look. I have plenty of money here!"

"Sir, I'm sorry. Because Intermediate Mana Armor Plates are in such short supply, sales are limited. Ordinary players can only buy one at a time. Since you're purchasing for the guild, you can buy up to nine. If you're a partner guild with our Candlelight Trading Firm, you can buy 21 at a time." The beautiful NPC saleswoman smiled slightly, not intimidated by the player's aura.

"Damn it. Then I'll buy nine first." The guild purchaser had no choice. He wasn't a partner guild with the Candlelight Trading Firm, so he had to buy nine first, then have others come to buy more later, but that would take a lot of time, because there were so many players buying that the lines were very long.

All of this was because there were too many people buying. Although the Candlelight Trading Firm only had stores in a few cities, players and guilds from other cities rushed to the cities with Candlelight Trading Firms to buy Intermediate Mana Armor Plates after receiving the news.

The most players came to White River City.

Because the White River City Candlelight Trading Firm sold the most each day, almost as much as all the other branches combined, players and guild purchasers from major cities came to White River City to buy them.

Moreover, all of this was intentionally done by Shi Feng through Melancholic Smile, all to increase the population of White River City and make people aware of White River City's special nature. That way, some players would consider developing in White River City, because White River City was convenient, which would indirectly increase the strength of the Zero Wing Guild.

At this time, the guilds that had previously partnered with the Candlelight Trading Firm were all beaming with joy. They had all felt that they had lost out before, but now all the major guilds envied them, as they could buy 21 at a time. How much trouble would that save them?

It should be known that Intermediate Mana Armor Plates were currently worth more than their weight in gold. The black market price had exceeded eight gold coins, and the price was still rising, but no one was selling them, all because of the purchase limit. The system monitored that a player could only buy one at a time, and no one wanted to waste this precious opportunity, so how could they easily sell it?

Just as many guilds were vying to buy Intermediate Mana Armor Plates, the Laughter Overturning Cities' residence in White River City was deathly silent.

In the conference room, Feng Xuanyang's forehead veins throbbed, feeling like they were about to burst.

Bang, bang, bang!

With a series of heavy blows, Feng Xuanyang slammed his fists on the wooden table, smashing it to pieces.

"Young Feng, you need to calm down!"

"Calm down? How can you ask me to calm down?"

Feng Xuanyang's eyes were bloodshot. If possible, Feng Xuanyang really wanted to swallow the Candlelight Trading Firm alive.

He had invested another 100 million Credits in order to collect Stones of Light in large quantities, with the aim of recouping the lost 50 million at once. In addition, he had staked all of Laughter Overturning Cities' money, but now he had bought a pile of goods that were not subject to purchase limits. The most hateful thing was that after receiving news of the Candlelight Trading Firm, the higher-ups immediately issued a death order, ordering him to buy 300 Intermediate Mana Armor Plates.

But where was he supposed to find that many gold coins?

Three hundred pieces meant 1500 gold. He had had that much before, but now it was gone.