Chapter 1958 – Promotion to Intermediate Master Black Dragon Empire, Lake Heart City:

Several Guild Elders and over a dozen upper echelons occupied the Guild Leader's office within Miracle's temporary Residence. They all quietly and carefully watched the emaciated, middle-aged man before them.

This man was none other than Shredded Soul, one of Miracle's mythical existences.

Although the people present were all peak experts, they were tense with fear as Shredded Soul's aura washed over them.

The tension in the room was all due to the message Starstreak had just sent.

“Has Starstreak gone mad? He only has to take out 100 Zero Wing members, yet he dares to retreat despite having over 3,000 players under his command? Doesn't he know that the Vice Guild Leader hates retreating more than anything?”

“This is the first time I've seen the Vice Guild Leader so angry. Hopefully, Starstreak's punishment won't be crippling.”

The upper echelons whispered amongst themselves as they gazed at Shredded Soul's frosty expression. They all agreed that Starstream must be tired of living in G.o.d's Domain. Shredded Soul's authority in the Guild was only second to the Guild Leaders', and while the other Vice Guild Leaders had command of their subordinates, the man before them could mobilize any player in Miracle. Even the Guild's trump card legions were forced to follow Shredded Soul's commands.

Shredded Soul even had the authority to remove Guild Elders from their positions as long as he had enough reasoning to do so, let alone regular Guild members.

Even the other Vice Guild Leaders feared this man.

But there was no helping it. Shredded Soul was responsible for major contributions to the Guild, and all of the Guild's Founding Elders and the Guild Leader stood behind his authority.

A chill ran down the various upper echelons' spines as they thought about Starstreak's opposition to Shredded Soul's command.

After a long moment of tense silence, Shredded Soul finally seemed to relax. The watching crowd then released a sigh of relief.

“Good! Very good!” Shredded Soul's lips curled as he read the report from Starstreak. “I have underestimated Zero Wing. It's no wonder why such a small Guild dares to provoke Miracle.”

“Vice Guild Leader, what happened? Is there something unique about this 100-man team from Zero Wing?” one of the upper echelons asked curiously.

Shredded Soul had clearly been furious about Starstreak's decision to flee from Blue Wave Rock a moment ago, but after reading the follow-up report, the Vice Guild Leader actually smiled…

Those that knew Shredded Soul knew what his smile meant. He had either found something interesting or an opponent that he considered appropriate.

“Take a look for yourselves!” Shredded Soul said as he input the report and displayed the information before the crowd. He then played the battle video involving Fierce Snake and the other Tier 2 Zero Wing experts.

As Fierce Snake and his comrades fought the first team, their movements were clumsy but had visibly improved during the fight against the second team. Even when facing Miracle's Tier 2 Refinement Realm experts in a one-on-one, Fierce Snake and the others had gained the upper hand, slowly whittling down their opponents.

Every member on Zero Wing's 20-man team wielded combat power that rivaled Miracle's peak experts.

“How is that possible? How does Zero Wing have so many experts with peak-level combat power?!”

“Based on our information, although Zero Wing is stronger than the average first-rate Guild, it has less than ten peak experts. How did it suddenly gain an additional 20?”

Miracle's upper echelons watched Fierce Snake and his team fight with wide eyes.

After watching the videos, they realized why Starstreak had ordered a retreat. With the forces under his command, facing 20 experts with peak-level combat power who used guerilla tactics would be suicidal. Even a team of several hundred players would be helpless against 20 peak experts. If they wanted to hunt these players down in the field, they'd have to dispatch 1,000-man teams for the search, and several tens of thousands for the fight

“Notify Starstreak that his forces are allowed to retreat,” Shredded Soul said calmly.

“Vice Guild Leader, Zero Wing is clearly trying to put on a show. Are we just going to let them get away with this?” one of Miracle's upper echelons asked.

With the forces Miracle had sent to the Black Dragon Empire, cordoning off Blue Wave Rock and hunting down Zero Wing's team was entirely possible.

“We are Miracle! We do not need such wasteful tactics to eliminate Zero Wing! Since the Guild wants to show off its abilities in guerilla warfare, we'll do the same!” Shredded Soul snapped, smiling. “Split up our forces and have them deal with Zero Wing's members. Rather than focusing on the areas around Lake Heart City, we'll target every Zero Wing player in the Black Dragon Empire! I want to see who can rack up the most kills!”

When they heard Shredded Soul's command, realization dawned on the crowd.

So what if Zero Wing had a party of peak combatants?

Zero Wing's overall strength was nothing compared to Miracle's. If Miracle scattered its forces and attacked multiple locations at once, how many areas could Zero Wing keep safe?

Although doing so would incur losses, Zero Wing's suffering would be much greater.

After Starstreak received the command to retreat, he led his forces away from Blue Wave Rock. Meanwhile, news of this situation quickly spread to the various superpowers.

“Miracle has retreated?!”

“What happened at Blue Wave Rock?”

Miracle's retreat surprised the various superpowers, and they immediately ordered infestations on the battle at Blue Wave Rock.

However, when the reports came in, the superpowers that had been watching the war between Zero Wing and Miracle were astonished. They had never considered that Zero Wing had such a st.u.r.dy foundation.

They also marveled at Zero Wing's performance. They hadn't expected Shredded Soul to suffer such a loss, albeit a minor one, at Zero Wing's hands. It had been a long time since a non-superpower had accomplished such a feat.

When Phoenix Rain, who was busy on Thunder Island, received the news, she was stunned. Unyielding Heart and Illusory Words, who explored an ancient ruin in the Dark Night Empire, were astonished, as well.

However, s.h.i.+ Feng, who toiled in Zero Wing City's Candlelight Trading Firm, remained wholly ignorant of the matter, thoroughly absorbed in forging Basic Combat Devices. After over a day of work, s.h.i.+ Feng received a system notification.

System: Strengthened Basic Combat Device has been successfully manufactured. Forging Proficiency increased by 5 points. Obtained 368,000 EXP.

System: Congratulations! You have been promoted to an Intermediate Master Forger.