Chapter 137: Chapter 137: Quality Over Quantity
Dante regional chat interface which he had briefly unmuted flared with a massive and highly aggressive announcement.
It wasn’t a pink or white text box in the sky. It was a standard localized regional broadcast.
[Regional Chat - Vanguard’s Legacy Official Announcement]
[To all Outworlders of the Veridian Alliance. Aegis Vanguard is an anomaly faction. They offer you nothing but danger.]
[Vanguard’s Legacy is the true power of this server. Effective immediately, Guild Master Silas is waiving all entry fees and mandatory tax contributions for exactly one week.]
[We are opening our roster to the public. Join the Legacy. Claim the world.]
Dante stopped and read the message twice.
"He is waiving the entry fees," Dante muttered. There was genuine surprise in his voice.
In the Zenith Protocol, massive guilds operated by taxing their members.
Players paid a weekly fee in gold or raw materials just for the privilege of wearing the guild tag and accessing the safe zones.
Waiving that fee, especially after bankrupting himself at the auction, was an act of sheer unadulterated financial desperation.
Silas wasn’t trying to build a stable economy anymore. He was trying to buy an army.
By offering free entry, Silas was going to recruit millions of casual and low-level players who just wanted a free ride.
He was prioritizing overwhelming localized quantity over any semblance of quality or discipline.
"He is going to zerg-rush me," Dante realized aloud.
Silas knew he couldn’t beat Dante in a fair fight. He knew his elite lieutenants had failed.
So, he was going to throw millions of disposable low-level bodies at the party of Dante every single time they stepped out of a safe zone.
It was a brutal and incredibly annoying war of absolute attrition.
"Sera," Dante said and turned to the studio head. "What is his roster looking like?"
Nyx answered for her and frantically tapped her screen.
"Our intelligence networks are reporting that Vanguard’s Legacy has recruited over five million new members in the last ten minutes. They are literally accepting anyone with a pulse. They are swarming the registration hubs."
"Dante, five million players is a massive problem," Sera warned and her professional composure cracked slightly.
"Even if they are weak, they can blockade entire regions with their physical bodies. We currently have exactly seven members in Aegis Vanguard. If we do not open recruitment, we will be completely suffocated."
"Fifty thousand," Dante said firmly.
Sera blinked. "What?"
"Set the recruitment cap for Aegis Vanguard at exactly fifty thousand members," Dante ordered. "And set the minimum level requirement ten levels higher than the server average."
"You want to cap our guild at fifty thousand while Silas recruits five million?" Lila asked. Her blue eyes were wide with panic. "That is a hundred-to-one disadvantage!"
"I do not care about numbers," Dante replied. His voice was cold and absolutely uncompromising.
"I care about quality. I have to you guys what happens when you recruit a thousand random players."
Dante looked around the VIP suite at his mismatched chaotic squad.
"This is the core," Dante stated and gestured to the group.
"We do not need five million disposable bodies. We need people who actually know how to survive."
"We take the elite independent players who just want the ten percent EXP buff and do not want to deal with the corporate politics of Silas."
"That is going to make holding territory incredibly difficult," Nyx warned and pushed her glasses up.
"But it minimizes internal sabotage. If everyone in our guild is a highly competent veteran, the zerg-rush tactics of Silas will just feed us free PvP experience."
"Exactly," Dante said.
"Tell the roster to avoid massive pitched battles. Stick to localized high-speed skirmishes."
"If Silas tries to zerg-rush our resource nodes, tell them to use chokepoints and AoE skills. Let him waste his time managing five million rookies."
Sera took a deep breath. Her business mind rapidly adjusted to the new strategy. "Understood. I will draft the recruitment parameters immediately. Quality over quantity."
"I am heading out," Dante announced and turned toward the door of the VIP suite.
"Where are you going?" Casanova asked. He lounged on the sofa. "We just finished the biggest auction in server history. We should celebrate!"
"I need to fortify our position," Dante said.
"The Gold-tier token granted us a massive guildhall, but I need to make sure Silas cannot just throw five million players at the front door and breach it."
Dante left the Astral Emporium and navigated the bustling pristine streets of Aethelgardia.
The capital was absolutely packed now. The news of the auction and the guild war had drawn players from all over the Veridian Alliance.
He kept his [Mantle of the Void-Dragon] pulled tight to ignore the stares and whispers as he headed straight for the Royal Palace.
He didn’t have an appointment.
But the NPC paladins guarding the golden gates instantly recognized his cosmic weight and his [Zenith Incarnate] title.
They parted smoothly to allow him to enter the grand hall.
The City Lord was sitting on his massive diamond throne to review a holographic map of the municipal districts of the capital.
"Champion," the City Lord boomed. The scripted sound returned to his voice.
"I have received the automated system report. You have successfully established the premier power structure within my walls. Aegis Vanguard is officially recognized."
"I need a guild base," Dante said and cut straight to the point. "The Gold-tier token promised an impenetrable base of operations."
"The system honors its promises," the City Lord nodded slowly.
"I have authorized the transfer of a massive heavily fortified citadel located in the upper military district. It possesses reinforced stone walls, automated defensive ballistas, and a teleportation node."
Dante crossed his arms. "That sounds great. What is the catch?"
The glowing artificial eyes of the City Lord narrowed slightly.
"The baseline structural integrity of the citadel doors is set at five hundred thousand hit points. During a sanctioned guild siege, an organized army could breach that door in under an hour."
Dante knew the math. Silas had five million players.
Even if they were all Level 10, a synchronized barrage of basic magical attacks would instantly vaporize a five-hundred-thousand HP door.
It wouldn’t even be a siege. It would be a demolition.
"I need the doors upgraded," Dante stated flatly.
"Because of your status as the Savior of Ironhold," the City Lord offered and leaned forward on his throne.
"I am willing to personally augment the defenses of the citadel. I will fortify the main gates and increase their durability to two million hit points. A door of that magnitude would require an entire army days of continuous siege to breach."
Dante nodded.
Two million HP on a localized chokepoint would give his elite fifty-thousand-man roster plenty of time to rain AoE damage down on anyone trying to break in.
"I will take the upgrade," Dante said. "What is the price?"
"I require a specific asset," the City Lord stated. His voice dropped into a serious heavily encrypted register.
"Deep within the forbidden zone known as the Path of Gods and Demons, there is a lost grandmaster."
"His name is Jack. He vanished decades ago seeking a method to bypass the celestial level caps."
The system interface popped up.
[Hidden Quest Triggered: The Lost Grandmaster]
[Classification: SSS-Rank (Investigation)]
[Objective: Enter the Path of Gods and Demons. Locate Grandmaster Jack and return his localized research data to the City Lord.]
[Reward: Citadel Door Durability increased to 2,000,000 HP.]
Dante accepted the quest instantly.
He was already planning to enter the Path of Gods and Demons.
He still needed to find a Class Advancement that wouldn’t reject his cosmic weight. Master Sun had told him the forbidden zone was the only place dense enough to house primordial classes.
Finding a lost NPC while he was there was just efficient multitasking.
"I will find him," Dante promised.
"Do not underestimate the Path, Champion," the City Lord warned gravely. "The entities that dwell there are ancient. They do not adhere to the standard logic of this world."
"Neither do I," Dante replied.
He turned and walked out of the throne room.
He had his objective.
It was time to secure a mount and head for the eastern gates. The true endgame of Overture was waiting for him.
