Jiang Zhaoyue's pupils contracted slightly.

The old site of Qingshi County. She naturally knew that place; it wasn't too far from Crescent Moon Territory. Before that county seat was destroyed, it had once been one of the top powers in this region.

"Relocated to the old site of Qingshi County..." she murmured, "What about the walls?"

"They've been repaired." Su Qian's voice also carried a hint of disbelief. "Twenty-meter-high White-quality city walls, four Blue city gates, and twelve intermediate arrow towers.

The residential, commercial, workshop, and military districts within the city have all received a minimum level of restoration."

Jiang Zhaoyue's fingers tightened slightly.

Twenty-meter White walls—that is the maximum height for a county-level territory.

Blue city gates, intermediate arrow towers... her Crescent Moon Territory currently had none of these things.

"This Lin Feng..." She continued reading, her gaze falling on another line of text, "He has a rare class Assassin under him?"

"Yes," Su Qian said. "According to the livestream footage, that female Assassin solo-killed a Level 15 Commander of Five Hundred during the Level 2 Tide.

Her movement technique is eerie; she can travel through shadows and use a skill similar to Blink twice in quick succession within a short period. According to the analysis, it should be a rare class of the Assassin type."

A rare class.

Jiang Zhaoyue put down the document, leaned back in her chair, and fell into deep thought.

She herself was a rare class—War Maiden. After her second-job Valkyrie status dropped back to first-job, she still retained rare class traits, and her combat power far exceeded that of ordinary Awakened of the same level.

But how could a recently established village-level territory possess another rare class?

And he even obtained a Gold item, relocated the entire territory to the old site of Qingshi County, and repaired the city walls...

"How long has this Lin Feng been in the Nightmare World?" she suddenly asked.

Su Qian seemed to have anticipated this question and immediately replied, "According to public information, he is a newcomer from the latest batch of unified awakenings. The time he's spent in the Nightmare World, at most... is around less than two months."

Two months.

Jiang Zhaoyue fell silent.

She remembered when she first inherited the Yuehua Guild; it took her three full years to suppress the opposing factions within the guild step by step and truly gain a firm foothold in Zhenyue City. (PS: Jiang Zhaoyue's age on Blue Star is 19.)

Later, after finally obtaining a Village Establishment Order, she relied on the foundation accumulated by the guild over decades to establish Crescent Moon Territory within a month and successfully upgrade it to town-level.

And that Lin Feng...

A commoner newcomer, in less than two months, not only established a village and a town but also obtained a Gold item.

He possesses a rare class Assassin and occupies the old site of a county seat with twenty-meter walls.

What kind of speed is this?

"Continue gathering intelligence on him." Jiang Zhaoyue put down the document, her tone returning to its usual coldness. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"The more detailed, the better. His background, his experiences, his subordinates, his allies, his enemies... everything that can be found, I want it."

"Understood." Su Qian nodded and turned to leave.

"Also," Jiang Zhaoyue called out to her, "if there's an opportunity in the future... we can try to make contact."

Su Qian was slightly taken aback, then showed an expression of realization. "The Guild Leader wants to..."

"It's only a possibility." Jiang Zhaoyue waved her hand. "Go."

Su Qian exited the room and softly closed the door.

Only Jiang Zhaoyue remained in the room.

She stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.

The night wind blew in, carrying the faint scent of sulfur unique to the Nightmare World, along with the indistinct roars of beasts from afar.

Moonlight spilled down, stretching her shadow long.

She looked out the window at the territory shrouded in moonlight; this was the result of her month of hard work, the crystallization of the Yuehua Guild's decades of foundation.

Orderly streets, complete facilities, high-spirited members—everything was developing in a positive direction.

But her brow furrowed slightly.

Because °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° three days ago, she had received a piece of intelligence.

A piece of intelligence from the Great Xia Nightmare Affairs Bureau, marked with the word "Top Secret."

The content of the intelligence was simple: an Awakened with a high-level "Future Prediction" type talent had recently made a forecast.

The forecast was: in the next 10 years or sooner, an unprecedented Great Terror will descend upon the Nightmare World.

The Awakened couldn't see exactly what it was. She only faintly sensed that it would be a catastrophe sweeping across the entire Nightmare World, where countless territories would be reduced to ashes.

In the face of this catastrophe, territories below county-level wouldn't even be able to protect themselves.

What was even more terrifying... that Awakened also said this was far from the end.

Perhaps it was only the beginning. Jiang Zhaoyue's fingers tightened slightly, her knuckles turning white.

Below county-level, they can't even protect themselves... and she is currently only town-level.

On the same day the intelligence arrived, the General Bureau also issued an internal document stating that the nation had made a decision: from this day forward, no more village-level territories would be established, and no further support would be provided to existing village-level territories.

All resources would be concentrated on helping promising town-level territories make an all-out sprint for county-level.

She knew all too well what this meant.

Village-level territories were being abandoned; town-level territories would become the final screening threshold. Those that couldn't break through to county-level would likewise be cannon fodder in that future catastrophe.

At a normal development speed, she would need at least a dozen years to accumulate enough resources to upgrade to county-level.

But the catastrophe wouldn't wait.

She looked up at the pale moon on the horizon, a sense of unprecedented powerlessness surging in her heart.

"Great Terror..." she murmured softly.

Even as the leader of a top guild in Zhenyue City, even with countless resources and connections in hand, she felt a wave of deep exhaustion at this moment.

Because this wasn't something one person or one guild could withstand.

She turned, walked back to her desk, and spread out a map.

On the map, all the powers in this region were densely marked—Zhenyue City, several county-level territories, over fifty town-level territories, and countless village-level territories and bandit strongholds.

Perhaps she needed to cooperate with several guilds to face the impending storm together?

Jiang Zhaoyue closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened them again, there was no more confusion in those cold eyes.

Only determination.

"We must cooperate," she said in a low voice. "No matter who it is, as long as they can survive that catastrophe, they are an ally."

Moonlight, like water, spilled over her and over this land about to welcome the storm.

The first night of Crescent Moon Territory was calm and profound.

And hundreds of miles away, in that newly reborn Beacon Fire Town, the young man named Lin Feng was falling into a deep sleep, completely unaware of the impending storm.

Or rather... even if he knew, he wouldn't be afraid.

Because behind him, he had twenty-meter city walls, five hundred Great Qin Garrison Soldiers about to take shape, and two slumbering blueprints for wonders.

When the storm arrives, the beacon fire will burn even brighter.