Blue Star, Rongcheng.

The early morning sunlight filtered through the thick bulletproof glass, casting a bright patch of light onto the long table in the conference room.

But this brightness did nothing to dispel the heavy atmosphere inside the room.

The highest security level conference room of the Rongcheng Nightmare Affairs Bureau.

Nine people sat around the long table, with a thin internal document placed on the desk in front of each of them.

The cover of the document had no title, only a bright red "Top Secret" stamp and a serial number—Headquarters 【3230】 No. 8.

Chen Weiguo sat at the head of the table, his hands folded on the desk as his gaze slowly swept across the eight colleagues present.

These eight individuals represented the core decision-making level of the Rongcheng Nightmare Affairs Bureau.

Some were in charge of intelligence, some resources, some operations, some logistics... every one of them was a veteran who had climbed the ranks in their respective positions for over a decade.

"You've all read the document," Chen Weiguo began, his voice not loud, yet carrying an unquestionable steadiness.

"The General Bureau's intent is clear: a catastrophe is coming, and village-level territories will find it difficult to protect themselves in the future."

"Rather than scattering resources to maintain a large number of village-level territories, it's better to concentrate our strength to support a group of promising town-level territories and make an all-out sprint for county-level."

He paused, his eyes falling on the line of bold black text in the document:

【Each branch bureau must determine their candidates for the county-level sprint within three days and report them to the General Bureau.】

"Our Rongcheng branch has only one slot."

Chen Weiguo looked up. "Today's meeting is to discuss who this slot should be given to."

After he finished speaking, the conference room fell into a brief silence.

Of the eight people, no one was in a hurry to speak.

But Chen Weiguo knew they already had their own calculations. In a meeting like this, it wasn't about who spoke first, but who could present the most compelling reasons at the critical moment.

Three seconds later, the person sitting first to Chen Weiguo's left was the first to break the silence.

This was a middle-aged man in his early forties with a lean face, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, exuding a refined scholarly air. His name was Li Wenshan, in charge of intelligence and a staunch supporter of Chen Weiguo.

"I'll go first," Li Wenshan said, pushing up his glasses in a steady tone. "I support Beacon Fire Town."

He opened the document in front of him, which contained several pages of dense intelligence summaries.

"Beacon Fire Town, Lord Lin Feng, eighteen years old, a recent graduate of Rongcheng No. 3 Middle School. Awakened during the unified awakening ten-odd days ago in Blue Star time, which is about two months in Nightmare World time."

"Independently withstood a standard-level Rank 2 Nightmare Tide with zero casualties. On the same day, he used a golden item, a territory leap card, to migrate Beacon Fire Village to the former site of Qingshi County and upgraded it to Beacon Fire Town."

Li Wenshan closed the document and looked at everyone. "From awakening to establishing a town in just over ten days of Blue Star time. This speed is unique not just in Rongcheng, but in all of Great Xia."

Someone on the opposite side snorted coldly.

This was a burly middle-aged man with a resolute face, a square jaw, and thick eyebrows.

His name was Qi Zhenshan, in charge of operations and a core figure of the other faction.

"The speed is fast, and the potential is good," Qi Zhenshan's voice boomed like muffled thunder. "But Minister Li, you missed a few points."

He held up one finger. "First, Beacon Fire Town was just established, and its forces are limited. As far as I know, their actual combat personnel number no more than a dozen."

He held up a second finger. "Second, a county-level upgrade requires six intermediate life-professionals. Beacon Fire Town doesn't have a single intermediate one."

A third finger. "Third, the cost of support. To upgrade Beacon Fire Town to county-level, just how many resources would have to be invested for those six intermediate life-professionals? Not to mention the defensive preparations for a Rank 3 Nightmare Tide..."

He lowered his hand and looked at Chen Weiguo, his tone sincere. "Director Chen, I'm not targeting Beacon Fire Town."

"This young man is indeed outstanding and will surely achieve great things given time. But the problem is, we don't have 'given time'."

"Can Beacon Fire Town reach county-level before the catastrophe arrives? If we invest massive resources to support it and it fails, what then?"

Someone beside Qi Zhenshan chimed in, "In comparison, I'm more inclined towards the other two established towns—Panshi Town and Hongmu Town."

This person was named Zhou Ming, in charge of logistics and an ally of Qi Zhenshan.

He opened his document. "Panshi Town, established for thirty-three years, population three thousand, six hundred professional soldiers, and two intermediate life-professionals."

"The walls are ten meters high, and it has independently resisted a maximum-level Rank 2 tide once. With more resources, it's expected to challenge for county-level within five years."

"Hongmu Town, established for twenty-two years, population two thousand five hundred, five hundred and fifty professional soldiers, and one intermediate life-professional. It has also independently resisted a maximum-level Rank 2 tide. It's also a high-potential candidate."

Zhou Ming closed the document and looked at the others. "The General Bureau has given us one set of resources. If we support Panshi Town or Hongmu Town, we can use these resources to help both towns sprint for county-level simultaneously."

"If one succeeds, we have a county-level territory; if both succeed, we've struck gold."

"As for Beacon Fire Town..." He paused, not finishing the sentence, but the meaning was clear: Beacon Fire Town alone would consume all the resources, and success wasn't guaranteed.

The conference room fell into silence.

Chen Weiguo didn't refute immediately but looked at the three people sitting on the other side of the long table.

Those three were the key neutral faction of this meeting.

The one in the center was a white-haired, kind-faced elderly man. His name was Xu Boyong, the most senior member, in charge of resource allocation, and held immense prestige within the bureau.

On his left and right were two deputies in charge of personnel and technology, respectively.

Sensing Chen Weiguo's gaze, Xu Boyong spoke slowly, "Little Zhou has a point. Turning two opportunities into one is indeed not cost-effective."

Chen ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Weiguo's heart sank, but he remained impassive.

Xu Boyong sighed and looked at Chen Weiguo. "Little Chen, you've been silent. What are you waiting for?"

Chen Weiguo finally spoke, a bitter smile touching the corners of his mouth. "Elder Xu, I was waiting for you to speak your mind fully."

Xu Boyong waved his hand. "Alright, stop being so mysterious. Since you support Beacon Fire Town, you must have your reasons. Speak up and let everyone hear them."

Chen Weiguo stood up, walked to the wall, and pressed a button.

A massive holographic projection instantly lit up on the front wall of the conference room—a map of Beacon Fire Town and its surrounding areas. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Please take a look, everyone." Chen Weiguo pointed to several marked points on the map. "This is Zhenyue City, this is Osaka Castle, and this is Tianji Mountain."

His finger traced a line on the map. "Beacon Fire Town's location is here—the former site of Qingshi County. To the northwest is Zhenyue City; to the north, across Tianji Mountain, is Osaka Castle in Sakura Country."

"In other words, Beacon Fire Town is situated between two city-level territories."

Chen Weiguo turned around and looked at the crowd. "You all know the prophecy of that Prophetic Awakened."

"A catastrophe is coming, and anything below county-level will struggle to survive. But there is one more sentence in the prophecy that wasn't included in the document."

He paused, his voice low. "That Awakened said she had a faint feeling that this catastrophe, for the time being, poses no threat from the ocean."

A heavy silence filled the conference room.

Chen Weiguo continued, "What does no ocean threat mean?"},{