7:40 PM.

Lin Feng returned to his room twenty minutes early, locked the door, and sat at his desk.

7:45 PM.

He clicked open the encrypted channel.

In an instant, the world before his eyes completely transformed.

The walls of the room vanished, replaced by a magnificent space.

It was a massive circular council hall with a dome a hundred meters high. A real-time projection of the daxia national destiny cauldron floated above; there were two more cracks on the cauldron's body than there had been a month ago.

In the center of the council hall was a massive round table, with seats arranged in order along its edge.

At the very front, three golden high-backed chairs stood tall, their backs carved with intricate patterns and their armrests inlaid with brilliant gemstones.

Each golden chair radiated an invisible sense of pressure, making one afraid to look directly at them.

Behind the three golden chairs were nine Silver Seats, slightly lower but equally solemn and grand.

Crystals were embedded in the armrests of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) each silver chair, with light faintly flowing through them.

Further back were sixty-seven copper-colored seats, another level lower than the silver chairs.

The backs of the chairs were simple, without much decoration, but they still exuded a sense of solemnity.

Lin Feng looked down at himself.

He was already sitting in one of the Copper Seats, positioned at the outermost edge of the round table.

A number was engraved on the back of the chair: Copper Seat-67.

To his left was an empty Copper Seat, and to his right sat a middle-aged man with a simple, honest face and dark skin, who was nodding to him in greeting.

"New here?" the man lowered his voice, his tone friendly. "I'm from Huangshan County in the North Pole Region. My surname is Ma, Ma Dehou. And you?"

"Lin Feng, Beacon Fire Town in the South Pole Region," Lin Feng replied, also lowering his voice.

Ma Dehou's eyes widened slightly. "The South Pole Region? That's... Daxia's influence isn't very strong there. There's only Zhenyue City and four counties. Including you, that's only five counties, right?"

Lin Feng nodded.

Ma Dehou sighed. "There are too many countries there. Polar Bear, White Elephant, Annan, Sakura Country, and several other small countries are all squeezed into that area. Life must be tough for you guys, right?"

Lin Feng smiled and didn't say much.

A thought flashed through his mind: the Nightmare World is divided into four poles—East, South, West, and North—with the Central Plains Region in the middle.

Daxia's main force is in the North Pole Region.

The USA's main force is in the West Pole Region.

Europa's main force is in the East Pole Region.

As for the rest, the Central Plains Region and the South Pole Region are carved up by the remaining Blue Star nations.

But it's said that the territory occupied by all the Blue Star nations combined accounts for less than 20% of the Nightmare World.

For example, from the South Pole Region to the Central Plains Region, the distance is six thousand kilometers, three thousand of which are unexplored areas.

The South Pole Region itself is roughly two thousand kilometers long and two thousand kilometers wide, surrounded entirely by unexplored areas.

And from Zhenyue City in the South Pole Region to Daxia's main city in the North Pole Region, the distance is a full twelve thousand kilometers.

As Lin Feng was thinking, Ma Dehou was about to say more when a majestic voice came from the front:

"Silence."

Lin Feng looked up.

Directly in front of the round table, a middle-aged man in a black uniform stood on a floating podium.

His expression was serious, his gaze sharp, and he radiated an invisible sense of pressure. Just by standing there, he silenced the entire council hall.

The Director of the Great Xia Nightmare Affairs Bureau—Zhou Guosheng.

It is said that he was among the first batch of Awakened and is one of the three City Lords of Daxia's main city.

Zhou Guosheng's gaze slowly swept across the room, finally lingering for a moment on the Copper Seat area.

"Today, we have a routine agenda item at the very beginning," his voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears clearly. "Introduction of new members."

He signaled with a hand gesture.

A holographic projection focused on Lin Feng, enlarging his image and projecting it into the center of the council hall.

"Lin Feng, 18 years old, from Rongcheng, Awakened for 90 days," Zhou Guosheng stated calmly.

"Lord of Beacon Fire Town. Through territorial war, he defeated Sakura Country's Baigui County and has officially been promoted to a county-level lord.

He is currently the youngest county-level lord in Daxia, and the youngest in the entire world."

Low murmurs broke out in the council hall.

Some were surprised, some were appreciative, some remained expressionless, and some had a flash of disapproval in their eyes.

Lin Feng could feel those gazes; the two gazes from the golden chairs were particularly heavy, like two mountains pressing down.

But he knew in his heart that at the level of Level 39 and Level 40, the gap wasn't as large as one might imagine.

Two well-equipped Level 39 Awakened with good coordination are fully capable of facing a Level 40 head-on.

What truly creates a gap are the number of job advancements, class strength, equipment quality, and combat experience, rather than the attribute points of a single level.

His expression remained unchanged as he gave a slight nod:

"Lin Feng, greets all the seniors."

"Good," Zhou Guosheng nodded.

Zhou Guosheng continued, "Next, we move to the first agenda item—the review of daily affairs."

A massive light screen emerged in the void before him, listing over a dozen topics.

【Topic 1: Briefing on resource contributions from various territories this month】

【Topic 2: Preparatory plan for the Nightmare Tide defense experience exchange meeting】

【Topic 3: Optimization suggestions for the distribution mechanism of newly Awakened】

【Topic 4: Regarding...】

Lin Feng skimmed through them, noticing a small light screen appearing before him with three buttons: Approve, Oppose, and Abstain.

"Topic 1 is a briefing and does not require a vote," Zhou Guosheng said. "We will now begin the voting process for Topic 2. Lords, please review."

The detailed contents of Topic 2 expanded on the light screen.

Lin Feng quickly scanned it; it was about organizing an experience exchange meeting next month for various territories to share their insights on defending against the Nightmare Tide. The location would be this very council hall, led by vice city lord Liu Zhenshan.

He glanced toward the Silver Seats.

Sure enough, in the second row of Silver Seats, a burly middle-aged man with a resolute face sat upright.

Liu Zhenshan, a Level 39 third-advancement Warrior.

Liu Zhenshan seemed to sense his gaze, turned his head slightly, and nodded to him.

Lin Feng nodded back.

"Voting for Topic 2 begins," Zhou Guosheng announced.

Lin Feng looked at the light screen before him, thought for a moment, and clicked 【Approve】.

A second later, the voting results were displayed on the light screen:

【Approve: 3 Gold Seat votes (15 votes), 9 Silver Seat votes (18 votes), 52 Copper Seat votes—totaling 85 votes】

【Oppose: 0 votes】

【Abstain: 15 votes】

【Passed】

Lin Feng looked at those numbers, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.

A Gold Seat vote was worth five of his.

And his single vote was just one percent.

This was the hierarchy of this world.

But he didn't feel disappointed; instead, he smiled.

A month ago, he didn't even have the qualification to sit here.

Now, he already had this vote.

In the council hall, Zhou Guosheng's voice continued to ring out:

"Next, Topic 3..."