Lin Feng went up to the second floor and pushed open the door.

The territory core floated in the center of the room, its dark golden light softening considerably in the morning sun.

He walked over and reached out to touch it, and the operation interface unfolded before his eyes.

He first brought up the territory construction interface and found the North Slope Village Mining Site.

【North Slope Village Mining Site (No Quality)】

【Requirements to upgrade to Green Quality: Wood × 500, Stone × 200, Iron Ingot × 100, Gray energy crystals × 500】

【Green Quality Bonus: Mining Efficiency +20%】

Lin Feng clicked confirm, the resources were deducted, and a glimmer of light flashed from the direction of North Slope Village.

He then found the Stone Forest Quarry.

【Stone Forest Quarry (No Quality)】

【Requirements to upgrade to Green Quality: Wood × 500, Stone × 200, Iron Ingot × 100, Gray energy crystals × 500】

【Green Quality Bonus: Quarrying Efficiency +20%】

Confirming again, another glimmer of light flashed.

Lin Feng nodded with satisfaction; both mining and quarrying efficiency had increased by twenty percent, and with the additional manpower...

...the hope of gathering 1,200 units of Mithril within sixteen days grew a bit stronger.

After finishing this, he went downstairs, crossed the inner city, and headed straight for the southeast corner.

The Great Qin Elite Camp was surrounded by high walls, and two Beacon Guards stood at the entrance, straightening their backs immediately upon seeing him.

Lin Feng nodded, walked to the stone gate, and pressed his hand against the cold stone wall.

With a slight thought, the operation interface, visible only to him, appeared before his eyes.

【Great Qin Elite Camp (Unique)】

【Currently trainable units: Weakened Great Qin Garrison Soldier (Infantry), Great Qin Garrison Soldiers (Infantry), Great Qin Garrison Soldiers (Crossbowmen), Weakened Great Qin Elite】

【Training Requirements: Eligible Refugee or Awakened, Copper, Tin, energy crystals】

【Training Time: 10 days】

Lin Feng glanced at the resource reserves:

Copper Ingot: 4,550 units

Tin Ingot: 4,550 units

Gray energy crystals: 32,100

white energy crystal: 2,280

Green energy crystals: 103

Blue energy crystals: 15

He took a deep breath and issued the command: "Train 1,500 Weakened Great Qin Elite."

A total of 1,500 units; training begins.

Resources were instantly deducted:

Gray energy crystals: 32,100 → 2,100

white energy crystal: 2,280 → 780

Copper Ingot: 4,550 → 50

Tin Ingot: 4,550 → 50

Lin Feng withdrew his hand and took a few steps back, gazing at the silent building.

The Copper Ingot and Tin Ingot reserves had bottomed out again, with only fifty units remaining, and the energy crystals were nearly depleted as well.

The previous stock from Qingmu County, the seizures from the Yellow Turban Stronghold, and the loot from last night's Nightmare Tide were all poured in to barely scrape together enough for these 1,500 men.

But in ten days, 1,500 Great Qin Elite Soldiers would walk out of here.

1,500 figures as silent as iron, 1,500 halberd gleaming with cold light, and 1,500 Qin Crossbows ready to fire at any moment.

Worth it!

He turned and left the Rui Shi Camp, returned to the Council Hall, went up to the second floor, and lay down on his bed.

He hadn't slept all night, fighting from ten last night until the early hours of the morning, then handling the Refugee and settling the life-professionals; his body was indeed exhausted.

It wasn't an intense, unbearable fatigue, but a heavy weariness that seemed to seep from the very marrow of his bones.

He closed his eyes, his mind still spinning with those numbers: 1,500 Elite Soldiers in ten days; 1,200 units of Mithril in sixteen days; the Great Wall and the dragon heart in sixteen days; the Dungeon in six months.

One thing after another, lining up for him to handle.

He couldn't rush, yet he couldn't afford to be slow either.

The sunlight outside the window grew brighter and brighter.

A new day had only just begun.

Lin Feng rolled over, his breathing gradually steadying.

...

Lin Feng slept until the afternoon.

The sunlight slanted in through the window, spreading a layer of warm yellow light across the floor.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment before remembering where he was.

Last night's blood moon, the five thousand Yellow Turban Army, the two Chiefs, and the slaughter outside the city all felt like a dream.

But the exhaustion of his body and the soreness of his muscles told him it was no dream.

He sat up and stretched his neck, his bones making a slight cracking sound.

Going downstairs, the Council Hall was empty, save for a few county officials organizing documents in a corner.

Seeing him come down, they hurried to their feet to salute him.

Lin Feng waved them off, sat down in the main seat, and took a sip of the tea on the table, which had already gone cold.

Several documents needing his signature were spread out on the table: a tax supplement plan from Qingmu County and an ore allocation request from Heiyan Town.

He flipped through them one by one, circling key figures with his pen and signing his name.

While he was reviewing them, hurried footsteps came from the entrance.

Zhang Ping came running in, holding a stack of battle reports, with a complex expression on his face.

There was joy, but more so, a sense of heaviness.

He stood before the table, took a deep breath, and spoke in a voice slightly lower than usual, "Lord, the battle reports from Heiyan Town, Qingmu County, Hupan Village, and North Slope Village have all arrived."

Lin Feng put down his pen and looked up.

"They all repelled last night's double Nightmare Tide," Zhang Ping said.

The corners of Lin Feng's mouth curled up slightly, and he nodded. "Good." He leaned back in his chair, a surge of warmth in his heart.

Zhao Hu and Jiang Yelan—these two hadn't let him down.

With Zhao Hu stationed in Qingmu County, Su Yurou's Blessing of All Living Beings, and the members of the Yuehua Guild, he hadn't been too worried.

At Heiyan Town, Jiang Yelan had 130 Garrison Soldiers with her; although there were also Yuehua Guild members, they likely lacked a healing profession.

She held out; it wasn't easy.

Zhang Ping didn't continue. He stood there, his lips moving as if he didn't know how to speak.

Lin Feng watched his expression, the smile on his face slowly fading. "Speak," his voice calmed. "How many casualties?"

Zhang Ping opened the top battle report and read, "Qingmu County: ninety-two County Soldiers killed in action, and fourteen Beacon Guards killed in action."

Lin Feng's finger tapped lightly on the tabletop; he didn't speak.

"Heiyan Town: thirty Beacon Guards killed in action."

Zhang Ping's voice dropped even lower. "Hupan Village: five killed. North Slope Village: six killed."

The Council Hall fell silent.

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair, staring at the sky outside the window, silent for a long time.

Ninety-two County Soldiers, fifty-five Beacon Guards—one hundred and forty-seven people, gone overnight.

Among them were those he knew and those he didn't;

there were veterans who had fought alongside him in Hundred Ghosts County, and new recruits fresh out of training from the Rui Shi Camp.

They had their own names, their own families, their own stories.

But now, they were reduced to a single line of numbers on a battle report.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"This is the true normal of the Nightmare World," he whispered, as if speaking to Zhang Ping, or perhaps to himself. "My case is an exception and shouldn't be used as a reference."

Zhang Ping stood before the table and remained silent. He knew the Lord was telling the truth.

How many territories ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ had failed to survive last night's double Nightmare Tide?

In comparison, the fact that Fenghuo County had no casualties was already a miracle.

But this miracle was bought by the Lord alone, slaughtering his way through five thousand Yellow Turban Army soldiers.

In any other territory, who could have achieved that?