Jinghai, the capital of Daxia.

Deeply hidden three hundred meters underground was the "Lord Monitoring Hall" of the Nightmare Administration Bureau headquarters.

There were no windows here, only countless holographic screens floating in midair, arranged like stars, emitting faint blue or pale green light.

The data streams on the screens poured down like waterfalls, each one connected to Daxia's thousands of legal territories in the Nightmare World, ranging from village-level to city-level, from newly established to ancient.

In the center of the hall floated an even larger and more detailed holographic projection of the National Fortune Cauldron.

The cauldron slowly rotated, its three faint cracks clearly visible under the dim light, like three shocking scars.

At this moment, among the points of light representing the number of territories on the cauldron, an extremely faint yet incredibly clear new star of light suddenly lit up! The location: Riverbend Land.

Almost at the same time, in the monitoring hall, a calm, neutral, and emotionless synthesized electronic voice sounded. It wasn't loud, but it seemed to echo directly in the depths of every staff member's consciousness on duty:

【Signal of a new legal territory detected.】

【Signal source confirmed: daxia national destiny cauldron.】

【Territory Name: Beacon Fire Village.】

【Lord: Lin Feng.】

【Territory Level: village-level (Initial).】

【Geographical Location: Canglang Plain, Riverbend Land.】

【Establishment Time: Approximately 7 hours ago.】

【Initial Territory Range: Slightly above standard village-level.】

【Basic profiles of Lord Lin Feng matched: Male, 18 years old, graduate of Rongcheng No. 3 High School, awakened 10 days ago (Blue Star time) during the unified awakening. No family territory background, no guild records, no military background.】

【Comprehensive Evaluation: This lord belongs to the 'commoner rising' type. Potential rating... initial calculation in progress... anomaly... insufficient data, rating temporarily cannot be generated.】

The voice came from the deepest part of the hall, where there was no physical form, only a constantly shifting light-blue halo flowing with countless data runes—the highest-level artificial intelligence of the Daxia Nightmare Administration Bureau, named "Yu Shu" after the "pivot" of Yu the Great, who controlled the floods and divided the Nine Provinces in mythology.

【Information has automatically generated an encrypted report. Grade: B-plus.】

【According to the procedure, it has been pushed to the terminal of the General Bureau's officer-in-charge on duty.】

In the hall, several staff members on duty monitoring other regional data were alerted. They looked one after another at the newly lit point of light on the central screen, expressions ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) of surprise on their faces, though it was mostly a routine interest.

New territories were born or perished every month, so this was nothing unusual. It was only the keyword 'commoner rising' that made them take a few more glances.

...

Deep within the headquarters, in an extremely simple office with almost no decorations.

A grey-haired elderly man wearing a dark blue Mao suit, his serious face bearing a lingering weariness, was standing by the window—even though outside was a simulated holographic image of natural scenery.

In his hand, he held a paper document that had just arrived from the Western Hemisphere, marked 【Top Secret • Urgent • Bad News】, his knuckles turning slightly white from his tight grip.

The contents of the document were shocking: the National Fortune Cauldron of the "Republic of Careto" in the Southern Continent of the Western Hemisphere had completely shattered three days ago, and all of its territories in the Nightmare World were annihilated.

According to international conventions and the confirmed rules of 'digitized dissipation,' all citizens of that country born on Blue Star who possessed a 'life information brand'—approximately eight million people—had gradually dissipated into nothingness as points of light over the past 72 hours.

The major global powers had joined forces to blockade the news to prevent panic from spreading, but among the high-ranking officials, a storm was already brewing.

“...Too fast,” the old man muttered to himself, his voice hoarse. “The Nightmare Tide jumping three levels, the large-scale materialization of ancient legion projections... Now even the speed at which small nations perish is accelerating.”

He recalled the three county-level territories that Daxia had lost over the past three months, each loss accompanied by a new, fine crack on the National Fortune Cauldron and the sacrifice of countless soldiers.

The situation was deteriorating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Just then, the unremarkable black band on his wrist vibrated slightly, and a light screen popped up. It was precisely the 【Grade B-plus】 encrypted report pushed by "Yu Shu".

The old man's gaze swept over it, a glint of light flashing in his tired eyes.

“Beacon Fire Village... Lin Feng... Rongcheng... eighteen years old... awakened for ten days... commoner lord...?”

The series of keywords made his brow twitch slightly.

Especially at this point in time, an eighteen-year-old youth without any background had actually, just ten short days after awakening...

...gained a firm foothold in the Nightmare World, obtained a Village Establishment Order, and established a territory recognized by the National Fortune Cauldron?

This efficiency was somewhat astonishing.

Though the report was brief, the information it contained could not be underestimated. A powerful rookie lord appearing out of nowhere, especially under the current increasingly bizarre and tense situation, was worthy of attention.

“Yu Shu,” the old man spoke to the air.

【Present.】 The calm, neutral voice sounded directly in the office.

“Contact the Rongcheng War Zone Nightmare Administration Bureau. Since this lord's registered permanent residence is in Rongcheng, they will be responsible for the initial contact and observation.

The evaluation level is temporarily set to 'Key Focus (Grade B),' and the resource allocation will be executed according to the upper limit of a standard rookie lord.

Pay attention to the methods used; focus primarily on support and observation, and do not interfere with his independent development unless necessary.”

The old man quickly gave instructions. Daxia needed new blood and powerful lords. Especially for a promising seed like this who had fought his way up on his own, they had to nurture him carefully and not easily bind him with bureaucratic systems.

【Directive confirmed. Connected to the internal network of the Rongcheng War Zone Nightmare Administration Bureau. The report and contact directive have been sent.】 Yu Shu's efficiency was extremely high.

The old man picked up the top-secret document about the demise of the small nation again, then glanced at the words "Beacon Fire Village" on the light screen. The worry in his eyes remained undiminished, yet an indescribable trace of anticipation had been added.

“Beacon Fire... I hope this fire of yours can burn brighter and longer.”

...

Rongcheng, the Nightmare Administration Bureau War Zone Building.

In the Director's office, Chen Weiguo, who had just finished a meeting regarding the abnormal activities of nightmare creatures in the county-level territories under Rongcheng's jurisdiction, hadn't even had a chance to drink a sip of water.

An inconspicuous silver panel on the inner side of his desk lit up, displaying Yu Shu's logo and the encrypted push notification from the headquarters.