The drawbridge was slowly lowered.

Lin Feng stood inside the West Gate, with only two guarding Awakened behind him.

The morning light stretched his shadow long, casting it across the newly repaired wooden bridge deck.

Gui Shusheng walked at the very front, followed by a vast procession.

The elderly, the weak, women, and children supported each other as they moved forward; young and middle-aged men carried simple bundles on their backs; a few half-grown children peeked around curiously, only to be pulled back by the adults beside them.

At the end of the line were over a dozen wooden carts piled high with animal skins, coarse cloth, simple furniture, and pots and pans. The wheels creaked as they rolled over the ground.

Lin Feng took a rough sweep with his eyes.

Ninety-five people.

A few more than expected.

Gui Shusheng stepped forward quickly and bowed in the middle of the drawbridge, his posture even more respectful than the previous two times.

"Lord Lin, all ninety-five people from Xiaoyao Stronghold have been brought here. We've brought all the supplies we could from the stronghold; please inspect them, Lord."

Lin Feng nodded, facing those ninety-five pairs of eyes that were either expectant, apprehensive, or bewildered.

He didn't say much.

With a mere thought, he used his Lord's authority to grant all ninety-five people the title of 【Temporary Common Resident】.

An invisible mark settled into the depths of everyone's soul, and those refugees, who had been fearful and uneasy, all shuddered simultaneously.

They felt it—a faint connection linked to this land and resonating with the National Fortune Cauldron.

Some covered their mouths, some had eyes welling with tears, and some felt their legs go weak and knelt directly on the ground.

"This is... we have roots now..."

A gray-haired old woman knelt on the ground, murky tears rolling down her wrinkled cheeks. She pressed her hands together, her lips trembling as she repeatedly muttered the same thing:

"We have roots... we have roots..."

The middle-aged man beside her hurriedly helped her up, though his own eyes were also red. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Gui Shusheng stood to the side watching this scene, his fingers tightening slightly around his folding fan. He took a deep breath and bowed to Lin Feng once more, bending even deeper this time.

"Enter the village."

He turned and led the way.

The ninety-five people followed silently behind, crossing the drawbridge, passing through the wooden gate, and stepping onto this land they would soon call 'home'.

The reserved open space in the southwest corner of the camp had already been cleared, and over a dozen rows of simple but sturdy wooden houses were neatly arranged.

This was the result of Carpenter Zhang and his three apprentices working through the night; though crude, they were sufficient to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

Zhang Ping had long been waiting at the open space, holding a stack of rough paper recorded with the number and capacity of every house in neat regular script.

Lin Feng looked at Zhang Ping.

"Settle them in. Register their names, ages, and specialties. Note down those with crafts separately; we'll arrange them tomorrow."

"Yes, Lord," Zhang Ping replied with a bow, then turned and waved the papers in his hand toward the ninety-five people.

"Everyone follow me. Get your house assignments first, then register..."

The crowd began to move slowly, following Zhang Ping toward the rows of wooden houses.

Lin Feng stood ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) in place, watching those hunched backs, stumbling footsteps, and the occasional backward glance of eyes peeking at him.

Five hundred people.

With this batch, the total population of Beacon Fire Village had finally broken the five-hundred mark.

The first condition for upgrading to a Town-level had been met.

He didn't linger any longer and turned to walk toward the Council Hall.

...

Second floor.

Lin Feng closed the door and walked to the most spacious spot in the center of the room.

His consciousness connected with his Lord's authority—locate!

Blue Star, Lords Home, Villa No. 7.

In the next second, his figure began to become blurred and transparent.

The Wildfire Spear by the bed also quietly vanished along with him.

...

Blue Star, Rongcheng.

Lords Home Residential Area, Villa No. 7.

Lin Feng opened his eyes. The familiar air of Blue Star rushed into his nose; there was no smell of sulfur from the Nightmare World, only the faint fragrance of greenery and the sound of car horns from the distance.

The sun was shining brightly outside; it looked to be around three or four in the afternoon.

He pushed open the door and went downstairs. The living room was empty, with only a note weighed down on the coffee table:

"Xiao Feng, your dad and I are going to the senior center in the neighborhood for a bit; we'll be back before dinner. There's food in the kitchen, heat it up to eat. —Mom"

Lin Feng smiled and put the note back where it was.

He walked over to the sofa and sat down, took out his communicator, and dialed Lin Xiaoyu's number.

It connected almost on the second ring.

"Lord Lin! You're back on Blue Star?"

Lin Xiaoyu's crisp voice came from the other end of the communicator, with the faint pitter-patter of keyboard typing in the background.

"Just got back," Lin Feng said, getting straight to the point. "Xiaoyu, there's something I'd like your help with."

"Say the word!"

"I need a list—a list of the items Great Xia is currently most lacking in. The more detailed the better, preferably with names, sources, known quantities, and difficulty of acquisition."

The other end of the communicator was quiet for two seconds.

"Lord Lin, did you get your hands on something incredible in the Nightmare World? Want to see if it's worth a lot?"

Lin Xiaoyu's voice carried a hint of curiosity.

Lin Feng smiled. "Something like that. Help me look it up first."

"Understood! I'll check the internal database; please wait a moment."

The call ended.

Lin Feng leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.

About fifteen minutes later, the communicator vibrated. Lin Xiaoyu sent over an encrypted file, followed by a voice message:

"Lord Lin, I accessed the 'Rare Item Statistics' module of the Great Xia Nightmare Administration Bureau headquarters database and filtered out a cross-referenced list of 'hardest to get' and 'rarest' dimensions. Take a look and see if you have anything on there."

"The file password is the last six digits of your ID card. Take your time looking; let me know if you have any questions!"

Lin Feng clicked on the file and entered the password.

A long list slowly unfolded before his eyes.

【Great Xia Nightmare World Rare Item Statistics · Top Secret · Grade B-Upper Clearance】

【Statistical Time: Blue Star Calendar, March 3230】

【Note: Some entries involve national-level secrets; please read with caution.】

First Entry: 【Special Village Establishment Order】

Category: territory core Item

Source: Probability drop from killing Nightmare Legion Commanders (BOSS) over Level 40;

Estimated Drop Rate: Approximately 1 in 10,000

Nightmare Soldier Estimated Drop Rate: Approximately 1 in 10,000,000

Quantity Obtained by Great Xia: 1

Note 1: After establishing a territory, it comes with special troop types and advanced wonder blueprints. An advanced wonder is one of the core conditions for establishing a Main City (an advanced wonder can have its first stage completed first to exercise partial functions, which will be judged as a Low-level Wonder). A Low-level Wonder is one of the core conditions for establishing a City-level territory.

Note 2: Low-level Wonder blueprints can be dropped with a certain probability by killing Nightmare Legion Commanders (BOSS) over Level 40; estimated drop rate: approximately 1 in 1,000.

Note 3: advanced wonder blueprints currently cannot be obtained through monster drops.

Note 4: Wonder functions vary; some lean toward defense, while others lean toward increasing army combat power.

Note 5: A total of three Special Village Establishment Orders have dropped on Blue Star: one for Great Xia, one for the USA, and one for Europa.

Note 6: Suspected connection to the Nightmare World's source. According to big data analysis, every time a Special Village Establishment Order is activated, the underlying rules of the Nightmare World will undergo micro-disturbances—frequent natural disasters, tidal disturbances, and early awakening of high-order Nightmares. The world is accelerating toward madness and unpredictability.