Lin Feng sat up straight, his expression unchanged, but he had already guessed most of it in his heart.

"You still have one vacancy for a subordinate lord."

Zhou Guosheng's gaze fell on Lin Feng's face, not beating around the bush. "Do you have a preferred candidate?"

Lin Feng sighed inwardly; as expected, it was this. He had thought about this issue long ago.

Beacon Fire Territory had two vacancies for subordinate lords; one had already been given to Jiang Yelan, and the other had remained empty.

He knew that the General Bureau could not allow this vacancy to remain open indefinitely.

From the General Bureau's perspective, Beacon Fire Territory was already a key force concerning the survival of Great Xia. The core layer of this force had to include someone from the authorities.

This wasn't a lack of trust; it was a strategic necessity.

His expression remained unchanged, his tone steady. "Not yet. If the General Bureau has a suitable candidate, you can recommend them to me."

Hearing this answer, a trace of a smile finally appeared on Zhou Guosheng's serious face—not a polite smile, but one with a hint of approval.

Lin Feng's cooperation was more straightforward than he had anticipated.

"What do you think of Jiang Zhaoyue?" Zhou Guosheng asked.

Lin Feng thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "Lord Jiang's strength is not weak; she's level twenty-nine, and both her first and second promotions were for rare classes."

"We fought side-by-side in the Dungeon; her Battlefield Intuition was a huge help while exploring. Her personality is steady—she doesn't act rashly, nor is she afraid of battle. She is a trustworthy comrade-in-arms."

Zhou Guosheng nodded and briefly explained Lu Shanyue's previous proposal.

Let Xinyue County surrender to Fenghuo County, and Lin Feng would appoint Jiang Zhaoyue as a subordinate lord. The General Bureau would be responsible for providing Third Rank books and necessary resource support to ensure she could become Lin Feng's right-hand person in the shortest time possible.

After Lin Feng finished listening, he was silent for a moment.

He had cooperated with Jiang Zhaoyue, so a foundation of trust existed.

Her ability was sufficient to hold her own, and her personality didn't seem like the type to pull small tricks behind someone's back.

Giving the subordinate lord position to Jiang Yelan was out of trust.

Giving it to Jiang Zhaoyue, however, carried more of a strategic cooperation flavor. Since the General Bureau had already considered everything so thoroughly, he had no reason to refuse. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"As long as she agrees to it herself, I have no problem," Lin Feng said.

Zhou Guosheng's smile deepened slightly but was quickly restrained, because he could see from Lin Feng's expression that he still had something to say.

Lin Feng told Zhou Guosheng everything about the Dragon Knight skeleton he saw on the sixth floor of the Dungeon, as well as the image of the Apostle in Sylvia's Memory Fragment.

After Zhou Guosheng finished listening, his face was as solemn as if it were covered in a layer of frost.

"The Apostle's strength is very likely level fifty or above." His voice was very low.

"Based on our exploration of the Dungeon during this period, we've obtained some clues. The appearance of an Apostle represents that the world's resistance has dropped to a certain level. If the world's resistance were strong enough, they would be unable to descend."

Both were silent for a long time.

"How much resistance does Blue Star have left now?" Lin Feng asked the question that had been weighing on his heart.

Zhou Guosheng did not answer.

The lights in the meeting room glowed quietly, the light flickering slightly on the walls. Neither of them spoke again.

The two were silent for a moment in tacit understanding.

Lin Feng knew that Zhou Guosheng could not answer this question, and neither could the General Bureau.

World resistance was not a quantifiable number; it was an invisible, intangible variable that existed deep within the rules of the Nightmare World.

No one knew when the variable would break through the critical point.

Zhou Guosheng stood up and nodded to Lin Feng. "That's all for today. The General Bureau will implement the requests you made as soon as possible. As for Jiang Zhaoyue, I will have someone go and talk to her. You go back and prepare."

Lin Feng also stood up and cupped his fists. "Director Zhou, thank you."

Zhou Guosheng waved his hand, his figure rising from the chair in a faint golden light before dissipating.

Lin Feng's consciousness withdrew from the meeting room and returned to the ceiling of his bedroom in Rongcheng.

He sat by the bed, looking at the grey sky outside the window, murmuring to himself.

Destiny Awakened are already the peak of Blue Star for the past thirty years; what kind of monsters would those above level fifty be?

His heart went cold for a moment, and he didn't dare to think about it.

He hoped that Blue Star's world resistance could hold out a little longer.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressed those thoughts, lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes.

"Connect to Nightmare."

A sense of weightlessness hit him as his consciousness withdrew from Blue Star and fell under that dark red sky.

Lin Feng got up from the bed; the sky outside the window was already bright.

He got out of bed, slung the Wildfire Spear onto his back—having already donned his firm rock leather armor—and pushed open the door to go downstairs.

The Council Hall was empty. The oil lamp on the long table had burned out, leaving only a small dark red ember on the wick.

He pushed open the main gate, and the cool morning breeze rushed over him, carrying the scent of soil and grass seeds from the Golden Ear Plain.

Lin Feng kicked off the ground, his body soaring into the air as he flew toward the north gate of Hangu Pass.

Looking down from the air, the entire view of Hangu Pass was laid out before him.

This military fortress was square-shaped, with walls forty meters high—the same height as the main wall of the Great Wall. The grey-blue giant stones glinted coldly in the morning light.

The layout inside the walls was complete: the southeast was the warehouse and armory area, the southwest was the workshop area, the northwest was the barracks, drill grounds, and stables, the northeast was the residential area, and in the center was a two-story Council Hall.

Each wall was ten miles long, with crisscrossing alleys inside. Drainage ditches, granaries, and water wells were all present.

Lin Feng flew slowly through the air, his gaze sweeping over these empty buildings one by one.

Hangu Pass had a complete defense system, clear functional zoning, and fully equipped city defense facilities.

But it was also an empty pass, with no garrison, no craftsmen, no residents—not even a single dog.

He landed on the north gate tower.

The city wall was eight meters wide, enough for two carriages to drive side-by-side. The battlements were arched, with an arrow slit every few steps.

But at this moment, the wall was empty—no defensive equipment, no ballista, no catapults, not even a single soldier on guard.

The gate tower was a three-story wooden structure with upturned eaves and corners, its glazed tiles shimmering with dark golden light in the morning sun.

The first floor was the garrison's rest area and armory, the second floor was where commanders discussed matters, and the third floor was the observation deck.

Lin Feng walked up to the third floor of the gate tower, leaned against the battlements, and looked toward the north.

Only a cold wind blew from the north, whistling through the battlements like some unknown wail.

The boundless Golden Ear Plain stretched out in the morning light, golden waves of grass extending to the horizon, with no sign of any enemies.

But no one knew how long this peace could last.

Lin Feng silently estimated the time in his head.

Zhao Hu and Meng Yi should already be on the way with the Beacon Guards and Great Qin Elite Soldiers; they would arrive ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) by the afternoon.

Once they arrived, Hangu Pass would truly have a garrison.

ballista, catapults, and Explosive Potions would also be delivered one after another. By then, the walls would become lively.

The morning breeze blew from the north, carrying the scent of the wilderness, fluttering the headband on his forehead.