Early the next morning, Lin Feng woke up on the second floor of the Council Hall.

Leaning against the headboard and looking out the window, he began to plan his itinerary for the day.

The transport team led by Ye Lan should be returning from the Dragon's Lair this afternoon.

That batch of energy crystals—over two hundred white crystals and over ten thousand Gray Crystal—plus his current inventory, would significantly alleviate the territory's crystal shortage.

As he was thinking, his thoughts drifted to Jiang Zhaoyue.

After Xinyue County became a subordinate territory, according to the "Sweep the Six Harmonies" trait of the Great Qin Elite Camp, the recruitment quota for troops would increase by five hundred for every additional county-level territory.

He planned to allocate all five hundred of these slots to the Weakened Great Qin Elite.

With two thousand five hundred Level 15 Elite Soldiers, combined with the wonder's Wind of Recovery, his confidence in holding Hangu Pass increased by another notch.

Furthermore, the village-level and town-level territories around Zhenyue City would also gradually become his subordinate territories.

Although those territories weren't large, they had accumulated resources in the Nightmare World for decades; the combined Copper Ingot, Tin Ingot, Iron Ingot, and energy crystals in their warehouses should amount to a significant sum.

Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Feng's mouth curled up slightly.

Just then, the air in the center of the room suddenly rippled.

Golden light condensed from the void, transforming into a fist-sized crystal—the territory core of Hangu Pass—which floated in mid-air, rotating slowly.

Lin Feng walked over and pressed his hand against the crystal.

A piece of information exploded in his mind, clear and direct.

【Jiang Zhaoyue, Lord of Xinyue County, requests annexation. Do you accept her as a subordinate lord? Do you agree?】

Lin Feng was stunned for a moment.

He had only finished talking with Director Zhou yesterday, and the application had already arrived early this morning.

The General Bureau's efficiency was even faster than he had anticipated.

He didn't hesitate, sending a thought: "Agree."

The crystal vibrated slightly, the light flashed twice, and another message popped up.

【Do you appoint Jiang Zhaoyue, Lord of Xinyue County, as a subordinate lord of Fenghuo County?】

“Agree.”

【Jiang Zhaoyue has been appointed as a subordinate lord of Fenghuo County.】

【Xinyue County has become a subordinate territory of Fenghuo County.】

【The residents and Freemen of Xinyue County have been annexed into Beacon Fire Territory.】

【Xinyue County's status can be viewed at any territory core within Beacon Fire Territory.】

Lin Feng pressed his hand on the crystal and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° brought up the resource panel for Xinyue County.

Information flooded in like a tide, unfolding rows of data before his eyes.

【Xinyue County Resource Panel】

Residents: 7,019

Freemen: 1,710

Food: 1,050 units

Salted Fish: 120 units

Salt: 100 units

Wood: 1,000 units

Stone: 6,000 units

Iron Ingot: 200 units

Copper Ingot: 600 units

Tin Ingot: 600 units

Gray Crystal: 5,412

White Crystals: 80

green crystals: 5

Blue Crystals: 1

...

Looking at these numbers, Lin Feng's brow twitched slightly.

Xinyue County's resources were far worse than Qingmu County's at the time; Qingmu County had over twenty thousand Gray Crystal alone, and its Copper Ingot and Tin Ingot were in the thousands of units.

However, Xinyue County was a newly established territory after all; being able to save up this much was already not bad.

More importantly, after Xinyue County became a subordinate territory, his Great Qin Elite Soldiers recruitment quota increased by another five hundred.

He was just calculating when to return to Fenghuo County to recruit these five hundred Elite Soldiers when the Hangu Pass territory core suddenly began to vibrate continuously.

Streams of information poured down into his mind like a waterfall.

【Jinqiu Town requests to become your subordinate territory. Do you agree?】

【Shitou Town requests to become your subordinate territory. Do you agree?】

【Tiemen Town requests to become your subordinate territory. Do you agree?】

【Huishi Town requests to become your subordinate territory. Do you agree?】

...

Ten towns and twenty-four villages—a dense list of applications filled the entire light screen.

Lin Feng clicked through them one by one, choosing to accept them all.

With every click, the crystal flashed once, like an accelerating heartbeat.

He flipped through the resource panels of those territories one by one.

Jinqiu Town: three thousand units of stored grain, two thousand units of wood, eight thousand Gray Crystal.

Shitou Town: fifteen thousand units of stone, one thousand two hundred units of Iron Ingot, six thousand Gray Crystal.

Tiemen Town: eight hundred units of Copper Ingot, seven hundred units of Tin Ingot, five thousand Gray Crystal.

Huishi Town: stone, wood, crystals... every town had decades of accumulation. Although each individual amount wasn't much, the combined total of ten towns was quite considerable.

Adding to that what Director Zhou had said about Zhenyue City sending a batch of resources for support, he shouldn't be lacking resources in the short term.

The construction requirements for the Terracotta Army were only missing Mithril and Heroic Soul Core; given the scale of Mithril smelting at North Slope Village, they would definitely be able to gather enough within a month.

As for the Heroic Soul Core, he still had no lead on those.

He was just wondering if he should go to the window for a breath of fresh air when the crystal flashed again.

【Linshan County requests to become your subordinate territory. Do you agree?】

Linshan County! Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

He certainly knew this county; it was ranked in the top ten among Great Xia's county-level territories, and its strength was more than a level above the Hundred Ghosts County of back then.

Located two hundred and seventy li northeast of Zhenyue City, it focused on forestry and hunting, producing high-grade furs and rare timber, and had always maintained a very good relationship with Zhenyue City.

Such a powerful county-level territory had actually chosen to annex itself to him?

He forced himself to calm down and quickly ran through the implications in his mind.

Xinyue County had Jiang Zhaoyue as a subordinate lord, meaning she could still retain her status as a lord and most of her rights.

But Linshan County was different; if the Lord of Linshan County annexed themselves to Fenghuo County, they would completely lose their lord status and become an ordinary Awakened.

What kind of conditions did the General Bureau offer to convince him to give up everything?

Lin Feng didn't know, but Director Zhou had done it.

Director Zhou hadn't even mentioned this to him at the time, likely because the Lord of Linshan County wouldn't be arranged to come to Beacon Fire Territory; instead, the entire county was being given to him directly.

Lin Feng was silent for a moment, feeling an indescribable admiration for the General Bureau's efficiency, and a heavy sense of gratitude for their immense support pressing on his chest.

He also gained a deeper understanding of the burden on his shoulders; the General Bureau had bet more than half of the South Pole Region's assets on him, and he could not afford to lose.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and clicked "Agree."

【Linshan County has become a subordinate territory of Fenghuo County.】

【The residents and Freemen of Linshan County have been annexed into Beacon Fire Territory.】

【Linshan County's status can be viewed at any territory core within Beacon Fire Territory.】

He closed the light screen, withdrew his hand from the territory core, and walked to the window.

Opening the window, a cool morning breeze blew in from the north, carrying the scent of soil and grass seeds from the Golden Ear Plain.

He gazed at the distant Great Wall winding through the morning light and didn't move for a long time.

Behind him, the territory core floated in the center of the room, its golden light flickering like a quiet heart.