Half an hour later, Jingchuan County Council Hall.

People filled both sides of the long table.

Everyone had a smile on their face.

Tie Dun was still counting on his fingers: "Three yesterday, two today, five county towns in total. Five thousand County Soldiers, ten thousand military dependents, fifteen thousand Gray Crystals, and five thousand each of Copper Ingot, Tin Ingot, and Iron Ingot..."

His eyes lit up as he calculated. "Lord, shouldn't we hold a victory banquet?"

Zhao Hu glanced at him. "The war isn't over yet. What are we celebrating?"

Lin Feng raised his hand for silence, his voice steady and powerful. "Alright, that's enough for this operation for now. Put Shenle County aside; we won't attack it."

He looked at Zhao Hu. "Zhao Hu, because time has been tight these past two days, we haven't carefully screened the life-professionals among the military dependents yet."

"According to the General Bureau's intelligence, there is a high probability of life-professionals appearing after reclaiming foreign territories."

"In the next few days, conduct a thorough screening of the ten thousand new military dependents. If there are any life-professionals in clerical roles, recommend them directly to Zhang Ping so he can restore production in these five new counties. The rest of the life-professionals should also be handed over to him for assignment."

Zhao Hu stood up, pressing his right fist to his chest. "Understood. I will organize personnel to register them house by house immediately; not a single one will be missed."

Lin Feng nodded and added, "By the way, once you've handled this, lead two thousand County Soldiers to garrison Jingchuan County and keep a constant watch on the movements of the orc army in Shenle County."

Zhao Hu cupped his fists again. "Understood."

Lin Feng nodded, his gaze sweeping over the others. "As for everyone else, there are no assignments for now. Wait for notice."

"Everyone has worked hard these past two days. Get some good rest; there are bigger battles ahead."

Everyone accepted the command in unison.

"Meeting adjourned," Lin Feng said.

...

Blue Star · Rongcheng No. 3 High School.

7:50 AM.

In the classroom of Grade 12 Class 7, a holographic projection blackboard cast function graphs into the air. Curves rotated slowly in three-dimensional space, marked with extreme points, inflection points, and asymptotes.

The math teacher, Old Zhou, stood before the podium, his fingers swiping through the air. The images zoomed and rotated accordingly, with key areas highlighted in red.

"This problem is a key type for this year's Gaokao. Last year's final question followed a similar logic."

Old Zhou's voice was measured as his fingertip tapped an inflection point on the graph. "Here, pay attention to the change in the derivative. Sixty percent of examinees lost points here last year."

Wang Hao's textbook stood upright on his desk, blocking the teacher's view.

Behind the textbook, his personal terminal was propped up horizontally in his drawer, with the brightness set to the minimum.

The Dream Net livestream showed a night scene. The dark sky was tinged with a hint of blood-red. The city in the Beacon Fire Territory was brightly lit, and black-armored soldiers patrolling the walls moved like ants.

But dozens of minutes ago in Blue Star time, he had seen Lin Feng lead a large army out of the north gate, destination unknown.

The livestream only showed the territory, and the bullet chat was sparse.

【Lord Lin took so many people out; is there going to be a war?】

【No way, he's been integrating new territories these past few days. Where would there be a battle?】

【The stream has been so boring lately; I'm almost falling asleep.】

Wang Hao yawned. For the past two days, Lin Feng had been integrating newly annexed territories, so there were no battles.

The stream was full of daily life, and while it was truly boring, he didn't dare close it. What if anti-fans came to stir up trouble?

Old Zhou's voice suddenly rose. "This next part is the most critical of all. It's guaranteed to be on the Gaokao this year. Listen up!"

Wang Hao's heart tightened. The most critical part? Guaranteed on the Gaokao?

He glanced at the stream; nothing major would happen for a while.

But what if something suddenly happened in the livestream? Making a snap decision, he opened his messaging app.

Pinned contact: Chen Hao. Note: Die-hard comrade, deputy moderator, starts work at 9:30 AM, usually around in the morning.

He typed quickly.

Wang Hao: Brother Hao! I need an emergency favor!

Wang Hao: I'm in class, and the teacher is about to cover key points, so I can't watch the stream. Help me keep an eye on it. If there are anti-fans, ban them immediately; don't waste your breath!

Wang Hao: Lord Lin's side has just been daily life lately, so there shouldn't be anything big, but if anyone tries to stir things up, help me block them.

Less than three seconds after the message was sent, a reply came.

Chen Hao: Got it! I'm eating breakfast right now; I'll be online in a second!

Chen Hao: You go listen to the lecture. Leave the stream to me. Anyone who dares to bash Lord Lin will learn what it means to be a mod with power.

Wang Hao: Good brother! When you come to Rongcheng, I'll treat you to the school cafeteria!

Chen Hao:...The cafeteria? Is that even food for humans?

Wang Hao: Then I'll treat you to the street stalls outside the school gate!

Chen Hao: I'll eat whatever you treat me to. Go listen to your lecture!

Wang Hao closed the messaging app, dimmed his personal terminal, and stuffed it deep into his drawer.

He looked up, pretending to study the function graphs on the holographic blackboard, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to the left—to the seat next to him.

Lin Feng's seat.

The desk was spotless, and the chair was perfectly aligned.

A small copper plaque was attached to the upper right corner of the desk, engraved with three characters: "Lin Feng's Seat."

Below the copper plaque was a line of even smaller text: "Great Xia Specially Protected Seat · Touching Strictly Prohibited Without Principal's Approval."

Wang Hao still remembered that during the first few days after Lin Feng's awakening, no one paid attention to this seat.

Later, as he grew more successful in the Nightmare World, starting with a village-level territory, then town-level, then county-level... the principal personally ordered the seat to be cordoned off with caution tape, forbidding anyone from approaching.

Later, the caution tape was replaced with a glass case. The case was custom-made, engraved with the words: "Rongcheng No. 3 High School Honorary Alumnus · Lin Feng."

Now, a red rope barrier had been added around the glass case, with a sign hanging on the barrier: "National-Level Cultural Relic Protection Unit · Do Not Touch."

"Cultural relic..." Wang Hao wanted to laugh every time he saw that sign.

Even more absurd was that the school had specially assigned a security guard to stand watch by this seat every day.

The guard wore a uniform and white gloves, looking solemn as if guarding some national treasure.

Wang Hao had once secretly asked the guard, "How much do you think this seat is worth?"

The guard remained expressionless. "Priceless."

Wang Hao almost burst out laughing.

It wasn't just this seat; the entire Grade 12 Class 7 had changed.

A copper plaque hung by the classroom door, stating: "Comrade Lin Feng once studied in this classroom."

Holographic projections in the hallway played footage of Lin Feng on ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) a loop, with subtitles scrolling below: "The Pride of Rongcheng No. 3 High School · Great Xia's Youngest Third Rank Lord."

During the last school-wide assembly, the principal told Lin Feng's story via the dome projection.

He spoke of how he went from being the quietest student in class to a lord watched by all of Great Xia.

He spoke of his Great Wall, his Great Qin Elite Soldiers, and how he single-handedly tore through five thousand Yellow Turban Army soldiers.

Every time he mentioned that "Lin Feng is an alumnus of our school," thunderous applause would erupt from the audience.