Both of their expressions were grim. The usually steady, square face of Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan was now clouded with gloom, his lips tightly pressed together as if suppressing something.

Counselor Han Cong looked even worse; his eyes were slightly red, the smile that usually graced his round face had completely vanished, his bronze mace was tucked into his waist, and his gait was much slower than usual.

They walked up to Lin Feng and stopped.

Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan was silent for a moment, then took several items out of the pack on his back: a piece of black light armor, a white belt, and a pair of dark cyan leggings.

These three pieces of equipment were still stained with uncleaned black blood and bone ash, but their purple luster remained clear.

Then, he reached deep into the pack and pulled out a ring.

The ring was entirely gold, with simple diamond-shaped patterns carved into its surface. It lacked excessive decoration, but its warm, steady golden luster showed at a glance that it was no ordinary item.

Three purple items, one gold item.

Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan handed the four pieces of equipment to Lin Feng with both hands, his voice hoarse.

"Counselor Ling Fei's weapon belongs to him; I will hand it over to his son when I return to Zhenyue City. These few items were provided by the General Bureau. Now that you are the only Gold Seat Lord in the South Pole Region, you should decide on the allocation."

Lin Feng silently took the four pieces of equipment. They felt heavy in his hands, especially the gold ring, which was much heavier than he had imagined.

He didn't check the stats immediately, but asked: "How did Counselor Ling Fei... die?"

Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His gaze landed on the ground in the distance, his voice low.

"Counselor Ling Fei was an agility-based warrior, so his health was naturally not high. At that time, the three of us—myself, him, and Counselor Han Cong—were besieging a Lich and a high-level Undead Knight."

"His health was still at thirty percent, which wasn't low. But the Lich King..."

He paused, his throat bobbing, "The Lich King took the attacks of two level-forty powerhouses from Annan Country head-on, willing to take two more strikes himself just to find an opening to fire a single-target ultimate skill at Counselor Ling Fei."

He raised his head, his eyes reddening: "That beam of light was too fast; we couldn't react in time. Counselor Ling Fei's health bar was emptied on the spot, and even the Blessing of All Living Beings didn't have time to trigger."

Counselor Han Cong sniffled sharply beside him, turned his head away, and said nothing.

Lin Feng was silent for a long time. He didn't pay much attention to the three purple pieces of equipment and tucked them into his pack, but he took out the gold ring and held it in his palm to check its stats.

【Strength Gold Ring】

Quality: Gold (Legendary)

Type: Accessory · Standard Issue

Equipment Requirement: Strength ≥ 30

Effect 1 · Strength Blessing (Passive): Strength + 5.

Effect 2 · Base Strength + 10 (Can benefit from class percentage bonuses).

Lin Feng looked at the words "Standard Issue" and a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

He remembered the phantom wind swap bracelet on his own hand; it wasn't a standard issue, but truly one-of-a-kind.

When Director Zhou had allocated that bracelet to him, he had thought it was just something left over from the General Bureau's warehouse. Now he knew that it was most likely something Director Zhou had scraped together from some unknown corner.

Most of the gold-grade accessories in the General Bureau's warehouse were likely these "standard issue" ones, with fixed stats, mass-produced.

The General Bureau had given him the best things, and he had never seriously thought about the weight of that trust.

He took a deep breath and put the Strength Gold Ring on his right index finger.

The moment the ring fit onto his finger, a warm, steady power spread from the base of his finger to his wrist, to his arm, and throughout his whole body.

His strength stat surged, and his grip on his spear became a bit steadier.

With a thought, the attribute panel unfolded before his eyes.

【Core Attributes】

constitution: 56.7 (Attribute bonus 130% + Base constitution 19, Equipment bonus 13, can stack to 61.7 during combat)

Strength: 88.2 (Attribute bonus 130% + Base Strength 34, Equipment bonus 10)

agility: 74 (Attribute bonus 130% + Base agility 20, Equipment bonus 28)

【Equipment】

Weapon: Purple · Wildfire Spear (Bound)

Head: Purple · yellow turban sacrificial officials headband

Chest: Purple · firm rock leather armor

Waist: Purple · guardian belt

Feet: Gold · zhutian war boots

Legs: Gold · Shadow-Stepping Windchaser Leggings

Accessory: Gold · golden chain of deception of the false life lord

Accessory: Gold · phantom wind swap bracelet

Accessory: Gold · Strength Gold Ring

【Overall Defense】

Head: yellow turban sacrificial officials headband (Purple) + 65

Chest: firm rock leather armor (Purple) + 70

Waist: guardian belt (Purple) + 50

Legs: Shadow-Stepping Windchaser Leggings (Gold) + 150

constitution: + 56.7

Total Defense: 391.7

Lin Feng closed the panel and looked down at the gold ring on his right index finger. In the ten o'clock morning sun, it emitted a restrained, warm luster.

He lowered his hand and turned to face the direction of Thang Long City.

"Let's go," his voice was not loud but steady and powerful, "to the Council Hall of Thang Long City. The distribution of spoils and the overall defense plan for the South Pole Region need to be preliminarily discussed with each country."

He paused, without looking back at anyone, "We cannot let Counselor Ling Fei die in vain."

Behind him, the group silently followed. Jiang Zhaoyue had her silver-white spear on her back, her eyes slightly red, but her chin was held high.

Jiang Yelan walked silently on Lin Feng's right side, Su Yurou held the bone healing staff, head down, walking in the middle of the team. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Zhao Hu carried the Venomous Bite, Feng Qingyan put away her playful demeanor, the halo of her shield shimmering slightly around her, following silently behind.

Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan and Counselor Han Cong walked at the end of the line. Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan patted Counselor Han Cong's shoulder without speaking.

From the battlefield outside the North Gate to Thang Long City was only a short distance of two li, yet it felt like walking through two different worlds.

Outside the city was a wasteland paved with broken bones and black blood; inside the city were broken walls and the gasps of survivors.

The wall bricks on both sides of the gate passage were covered with arrow marks and scorch marks. The charred cracks were like dry, cracked mouths, silently recounting the torment this city had endured over the past month.

When Lin Feng walked into the gate passage, the stone road under his feet had been soaked with blood countless times, sticky and heavy, making one feel extremely uncomfortable.

On the walls on both sides, every few steps, a yellowed notice was posted.

"Conscripting able-bodied men," "Collect bows and crossbows," "Food rationing."

The corners of the paper were curled by the wind, the edges already brittle.

Passing through the gate passage, the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) main street in front made Lin Feng's footsteps falter.

Most of the houses on both sides of the street had collapsed, with rubble and broken wood lying in the middle of the road.

Occasionally, one could see the bodies of defenders that hadn't been moved away yet, covered with old blankets, revealing only a pair of dust-covered boots.

In some places, bone arrows were still stuck in the cracks of the wall bricks, the shafts trembling slightly, the tail feathers still swaying gently.

On the streets inside the city, there were laborers carrying stretchers of wounded soldiers everywhere.

They wore coarse cloth shorts, some bare-chested, some barefoot, sweat and blood mixed together, streaming down their backs.

Some of the wounded on the stretchers were groaning, some were unconscious, and some stared at the gray sky with hollow eyes.

A Kshatriya Warrior with a severed leg lay on a stretcher, the amputation site wrapped in thick medicinal herbs that had been soaked through with blood, emitting a strong, bitter smell.

He gritted his teeth, silent, the veins on his forehead bulging.

The streets were crowded with defenders who had retreated from the city walls.

They sat, lay, or slumped against the base of the walls; no one had the strength to speak.

Some had fallen asleep holding spears, some were still mechanically wiping the blood off their blades, and some had taken off their helmets to use as bowls, drinking water in large gulps from the buckets nearby.