The hall was empty; candlesticks were overturned, tables and chairs were scattered on the floor, and a few half-eaten bones and crumpled parchment lay strewn about.
In the center of the hall, a dark red light hung in mid-air.
Lin Feng stepped forward and thrust out the Wildfire Spear. One thrust, two thrusts... ten thrusts in succession into the same spot at the core, each time exploding into a cluster of dark red light.
With the tenth shot, the core shattered with a deafening roar, and dark red specks of light scattered and fell in all directions.
From the center of the scattered light, a new golden core slowly emerged, its golden light gentle yet firm, illuminating the entire hall once more.
Outside the council chamber, a cacophony of voices arose.
Lin Feng pushed open the door and stepped out, and the scene that greeted him made him slightly taken aback.
Outside the gate, a dense crowd suddenly appeared on the open ground, including craftsmen, merchants, the elderly, women and children, and soldiers carrying weapons, filling half the square.
Carts, grain sacks, weapons, and piles of ore were all haphazardly piled together.
There were approximately 40,000 people, more than 10,000 of whom were still carrying weapons and wearing uneven leather armor, looking around blankly.
Lin Feng's gaze swept across the crowd, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
He had previously discovered that the Qin Elite Battalion could not only convert eligible natives and awakened individuals into Qin soldiers, but also these poorly equipped county soldiers could be converted again.
The arrival of over 10,000 soldiers came at just the right time.
“My lord...” a gentle voice came from the side.
Lin Feng turned his head and saw a middle-aged man wearing a faded long gown standing a few steps away.
The man was in his early forties, with a thin face, a short beard, and a gentle and steady gaze. He was holding an account book in his hand and looked like an office worker who had managed documents and accounts.
He bowed slightly to Lin Feng: "My name is Shen Anzhi, a high-level professional in life, specializing in document and accounting management. I wonder if you would find me useful, sir?"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up. A high-level life skills professional clerk—the value of such a talent in territory development is no less than that of a purple-grade equipment.
He nodded: "Shen Anzhi, from now on, you are the sheriff of Osaka Castle. You will be fully responsible for restoring production, resettling refugees, inventorying supplies, and maintaining order."
Shen Anzhi was stunned for a moment, then bowed deeply, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Thank you, sir! Shen Anzhi will certainly live up to your expectations!"
He straightened up and began mentally calculating the list of supplies and personnel arrangements.
Lin Feng nodded and said nothing more.
He turned and walked back to the council hall, bringing up the interface for the Great Wall.
A holographic map unfolded overhead, and a blue dot appeared at the location of Osaka Castle.
He pointed his finger, framing Osaka Castle within the coverage area of the Great Wall.
The grayish-blue silhouette of the city wall meandered from the edge of the map, completely enclosing the city in the middle.
【Dynamic territory has been adjusted. Consumed 8000 Stone, 2000 Wood, and 500 Iron Ingots. Resources have been deducted.】
Lin Feng withdrew his hand, closed the interface, and sighed inwardly: It's settled.
He stepped out of the council hall, pushed off with his feet, and soared into the air, heading west towards Hangu Pass.
In the open space outside the council hall, Shen Anzhi was shouting at the county soldiers and civilians to clear the ruins and move supplies. His voice was particularly loud amidst the noisy crowd.
"Pile the provisions in the open space to the east, don't pile them up in the wetlands! Keep the weapons in the south, don't mix them with the miscellaneous items!"
Lin Feng flew low overhead without stopping, continuing his rapid westward flight.
...
When Lin Feng returned to the skies above Hangu Pass, it was already 4:30 PM.
He didn't rush to land, but hovered a hundred ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) meters in the air, looking down at the battlefield outside the West Gate that had just experienced a bloody battle.
The smoke from the battle had not yet dissipated from the city wall, and charred marks stretched from the crenellations all the way to the base of the wall. Several sections of the wall still bore the cracks left by the mammoths.
However, order has been restored on the city wall, where approximately five thousand Qin elite soldiers and ten thousand county soldiers are taking turns on duty.
The black-armored soldiers leaned against the wall, drinking water and eating dry rations. Several veterans were squatting in a corner, wiping the bloodstains on their halberds with rags.
The remains of catapults and ballistae have been cleared to the inside of the city walls, and new equipment is being transported up from the warehouse.
The wilderness outside the West Gate was in a mess, littered with orc corpses, broken weapons, shattered shields, and several abandoned siege ladder carts lying askew next to the barricades.
Lin Feng's gaze then turned to the distance, where the awakened ones from the seven towns of the Night Whisper Legion and the Crescent Moon Legion had all gone with the main army to pursue the orcs.
Only the essential defensive forces remained at Hangu Pass, and the city walls were much quieter than usual.
Kara Holy City is about a thousand miles away from Hangu Pass. In addition to Nalan County and Chaman County, four other counties in Tieba Kingdom have been captured by the orcs, and they will all be recovered this time.
Once those four counties and the holy city of Kara have all submitted, the entire territory of Tieba Kingdom will be incorporated into the territory of Fenghuo Territory, and further west lies the territory of Maoxiong Kingdom.
Unfortunately, in city-level territories that have been conquered by orcs, the special unit barracks will disappear, and only a basic county barracks will remain.
This means that even if he recaptures Osaka Castle and Karakoram, he will not be able to recruit nodachi samurai and Delhi Sultan's infantry.
Thinking of how those elite troops' barracks were gone, he muttered under his breath, "Those orcs are truly despicable."
He gathered his thoughts, lowered his altitude, and looked down from the air. On the road outside the West Gate, a long transport team was carrying spoils of war to the southeast warehouse area, truck after truck.
The wooden planks were piled high with orcs' iron axes, leather armor, shields, arrows, and some blue-quality plate armor dropped by centurions; the column stretched as far as the eye could see.
The most conspicuous were the two battering rams; one had already advanced into the warehouse area, and the other was on its way.
Dozens of support staff surrounded the battering ram, chanting commands as they pushed the massive axle, inching the huge black wolf-head iron hammer forward.
The massive wooden frame left a deep rut on the stone road, and the sound of the wheels rolling over the ground was rough and heavy, like a giant beast panting heavily.
The soldiers pushing the cart were covered in sweat. Some shouted "Turn left, turn left!" while others shouted "Hold on, hold on!" The scene was as lively as if it were Chinese New Year.
Seeing this from the air, Lin Feng felt much better.
Two purple-quality battering rams will be powerful weapons for breaching gates when launching attacks on orc cities.
Adding in the purple equipment dropped by those orc warriors, he roughly estimated that the number of purple items he obtained this time was at least over twenty.
He also vaguely remembered that when two powerful orcs fell, they burst into golden orbs of light, which were then collected by Ye Lan.
It's unclear whether it's equipment, materials, or golden energy crystals. If it's golden materials, then with the right auxiliary materials, you can craft golden equipment.
If it's a gold energy crystal, it can directly upgrade purple equipment to gold. Regardless of the type, this harvest is quite substantial.
The drop rate is so high, most likely because I'm only level 29, and killing monsters above my level gives me a drop bonus.
He exploited this mechanism to its fullest extent, killing level 39 enemies at level 29, increasing the drop rate several times over.
