But things are different now. He has suffered too many losses in Antarctica. His detachment was completely wiped out, and his 200,000 troops were forced to retreat north. If he doesn't leave now, and that human catches up again, he won't even have a chance to retreat.
Saruk tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, his gaze fixed on the north, and remained silent for a long time.
Then he snapped out of his reverie, glanced down at the rapidly retreating column below, and suddenly spoke, his voice booming across the open field: "Speed up! Abandon all supplies! We must be out of Antarctica before nightfall!"
The pace of the procession quickened noticeably, and several supply trucks at the back were pushed over to the side of the road. The procession at the front no longer stopped to wait, bypassing the supplies and continuing on their way.
Saruk flew forward in silence for a distance before speaking, his voice a few decibels lower than before: "Send someone to contact the Undead King Hel and tell him that I agree to his proposal: the Orcs withdraw from the Central Plains and enter the Western Regions in exchange for the Undead withdrawing from the Western Regions and ceding their territory."
The orc prophet beside him bowed and accepted the order, then turned and flew off in another direction.
Saruk did not speak again, nor did he look back down.
He carried the golden broadsword and continued flying north.
...
Eight hundred li west of Chiyo Castle, on the northern border of the Antarctic region.
The Hangu Pass was moved here the day before yesterday. After the relocation was completed, the terrain survey and the outer patrol routes within a radius of dozens of miles have been redrawn.
At the highest point of the city gate tower, a deep blue beacon flag unfurled in the wind, the huge character "烽" (beacon) on the flag fluttering in the north wind.
Lin Feng stood on the city tower, his hands resting on the edge of the battlements, his gaze stretching northward across the open fields beyond the city walls.
As far as the eye could see, the terrain had changed from the continuous green of Qingluo Plain to a gray-brown wilderness, becoming increasingly desolate the further north one went.
Rolling low hills dot the horizon, beyond which lies a blurry gray-blue expanse, like a faint boundary line drawn with a brush between heaven and earth.
Twenty days have passed since the orc army withdrew from Antarctica, and a lot has happened in those twenty days.
He first led his troops northeast, recapturing Chiyo Castle and all fourteen prefectures of the former Sakura Kingdom.
The orc garrison on that land had already fled when the main army retreated, leaving behind only empty streets and a small amount of abandoned supplies.
He left some troops in Meng Yi to garrison the area and restore basic order, while allocating the newly acquired 12,500 troop expansion slots to the Qin elite soldiers.
This brought the total number of recruits for the Qin elite troops to 14,500.
These newly added elite soldiers have all completed their training, and there are as many as 50,000 Qin soldiers inside Hangu Pass alone.
The number of senior officers was also expanded, with five generals of ten thousand men, ten colonels, and fifty generals of one thousand men.
With the addition of a large number of third-stage awakened individuals, the current defensive status of Hangu Pass can indeed be described as "impregnable".
Even if the orcs were to launch another attack, relying solely on the city walls for defense, they would not be able to breach the fortified pass without several times the number of troops and a stronger siege force.
Then there's the land that can't be covered by the Great Wall. When he tried to incorporate the newly recovered territory into the Great Wall's boundaries, the system indicated that there was a special disturbance that prevented the operation from being completed and marked several anomalies.
He went to investigate personally and dug out a dark red blood crystal from the ground at the anomaly point.
The crystal shattered on its own after being extracted from the ground, turning into a pile of dark red powder.
He mentally compared this matter with the previous intelligence, and if nothing unexpected happened, this was probably the thing that prevented Thang Long City and Jin Yan City from surrendering.
Upon discovering this, he shared the information with the various countries in the Antarctic region, instructing them to check whether the same thing had been buried within their own territories.
The last thing is the heart of the ancient builder.
He inquired with the General Administration whether the Great Xia had this material in its inventory. After checking the files, the General Administration replied that the Great Xia had only obtained one piece in the Nightmare World over the past ninety years, which had already been used to upgrade advanced wonders, and there was no inventory at present.
However, there is another piece in Europa. Over the years, various countries have discovered that the Heart of the Ancient Builder has almost no other use besides upgrading advanced wonders. Therefore, Europa has kept the extra piece and has never used it.
When he heard the news, he almost burst out laughing on the spot.
He immediately instructed the headquarters to contact Europa, indicating his willingness to exchange the ancient builder's heart for negotiable terms.
Judging by the timeline, we should get a response in the next few days.
Once [N O V E L I G H T] you get that piece, and then get another one from Severin in the dungeon, both the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army can be upgraded to advanced wonders.
He also wanted to see what would happen when two advanced wonders appeared on a territory.
Just then, a figure flew up from the side and landed on the platform at the edge of the city gate.
Jiang Zhaoyue carried her silver spear on her back and landed very lightly.
She walked to Lin Feng's side and, without exchanging pleasantries, said directly, "Lord Lin, there has been a reply from Europa."
Lin Feng turned his head: "What do you mean?"
"They agreed and were willing to trade the Heart of the Ancient Builder to us."
Jiang Zhaoyue paused, then added, "But there's one condition."
Lin Feng didn't immediately ask what the conditions were, but simply nodded: "Go to the council hall and tell them, and also inform them of the latest legion organization."
The adjustment plans for the Crescent Moon Legion and the Night Whisper Legion have been finalized, and this is a good opportunity to make sure the core members are aware of them.
Jiang Zhaoyue responded and turned to fly down from the city wall.
Lin Feng stood on the city wall for a while, his gaze sweeping over the empty plains outside the pass. Then, he pushed off with his feet, his body soaring into the air and flying towards the council hall.
Behind him, the wind blowing from the north whistled through the gaps in the battlements, but was quickly drowned out by the commands of the soldiers changing shifts below the city wall.
...
Lin Feng flew from the north city tower to the council hall. As he passed over the towers and barracks of the inner city of Hangu Pass, he could see that the streets below were much more bustling than they had been twenty days ago.
Newly recruited Awakened Ones and adventurers, clad in various leather armors, strolled through the streets, the clanging of blacksmiths mingling with laughter from taverns.
The expansion of Fenghuo Territory brought an influx of people, and Hangu Pass was gradually transforming from a purely military fortress into a living settlement.
He landed at the entrance of the council hall and pushed the door open to enter.
The hall was already full of people; there were almost no empty seats on the chairs on either side of the long table.
Some people leaned back in their chairs to talk, while others turned to the side to exchange opinions with the people next to them, their faces beaming with barely suppressed smiles.
