Tie Dun was talking to Wang Wu sideways, gesturing with one hand. When he saw the figure approaching from the doorway, he stopped halfway through his sentence and sat up straight.
The others gradually quieted down, and the sound of chairs scraping against the floor echoed and disappeared in the hall.
Lin Feng walked through the central aisle and sat down in the main seat, with the Wildfire Spear leaning against the side of the chair, his gaze sweeping across both sides.
He didn't speak immediately. He first picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup, took a sip, put down the cup, and then said, "Everyone has worked hard these past twenty-odd days."
"The territory of Fenghuo Territory has more than doubled. Hangu Pass alone has taken in more than 100,000 awakened individuals and adventurers of level seven or above from the Antarctic Region of Great Xia and the Iron Kingdom. Just the resettlement and reorganization will keep us busy for a while."
He paused for a moment, then said, "But once this busy period is over, there shouldn't be any major issues. Everyone can rest and catch up on their sleep."
Tie Dun was the first to speak, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement: "The lord is right! I've lost several pounds in the past twenty days just running around handling paperwork! You wouldn't believe it, just filling out more than twenty forms just to enroll those new Awakened Ones in the barracks."
I've never written so many words in my life! My legs go weak just looking at that desk!
As he spoke, he slapped his thigh as if the twenty-odd forms were still pressing down on his leg.
Zhao Hu put down his teacup beside him: "You should hand over your defense duties properly before we talk about resting."
Tie Dun grinned: "Tiger is right. I'm just listening for now; I'm not really planning to take a break."
Wang Wu added, "You said you were going to rest for three days, but you went to the training ground to practice your sword on the second day."
Tie Dun scratched his head: "Isn't it because I'm bored?"
Su Yuehua, sitting in the middle of the right side, added, "However, the resettlement of 100,000 people is indeed no small matter. Just the allocation of grain and barracks alone will keep the logistics busy for a while. Li Yuan hasn't slept much these past few days."
Her tone was gentle but earnest; she was stating facts, not complaining.
Lin Feng nodded, and waited until the laughter and whispers subsided before continuing, "Let's get down to business. Due to the surge in the number of awakened individuals in the Night Whisper Legion and the Crescent Moon Legion, the existing town-level structure is no longer sufficient to cope with the larger-scale battles to come."
Therefore, in the past few days, Lord Lu and I, taking into account the opinions of the Blue Star Staff, have decided to establish another level of military unit above the town.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Tie Dun turned his body completely upright from its side position. Feng Qingyan's fingers paused on the staff, and even Jiang Zhaoyue tilted her head slightly.
Lin Feng didn't wait for their reaction and continued, "The organization is as follows: the four garrisons will be organized into one army, with one commander, one deputy commander, four staff officers, one messenger, and one logistics clerk."
In addition, there were directly subordinate units: a 100-man scout team, a 20-man staff team, a 20-man messenger team, three full-strength guard battalions, and a 200-man supply team.
Including the four garrisons and their directly subordinate units, the entire army totaled approximately 30,446 personnel.
Tie Dun muttered under his breath, "More than 30,000 people..."
Lu Dingchuan put down his teacup, sat up straight, and looked at Lin Feng, as if waiting for him to explain the specific arrangements.
Lin Feng continued, "The First Army of Night Whispers will be commanded by Zhao Hu and Wang Wu will serve as its deputy commander."
The Second Night Whisper Army was commanded by Zain and with Zara as its deputy commander.
The First Crescent Army was commanded by Su Yuehua and with Shi Pojun as its deputy commander.
The Second Crescent Army was commanded by Lu Dingchuan and with Liu Zhenshan as its deputy commander.
As soon as he finished speaking, the eight people whose names were called stood up at the same time and walked to the center of the council hall.
All eight men simultaneously placed their right fists against their chests and said in unison, "We obey."
Lin Feng nodded to them: "Go back and set up the scaffolding as soon as possible. The new recruit training cannot be delayed."
The eight people responded and turned to sit down.
The atmosphere in the hall was noticeably more lively than before.
Tie Dun's gaze followed Zhao Hu back to his seat, clearly wanting to say something, but when Zhao Hu sat down, he shook his head slightly, and he swallowed his words.
After Lin Feng and the others were all seated, they turned their attention to Jiang Zhaoyue: "What conditions does Europe want?"
Jiang Zhaoyue stood up, her expression unchanged: "Everyone should already know about the territorial exchange between the Beastmen and the Undead, right?"
Everyone nodded, and Tie Dun added, "I know that, but I just don't understand. Aren't the beastmen and the undead supposed to be mortal enemies? Because in the past, these two races would attack each other whenever they met. How come they're allies now?"
Jiang Zhaoyue did not answer directly, but instead steered the conversation back on track: "After the territorial exchange, the military strength of both races doubled. The Undead Clan annexed the Central Plains Region, and its strength skyrocketed. Its main force has already launched a major invasion of the Eastern Region where Europa is located, and the situation there is not optimistic."
Europa's condition was that Lord Lin needed to personally travel to the Eastern Region to help them restrain the Undead King, Hel Shadow. If they could hold him off until seven days before the dungeon's seal was broken, they would be willing to hand over the Heart of the Ancient Builder to the Beacon Fire Territory.
Lu Dingchuan didn't speak, but his brows twitched slightly.
Liu Zhenshan shook his head, but did not say anything.
Lin Feng did not respond immediately. He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.
The dungeon seal will naturally unseal in over eighty days, but it only takes over thirty days to accumulate two hundred points in the Eye of Probability.
His original plan was to take action once his Eye of Equal Probability reached 200 points.
But now Europe is holding back on the timeline. According to them, they will only hand over the Heart of the Ancient Builder seven days before the seal is broken.
There was a gap of almost two months.
But then he thought again, Europa's requirement was "seven days before the seal is lifted," and there might be room for maneuver in between that could be utilized.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked up: "Lord Jiang, please reply to Europa for me like this: the three city lords of Beacon City can go to the Eastern Extreme Region to provide support at the same time, and also provide a piece of information about how the Black Tide will destroy the ecology when the underground city seal is broken."
The requirement is to deliver the Heart of the Ancient Builder within thirty days; I need to complete the advanced wonders ahead of time.
Once it's built, I will immediately return to the Eastern Region and stay there until seven days before the seal is broken.
After listening, Jiang Zhaoyue nodded slightly: "I will contact the European side later."
Lin Feng nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone again: "The Night Whisper and New Moon armies are newly established. Everyone, hurry up and reorganize them to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Meeting adjourned."
Everyone stood up, the sound of chairs being pushed aside echoed, and conversations resumed.
Jiang Zhaoyue remained seated, her fingers lightly tracing the surface of the table in front of her, as if she were refining her wording for her reply to Europa.
Jiang Yelan silently stood up from the first position on the left and followed at the back of the group.
