As evening fell, the main hall of the White Pagoda City Lord's Mansion was brightly lit.
It was called a victory celebration banquet, but it was really just a few long tables put together and filled with food and drinks collected from all over the city.
The dishes weren't lavish, but the drinks were plentiful. Isabella had somehow managed to bring in a batch of aged ale from some cellar, and as soon as the mud seal was broken, the rich aroma of malt instantly filled the entire hall.
The hall was packed with people, including the garrison commanders of White Tower City, the reinforcement commanders of Lionheart City, and envoys from various countries in the Eastern Extremity Region who had come to provide support or observe the battle.
Among them were high-level experts at level 40 and elite warriors at level 39, but at this moment, everyone put aside their status and rank, holding wine glasses and weaving through the crowd. The laughter and clinking of glasses almost lifted the roof off.
As soon as Lin Feng stepped into the hall, Suleiman grabbed his arm.
"Here they come! The main character has arrived!" Suleiman said, holding a wine glass in one hand and gripping Lin Feng tightly with the other, his voice so loud that it could be heard throughout the entire hall.
"Everyone, this is Lord Lin Feng, whom I've been talking about all afternoon! He single-handedly fought the level 49 Undead King Hel Shadow at a height of a thousand meters for six days and six nights without losing! Half the credit for the defense of White Tower City goes to him!"
Before he finished speaking, a crowd swarmed around him.
The first person to squeeze in front of Lin Feng was a level 40 warrior from the Ottoman Empire.
With a full beard, he held up his wine glass and gave Lin Feng a thumbs up: "Lord Lin, I am Selim, the commander of the Ottoman Northern Legion. Suleiman has been fighting alongside you in the sky these past few days and came back to tell me about your situation. At first, I didn't believe it. How could a level 40 be able to overpower a level 49?"
He took a deep breath, his eyes filled with undisguised fanaticism and awe: "Until he dragged me to watch that aerial battle video... I, Selim, have rolled through mountains of corpses and seas of blood for forty years, slaying countless enemies, but after watching that battle, all I can say is: Lord Lin, you are a true monster!"
At that moment, a clear and melodious female voice pierced through the noisy crowd.
"Lord Lin, please allow me to offer you a toast."
The crowd parted gracefully, and a tall woman in a crisp, silver-white military uniform stepped out.
Her long golden hair was tied up high, and she held a glass of wine steadily in her right hand, her eyes as bright as a knife.
She walked straight up to Lin Feng, raised her cup slightly, and said in a clear and powerful voice: "Lord Lin, I am Margaret, the commander of the Third Legion of the Undying Army. In the past six days, the undead army has almost torn our defenses apart, but you have kept Hel Shadow firmly pinned to the ground a thousand meters in the air, so that he doesn't even have the strength to look down at the city wall."
She looked directly into Lin Feng's eyes and said solemnly, "The reason our Third Legion soldiers survived is entirely because you prevented that Undead King from intervening. This cup is a toast to you from the Third Legion."
Lin Feng picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Before I could even catch my breath, more people squeezed in.
This time it was a middle-aged knight from Europe. His armor was still covered with bone fragments and dirt left from the pursuit outside Lionheart, but his face was clean, obviously because he had taken the time to groom himself before coming.
He stood before Lin Feng, gave a proper knightly salute, and said in a deep voice, "Lord Lin, I am Roderick, the commander of the Lionheart City reinforcements."
I heard of your name when I was in Lionheart City. At the time, I thought that a lord from the Antarctic Domain coming to the Eastern Domain to provide support was at most icing on the cake. Now it seems I was so wrong.”
He raised his glass: "You're not just adding flowers to brocade, you're providing charcoal in the snow. Lionheart City was able to hold out until the counterattack, and White Tower City was able to defend its walls, all because you're here. Lionheart City owes you a debt of gratitude."
"If you ever need manpower in the future, just send someone with a message, and my knights and I will set off immediately, no matter how far the distance or who the enemy is. I swear in the name of knighthood."
Upon hearing this, the noisy crowd around them fell silent for a moment. A knight swearing an oath in the name of knighthood was no ordinary polite remark made at a dinner table.
Lin Feng clinked glasses with him and said succinctly, "I've got it."
People came one after another to offer toasts. There were generals and commanders whose names you could recognize, as well as veteran powerhouses who were too low-key to even bother to give their names, and some envoys who came to observe the situation on behalf of their respective countries.
They were just there to go through the motions, but after a few rounds of drinks, everyone's attitude changed from "polite toasts" to "genuinely wanting to make friends."
Every time the wine glasses clink together, it's like a silent acknowledgment.
Just as Lin Feng finally managed to escape from the crowd and lean against the wall to catch his breath, a middle-aged man in a dark green formal robe walked over with a wine glass in his hand.
He wore a cross-shaped badge on his collar, and his pace was not fast, but every step carried an aura of calculated precision.
This is Oliver Cross, the king of the Cross Kingdom.
Oliver cut to the chase: "Lord Lin, I am the King of the Cross Kingdom. Without further ado, I have watched your battles for six days. Everyone here knows what level of undead king Hel Shadow is. Your strength is worthy of a bigger stage."
Lin Feng straightened up and glanced at him: "What do you want to say?"
"I want to say that although the Kingdom of the Cross is small, its vision is not bad."
Oliver lowered his voice, his tone carrying the candor of a seasoned politician: "The underground city is not far from being unsealed. Once it is opened, the entire landscape of the planet will be reshaped."
The Cross Kingdom is small in size and sandwiched between major powers in the Eastern Arctic. If the situation changes, we will not have much room to maneuver.
Therefore, I need to have a backup plan in Antarctica, a way to save my life, and I am willing to pay a high price for this backup plan.
He paused, then took out a roll of parchment that he had prepared beforehand and slowly unfolded it on the table.
It depicts a golden belt, inlaid with three thumb-sized rubies, each gleaming warmly in the candlelight.
"【Blood Oath Waist Armor】, Gold Quality. Health +2000, Constitution +10, Defense +150. Special effect: When receiving fatal damage, it will lock health and restore 30% of maximum health. Cooldown: 1 hour."
Oliver stared into Lin Feng's eyes: "This is the best belt in the Cross Kingdom's treasury. As long as you agree to reserve a sanctuary for the Cross Kingdom in Antarctica, it is yours."
Lin Feng stared at the blueprint for the belt for two seconds.
Then he laughed, a genuine, undisguised excitement rising from the depths of his heart, more real than any flattery he had just heard.
He raised his glass, leaned forward slightly, and said in a tone that was noticeably more enthusiastic than before, "Your Majesty Cross, I've decided to be your friend."
Oliver visibly breathed a sigh of relief; he hadn't expected Lin Feng to agree so readily.
Just as he was about to raise his glass to clink glasses, Lin Feng suddenly turned to the side, his gaze sweeping over his shoulder to the other side of the hall.
