Lin Feng picked up the communicator on his bedside table and swiped his fingertip across the screen a few times, first sending a message to Zhou Guosheng: "Director Zhou, I have an important matter to discuss."

After sending it, he didn't wait for a reply and dialed Lin Xiaoyu's number directly.

The communication request was answered in less than three seconds.

Lin Xiaoyu's voice came through the receiver, sounding a bit more solemn and formal than usual: "Hello, Lord Lin. What are your instructions?"

Lin Feng was momentarily stunned; the old Lin Xiaoyu was always energetic and impulsive, her first words usually being...

"Lord Lin, you finally looked for me," with a tone carrying a casual intimacy between friends.

Today's tone made it sound like she was a different person.

He couldn't help but smile: "Xiaoyu, what's going on? You're being so formal, it's not like you."

The other end of the line went quiet for a second, and then Lin Xiaoyu's voice suddenly came to life, carrying an irrepressible excitement.

"Lord Lin, you are a Gold Seat Lord now! You're several ranks higher than Director Chen! How would I dare to joke around with you anymore?

When the General Bureau's internal notification came down two days ago, our entire office exploded. The youngest Gold Seat Lord in Great Xia, eighteen years old! Tell me, who wouldn't be excited about this?"

She paused, her voice becoming even more lively, "But since you've spoken up, then I won't be polite. Lord Lin, you have no idea what your status in the Bureau is like now; even Director Chen has to be extremely respectful when he sees you, and us low-ranking soldiers treat you like a god."

Lin Feng smiled and shook his head: "When others told me, I was stunned myself. Whether it's a Gold Seat or not doesn't matter, just don't be so stiff.

By the way, help me look up two things. First, the location and current status of the county-level territories south of Thang Long City in the Annan Country, including Nha Trang County—the more detailed, the better.

Second, what are the differences between the Undead Race and the Orcs? Their combat styles, unit compositions, and the gains after capturing a territory—compile all of that for me."

"Alright, Lord Lin, please wait a moment."

The sound of rapid typing came from Lin Xiaoyu's end, a rhythmic clatter.

In less than two minutes, the data was sent over.

Lin Xiaoyu added: "Lord Lin, I've also included a comparison between the Undead Race and the Orcs in the files. Take a look first, and call me anytime if you have questions."

Lin Feng clicked open the data, his gaze sweeping across the first page.

First was the territory distribution map south of Thang Long City. Nha Trang County was located about a hundred and twenty miles northwest of Linshan County, right next to the sphere of influence of Zhenyue City.

With Nha Trang County as the center, Huian County five hundred miles # Nоvеlight # to the west, My Tho County seven hundred miles to the northwest, and Phu Quoc County eight hundred miles to the west—all three county seats were marked with the red label "Fallen."

Lin Feng's gaze lingered on those three red markers for a moment.

Four county seats, four county-level subsidiary territories, and a recruitment quota for two thousand Great Qin Elite Soldiers.

If he could take them all, the strength of the Beacon Fire Territory would reach a new level.

He flipped another page, and the information on the Undead Race came into view.

The difference between Orcs and the Undead was much larger than he had imagined.

When Orcs captured a county-level territory, they could obtain an Orc Army of two thousand level 15 troops, including infantry, Archers, and Direwolf Cavalry, as well as some elites above level 20, such as Orc Centurions, Troll Archers, and Direwolf Vanguards.

When the Undead Race captured a county-level territory, they could only obtain an Undead Army of one thousand level 15 troops, including Undead Warriors and Undead Archers, as well as a small number of Undead Knights and Necromancers.

However, in addition to that, they could also obtain an extra four thousand Skeleton Soldiers ranging from level 5 to level 9, including Skeleton Warriors, Skeleton Warriors, and Skeleton Archers, as well as a few level 11 Skeleton Centurions.

Lin Feng's gaze paused on the number "four thousand."

The advantage of the Undead Race was the overwhelming numbers of the Skeleton Sea.

The Skeleton Sea came with the buff of a low-level Ten-Thousand Man Army Array, increasing health by four hundred points.

An ordinary level 5 Skeleton Warrior, with the Army Formation's buff, could reach five hundred health.

The Undead Army that Thang Long City was facing consisted of twenty thousand Undead troops plus a hundred thousand Skeletons.

Thang Long City had deployed a hundred thousand Awakened and five thousand Adventurers, and only with the buff of their wonder were they barely able to hold out.

If they went out for a field battle, the Awakened and Adventurers would have no Army Formation buff and lacked coordination; they would most likely be wiped out.

At its worst, over ninety percent of the territories below city-level in the Annan Country had fallen, and rescue forces didn't dare leave their cities at all.

Leaving the city was suicide; they could only hunker down behind the high walls of city-level territories, relying on wonders and numerical superiority to fight a war of attrition.

Lin Feng's expression turned solemn. The combat style of the Undead Race was unreasonable; they first used the massive Skeleton Sea to exhaust the enemy's arrows, mana, and stamina.

Skeleton Soldiers knew no fear and their morale never broke; if they died, they died.

Once the enemy was sufficiently exhausted, they would let the true Undead elites take over for the final decisive battle.

In field battles, the advantage of the Undead Race was too great; the human race had almost no chance of winning.

But in siege warfare, by relying on city walls and wonders, combined with a large number of Awakened, humans could fight the Undead Army to a standstill.

The advantage of the Skeleton Sea was greatly diminished before city walls. Climbing walls took time, and only a few could go up a scaling ladder at once; the defenders could kill them one by one, making the efficiency of a siege far lower than a field battle.

Lin Feng leaned against the headboard, his fingers lightly tapping on the communicator.

On second thought, the Undead Army was indeed unstoppable on the front lines, but it was impossible for them to deploy that many troops in the rear.

Every time the Undead Army captured a county seat, they would leave a portion of defenders behind while the main force continued to conquer more territory.

The number of defenders in those fallen county seats wouldn't be too many—perhaps a few thousand, or even just a few hundred.

More importantly, for other human territories, the resources gained from capturing an Undead-controlled county seat were completely disproportionate to the cost paid.

You would work hard to take it, only for the Undead to immediately launch a counterattack that you couldn't possibly defend against.

But he was different. After he captured a county seat, he could just surround it with Great Wall. The Undead want to counterattack?

Sorry, please break through Hangu Pass first.

With Hangu Pass's forty-meter-high walls, purple gates, Wind of Recovery, and over ten thousand defenders, even if the Undead brought a Skeleton Sea of a hundred thousand, they would only end up battered and broken at the foot of the wall.

Thinking of this, Lin Feng laughed.

The combination of Sweep the Six Harmonies and Great Wall was simply a case where one plus one was far greater than two.

Others couldn't hold a county seat after taking it, but he could.

Others only got a few resources and County Soldiers from taking a county seat, but he got County Soldiers, military dependents, resources, plus a recruitment quota for five hundred Great Qin Elite Soldiers.

This was the true advantage of the Beacon Fire Territory: not only the ability to conquer the world, but also the ability to defend it.