Paul's brows relaxed slightly. Ivan counted on his fingers, and after finishing, he grinned: "In terms of quantity, we still have a few dozen more, but the quality..."

He glanced at Lin Feng and did not continue.

Nguyen Van Hung flipped to the last page and spoke faster: "The high-level combat power deployment is as follows: Dongzhi City, Qiandai City, and Jialou City will each be garrisoned by one level 40 expert and ten non-flying Third Rank experts.

The strongest experts from Russia, White Elephant Country, and Annan Kingdom will form a reconnaissance squad to monitor the Orcs' movements in real-time and use special items to communicate with the rear at any time.

These three countries, plus Sakura Country and Tieba Kingdom, will form an all-flying 'High-Level Combat Support Group,' totaling two level 40 experts and sixty-eight Third Rank experts, for a total of seventy people.

Once the Orcs' attack target is confirmed, the two level 40 experts remaining at the other two cities will rush to assist along with the support group.

The twenty Third Rank experts in the remaining two cities will stand by."

He closed the document and looked at Lin Feng: "As for Great Xia, there are a total of thirteen combatants above level 30, all of whom will remain stationed at Hangu Pass and Zhenyue City to prevent sneak attacks by the Orcs.

They only need to stall until the high-level combat support group arrives.

Not only that, the remaining six thousand unassigned special troops, including all special troops from Beacon Fire Territory, will all move into Hangu Pass. Because Hangu Pass is not only the Orcs' primary target but also the last hope for all countries in the South Pole Region, they must move in first, just in case."

The hall fell silent again.

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.

This plan is acceptable. The Orcs will either split their forces into three routes or focus their main attack on one route.

If they split into three routes, with one hundred thousand per route, it will be difficult to achieve a quick victory against the heavy defenses of three city-level territories.

If they focus their main attack on one route, reinforcements from the other two cities and the mobile army will be able to arrive quickly, forming a local force advantage.

Regardless of which path the Orcs choose, he has enough time to obtain the Silver Dragon Egg and the Intermediate Class Change Book: General. By the time the Orcs attack Hangu Pass, he will have already reached the Third Rank.

Thinking of this, he felt happy inside, but showed no trace of it on his face, only saying indifferently: "I agree with this plan."

Paul nodded: "Russia agrees."

Hamza cupped his fists: "Tieba Kingdom agrees."

General Rajput was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly, his voice hoarse: "White Elephant Country agrees."

Nguyen Van Hung let out a long breath, a rare smile appearing on his face.

He stood up from his seat, cupped his hands, and bowed slightly to everyone: "Thank you all for your trust and support. The plan is finalized; moving forward, each country will execute it accordingly."

He paused, the smile on his lips deepening slightly: "Alright, that concludes the meeting. A victory banquet has been prepared for tonight, and I hope everyone will grace us with your presence."

Ivan laughed heartily and slapped the table: "If there's wine to drink, I'll definitely be there!"

General Rajput stood up and nodded slightly at Nguyen Van Hung; he didn't say whether he would go or not, but he didn't refuse either.

Lin Feng stood up from his seat, sheathed the Wildfire Spear on his back, and nodded at Nguyen Van Hung: "I'll definitely be there."

Then he turned and walked toward the entrance of the hall.

Jiang Zhaoyue, Jiang Yelan, Zhao Hu, Su Yurou, Feng Qingyan, Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan, and Counselor Han Cong followed behind him.

...

When they walked out of the Council Hall, the sunlight was shining straight down from above, illuminating the ruined streets of Thang Long City in a stark, pale white.

It was already around noon, and the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood in the air had not yet dissipated, but the scent of cooking smoke and food was already drifting from the distance.

Lin Feng stopped on the steps and turned to look at the people behind him.

Jiang Zhaoyue's eyes were no longer red, but her brows were still slightly furrowed.

Feng Qingyan's shield was wobbling, and her eyes were darting around, as if she were looking for something to eat.

Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan's expression was steady, while a lingering gloom still remained on Counselor Han Cong's round face.

Lin Feng's tone was calm but carried a hint of relief: "Everyone, don't be too gloomy. Although Elder Ling's nightmare avatar was killed, his main body on Blue Star is still perfectly fine; perhaps he is even watching us through the live stream right now."

Counselor Han Cong was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head, his mouth slowly spreading into a grin: "That's true. When I go back to Blue Star later, I'll have to ask Old Ling what it feels like to be turned into ash by that beam of light, and whether his life flashed before his eyes like in the movies."

Everyone laughed. The laughter wasn't loud, but the heavy feeling pressing on their chests had clearly eased significantly.

Zhao Hu's mouth twitched, and Jiang Zhaoyue finally curved her lips into a smile.

Lin Feng waited for everyone to finish laughing and continued: "Everyone go take a look around; it's lunchtime, so you can go try some of Annan Kingdom's specialty dishes. There's nothing to do this afternoon; I'll see you all at the victory banquet tonight."

He paused and added: "I heard the rice noodles in Thang Long City are quite good. The soup base is made from beef bones, served with green radish jelly; it's refreshing and cooling, you all should give it a try."

Feng Qingyan was the first to respond, pulling Su Yurou's sleeve and heading outside: "Let's go! Let's go eat rice noodles! I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!"

Su Yurou stumbled slightly from being pulled, smiled helplessly, and followed.

Deputy City Lord Liu Zhenshan patted Counselor Han Cong on the shoulder, and the two walked off in another direction.

Jiang Zhaoyue and Jiang Yelan exchanged a glance, said nothing, and walked side by side toward the market in the east of the city.

Lin Feng stood on the steps, watching everyone disperse. Just as he was about to turn around to find a place to eat, he heard footsteps behind him. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Paul walked out of the Council Hall, with Ivan following behind him, his bald head reflecting light, along with five other Russian experts filing out one after another.

"Lord Lin." Paul called out to stop Lin Feng, his voice low but carrying a hint of a smile, "I have something I'd like to discuss with you. Shall we take a walk?"

Lin Feng nodded, and the two walked slowly side by side along the main street, with Ivan and the five Russian experts following behind, keeping a distance of a dozen steps, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) not coming forward to disturb them.

On both sides of the street, Annan Kingdom's soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield. Some were carrying damaged shields, some were piling up broken spears, and some were using brooms to sweep up gravel and bone fragments from the road.

Paul walked very slowly, as if he were taking a stroll, or perhaps as if he were organizing his thoughts.

A few young soldiers were squatting at the base of a wall, holding rice bowls in their hands. Seeing Paul and Lin Feng walk by, they hurriedly stood up and pressed their right fists against their chests.

Paul waved his hand, signaling them to continue eating.

The two walked another few dozen steps before he spoke, his voice low and sincere.

"Lord Lin, I saw your performance today. You held off a level 40 Death Lord for over an hour and even led people to kill it. To be honest, I had doubts about your strength before, but not anymore."

Lin Feng didn't speak, only nodded.

Paul continued: "Director Zhou has spoken with me and the other two Gold Seat Lords from Russia before.

He wanted our Russia to gift you a piece of golden equipment, and at the same time, build a village-level territory near Beacon Fire Territory to attach itself, ensuring a retreat route."