Lin Feng's footsteps faltered slightly.

He was silent for a moment, then spoke: "Giving away Gold-tier equipment? You must have quite a bit of internal disagreement, and besides, Russia hasn't reached the end of its rope yet. After all, the war situation with the orcs is still unclear."

Paul nodded, not denying it: "Yes, the disagreement is significant. Among our three Gold Seat Lords, one is inclined to agree, believing that the Special Village Establishment Order is the only hope for the future;

one is inclined to observe a bit longer. After all, our country still has five city-level territories and fifty thousand special troops; we haven't reached the point where we need to entrust our backup plan to a county-level lord."

He paused, "As for myself, I am neutral. That's why I volunteered to come to Thang Long City this time—I wanted to see you up close, to see if you, as a person, are worth Russia entrusting its path of retreat to."

Lin Feng walked in silence, not responding.

Paul looked into the distance and sighed, his voice carrying an indescribable sense of emotion.

"The waters of the Nightmare World are too deep. Our nations on Blue Star have been exploring it for ninety years, and it feels like we've only scratched the surface. But one thing is certain: territories established by the Special Village Establishment Order will definitely be the key to the survival of all nations on Blue Star in the future.

And your Director Zhou also said that you can already use Destiny Awakening within your territory. That kind of power is just too formidable."

Lin Feng turned his head to look at him and asked: "Then what is City Lord Paul's decision?"

Paul stopped, turned around, and faced Lin Feng.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled up, revealing a hearty smile, and he extended his hand: "My decision, Lord Lin, is for you to go back and wait for good news. The Gold-tier equipment will be delivered to you by me personally in a few days."

Lin Feng grasped his hand, shook it firmly, and said two words: "Many thanks."

Paul let go of his hand, laughed heartily, turned around, and strode towards the east of the city.

Ivan followed behind him. When passing by Lin Feng, he gave a thumbs up, grinned, and then quickened his pace to catch up with Paul.

The five Russian powerhouses filed past, nodding slightly at Lin Feng. Their steps were uniform, and they were as silent as iron.

Lin Feng stood in place, watching their backs disappear around the corner of the street. He shook his head and chuckled softly: "These people from Russia are really... straightforward."

He turned around and walked towards the west of the city. The sunlight shone straight down from above, casting his shadow onto the bluestone road, short and thick.

In the distance, the aroma of food wafted from the west of the city, mixed with the scent of cooking ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ smoke, dispelling much of the gloom from the battlefield.

...

The main street of Thang Long City gradually regained its vitality under the afternoon sun.

Soldiers walked by in small groups; some were discussing today's battle, some were planning where to go for drinks tonight, and others were buying dry rations at roadside stalls.

Most of the shops along the street were closed, but many stalls were still set up, selling food, sundries, and medicinal herbs, scattered on both sides of the road.

At the street corner, a tea stall had a few crooked wooden tables set up, on which sat chipped coarse ceramic bowls and a plate of peanuts.

At the innermost table, three or four young people sat together, drinking tea and bragging.

They wore various types of worn leather armor, with weapons leaning against the table legs: scimitars, hand crossbows, and a spear with a dulled, chipped tip.

Their faces still bore the scent of gunpowder smoke and dust, but their eyes already held that unique post-battle relaxation and excitement.

"Let me tell you," a dark and thin young man picked up his bowl and gulped down a large mouthful of tea, wiped his mouth, and lowered his voice, acting mysterious.

"Today on the city wall, I held off the charge of three Undead Warriors all by myself! Three! Just with this scimitar of mine, one slash for each, and I didn't even blink!"

A round-faced young man opposite him rolled his eyes: "Give it a rest. I saw with my own eyes that you were hiding behind the special unit shield-bearers, and only came out to land the finishing blow after they had hacked the Undead to pieces.

You call that 'holding off a charge'? You call that'scavenging for kills'. It's just that the native troops don't care about you; try doing that to a few Awakened! If you dare to hide behind them and steal their kills, believe it or not, they'll beat you into a pig's head first!"

The others burst into laughter. The dark and thin young man blushed, stiffened his neck, and said: "That... that's also part of the charge! Without me behind them shouting 'Go! Go!' to the shield-bearers, could they have held the line? I call this spiritual support; it's much better than you guys who only know how to hide!"

The round-faced man laughed even harder: "Alright, alright, if you can provide support just by shouting a couple of times, then next time let the opposing orcs shout a couple of times too—should we just surrender directly?"

The dark and thin young man got anxious, slapped the table, and said: "No matter what, I still landed the finishing blow, at least I swung my blade! Unlike some people who were crouching behind the battlements shivering the whole time, and only came out after the fighting was over to say 'I was observing the enemy situation'."

He paused, then added: "If I were really hiding behind a few Awakened and stealing their kills, that would be shameless! Tell me, do you consider me shameless?"

The round-faced man looked him up and down and nodded very seriously: "You are truly shameless."

A fat guy next to him added insult to injury: "He never had any shame to begin with."

Another burst of laughter erupted at the table. The dark and thin young man scratched his head, laughed along, gulped down a large mouthful of tea, and muttered: "Anyway, I survived, say whatever you want."

A fat guy who had been lowering his head eating peanuts looked up and said slowly: "Alright, alright, what's that compared to what I saw? Today on the city wall, I saw Lord Lin fighting that Death Lord—that was ridiculous.

Guess what? He held up that long spear, 'da-da-da-da-da-da', just like a Gatling gun, firing over a hundred spear beams in one second!

The sky was filled with red light, dense as rain. That Archimonde was riding his fire horse, dodging left and right, fleeing in panic, and his helmet even flew off!"

The few people fell silent instantly, all looking at the fat guy.

"Are you pulling my leg?" The dark and thin young man widened his eyes, "Over a hundred shots? Are your eyes high-speed cameras?"

"Believe it or not!" The fat guy tossed a peanut into his mouth, chewing it with a loud crunch.

"Anyway, that's what I saw. I suspect that Lord Lin's spear can not only function as a Gatling gun but also as a missile launcher—wherever he points, it hits, the kind with infrared guidance."

The round-faced young man snorted with laughter: "Infrared guidance now? Why don't you say it also has automatic target locking?"

The fat guy slapped his thigh: "Exactly! Didn't you see that when the Death Lord flew east, the spear beams chased him east, and when he dodged west, the spear beams turned and kept chasing him.

It was so precise! Lord Lin managed to turn a cold weapon into a hot weapon, isn't that infuriating?"

The dark and thin young man laughed heartily, slapping the table: "I believe you! Lord Lin is awesome! Turning a cold weapon into a hot weapon—I give this maneuver a perfect score!!!"