The settlement screen appeared above the rebuilt road.

[Floor 51: Hollow Crown Battlefield]

[Main Mission: End crownless war before Hollow Sovereign fully awakens — Completed.]

[Sub-Mission: Identify 3 false crown armies — Completed.]

[Sub-Mission: Prevent team crown temptation — Completed.]

[Sub-Mission: Break 5 hollow crown banners — Completed.]

[Sub-Mission: Preserve neutral civilians — Completed.]

[Floor Boss: Hollow Sovereign defeated.]

[Crownless war ended.]

[Calculating final evaluation...]

The result appeared.

[Final Evaluation: SSS]

Rewards:

[SSS Evaluation Rewards]

EXP +34,000

Tower Coins x460,000

SS Grade Hollow Crown Battlefield Chest x1

SS Grade Hollow Crown Fragment x1

SS Grade Crownless Civilian Road Stone x1

SS Grade Empty Throne Authority Breaker x1

S Grade False Sovereignty Dust x1

S Grade Crown Temptation Resistance Fruit x3

Special Mark: Crownless War Ender]

Hidden reward:

[Neutral Civilians Preserved]

SS Grade People’s Road Foundation Crystal x1

At the Qin Estate, the Hollow Crown Fragment was not used recklessly. Qin Mo warned that even broken crown authority could infect command systems if integrated poorly.

Qin Wanshan agreed.

"Seal it."

But the Empty Throne Authority Breaker evolved beautifully:

[SSS Grade False Throne Authority Breaker]

[Effect:

Weakens empty-throne rule structures, false sovereign claims, crownless authority accumulations, and throne-based domination fields.]

The People’s Road Foundation Crystal evolved into:

[SSS Grade Common Road Stewardship Crystal]

[Effect:

Strengthens systems that protect civilians, logistics, evacuation roads, and non-combatant survival under war authority pressure.]

Gu Tianhe valued this greatly.

"Wars are lost when roads die."

The Silent Heaven Army’s logistics network received another hidden upgrade.

Floor 52’s file arrived soon after.

[Floor 52: Starving Flame Granary]

Type:

Resource crisis / famine spirits / flame rats / distribution judgment.

Warning:

A full storehouse can still create starvation.]

Qin Mo stared.

"Now resource economics."

Qin Yuheng looked thoughtful.

This floor would test distribution, not only combat.

Useful.

The Starving Flame Granary opened inside a burning storage city where food existed but could not be safely distributed due to flame rats, corrupt officials, and famine spirits.

The mission required saving civilians, defeating the Flame Granary Hoarder, and preventing riot collapse.

Qin Yuheng refused the obvious solution of seizing all grain by force. Instead, he organized guarded distribution routes, exposed false ration records, used Qin Mo’s formations to separate burning grain from clean grain, and had Qin Yuchen defend civilians while Qin Lian eliminated corrupt remnant officials manipulating panic.

The boss, Flame Granary Hoarder, Level 49, fed on both hunger and stored wealth. It became stronger when grain remained locked and when crowds rioted.

Qin Yuheng weakened it by opening controlled distribution.

When people ate, the boss shrank.

Qin Mo said, "We are defeating a boss with logistics."

Qin Yuheng replied, "Correct."

SSS evaluation.

Rewards included Grain Distribution Law Stone, Famine Flame Cleansing Crystal, Resource Hoarding Breaker, and Civilian Supply Route Blueprint.

These strengthened Qin family logistics and future emergency systems.

The Crimson Eclipse map also gained a note:

Enemy may create scarcity to force key-turning.

Countermeasure:

Controlled distribution, not panic response.

Pressure of time.

Pressure of scarcity.

Pressure of suffering.

Blood Sun’s methods were becoming predictable.

Predictable did not mean harmless.

But it meant Qin Yuheng could prepare.