130: Chapter 130 Refugees Arrive

After finishing that series of scalp-tingling massive construction and troop production, Lin Tian haphazardly shoveled down a few bites of breakfast that the Royal Chefs had rushed to prepare.

"Lin Feng, Lin Yin, Lin Yan, Commander Lin Yu!" He wiped his mouth and called out his generals.

"This general (subordinate) is here!" the four responded in unison.

"Listen, the home base cannot be empty. Lin Yan, take one thousand Earth Spirit Guards, ten thousand Mystic Rock Spirit Guards, and ten thousand Moon Shadow Archers, and guard the home for me. Patrol the city walls and handle internal security; do not let a single blind spot remain!"

"Yes!" Lin Yan accepted the order in a deep voice.

"The rest of you," Lin Tian's gaze swept over the remaining few.

"Take all the troops you can move and head out of the city! Thoroughly scour the area around our new territory! See if there are any monsters that slipped through the net last night, and scout the terrain! Remember, focus on clearing and reconnaissance, don't go too far, and you must return before dark!"

"Understood!" "Understood!" "As you command!"

Once the order was given, the army of over eighty thousand, having just finished reorganization and brimming with energy, immediately surged out like a floodgate opening.

They split into several groups, surging out from the four massive city gates and spreading across the vast, unfamiliar land that had just been incorporated into the territory outside the city walls.

The sound of footsteps and the shouting of officers gradually faded, and the city suddenly seemed much more spacious and quiet.

Lin Tian himself was not idle.

With his hands behind his back, like the pickiest foreman, he began to stroll around the territory, which had expanded a hundredfold.

From time to time, he had to deal with logistics coordination issues arising from the sudden expansion.

He also had to occasionally take out the mirror of replication to duplicate some urgently needed materials.

Although it was trivial, watching a fully functional, well-planned giant city turn from a blueprint into reality before his eyes provided an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Time quietly slipped away amidst this busy construction and waiting.

When the horizon was stained with orange-red sunset clouds and the outlines of distant plains and mountains were rimmed with gold, the various armies that had gone out began to return one after another.

The first to return was Lin Feng. The Heavy Armored Spearman legion he led had the fastest advance speed, but they also encountered the strongest resistance. Their armor was covered in fresh battle scars, but their morale was high.

"Lord, the scattered monsters within eighty miles to the north have been cleared. Further north, the terrain begins to rise, and the mountains are continuous, so I did not venture deep."

Next were the ranged and support legions, with Lin Yin and Commander Lin Yu returning together.

Lin Yin was immaculate, but the string of her moonlight longbow seemed to still retain faint energy fluctuations.

She reported coldly: "The west and south directions have been cleared within fifty miles. A hundred miles to the south is a vast, endless plain with excellent visibility, but there are faint traces of dust from large-scale biological activity. To the east... I didn't get to go deep, but I felt the energy was a bit chaotic."

The last to return was Commander Lin Yu, who had explored to the east.

"Sixty miles to the east, monsters are scarce, but the terrain is complex, with many swamps and chaotic rock forests. At the hundred-mile mark, there seems to be a large river; the water vapor is heavy, and the opposite bank cannot be seen clearly. Additionally, about eighty miles to the east, I discovered an abandoned, large-scale mine site. It looks like it was violently mined, and the traces are very fresh."

As he listened, Lin Tian quickly sketched a topographical map of the area around the territory in his mind.

High mountains to the north, plains to the south, a river and abandoned mine to the east, and temporary safety to the west.

A rough "safe zone" and sphere of influence with a diameter of over two hundred miles had been preliminarily mapped out.

This information was very important.

"Well done!" Lin Tian nodded to the few generals. "You've all worked hard. Let the brothers return to camp to rest and eat!"

Just as he thought the "official business" of the day was finally done and he could breathe a sigh of relief and think about what good food to have for dinner.

"Report!!"

A sentry responsible for guarding the east wall rushed over, his voice filled with shock and suspicion: "Lord! To the east! A large crowd of people is coming from the east! They are a dark mass, and they are approaching!"

"What?" Lin Tian's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the owner of that abandoned mine in the east had come to attack?

Or had the beast tide last night attracted other trouble?

He instantly raised his vigilance to the maximum and, taking Lin Yin and the others, quickly climbed the east city wall.

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the horizon in shades of dark gold and blood red.

Looking into the distance, at the end of the wasteland to the east, where the twilight merged, a dense, slowly moving mass of black dots had indeed appeared.

They were still far away and not clear to see, but the number was definitely not small; it was estimated to be over ten thousand!

"All troops, alert! All city wall defenders, take combat positions! Archers, take your places!"

Lin Tian ordered sharply, his heart in his throat.

He had just experienced a bloody battle last night, and he didn't want another one.

As the group got closer, the atmosphere on the city wall tightened to the extreme.

The Moon Shadow Archers silently drew their bows and nocked arrows, the cold glint of the arrowheads aimed downward. The City Defense Giant Crossbows slowly adjusted their direction.

However, when the group entered within a few miles, taking advantage of the last bit of daylight, Lin Tian finally saw clearly that it was not an army.

It was a group of ragged, sallow, emaciated drifters, dragging their families along and stumbling forward!

Most of them were empty-handed or carrying simple wooden sticks, with worn-out bundles on their backs. Their faces were etched with the exhaustion, numbness, and deep fear of a long journey.

In the ranks, the elderly stumbled, women held their children tightly, and most of the young men had dull eyes, without the slightest hint of fighting intent.

"Drifters?" Lin Tian was stunned, his hand raised high to signal a pause in the attack frozen in mid-air.

He remembered the three [drifter signpost]s he had placed into the Territory Core this morning.

"Did it take effect so quickly? And these drifters were generated out of thin air? The soldiers didn't detect them in that direction, or is it... the rules?"

He dared not be careless. What if there were spies mixed in or things controlled by monsters?

He activated his Detection Spell, his gaze like lightning, quickly sweeping over the approaching crowd.

The feedback information made him breathe a sigh of relief.

The highest level was only black iron 6-star, and there were only a few hundred of them. The vast majority of the people didn't even have the aura of black iron level; they were just ordinary civilians.

The number was around ten thousand.

It looked like a group of ordinary people who had lost their homes and were fleeing in panic.

The drifter procession stopped more than a mile away from the city wall, seemingly intimidated by the stern defenders and the massive city wall, and dared not approach any further.

There was a commotion in the crowd.

Then, an old man with white hair and beard, whose clothes were worn but washed clean, and who looked much more spirited than those around him, walked out of the crowd tremblingly, supported by a young man.

The old man looked up at Lin Tian on the towering city wall, took a deep breath, and shouted in an old but clear voice:

"General on the city wall! We are... we are poor people fleeing from the east! We have nowhere to go and have wandered here all the way. Seeing your magnificent city from afar, we came here presumptuously, begging the General for mercy to take us homeless people in! We are willing to work, willing to farm, only asking for a bite to eat and a place to settle!"