176: Chapter 176 The List and the Minotaur Vanguard

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The crisp and urgent System notification sound rang out mercilessly in his mind.

It was a message from a friend.

Lin Tian forced his eyelids open a crack. In his blurry vision, the flashing avatar belonged to Qian Duoduo.

"Tsk..."

He clicked his tongue, wondering what that damn fatty wanted this time.

Still, he summoned his last bit of energy and opened the message with a thought.

Qian Duoduo: "Boss Lin! I've compiled the list you wanted overnight! There are five hundred and thirty-eight people in total, with details attached."

"The first fifty on the list are the clowns who followed Long Ao's lead in the channel and spoke disrespectfully to you."

"The next twenty are bastards who have old grudges with me, tried to freeload, or threatened my business."

"The rest are all well-known, unscrupulous, and arrogant characters in the regional channel. Most of them have the blood of other Lords on their hands; none of them are good people. I, Qian Duoduo, am not hiding anything—I've listed all my enemies too, and I'll leave them to your disposal, Boss!"

Looking at this message, a cold arc curled at the corners of Lin Tian's exhausted mouth.

"Five hundred and thirty-eight? This damn fatty has quite a few enemies... though none of them seem like good sorts."

He thought it was just as well; it saved him the trouble of screening them himself.

In his eyes, these people's names had already automatically converted into strings of attack points waiting to be harvested.

He replied succinctly: "Good work. List received. Your 'troubles' won't be troubles much longer."

Qian Duoduo's reply arrived almost instantly, his words dripping with relief and sycophancy:

"Thank you, Boss Lin! It's only right that I work for you! Is there anything else you need me to do? This Qian will certainly give his all!"

Lin Tian leaned against the headboard, rubbed his throbbing temples, and thought carefully.

Currently, the training in the alternate dimension and the logistical farming were on the right track. There didn't seem to be anything specific for Qian Duoduo to handle in the short term.

He replied: "That's all for now. Keep an eye out and help me collect various high-yield, fast-growing, and special-effect crop seeds. I want as many as you can get; price is no issue. Nothing else."

"Understood! Don't worry, Boss, leave it to me!" Qian Duoduo guaranteed, patting his chest.

Ending the conversation, Lin Tian forced himself to stay alert and opened the densely packed list attachment.

His gaze slowly swept over names that were either strangers, vaguely seen in the channel, or heard of from Qian Duoduo's complaints. Each was accompanied by simple notes, troop type speculations, and past misdeeds.

The more he read, the colder his gaze became.

"As expected, no one on this list is an easy target."

He whispered to himself, killing intent gradually rising in his heart.

"Fine, tomorrow... I'll start with you all to give my points a boost."

A heavy drowsiness swept over him again like a tide, nearly drowning him.

He set the list aside and fell back, ready to let himself sink into a brief darkness.

However, it seemed the heavens were determined not to let him rest.

"Boss Lin! Boss Lin! Are you in there? I have urgent news to report!"

From downstairs came Yang Xu's slightly hurried, deliberately lowered shouts, accompanied by gentle, cautious knocking.

Lin Tian's eyelids, which had just closed, opened again in resignation.

He knew Yang Xu; the man was generally sensible. If it weren't for a truly urgent matter, he wouldn't come to disturb his rest at this hour.

"Sigh..."

He let out a long sigh and struggled out of the soft bedding as if accepting his fate.

With heavy steps, he walked down the spiral staircase and opened the main door of the Lords Mansion's first floor.

Outside, Yang Xu was wringing his hands, his face showing obvious anxiety and unease, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

Seeing Lin Tian appear with a weary face and a slight frown, he instinctively shrank his neck, but the situation was urgent, so he couldn't care about that.

"Boss Lin, I'm sorry to disturb your rest, truly sorry!"

Yang Xu bowed quickly and spoke at a rapid pace.

"Here's what's happening: another wave of refugees just arrived outside, nearly a hundred thousand people, and they are being settled. But a few of them said that on their way to our territory, to the south, about fifty kilometers away from our outermost new city wall, they spotted a squad of Minotaur soldiers!"

The remaining sleepiness in Lin Tian vanished instantly!

His gaze became sharp in an instant, like an unsheathed sword, staring intently at Yang Xu:

"Minotaurs? Be clear! How many? What's their status?"

"A refugee hiding in the grass to sleep discovered them by chance."

Yang Xu added quickly.

"He said the vibration of the ground woke him up. He took a peek and saw a squad of very well-equipped Minotaurs, marching in formation toward our direction!"

"He estimated there were at least a thousand of them! They didn't look like remnants or stragglers, but rather... a regular reconnaissance unit!"

"A thousand people... a well-equipped reconnaissance unit..."

Lin Tian's heart sank slowly as a deduction surfaced.

"The message Chief sent out before the war with Lin Tian... After the Kingdom received news of the 'Purple Moon Empire invasion,' they sent out an advance reconnaissance unit?"

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

If it really was a vanguard sent by the Minotaur Kingdom to verify the situation and scout their strength, then things were serious.

He absolutely could not let them figure out the true foundation of Lintian City.

After all, it was a giant city spanning a hundred miles, with a million-strong army and epic troops as numerous as clouds.

If this news were carried back, the next arrival wouldn't be a thousand-man reconnaissance unit, but an overwhelming Kingdom army!

"This 'eye' must be plucked out!"

Lin Tian made an instant decision, his eyes cold. "We cannot let them return alive to report!"

"Yang Xu, you did the right thing; this news is very important. Continue settling the refugees and strengthen the outer perimeter guards."

He gave orders quickly, then shouted to a messenger standing nearby:

"You! Go to the alternate dimension immediately, find Lin Feng, and have him return at once! Also, have him bring two thousand of the highest-Rank Golden Armored Spearmans!"

"Yes!" The messenger took the order and sprinted away.

Lin Tian turned and looked toward the deep twilight in the south.

He currently had two thousand Golden Armored Spearmans on hand, plus two hundred thousand city defense troops.

Against a thousand-man Minotaur reconnaissance unit, he was theoretically more than capable.

No matter how elite the reconnaissance unit was, it was unlikely to be fully equipped with top-tier platinum rank combatants; at most, they would have a few platinum rank experts leading them.

Exhaustion was replaced by an urgent Battle Intent. Lin Tian took a deep breath of the cool night air, his eyes becoming clear and sharp again.

It seemed today's rest was going to be ruined again.

He quickly calculated everything in his mind.

He couldn't let those Minotaur eyes reach his doorstep.

While they were still unclear about Lintian City's specific location and depth, he would strike first and completely sever this 'tentacle' that had reached in!

Orders were quickly dispatched.