54: Chapter 54 Ascertaining the Situation

Yaru was completely unaware that death was right behind him. After fleeing for his life for a kilometer and finding no pursuers, his speed slowed down. Once his panic subsided, he was immediately blinded by the imaginary "merit of discovering humans" and rewards. Humming an unpleasant tune, he walked briskly toward his tribe's location.

Lin Feng followed him like a shadow, trailing him for a full twenty kilometers! It wasn't until they crossed a dense jungle that the view ahead suddenly opened up.

In the distance, across a relatively flat and open area, a massive camp appeared! Rough stone and wood buildings stood in clusters, tall totem poles rose into the air, and wisps of cooking smoke drifted up, accompanied by the faint, characteristic roars and clamor of Minotaurs.

"I'm here!" Lin Feng's eyes narrowed. Just as Yaru was about to rush out of the last patch of bushes and step into the relatively open warning zone, Lin Feng no longer hesitated. He pushed his speed to the limit and charged out like a crimson meteor!

The terrifying sound of breaking air from behind made Yaru turn his head in horror, only to see a single point of gold-red Spear Glow rapidly expanding in his eyes. "No!!" His final consciousness lingered on the despair of his shattered dream and the shock at the terrifying speed of the human behind him.

Puchi! The long spear accurately pierced his throat. With a flick of his wrist, Lin Feng lifted the corpse and quickly dragged it into the nearby dense bushes to hide it. His movements were clean and efficient, making very little noise.

He lowered his body, pressing close to the ground like a rock, and slowly crept toward the Minotaur camp. At a distance of about two hundred meters, he was forced to stop. A large number of patrols had appeared ahead!

Squads of well-equipped and fierce-looking Minotaur warriors marched with heavy steps, crossing each other along fixed patrol routes. Their auras were at least at the Bronze rank!

Occasionally, better-equipped and more powerful small leaders would come out to give instructions or adjust patrol routes. Lin Feng felt that their strength was close to 9-star Bronze.

Lin Feng quietly retreated, found a high point with an excellent field of vision, and used rocks and vegetation to perfectly hide himself, beginning an hour-long observation.

Like a precision instrument, he recorded everything: the general layout of the camp, the distribution of main buildings, the frequency and routes of patrols, the estimated number of Minotaurs, and the ratio of warriors of different levels...

The results of his observation made his expression turn solemn:

Total scale: about 5,000 Minotaurs. Around 2,000 were Bronze rank, forming the core combat force. More than 2,000 were black iron rank, mostly the elderly, weak, or minors. There were about 500 elite leaders who had reached high-tier Bronze.

Regarding high-end combat power, there were over 100 powerful auras that felt similar to Lin Yin's and gave him a sense of danger! Among them, about twenty auras provided a sense of pressure even stronger than Lin Yin's!

From the largest tent in the center, a Minotaur wearing ornate furs and a massive bone crown once stepped out. With just a distant glance, that aura—as heavy as a mountain and carrying a violent pressure—made Lin Feng's heart tighten. It actually gave him the same sense of danger as the Rotting Skeleton Giant Bear wandering outside the territory at night!

"A crowd of five thousand, mostly Bronze, over a hundred high-end combatants, and a leader of unknown level..." Lin Feng took a deep breath, etching the intelligence deep into his mind. This was definitely a powerful, organized foe much stronger than the Goblin tribe! Moreover, they harbored naked hostility toward humans.

He couldn't stay any longer. Lin Feng took one last look at the noisy camp, his figure retreating quietly like a leopard melting into the shadows, and then he sprinted back the way he came. He had to bring this important and urgent intelligence back to the Lord as soon as possible!

On his way back, he encountered Commander Lin Yu's main force, which was steadily advancing and clearing the road. It was already past four in the afternoon. Lin Feng quickly met up with Commander Lin Yu and briefly informed her of the scouted situation.

After listening, a look of solemnity also appeared on Commander Lin Yu's holy face: "The situation is actually this severe... We must return immediately and report to the Lord for a decision."

"Precisely my thoughts," Lin Feng nodded. "It's getting late, and it's not suitable to go deeper. We return immediately; we must get back to the territory before dark."

The two were in agreement and delayed no further. Lin Feng and Commander Lin Yu merged their forces and, leading the army whose aura had become increasingly refined after a day of training, set out on the return journey to the territory.

After inspecting the newly built towering city walls and menacing giant crossbows, Lin Tian patted the non-existent dust off his hands with satisfaction and walked down the wall humming a tuneless little song. The sense of accomplishment from the construction had not yet fully faded, but his sense of responsibility as a Lord immediately pulled him back to reality.

"Alright, the face-saving project (the wall) is temporarily settled. Now it's time to solve the internal (livelihood) problems."

Scratching his head, his gaze swept across the camp, which seemed much emptier because the army had set out in the morning. He quickly calculated in his mind, "Yesterday I recruited over five thousand rookies. Adding the veterans, eating, sleeping, and sanitation... these are all big problems!"

Lin Tian first went to the already somewhat crowded public canteen, simple bathrooms, and toilet areas. As expected, the facilities originally designed for a scale of fifteen hundred people immediately became inadequate after the population surge. When the soldiers ate, short lines formed outside the canteen, and the bathrooms and toilets required a wait.

"This won't do; affecting morale and hygiene is a big problem." Lin Tian frowned slightly, but there was no anxiety in his eyes, only the determination of "finding a problem and solving it."

He pulled up the territory management interface. Looking at the resource and soul crystal numbers accumulated from yesterday's hunting and exploration—which seemed decent but were now far from enough—he grinned. "Well, I just felt like I had a bit of a fortune yesterday, and today I have to dump it all in!"

First, he went to the Barracks area. Thinking of the more than six thousand new recruits from early morning, the original ten neatly arranged Barracks wouldn't be enough by nightfall; they simply wouldn't fit. Lin Tian waved his hand: "Expand! The warriors must live comfortably to have the energy to fight monsters!"

After planning the new area, he invested a large amount of resources and soul crystals in one go, starting the construction of ten brand-new Barracks. Then, along with the ten level-3 Barracks already built, he upgraded them all to level 4.

As lights flashed one after another, twenty taller, better-structured new-style Barracks with more spacious interiors—and even simple training equipment and storage space—rose from the ground.

After this series of operations, the total number of Barracks reached twenty, all at level-4 standard! The total capacity limit suddenly jumped to ten thousand people! The brand-new Barracks gleamed in the setting sun, their interiors featuring neat hardwood beds, dry and well-ventilated.

"Mm, now this looks like something!" Lin Tian nodded, then immediately moved on to other supporting facilities without stopping.

"Not enough housing? Build! Plan a new residential area based on a ten-thousand-person standard. Although it's still collective dormitories for now, at least it guarantees per capita space!"

"Toilets and bathrooms are tight? Upgrade and expand! Separate male and female areas, add stalls, ensure hygiene and convenience, and keep up the hot water supply!"

"Kitchen and canteen under pressure? Then build! Add stoves and large pots to ensure everyone can eat a hot meal quickly!"

"Just rice and pickles won't do; nutrition must be balanced." He opened the system mall again and used the remaining resources to exchange for a large amount of fresh vegetables and fruits.

Finally, he walked up to the Warning Tower. "I can't leave you behind either! This range can't even keep up with my territory's expansion speed anymore."

He invested another significant sum of soul crystals and materials to upgrade the Warning Tower. Runes flowed over the tower's body, the structure seemed to become more sophisticated, and the crystal light at the top became more restrained. Upgrade complete! Warning Tower (Level 2): Detection range significantly increased from 300 meters to 500 meters, with improvements in accuracy and reaction speed.

"Now I have a bit more of a sense of security." Lin Tian patted the tower's body as if patting an old friend's shoulder.