A faint smile touched Lin Feng’s lips as he stroked Chen Yanyan’s beautiful black hair:

"It’s alright. I wasn’t asleep for very long..."

Chen Yanyan wiped her tears on Lin Feng’s clothes, then looked up. She climbed onto the bed, settled into his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

After a good while, soothed by Lin Feng’s gentle stroking, her emotions finally calmed, and she spoke:

"What do you mean, ’not very long’? You were unconscious for a whole day!"

Lin Feng glanced at the dark night outside the window. He had thought he was only out for a few hours, never expecting to have slept for an entire day. He said in surprise:

"That long? But in the Mental Realm, it felt like only ten or so minutes had passed..."

Chen Yanyan grabbed a tissue to blow her nose, then wiped the tearstains from Lin Feng’s shirt and shook her head:

"Ling Yi said you were likely experiencing the Complete Realm of a Tier Four Zerg King, so she couldn’t use her Spiritual Power to intervene. She also said that a Complete Realm of this scale takes a very long time just to be built and solidified, so it’s normal to be unconscious for a while."

"Though I suspect she was just stalling for time..."

Then, Chen Yanyan relayed Ling Yi’s explanation and the arrangements made during the high-level camp meeting after their return, explaining everything to Lin Feng one by one.

After hearing everything, Lin Feng nodded.

"The arrangements are sound. What’s the situation with the Zerg Race?"

Leaning against Lin Feng’s chest, Chen Yanyan shrugged.

"No movement. They were probably frightened by your burst of power. But after Shen Jie emerged from his cocoon, he also displayed formidable combat strength."

Lin Feng’s eyebrow twitched. He already knew that Shen Jie had successfully suppressed the influence of the Slaughter Realm and awakened, becoming the most powerful existence in the entire Thirteenth Division, second only to himself.

Seeing Lin Feng’s interest piqued, Chen Yanyan continued,

"On our way back from Chang City, Shen Jie single-handedly killed over a dozen members of the Tier Two Zerg Race, most of which were the incredibly tough Samurai Hunter Zergs."

"Before he even woke up, Ling Yi warned me that once Shen Jie mastered the Slaughter Realm, his strength would swell so rapidly that he could become a threat to the camp..."

"Boosted by the Slaughter Realm, his Physique Attribute is comparable to a King Spine Zerg at Tier Three Early-Stage Perfection. Below Tier Three, he’s completely unrivaled."

Lin Feng nodded, calculating inwardly.

’Hmm, it would be better for me to make an appearance. The excuse that I’m still undergoing an Awakening won’t hold for much longer. If I delay any further, even the new Warriors will grow suspicious.’

’And I can take the opportunity to see what Shen Jie’s true strength is.’

With that, Lin Feng got dressed and geared up with Chen Yanyan’s help, then walked out of the Battleship.

Everything in the camp was proceeding as usual.

The pervasive fishy smell from before had been severely affecting the Warriors’ rotational rest. To solve this, the fish were now being processed—cut, cured, and dried—on the shores of East Taihu Lake, a task that greatly lightened the load for the more than ten thousand Support Soldiers.

Han Yuxin had sent people to haul away the dried fish, truckload by truckload.

To annex the various factions in Jin City, both large and small, killing or recruiting their leaders and upper echelons was only the simplest first step.

The next step was integrating the tens of thousands of survivors, whose daily food consumption alone was staggering.

If they couldn’t be fed, new factions would inevitably sprout from the grassroots.

But it was also impossible to just give them free food and drink.

The vast Jin City still held many resources that needed to be collected, providing a perfect opportunity to arrange a work-for-relief program.

This would also serve to collect enough Fine Steel Metal for Lin Feng.

Watching more than ten trucks haul away so much dried fish every day, Ling Yi said nothing, but inwardly, she was extremely anxious.

After all, that fish was the foundational resource she needed to advance to the Tier Three Middle Stage.

That evening, Lin Feng emerged from the Battleship and immediately notified Li Ran to assemble all the junior commanders of the Thirteenth Division.

He had a very important announcement for all command staff.

Before long, some three hundred people had gathered in the square.

In addition to the hundred-plus captains from among the five thousand Warriors, the group also included every member of the Tier Two Corps—a total of one hundred and sixty Tier Two Awakeners.

Lin Feng immediately noticed Shen Jie at the head of the Tier Two Corps, already acting as its overall captain.

And his stats appeared before Lin Feng’s eyes:

「Shen Jie, Lv. 29/29」

「Life Value: 950, Physique: 950, Spirit: 900」

「Superpower Awakening: Devouring Assimilation—Winged Tiger Frenzy」

「Spiritual Realm: Slaughter (Activate by killing one being of the same tier)」

「Slaughter Realm: Upon activation, gain a 100% bonus to the Physique Attribute, which can stack with the Winged Tiger Frenzy Form. Each kill of a same-tier or higher being extends the Realm’s duration by five minutes. A minimum of ten kills is required before the Slaughter Realm can be deactivated. If the duration expires, the user suffers a permanent 10% loss to their Spiritual Attribute and a continuous mental deterioration until the state is lifted.」

「Evaluation: This is the art of slaughter, a bloody and barbaric primal emotion that devours all reason. For a human, this alien Mental Realm is a double-edged sword. Please use with extreme caution!」