Over a hundred thousand monster corpses still y scattered outside the city walls.

  Lin Yuan stood at the gates, watching the figures on the system panel. The deficit was 3,871. He scrolled down and switched the collection mode from "Manual Input" to "Area Scan."

  A semi-transparent blue circle expanded from beneath his feet, covering a three-hundred-meter radius. Everywhere the circle touched, shredded meat, broken bones, shell fragments, and monster cores were wrapped in a faint blue light before vanishing instantly.

  The numbers on the panel began to climb rapidly.

  【Recycled Frost Wolf Corpse (Damaged) × 2,841... Energy Points +11,364】【Recycled Ironcd Rhino Corpse (Damaged) × 946... Energy Points +18,920】【Recycled Bone Lizard Corpse × 1,702... Energy Points +5,106】【Recycled Tundra Scorpion × 3,190... Energy Points +6,380】

  The blue circle continued to expand. Five hundred meters, eight hundred, one thousand.

  The Energy Points doubled, then doubled again.

  Lin Yuan pushed the range to the maximum limit of two kilometers—the ceiling for Level 2.

  Corpses across the entire wastend were disappearing. Tons of flesh and bone were erased. Magic cores were extracted with surgical precision. Even the monster blood soaking into the permafrost was filtered out by the system.

  Fifteen minutes ter, the final numbers settled.

  【Area Scan Complete】【Total Assets Updated: Gold 12,840, Energy Points 289,763, Basic Magic Crystals 127, High-Grade Magic Crystals 12】

  Energy Points: 289,000.

  The threshold for Level 3 was 200,000. He had already surpassed it.

  Lin Yuan did not rush to upgrade. He closed the panel and walked back into the fortress.

  The Dragon King was still slumped in the pit. Its neck was shattered, its left wing broken, and its skeletal frame y twisted. The bck contract seal on its forehead glowed faintly. The two flickers of ghost fire shrunk back into the depths of its eye sockets, afraid to peek out.

  Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the pit and looked down.

  "Get up."

  The Dragon King’s jaw twitched, but it didn't move. It wasn't that it refused—its cervical vertebrae were mostly destroyed. The spine had lost its structural support. The half of the neck held up by just two ribs couldn't bear the weight of the massive skull.

  Lin Yuan pulled up a new category from the system shop.

  【Lv2 Sub-Function: Repair Workshop】【Repairing Dark Gold Grade Bone Dragon (Structural Damage): Consumes 8,000 Energy Points + 20 Basic Magic Crystals】

  He confirmed the selection.

  A ring of dark red light spread from the contract seal on the dragon's forehead, crawling along the shattered neck. Broken bones began to knit back together. Blue ice crystals re-crystallized at the joints, gluing the segments into pce. The snapped left wing reset itself, bone shards retracting as the wing membrane of ice regrew.

  Thirty seconds ter, the Dragon King’s skeleton was restored.

  It stood up from the pit. The thirty-meter-wingspan bone dragon spread its wings, gripped the pit wall with its cws, and stepped onto level ground.

  The two flickers of ghost fire reignited, but they dared not look at Lin Yuan.

  Lin Yuan opened another panel.

  【Specialized Shackles (Dark Gold Suppression): Consumes 5,000 Energy Points】

  A set of bck metal colrs materialised from the void, engraved with dense sealing runes. The colr flew toward the dragon's neck and locked tight with a heavy "cck."

  The Dragon King’s frame shuddered.

  "From now on, you have two jobs."

  Lin Yuan pulled an iron ore cart from the system warehouse and tossed it at the dragon's feet.

  "First, haul ore. There is an exposed low-grade magic crystal vein ten kilometers north. You will bring the ore back. Ten trips a day."

  The dragon's ghost fire flickered.

  "Second, refinement. The Dark Gold magic core pipeline in your body can filter impurities from low-grade ore. You swallow the ore into your ribcage; after the core refines it, the magic crystals will be expelled from the tip of your tailbone."

  The dragon's jaw opened. It wanted to speak.

  "Don't mention it." Lin Yuan patted its leg bone and turned to leave.

  Qian Duoduo was standing at the entrance of the military factory.

  He watched the Dark Gold Dragon—the absolute overlord of the Winter Wastend from three hundred years ago—now hanging its head, picking up the iron cart with its mouth, and flying dejectedly toward the north.

  Qian Duoduo’s Adam's apple bobbed. He turned to the approaching Lin Yuan and squeezed out a sentence.

  "Master Lin... that dragon... you're really making it do manual bor?"

  "Why? Keep it as a pet?"

  Lin Yuan walked past him and pushed open the cast-iron rolling door of the factory.

  "Come in. We have business to discuss."

  Inside, the temperature was over ten degrees warmer than outside. Heat from the steam pipes made the workshop cozy. The forging presses were still running with a rhythmic cnging.

  Lin Yuan sat at a metal table. A stained beast-skin map was spread out—found earlier in the Baron’s study. Qian Duoduo hurried in and sat opposite him.

  "Tell me what you know." Lin Yuan tapped the northern region of the map. "What is the current situation in the Northern Territory?"

  Qian Duoduo wiped the sweat from his forehead. A businessman's greatest skill is recovering quickly enough to talk strategy.

  "There are thirty-seven territories in the North, with over forty noble families," Qian Duoduo traced a circle. "But only one person truly calls the shots."

  His finger nded on a city marked with a red fg.

  "Blood Duke Bart. A Northern Count and a genuine Gold-level powerhouse. He controls a third of the Northern nds, including the rgest bck iron vein and two magic crystal mines."

  Lin Yuan looked at the red marker. It was about two hundred kilometers from Bckwind Fortress.

  "And the other lords?"

  "A bunch of fence-sitters," Qian Duoduo waved a hand dismissively. "If Bart tells them to go east, no one dares go west. Last year, a Viscount tried to trade directly with the Imperial Capital to bypass Bart's taxes. He vanished the next day, and his nds were taken over by Bart's son."

  "Military strength?"

  "Bart’s personal family knights number twelve thousand, including three thousand heavy enchanted knights. Combined with the other lords, the North can muster an army of eighty to a hundred thousand."

  Qian Duoduo paused.

  "But these nobles fight like they're pying house. They put on a show, line up their formations, and the knights charge once in their shiny armor. If they win, they loot; if they lose, they run. They don't have the stomach for a real fight."

  Lin Yuan didn't reply. His finger slid down from Bart's territory and stopped at an unmarked location.

  "Here." He pointed to a hilly area fifty kilometers from the fortress. "There's a mine?"

  Qian Duoduo leaned in. "Yes. A bck iron and magic crystal companion mine. High quality. But it's technically Bart's. He has a mining camp there with five hundred permanent guards."

  "Five hundred men."

  "Six hundred at most. It's a remote area; no one wants to go there. The guards are just second-rate bums killing time."

  Lin Yuan pulled his finger back and leaned against the chair, staring at the steam pipes for a few seconds. Qian Duoduo watched him. He could smell it—not blood, but the cold scent of a massive calcution.

  "Master, you aren't thinking of—"

  "I need a rge companion mine as an industrial base to upgrade to Level 3," Lin Yuan interrupted. "I want that mine."

  "That's Bart's territory," Qian Duoduo lowered his voice. "Taking it is a decration of war against the entire North."

  "Who said I was going to 'take' it?"

  Lin Yuan stood up and walked to the window. Outside, the steel walls gleamed in the snow. The ground below was clean, not a drop of blood remained.

  "Qian Duoduo, leave now. Go to the Northern capital and find Bart."

  "Find him?"

  "Tell him three things." Lin Yuan held up three fingers.

  "First, the beast tide is over, but my fortress suffered heavy losses. The walls are cracked, most weapons are destroyed, and many people died."

  Qian Duoduo’s face twitched. He looked at the ten-meter steel wall outside that didn't even have a scratch.

  "Second, I have a massive amount of monster materials to sell, but I ck transport and need a buyer urgently."

  "And the third?"

  Lin Yuan retracted his fingers and turned.

  "Third, tell Bart that you personally saw me recover an 'Ancient Alchemical Artifact' from the tide, but I have no idea how to use it and I'm worried."

  Qian Duoduo froze for two seconds. Then he understood.

  This wasn't weakness. This was bait.

  "You want Bart to attack you voluntarily."

  "Not just attack," Lin Yuan corrected. "I want him to think I'm easy prey so he brings everyone he can. Don't let a single one stay behind."

  He walked back to the table and circled the mining area on the map.

  "When he marches his entire force here to kill me, the mine will be empty."

  Qian Duoduo inhaled sharply. This was a cssic "lure the tiger from the mountain" py.

  "Master," Qian Duoduo stood and bowed deeply. "I've lived forty-two years, and today my eyes have truly been opened."

  He straightened and produced a piece of parchment—a detailed map of the Northern mines. "This is what I drew during my trade routes. That mine only has two entrances. The east is the main road with a watchtower. The west is a narrow path, rarely used."

  Lin Yuan took the parchment. "How long to reach the Northern capital?"

  "Two days by fast horse."

  "Too slow." Lin Yuan opened the system panel. "Go by dragon. Half a day is enough."

  Qian Duoduo’s legs went weak again. "Ride... ride that thing?"

  "He just finished his first haul. It’s on the way."

  Ten minutes ter.

  Qian Duoduo was perched on the Frost Bone Dragon King’s spine, gripping a protruding bone spike for dear life. The dragon fpped its wings and soared south.

  Back at the fortress.

  Lin Yuan watched the dragon vanish into the storm. He returned to the factory and closed the door. He scrolled past the Level 3 upgrade button.

  Not yet.

  He opened a secondary page.

  【Lv2 Advanced Unit Panel】【Shadow Assassin (Unlocked): Consumes 200 Gold + 500 Energy per unit】【Traits: Invisibility, Stealth, Silent Takedown. Suitable for reconnaissance and infiltration.】

  Lin Yuan stared at the text and typed a number into the quantity box.

  500.

  Then, he turned off the lights in the factory.