"Where did they go? What important business did they have?"

The city lord of Jinling City said, "Of course we're going to find food. With so many people starving, are we just going to wait to die? The Guixu Sea is directly east of the northern ice plains. The golden-scaled fish in the deep sea are the most delicious. A single fish the size of a finger can be made into dried fish and is enough to replenish a person's strength for a month. With the deep-sea demon whale around, we're sure we can get a large batch this time!"

Jiang Hao felt somewhat ashamed.

After the world merged, he never imagined that humanity would face a food shortage. Unexpectedly, the city lord of Jinling City made arrangements for him; it seems he had indeed found the right person.

Jiang Hao was also somewhat taken aback. When he went to the Energy Crystal Mine with the City Lord of Jinling City, he had seen the dried fish that the guards ate. Each person ate several fish, but they could only maintain their strength for 12 hours.

I never expected that the golden scale fish I caught this time would last for a month.

All I can say is that this dish is very tough!

The city lord of Jinling was very satisfied with Jiang Hao's reaction. He nodded and said, "At the same time, another group is going to rescue the people of Rabbit Kingdom. There are about 500 million people in the easternmost part of the Northern Ice Plains. They were originally from the Northern Ice Plains, and they cannot accept your recruitment. Now they are surrounded by monsters. The leader's idea is that we cannot abandon any of them."

One after another, crimson ice-winged birds flew out from the city walls of Dingbei City, forming a red line across the northern ice plains. While the sight was spectacular, each giant bird carried only 32 people, and judging by their strength, they weren't particularly powerful. Could they possibly handle a Dark Gold-level monster?

Jiang Hao was a little worried and asked the question that was bothering him.

The city lord of Jinling City said, "We won't rely mainly on them. A portion of the original Ice and Snow World Guild, well, about 2,000 people, and 100,000 powerful players from the original Eastern Kingdom have already assembled about 200 miles east of Dingbei City. The guards will meet them there and we'll head there together."

The guild that benefited the most from following Jiang Hao on the battlefield was the Ice and Snow World Guild. Jiang Hao knew that the 2,000 people the Jinling City Lord mentioned must be those with a bloodlust and the title of King of Warriors.

Their attributes are high enough, their combat power is formidable, and with the help of 100,000 powerful players, as well as the Wind Tiger and the Crimson Flame Icewing Bird, protecting those civilians shouldn't be a problem. Add to that the life-saving gift pack for everyone, and they should be absolutely safe.

Jiang Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thought to himself, "The city lord of Jinling City is truly thoughtful."

“I have just contacted the 28 city lords in this region. Currently, 4 city lords have expressed their willingness to submit to Dingbei City, 6 city lords are observing the situation, and 18 city lords have clearly opposed it.”

Jiang Hao didn't know why the city lord of Jinling was telling him all this, but he just nodded to show that he was listening.

The city lord of Jinling City's face turned cold as he said, "After the northern ice plains have settled down in a couple of days, I will have Tu Hai lead a large army on an expedition to wipe out all the main cities that refuse to submit."

The city lord of Jinling City's eyes flashed with a cold light, as if he wished he could massacre the entire city. Jiang Hao suddenly remembered that some countries in the real world had good relations with the Rabbit Kingdom. He then said, "Is it possible that the will of these city lords is inconsistent with that of the players in the main city? We shouldn't kill the wrong people. As far as I know, in our original world, there were many countries that had good relations with the Rabbit Kingdom."

The city lord of Jinling smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about that. The chief has already contacted the heads of those countries. We will be careful during the expedition. 'Make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible,' isn't that what you said? The chief said that the purpose of our expedition is not to kill the enemy, but to seek political victory."

"I think what he said and what you said are quite similar. I am increasingly impressed by the civilization of your world."

Upon hearing the words of the City Lord of Jinling, Jiang Hao was immediately embarrassed, his ears turning bright red. How could he possibly utter such a sentence? Those were the words of the founding father of the Rabbit Kingdom; he was merely parroting them.

Jiang Hao quickly asked, "Did you say that to the Commander?"

The city lord of Jinling nodded.

"Yes, I was saying that you once said that in the face of our current predicament, the only way is to reduce our enemies and increase our friends..."

Before the city lord of Jinling City could finish speaking, Jiang Hao's face had already turned bright red, just like his ears.

For someone like him who had never attended university and had only read a few biographies of great figures in his spare time, discussing politics in front of a leader was tantamount to showing off his limited skills before an expert.

He could imagine that the leader knew everything but said nothing, only nodding with a smile.

"What was the commander's expression like? Did he say anything?"

"He praised you, saying you are smart and eager to learn, and that you can apply what you learn."

Jiang Hao's shame vanished, replaced by a sense of smugness. Being able to think along the same lines as his superior showed he had some knowledge after all.

"Alright, I've digressed. Anyway, the purpose of our expedition this time is to make all humankind in the world submit. Then we will launch a second expedition."

Jiang Hao was puzzled and asked, "Why?"

The city lord of Jinling City said, "Of course it's about eliminating other forces! Do you think this realm only has the 29 main cities of the human race? Which of the five major races hasn't established a presence in this realm?"

Jiang Hao really didn't know this.

"Currently, the largest gnoll power, the Youyue Empire, has been destroyed, and the other smaller gnoll forces are not a threat. The Silverfire Bird clan in the Thousand Peaks Mountains is a force of the Black Dragon Empire, and we are confident we can win them over. In the Guixu Sea, there are 65 major forces of the Deep Sea Clan. Oh, although they don't have a main city, you can treat each of them as a main city. These forces of the Deep Sea Clan are what we need to strive to win over. As for the orcs, there are 23 major forces in this realm. We can only try our best to win them over; if that doesn't work, we'll have to destroy them."

Jiang Hao was somewhat surprised, wondering why all five clans had power, but why the difference in strength was so great.

Some have only one major force, while others have dozens!

"In short, we need to unify this domain as soon as possible and strive to upgrade Dingbei City to a domain-level star as soon as possible."

Jiang Hao asked, "Why?"

The city lord of Jinling City smiled and said, "If it were before, I really wouldn't have been able to explain it to you clearly. But now..."

The city lord of Jinling cleared his throat and said, "You can think of this current realm as a seed buried in the desert. Without water or sunlight, it may be eaten by some desert creatures at any time. The realm star level is like a seedling that has already sprouted and broken through the ground. Although there is always the risk of being eaten, as it constantly exchanges energy with the outside world, it will eventually grow big enough to protect itself."

Jiang Hao didn't believe that the city lord of Jinling City could come up with such an explanation. Putting aside the apt metaphor, the term "energy exchange" was something he couldn't possibly have uttered.

Jiang Hao looked at the somewhat smug city lord of Jinling City with suspicion.

The smug look on the face of the city lord of Jinling City turned somewhat insecure. After persisting for a long time, he finally said, "Alright, this is what a dark-skinned, thin old man next to your leader said. He said he's some kind of scientist who works in agriculture."