"Then I'll leave it to you," Andrew said. "If you need my help with anything, just let me know anytime."

As the saying goes, "When a general is far from the battlefield, the orders from the military are not always followed." Right now, Andrew was the lord away from his territory, while An Ya, the territory's manager, replaced Andrew and had to make hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions daily. Andrew was only responsible for the overall direction.

Sometimes Andrew really wished there was a clone technique in Water Magic because he genuinely wanted to manage the commerce cooperation in Warm Fire City while also helping An Ya share more of the various issues and troubles in the territory.

Because honestly, he wasn't sure: Is the next phase of the strategy for Wildfire Territory really the right one?

"I should get going then," An Ya never dwelled too much on whether things would work out before actually trying and testing them.

She was a model of practical execution.

Since Andrew had already put down the idea, she immediately planned to implement it.

So much so that she didn't want to continue chatting with Andrew anymore.

"Alright," Andrew knew An Ya's work habits but suddenly noticed something and asked casually, "An Ya, have you... changed in some way?"

"Huh? Have I?" An Ya was taken aback.

Ivan also looked at Andrew, thinking, why didn't I notice any difference?

They say men who work seriously are the most handsome, but women who work seriously are equally charming.

These days Ivan had been accompanying Andrew, almost daily communicating with An Ya, discussing various affairs of Wildfire Territory.

Ivan had to admit: if he were ten or twenty years younger, he might indeed have fallen for a woman like An Ya.

After all, who wouldn't!

Thinking of this, Ivan's heart skipped a beat: could it be that Andrew is trying to take advantage of his position to have inappropriate thoughts about his female subordinate? Really eating from one bowl and eyeing the pot!

Andrew stared at An Ya in the holographic projection, examining her up and down seriously for a moment, and then uncertainly said, "You seem... to have gained a little weight?"

An Ya: "??"

Ivan was speechless on the side: "…Alright, I overestimated this guy..."

Andrew realized he had stepped into a woman's no-go zone and quickly said, "Sorry, sorry, I'm just joking, don't let me disturb you, An Ya, go on with your work, I have things to do too, we can talk later!" Cutting off the communication function of the "seagull" before An Ya could curse, he breathed a sigh of relief, "—that was close!"

Wildfire Territory.

An Ya was nearly furious with Andrew, although the communication was cut off, she was still fuming for a while.

Finally, she muttered, "Dense guy..."

She had indeed changed, become different.

But it's not that she gained weight.

Instead, after the female assassin incident, An Ya didn't speak about it, but in action, she had made some adjustments and changes that Andrew didn't know about: she began to seriously cultivate magic in her spare time, and seriously attend Falk's online courses two to three times a week, instead of previously half-heartedly muddling through.

Because she finally realized, "The Lord left Wildfire Territory to go to Warm Fire Commerce Association for cooperation, which is very risky! And as long as the Magic Guild is not eradicated, this danger can never be eliminated!"

From Andrew's perspective, he was extremely grateful to An Ya because she and her "Fire God Mecha" provided Andrew with tremendous support, and was one of the important reasons why Andrew survived the female assassin's attack.

But An Ya felt she hadn't done enough.

So she decided to make up for the magic cultivation aspect she previously wasn't interested in, without affecting her management work.

Some people can excel in whatever they do.

An Ya was one of those people.

What Andrew didn't know was that An Ya was now already a Tier Two Warm Fire Mage, and was estimated to soon break through to Tier Three. Her cultivation speed was almost comparable to Andrew's!

At the same time, like her teacher Falk, An Ya held one of the Eight Strange Fires, the "Pure White Flame," and her main magic series was the "Sun-like Series" which matches the Pure White Flame well within Warm Fire Magic.

The improvement in strength brought a better physique.

The higher the tier for an Earth Fire Mage, the more problems easily arise. Warm Fire Mages, however, only get healthier and stronger as their tier increases. Though they can't reach the robustness of a Warrior, compared to ordinary people's physiques, they're much stronger.

So instead of saying An Ya "gained weight," it's better to say she became healthier, more radiant, and more voluptuous!

More curvy and alluring!

"So I didn't gain weight! Obviously, it's the Lord himself who gained weight!" Taking a deep breath, An Ya, still fuming, could only channel all her anger into work enthusiasm.

She raised her hand and pointed outside the window, a beam of bright white flame shot from her fingertip, its brilliance unable to be overshadowed even by the sun in the desert.

The flame soared into the sky and then exploded.

This was the signal for An Ya to summon the current management team, centered around her, in Wildfire Territory for a meeting.

Quickly, the territory's management personnel, one by one, headed to the Magic Laboratory at the territory center where An Ya was located.

Among them were Purple and Alpha, the heads of the hospital and fire brigade personally assigned by Andrew before he left the territory.

There were also rapidly growing young talents like Little Sophie and Little Bai among the younger generation.

Additionally, there were some management talents recently promoted after An Ya consulted with Andrew.

Among them was a young man with light brown hair, with a handsome appearance like a marble sculpture, broad shoulders, and bright eyes.

Before Andrew left the territory, he mentioned to An Ya that the scouts of the Magic Guild were lingering somewhere outside the territory and warned An Ya to be careful. After acquiring the "Fire God Mecha," An Ya herself occasionally felt the same unsettling feeling of being watched as Andrew described.

After the female assassin incident, fearing Andrew would worry about the territory's safety, Barbara sought Andrew's approval and stationed a team of elite from Warm Fire Commerce Association to help protect Wildfire Territory.

Since then, An Ya no longer felt the discomfort of being watched.

The handsome young man arrived at Wildfire Territory afterward.

His name was Tiago, skilled in preparing various potions, and currently working at the hospital. Aside from his pharmacy duties, he was also responsible for attracting more young women to apply at the hospital. Having good looks had that kind of intangible influence and effect.

Despite Tiago's good looks, his personality was somewhat silly, and he seemed not very bright.

Still, he was diligent and reliable, so despite not having been at Wildfire Territory for long, he was already very popular.

"An Ya,"

After Tiago arrived, he greeted sullenly and then stood quietly to the side without speaking.

An Ya smiled and nodded.

After everyone had arrived, An Ya finally invited everyone to sit down and got straight to the point, "I've discussed with the Lord. Next, everyone will have new tasks..."

And so, about half a day later.

Andrew felt some changes occurring on the Warm Fire City side.

Even though the plan was to use Wildfire Territory as the center and start "giving back" talents to various parts of the Inner Sea Desert, aiming to develop the entire Inner Sea Desert like Wildfire Territory quickly and improve more desert residents' quality of life—it certainly wasn't something that could be done overnight but was a far more complex project compared to expanding Wildfire Territory.

But some "turns" and "trends" could still be felt quickly.

For instance, Andrew at this moment felt that the magic power within his body was slowly calming down.

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