Overall, Zong Shen's current third-level City Lord's Mansion is quite advanced among the lords.

For example, Jiang Yi reached Level 2 Territory a long time ago, but her City Lord's Mansion is still a simple first-level courtyard until today.

However, upgrading the Lord's Mansion can be done by either using a Lord's Mansion Upgrade Certificate or by consuming a specified quantity of materials and spending a certain amount of construction time for an upgrade.

The materials needed to upgrade the Lord's Mansion are not few, and the basic construction time exceeds three days. Moreover, its style and interior differ from those upgraded with a Lord's Mansion Upgrade Certificate.

The Lord's Mansion Upgrade Certificate is more like a blueprint that covers a complete building, saving effort, worry, and energy.

After inspecting the brand-new Lord's Small Tower, Zong Shen went straight downstairs and left the courtyard.

Standing at the entrance of the courtyard, he took out a piece of today's acquired dried beef and started chewing it.

Despite being a dignified lord, he didn't have any privileges in terms of food. This was due to limited conditions; everyone performed their duties, and no one was there to cook for him.

Thinking about dinner, he remembered the dinner he had at Master Mars' house before. He was a bona fide landlord with cattle, land, and a house, and even a chef to serve him.

This is the life a lord should live!

Speaking of the chef, Zong Shen remembered the dishes Tiezhu brought back from Dinan Village when he went exploring to the south.

Not only were they delicious, but they also had attribute gains. Reflecting on it now, that chef was indeed a talent.

Concerning Dinan Village, he still hadn't found time to check it out, making it an untouched native force for Zong Shen.

Dinan Village is located south of Zong Shen's territory, closer to Jiang Yi.

According to Jiang Yi, Medina of the Light Chaser Legion maintained good relations with the natives of Dinan Village, having established good ties with them early on.

Zong Shen now has more important tasks and cannot be distracted by running Dinan Village, but leaving it unattended doesn't seem appropriate.

Standing at the courtyard entrance, while chewing the dried beef, Zong Shen pondered.

While he was deep in thought, a shadow suddenly flashed by and stood before him. Zong Shen raised an eyebrow, instinctively taking a small step back.

Only after seeing the face of the newcomer did he relax.

"My lord..."

The newcomer was Tiezhu. Ever since the team expanded, Tiezhu's presence had become minimal.

His role in the territory is somewhat awkward. As a scout-type warrior, he's not suited for direct confrontation, yet there are currently few reconnaissance tasks in the territory.

As the first subject with full affinity in the territory, Zong Shen had always wanted to nurture him. Recently, he assigned all assassin-type warriors to Tiezhu to form a scout squad.

In the past two days, the scout squad didn't have many tasks and only assisted the patrol squad in additional territorial defense. For now, the scout squad holds an awkward position in the territory.

Just like Tiezhu's current situation, he's awkward, not useful in large-scale battles, and doesn't have opportunities for small-scale assassinations. After all, Zong Shen isn't like that Sangui Yingshu character who thrives by assassinating lords to get rich.

Fortunately, ever since the Burrow Challenge began, no soldier was left idle, and the warriors' levels improved rapidly.

The warriors under Zong Shen's command average between levels 12 to 14. Veterans like Luna and Korby had even reached levels 15 or 16, while Tiezhu, who was level 7 before, advanced to level 12 in the past few days.

At the very least, they could still support the territory every day, killing those Burrow Monsters to gain level increases, ensuring no one falls behind permanently.

So Zong Shen was quite curious why Tiezhu actively sought him out today.

He chewed on the beef jerky and took out another piece, handing it to Tiezhu.

"Eat, why did you come looking for me today?"

"Did something happen with the scout squad?"

Zong Shen asked with a smile. Tiezhu looked up, accepted the beef jerky, then saluted again.

After a moment of silence, seemingly organizing his thoughts internally, he seriously said.

"My lord, the scout squad requests to merge with the exploration squad!"

"We want to fight alongside you!"

"The scout squad will defend your honor with daggers and life!"

Tiezhu came to find Zong Shen to actively request to go on a mission.

Listening to Tiezhu's words, Zong Shen didn't immediately respond, instead squinting his eyes to seriously contemplate Tiezhu's request.

The scout squad is indeed not suitable for direct combat — they excel in stealth and lethal assassinations but have low defense and life value. Against powerful monsters, their assassinations often seem weak and ineffective, far from being as powerful as Heavy Shield Warriors like Gun and Shield Warriors.

In terms of overall combat capability, they don't even compare to the Wolf Riders, and there currently aren't any assassination or reconnaissance tasks suited for the scout squad in the territory.

But since Tiezhu proposed it, Zong Shen knew it was time to assign some meaningful tasks to the scout squad.

Of course, they still shouldn't be part of the main combat lineup.

Now Zong Shen had a task suitable for them, which could be handed over to the scout squad.

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