As the Governor's Office frantically expanded its infrastructure under John's orders, five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, Morningstar City, located in the core territory of the Morning Star Clan, unprecedentedly welcomed an elders' meeting of the highest order after the Fauken Campaign.
Unlike the semi-modernized City Lord's Manor where Adam Morningstar had met Leon Li last time,
the architectural style of the Morning Star Clan's Council of Elders chamber was far more ancient and solemn.
The entire hall had been formed by hollowing out and connecting seven ancient trees that were over a thousand years old, its dome reaching twenty meters high.
At this moment, the noon sunlight filtered through the crisscrossing gaps between branches, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow into the hall.
As the ancient curtains swayed in the gentle breeze,
the air throughout the vast circular hall was saturated with a weighty scent born from pine resin, animal hides, and the accumulation of countless years.
"Tap, tap!"
Gray Hoof Morningstar, who had met with Miles a few days ago, now stood atop the circular speaking stone in the center of the hall.
Under everyone's gaze, he slowly lifted the iron-shod hoof on his left foreleg and lightly tapped the stone beneath him, producing crisp echoes.
At the same time, his brown eyes calmly swept across the members of the Council of Elders seated in three concentric circles around him.
The inner circle consisted of the Council's twelve core elders, the middle circle contained the chieftains of the various smaller Centaur tribes affiliated with the Morning Star Clan, and the outer circle held the Morning Star Clan's elite warriors, shamans, and others permitted to observe.
As his gaze slowly moved, it eventually settled on a raised platform on the north side of the