As John''s words fell, the scene went quiet, and no one dared to utter another word.


    Indeed, John had already stated earlier, "Traitors to the fortress, die!"


    But they had never considered that leaving could also be seen as a form of betrayal.


    Some people expressed their dissent, yet John simply smiled faintly.


    "After leaving this fortress, they can only go to the second or third fortress. Isn''t that a betrayal of our first fortress?"


    This statement left everyone speechless.


    Yes.


    This was a game of surviving 15 days while also fending off monster attacks.


    Besides moving to other fortresses, there were no other possibilities!


    In another sense, this indeed constituted a betrayal of their first fortress.


    Percival stroked his beard, a hint of admiration shing in his eyes.


    "This young man''s temperament is to my liking. If he were a swordsman, I would certainly take him as my apprentice!"


    As the dean of the Swordsman Academy, Percival was known for his straightforward nature.


    He favored those who were capable and knew how to show it.


    John was just such a person; capable, yet not hesitating to y coy or undery his strengths, instead openly demonstrating everything he had.


    However, Geoffrey was somewhat worried.


    "He is still too young, having offended so many families all at once; I fear he might face a tough path ahead."


    Among those recently dealt with by John were several from prestigious noble families.


    If these families were to target John in the future, he might face difficulties.


    "People with strength fear no one''s schemes, no matter where they go!"


    Percival retorted, dissatisfied with Geoffrey''sment.


    Principal Sophia remained silent, her eyes closed as if she was trying to desperately reestablish her connection with the realm.


    After those individuals were teleported out, she felt thest thread of connection between herself and the realm dissipatepletely.


    This was not right, utterly abnormal!


    This had never happened before.


    She closed her eyes again, attempting to restore the connection with the realm through her mind power, but could only regain a mere fraction, not even 1% of what it used to be.


    Something was terribly wrong!


    Principal Sophia opened her eyes again and looked at everything happening within the secret realm, her hand involuntarily clenched into a fist.


    Someone had tampered with the realm!


    "However, these youngsters are still too inexperienced to withstand a 15-day monster attack," remarked a high-ranking official nearby.


    Geoffrey waved his hand dismissively, his expression confident.


    "There are guardians within the realm, all diamond-tier, nearly reaching the transcendent-tier. They should be more than capable of protecting these children."


    Hearing this, the officials rxed slightly.


    After all, this trial was unlike any before, and they genuinely feared unexpectedplications.


    Should such issues arise, the problems could be much more serious.


    Inside the secret realm, John had already begun delegating tasks.


    He nced at Archibald, "From now on, you''re the chief steward of the fortress. We have just under two thousand people here; divide them evenly into fourrge squads."


    "For the leadership of these squads, you''ll select the captains. Each squad will be further divided into five smaller teams. The leaders of these teams must report to me and maintain direct contact with me at all times."


    Archibald was dumbfounded upon hearing the responsibilities John assigned to him.


    What was this?


    Was he really handing over all this power to him?


    Why then had John fought him for it earlier?


    "Are you making me manage the entire fortress?"


    Archibald looked at John, somewhat hesitant to speak, but John shook his head slightly.


    "I''m not making you manage it, I just find trouble bothersome. You''ll need to handle the minutiae, just follow my directives for everything else."


    Archibald rolled his eyes silently.


    Great, so he was just to be a tool.


    If this weren''t such a hassle, John probably wouldn''t care about all these details.


    He was almost ready to retort,ughing in frustration, when he heard John add indifferently, "If you can''t handle it, just say so. I can find someone else; don''t waste my time."


    Not capable? -content


    Archibald instantly bristled, feeling a surge of determination rise to his head!


    The one thing a man can''t stand is being told he''s not capable!


    And being from House Sterling, no matter what, he couldn''t disgrace his house.


    "Just watch me, I''ll report back to you in ten minutes!"


    Archibald clenched his teeth and furiously set off to gather the others.


    John opened his control panel.


    After bing themander of the first fortress, he had gained ess to amand panel.


    This disyed all the details of the first fortress, including current resources and defensive conditions.


    The structural integrity of the first fortress was at 83%, but the drawbridge of the moat was significantly damaged, with a condition rating of only 63%.


    The living supplies were sufficient to sustain their 2000 people for over a month, butbat resources were rtively scarce.


    Recovery potions were particrly scarce, not enough for even one per person.


    However, he noticed there was an alchemy room with some ingredients avable, though not enough for extensive use, so they would need to go out and gather more materials and supplies.


    He also discovered a forge.


    This area had NPCs who could produce various items if provided with the necessary resources.


    When John saw the gem-setting room, an idea struck him.


    His Dragonblood Stone had not yet been set into his Bloodthirsty de.


    He nned to visit and, if possible, set the gem to further enhance his weapon.


    Additionally, there were armory and storage rooms that required level-one ess, or the equivalent permissions formanders.


    John adjusted Archibald''s ess to level-one and left the distribution of the remaining permissions to him.


    While John was still familiarizing himself with the rtivelyplex features of the panel, Archibald had already returned to report some findings.


    "I just made some inquiries, and we have a total of 1983 people here. Among them, 423 have skills and sses geared towards support, so I''ve grouped them into the fourth squad," Archibald exined.


    "The rest I''ve evenly divided into three squads based on their roles as maguses, warriors, and swordsmen. These are the captains for the four major squads."


    "The fourth squad will primarily handle our logistical work. If we can''t secure logistics over these 15 days, the following days will undoubtedly be very challenging."


    As John delegated authority, Archibald had also started to understand the situation within the fortress.


    While the supplies seemed abundant at first nce, they would quickly run low with just a bit of use.


    Furthermore,bat resources were critically low; they needed to gather a significant amount before the onught of monsters began!


    John looked at Archibald with a slight surprise.


    Honestly, he had initially assigned Archibald the role of a chief steward merely to lessen his own burdens.


    However, he hadn''t expected Archibald to perform so excellently and handle the rted tasks so perfectly!


    Feeling John''s gaze, Archibald felt a bit ufortable.


    "What are you looking at? I''m just doing what I need to do. Why are you looking at me with that kind of expression?"


    John''s lips curled into a slight smile as he gently patted Archibald on the shoulder.


    "No, I just suddenly realized how capable you are; no wonder you had the guts to step up to the tform earlier."


    Initially, when Archibald saw John approaching, his muscles tensed, and he instinctively wanted to step back! But he held himself back, thinking John wouldn''t strike at him at such a time.


    However, not only did John not attack him, he actuallyplimented him!


    What kind of joke was this? Was this even real?


    For some reason, Archibald suddenly felt ttered...


    The feeling of being acknowledged by someone stronger gave him an unexpectedly cherished sensation.


    "Alright, now, let''s have an introduction," John said, looking at the four squad leaders in front of him.


    "Edmund Warrington, captain of the firstbat squad."


    "Leopold Hargrave, captain of the secondbat squad."


    "Darius Ashford, captain of the thirdbat squad."


    "Lavinia Montague, captain of the fourth support squad."


    Each person made a brief introduction.


    John nodded slightly and finally turned to Archibald.


    "I''ve delegated authority to you. Whether to pass on some of that authority to them is up to you to decide."