Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Great Xia, Year 1, the first day of April, late at night.

Within the valley, the construction of the new wooden building continued in full swing.

Although only ten days had passed, the three-story outline of the new wooden building was already taking shape, and the focus of the construction had shifted from the outer walls to the interior.

Unlike the original building, the outer walls of the new wooden building used a large amount of iron material, and some key parts were even thickened. It could be judged with the naked eye that the defense capability of the new building was definitely several times higher than that of the original building.

At the entrance of the valley, a team of several hundred people was slowly walking in.

All the people in this team were wearing animal skin skirts, and some people even had tattered animal skin skirts. Some children were even wrapped directly in a piece of animal skin, and they had obviously walked a long way, their lips frozen blue.

After entering the valley, looking around at everything, they all stopped at the same time, their faces full of surprise and excitement:

"We're here! This valley is the base of our Great Xia."

"It's so warm! I don't see a bonfire, how is the temperature so high?"

"They're burning coal, look at the white smoke."

"So much wood! The wood is almost piled up on both sides of the valley!"

"What wood? Look at the ground over there, it's all iron and coal."

"Hiss... Look over there, it's cold beast meat. So many animal skins, there must be thousands of them, just casually placed on the ground?"

"These two wooden houses are so big!"

"Not just these two outside, look inside, there are three more. That one being built, the outer wall, using so much iron?"

"Hiss... Not just the outer wall, a lot of iron material is used inside too."

"Are these stones on the ground all coal?"

… … … … … …

The wooden building was still under construction, and the two temporary wooden houses were to be used for living, so all the materials obtained by the camp recently, whether wood, coal, iron, beast meat, beast blood, or animal skins, were basically piled up on both sides of the valley.

The materials collected by the Great Xia people in ten days of mining and hunting were naturally commonplace, but for others, it was different.

At this moment, Zeng Fan, standing at the front of the crowd, looked at everything in the valley, his eyes full of disbelief. He even couldn't help but pinch himself, for fear that he was dreaming and hadn't woken up.

Confirming that everything he saw was real, his face suddenly showed ecstasy and excitement, and he almost couldn't help but shout out.

"It's true! That Lord Shi didn't lie to me, didn't lie to us!"

Three days ago, after listening to that Lord Shi Ping's flowery speech, he didn't believe it at all. He felt that even if the Great Xia he described was strong, it wouldn't be better than the Three Tigers Camp.

Living in the Five Apes Mountain for many years, the shadow of the Three Tigers Camp made it impossible for Zeng Fan to imagine that there would be a camp stronger than them.

Risking agreeing to bring more than three hundred people to join the Great Xia was actually Zeng Fan's helpless move.

Their Zeng Ping Camp's base was in the Four Apes Peak, very close to the Three Tigers Camp.

In recent years, as the atrocities of the Three Tigers Camp were exposed, although many small camps were no longer fooled, their lives became more and more difficult.

The reason was that the Three Tigers Camp had previously been hiding and tucking away, taking a coaxing and tempting approach, but now they simply didn't bother to pretend anymore. They directly searched everywhere. Any small camp they found would have an extremely miserable end.

Recently, the cold wave was approaching, and the Three Tigers Camp might be short of slave labor bait, so the frequency of searches in the vicinity became higher and higher, and the risk of their logging became greater and greater.

Especially after two occasions where the location of the base was almost discovered, Zeng Fan felt even more nervous and frightened.

He had heard a lot of information from other people, and he knew that once they were discovered by the Three Tigers Camp, the fate of his group would definitely be extremely miserable.

Zeng Fan had considered finding a medium-sized camp in the Five Apes Mountain and bringing his people over, but the problem was that he knew that the two medium-sized camps on the Four Apes Peak did not have the ability or the willingness to take in his three hundred people.

And apart from the Four Apes Peak, he couldn't go any further. Not to mention finding other camps to accept his group, even if he risked finding a third medium-sized camp, the result would probably be the same as the two nearby.

At this critical moment, Shi Ping's appearance was his last straw. Even if he didn't believe Shi Ping's description of the Great Xia Camp, and even had some vigilance in his heart, he had no choice but to gamble.

Three days ago, after hesitating for a long time, he agreed to Shi Ping, agreeing to go back and notify the people in the camp to pack their things, and three days later, at nightfall, everyone would follow Shi Ping and migrate to the Great Xia.

In fact, last night before nightfall, when he saw Shi Ping bringing nearly thirty fully armed people, saying that they were to escort them to migrate, he was already a little shaken in his heart.

Just from the aura, he could judge that the nearly thirty people Shi Ping brought were all Digging Realm strength. Not to mention the exquisite clothes they wore and the various iron weapons they carried, Zeng Fan had never even seen them in his many years of living in the Five Apes Mountain.

Even if the strength of this Great Xia Camp was not as good as the Three Tigers Camp, it was probably not too far off. This was Zeng Fan's thought before setting off last night.

At this moment, when he truly stepped into the Great Xia Valley and saw everything in front of him, he realized how ridiculously wrong his previous thoughts were.

Putting aside everything else, the mountains of wood, coal, iron ore, cold beast meat, and various cold beast materials piled up on both sides of the valley, as well as the large bucket of red blood that he couldn't understand, were enough to prove that Great Xia's strength was far from comparable to the Three Tigers Camp.

Just the wooden building in the middle of the valley, which was under construction, the iron material that could be seen with the naked eye was estimated to be hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds!

How many weapons would this make?

Just like that, used to build a house?

No, there are two more buildings behind the wooden building. In the one on the right, iron materials are constantly being transported out and sent to the wooden building.

He even saw batches of weapons being carried out by people from inside.

What's even more outrageous was that the person threw the weapons directly onto a wooden board on the south side of the valley after carrying them out.

And on that wooden board, there were already hundreds of broadswords and bows and arrows.

"Leader, clothes, did you see that? The people of this Great Xia Camp, almost everyone is wearing a full set of clothes, even those..."

Hearing the words of a person next to him, Zeng Fan followed his gaze and looked over. Suddenly, his pupils shrank, and his expression instantly froze like that person's.

"Luo An, it's your turn to be the cold beast, I'm the captain today."

"Okay, I'm starting, Ao woo..."

"Xiaoping, quickly get the rope, everyone else come with me, kill!"

… … … … … …

A group of twenty or thirty children, looking only three or four years old, were playing with wooden sticks and wooden swords on the south side of the valley, obviously playing some kind of hunting game.

And what made Zeng Fan and others dumbfounded was that the group of children were all wearing full sets of animal skin jackets, and those jackets even came in five colors: black, blue, brown, green, and white.

"Gulp..."

Zeng Fan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and most of the people who entered the valley with him also had somewhat sluggish eyes, obviously shocked.

On the other hand, some of the younger children did not have so many thoughts, just looking at the clothes on Luo An and the other children, a strong sense of envy rose in their eyes.

"Old Zeng, you're here too, hahahaha!"

Suddenly, a person carrying wood from the south side of the mountain wall seemed to have just discovered Zeng Fan, approached and shouted, his face full of smiles.

Zeng Fan recovered from his trance, raised his head to see the person clearly, and his expression suddenly froze.

"Old Kong, why are you here?"

Apart from the two medium-sized camps, Zeng Fan didn't know exactly how many small camps were hidden on the Four Apes Peak, but he knew two that were adjacent to their Zeng Ping Camp.

Konghe Camp was one of them, and the Kong Ning in front of him was the leader of Konghe Camp. They had met when they were logging before, and their relationship was not bad.

"You're allowed to come, hehe, were you also brought by Lord Shi Ping?"

"That's right."

Meeting an acquaintance in a strange camp made Zeng Fan's already good mood even better. He quickly pulled Kong Ning and began to inquire about the situation.

Seeing the situation in the valley, he could already be sure that Great Xia's strength was stronger than the Three Tigers Camp. Next, he had to confirm whether the promises Shi Ping had made to him earlier were true.

And as the two chatted, the expression on Zeng Fan's face became brighter and brighter, and his expression gradually became excited.

And just as they were talking, on the top floor of the wooden building, Meng Ao and Zhu Kang, Hong Yu, who were under construction, also focused their attention on their group.

Zhu Kang's expression moved slightly: "This is the fourth batch, right? They are the people brought back by the Cloud Flood Team, and it should be counted on Shi Ping's head."

Meng Ao nodded, turned his gaze to Hong Yu, and asked in a low voice: "The two families brought back by Uncle Hong don't seem to have many people. Xiao Yu, do you know the specific number?"

Hearing the two's words, Hong Yu withdrew his gaze, his expression somewhat somber, and nodded in response: "The two camps that Brother Tao and Father brought back earlier had only 482 people combined. Luo Yuan's Tiger Leopard Team, the Konghe Camp they brought back earlier, had 329 people. This one is estimated to have more than three hundred. Shi Ping should be leading at the moment."

Meng Ao and Zhu Kang's expressions both stagnated slightly upon hearing this.

Most of the Logging Realm people probably don't know about the camp competing for the position of the Wilderness Development Department, but the three of them, after all, are the sons of the parties involved, so they know it very well.

The three of them know that the people currently competing seem to be Hong Guang and Shi Ping on the surface, but in reality, they are the Secretary Xia Chuan and the Hunting Department Secretary Yu Wentao.

The problem is that Shi Ping has Xia Chuan, the Chief Administrator, backing him. Recently, Xia Chuan sent all seven hunting teams from Da Xia to the north shore, ostensibly for hunting, but everyone knows it's to get more people for Shi Ping.

Of course, Hong Guang isn't showing any weakness either. Besides his own Xuanwu team, he's also brought Yu Wentao to support him, along with the Longwu, Shenwu, Zhenwu, Yingwu, and Xiongwu teams, a total of six teams. Almost all of them are out, looking for people on the north shore every night.

The current situation is that the Da Xia teams find camps, bring in people, and take the contribution points themselves, but the credit goes to Shi Ping. It's the same with Yu Wentao's side, except the credit goes to Hong Guang.

It all stems from Chief Xia Hong's previous statement: in a month, whoever brings more people to the camp will get the position of Chief Administrator of the Reclamation Department.

"There are still twenty days left. No one can say for sure until the end. Although Shi Ping has more people, there's a gap in strength compared to our side. I think Uncle Hong will definitely get the position in the end, Xiaoyu, don't worry!"

Seeing Hong Yu's worried expression, Zhu Kang, thinking he was worried about his father Hong Guang not getting the position, quickly comforted him.

Meng Ao also nodded and said, "My father also said that Administrator Xia's strength isn't as good as Brother Tao's. Among the sixty-seven Digging Realm cultivators helping Shi Ping, none of them have reached the 30,000-jin limit. We have six on our side. Judging from strength, Uncle Hong shouldn't lose."

Hearing their reassurances, Hong Yu shook his head, a hint of hesitation appearing on his face before he slowly said, "You've misunderstood. I'm not worried about my father losing to Shi Ping. I'm just wondering, is this Chief Administrator position really that important?

My father has been running to the north shore every night recently, along with Second Uncle Hong, Uncle Zhu, and the others. They didn't even return to the camp last night. I don't think it's worth it to work so hard for a Chief Administrator position!"

Zhu and Meng fell silent upon hearing this, not saying anything.

Hong Guang is vying for this Chief Administrator position, in the end, to give them, the later Mirror Immortals, more say in Da Xia.

Logically, they should all be supportive.

But in reality, after staying in Da Xia for a while, the three of them have undergone slight changes in their mindset, so they can understand what Hong Yu said.

"Da Xia's various resources are distributed according to individual contributions, which are ultimately linked to strength. The stronger you are, the more contributions you can make.

The position of Chief Administrator of the Six Departments is, in the end, just a symbol of status, a nice title. Not only does it not have any real benefits, but it also takes up a lot of cultivation time with trivial matters, which has a great impact on improving strength.

Most importantly, whether it's the Chief or the Chief Administrator, there's no difference in how they treat us newcomers compared to their own people. If that's the case, why bother纠结 about a Chief Administrator position? It's better to focus on improving our own strength. Once our strength is up, our status will naturally follow!"

Hong Yu's words were deafening. Although Zhu and Meng didn't speak, their faces were full of agreement, clearly recognizing the truth in what he said.

"Our words carry little weight. Even if we have such thoughts, no one will listen."

"There's no way to stop Father and the others from fighting for it. Let's improve our own strength first. It will be better once we enter the Hunting Department and have some say."

Hearing his two good friends, Hong Yu nodded and didn't say anything more.

The three of them continued with their unfinished work, but their eyes would occasionally sweep towards the martial arts hall on the left side behind the wooden building, their faces filled with longing.

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… … … … … …

Having taken in three camps before, Da Xia was clearly very experienced. Zeng Fan and the other three hundred people were quickly settled by the people sent by Lin Kai.

Lumbering Realm cultivators, adults, and children were all registered in an orderly manner.

Going from being a chief to an ordinary member of Da Xia, Zeng Fan felt a mix of emotions, but mostly relief. After all, his days as a chief were actually not as good as an ordinary member of Da Xia.

Walking out of the temporary wooden house on the right, he immediately found Kong Ning and was about to chat with him when he was stopped by Shi Ping.

"Zeng Fan, Kong Ning, come with me!"

Both camps were brought over by Shi Ping, so the two chiefs were naturally familiar with him. Upon hearing this, they immediately followed him towards the wooden house on the left.

"Lord, is there anything you need us for?"

Kong Ning had been in Da Xia for three days and knew a little about the camp.

They, the newcomers, were all settled in the wooden houses on the right. Although he hadn't been to the wooden houses on the left, he had heard that it was where some of the big shots in the camp handled affairs. Shi Ping must have something to do to take them there.

Having been here for so many days, Kong Ning was a little puzzled as to why he was suddenly being summoned today, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Zeng Fan had just arrived and didn't know anything, so he could only follow behind. Hearing Kong Ning's question, he also curiously looked at Shi Ping.

Shi Ping didn't turn his head, but simply said, "Don't be nervous. The Chief Administrator wants to see you. He should be asking you about the situation on Five Apes Mountain. Just say what you know, and don't hide anything."

"Yes, Lord!"

Hearing the words "Chief Administrator," Kong Ning's expression immediately became excited.

Zeng Fan on the side was a little confused and could only continue to follow.

Soon, the two followed Shi Ping into the wooden house on the left, along the main hall to the depths, bypassing a three-legged round cauldron before stopping.

Behind the round cauldron was a hall separated by wooden boards.

At the top of the hall was an empty chair, covered with a thick layer of animal绒 cushion. Below, there were also more than twenty chairs in two rows, but only six people were seated, most of them empty.

Entering the hall, Zeng Fan's eyes immediately locked onto the two people at the front.

The person on the left was wearing a black cloak, with a gentle face. Although he was sitting, one could still see his slender figure. Although his appearance was young, his extraordinary demeanor was more outstanding than anyone he had ever seen before.

The person on the right was wearing a black close-fitting suit, with the same appearance as the person on the left, also very young, but his temperament was very sharp, and he seemed a little unhappy at the moment. His face wasn't very good, and when he saw him come in, his eyes looked at him like sharp swords, making Zeng Fan slightly uneasy.

Zeng Fan didn't have time to observe the four people below, because Shi Ping had already walked to the side of the person on the left and started speaking.

"Chief Administrator, Zeng Fan and Kong Ning have been brought here."

Seeing Shi Ping's respectful posture, knowing that the young man in front of him was the Chief Administrator he had just mentioned, Zeng Fan's heart shook slightly.

Shi Ping had a Digging Realm cultivation base, and he could bring so many people to help their camp relocate. Zeng Fan had always thought that even if his status in Da Xia wasn't the highest, it certainly wouldn't be low.

He never expected that his attitude in front of this young man would be so humble.

"Chief Administrator, could it be the meaning of Chief? Da Xia calls the Chief Administrator, it must be like this."

Zeng Fan, who had just arrived, used his past experience to speculate in his mind that the young man in front of him must be the Chief of Da Xia.

"Zeng Fan, Kong Ning, I heard that your two residences are both on Four Apes Peak, is that right?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Yes, Lord."

As soon as the Chief Administrator on the left spoke, Zeng Fan and Kong Ning quickly replied.

"Are you clear about the location of the Three Tigers Camp's residence?"

Hearing this question, both of them were slightly stunned.

"Lord, I only know that the Three Tigers Camp's residence is on Central Apes Peak, but I don't know the specific location. We usually don't even have time to avoid them, so we wouldn't dare to look for the location of their residence."

As soon as Kong Ning finished speaking, the eyes of several people present gathered on Zeng Fan's face.

A hint of hesitation appeared on Zeng Fan's face, and he didn't speak for a long time. Realizing that everyone was looking at him, he became even more nervous and couldn't speak.

"Don't worry, just say what you have to say. It doesn't matter if you're wrong."

Seeing Zeng Fan's hesitation, Shi Ping immediately comforted him.

With his guarantee, Zeng Fan became bolder and nodded, saying:

"Our residence is in a cave at the foot of Four Apes Peak. Once, when I went out to cut wood, I accidentally ran into the Three Tigers Camp's hunting team. Although I dared to hide in the dark at the time, I heard them say that they were only five or six hundred meters away from the camp. Because I usually try to avoid them to prevent accidentally breaking into that area again in the future, I remembered that location!"

Pa… …

Zeng Fan was startled as soon as he finished speaking.

Because the young man on the right, wearing a black close-fitting suit and with a sharp face, seemed to have been holding back for a long time, and stood up from the chair with a snap.

"Lord, time is of the essence, I'll lead people to set off now!"

Seeing Yu Wentao's impatient face, Xia Chuan, the young man on the left, shook his head slightly and asked in a deep voice, "Are you sure Hong Guang had an accident?"

Yu Wentao nodded heavily and said, "One hundred percent. Hong Guang is an old man who has followed my father for many years. He wouldn't be so rash. Even if there was really something important that required him to stay there, he would definitely send someone back to report it. There wouldn't be no news at all and he would just not return overnight."

Hearing Yu Wentao's answer, Xia Chuan's expression suddenly became a little gloomy.

In the Ice Abyss World, the range of human activity is limited, and with the danger of the unfamiliar environment, normal people would not stay outside overnight except in special circumstances.

Hong Guang is almost forty years old, which is considered old in the Ice Abyss World, and he wouldn't be so ignorant of the rules.

The key is that he took six members of the Xuanwu team with him. Even if there was really something important that required him to stay outside overnight, he could just send someone back to notify. Five Apes Mountain is only ten kilometers away from Da Xia, and it wouldn't take long to go back and forth.

“A few days ago, Lao Hong mentioned to me that he had news of a large camp and could quickly follow the trail to find them. If the negotiations went well, we could bring them over to Da Xia. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but now that I think about it, he must have gotten the news about that Three Tigers Camp from somewhere else.”

Among the four people below the hall, Meng Yi also stood up, his expression extremely grim. Zhu Ling and Zhu Yuan, who were sitting next to him, as well as Hong Guang's younger brother, Hong Tian, also looked worried.

“Lord, let us go and look for him. If we delay any longer, there will be problems.”

Hong Tian looked agitated and directly requested orders from Xia Chuan.

Although Yuwen Tao didn't speak again, his eyes were full of pleading, obviously as worried about Hong Guang as Hong Tian was.

Seeing the five people's expressions, Xia Chuan naturally couldn't say anything more.

“Alright, then go ahead, but be prepared. Take everyone with you and have Zeng Fan lead the way. Go!”

“Thank you, Lord. We'll set off immediately!”

Yuwen Tao nodded in agreement, signaled Meng Yi and the other three with his eyes, and immediately led the way out of the house.

Meng Yi and the other three didn't say a word, grabbed Zeng Fan, who hadn't yet reacted, and went out to notify people.

After the group left, Shi Ping walked to Xia Chuan's side and said in a deep voice:

“Lord, Hong Guang has been a bit too aggressive lately. The two camps he brought back previously, the two leaders didn't explicitly say it, but they were clearly coerced by him. Using such methods to increase the camp's population isn't a good thing!”

Xia Chuan shook his head and said in a deep voice, “Indeed, it's not a good thing. It seems he's determined to get this position of Pioneer Department Director. He went directly to the Three Tigers Camp without even clarifying the situation. It's good for him to suffer a loss this time. With Yuwen Tao going, there shouldn't be any major problems. When he comes back this time, I'll have a good talk with him!”

It wasn't just not a good thing, it was simply atrocious.

Da Xia had just undergone a merger, and its internal stability wasn't solid. Forcibly coercing other camps to join by force would not only fail to strengthen the camp's strength but would also make the internal situation increasingly complex!

Xia Chuan, now serving as Secretary, wouldn't fail to understand this principle. Hong Guang was reaping what he sowed this time. Fortunately, Zeng Fan, whom Shi Ping brought today, knew the approximate location of the Three Tigers Camp.

From the information he had gathered, although the Three Tigers Camp wasn't small in scale, its strength wasn't strong due to adopting the wrong development methods. With Yuwen Tao taking so many people, finding their base and rescuing Hong Guang shouldn't be difficult.

“You should still visit that side more often recently. The Three Tigers Camp should be dealt with by Yuwen Tao without any accidents. Bring more people from other camps over. There are still twenty days until the settlement. Don't drop the ball.”

“Yes, Lord, I will definitely work hard!”

Shi Ping looked excited and nodded heavily.

Xia Chuan remembered something and said, “By the way, go and notify Qiu Peng to prepare 10,000 catties of iron ore, three long swords, and a ten-stone iron-backed bow for me. Notify me when it's ready. I'll go to the North Shore again tonight.”

Hearing that so many things were being prepared, Shi Ping first showed a hint of surprise, but he quickly realized something and said, “Lord, are these things going to be sent to the Xiao River Camp?”

Seeing that he had guessed it, Xia Chuan didn't hide it and nodded with a smile, “Xiao Kangcheng is too vigilant. We still need to show goodwill first. We have to let him understand the strength of our Da Xia Camp, so that negotiations should be much smoother.”