Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 342: Chapter 178: Reciprocity Society and the Generous Gesture

”Shi Ping, what does the chief want with so many things?”

On the south side of the valley, at the temporary supply place, Qiu Peng was organizing items while curiously asking Shi Ping beside him.

A thousand pounds of iron ore, three longswords, and a set of ten-stone iron bows, of course, don’t mean much to the current Great Xia.

The iron ore productivity alone is at least 300,000 pounds per month for the camp; weaponry is even more exaggerated—last time, over 4,700 pieces were hauled back from the Mirror Immortal Camp, from broadswords and axes to spears and pikes, everything’s available, and there’s no shortage of longbows. There’s no need for forging for a long time.

But even though there’s plenty, it’s rare for a person to want so much at once.

These supplies together are not cheap.

”Ten pounds of iron ore equals one point, a longsword is 300 points, and a ten-stone iron bow is 600 points. In total, this batch of supplies costs 2,500 Contribution Value points!”

Seeing Shi Ping’s exaggerated expression upon hearing the price, Qiu Peng couldn’t help but tease:

”What, too expensive? This is after a recent price reduction of supplies. If it were before, I bet not many in the entire camp could come up with this many Contribution Points.”

Shi Ping nodded in agreement, knowing full well the dramatic price fluctuations in supplies from his previous work at the Camp Supply Station.

The recent reforms of Great Xia not only involved the Six Ministries of the camp but also impacted many other aspects, including the pricing of supplies at the Camp Supply Department, which had significant changes.

The reason is simple. First, too many supplies were seized from the Mirror Immortal Camp, and second, the camp’s strength had changed, so corresponding rules also changed.

First, strategic materials like iron could only be exchanged by those in the Earth-digging Realm, and personal exchanges have limits. Besides Xia Hong, others, including Xia Chuan, were strictly limited.

Next is the pricing. When iron ore was scarce before, it took ten pounds for a point for subsidy surrender, and it required ten points for a pound for exchange, seemingly harsh to the extreme, but essentially discouraging or even prohibiting personal exchanges.

Everyone didn’t have any complaints previously because, though the price of iron ore was ridiculously high, the prices of various iron products were relatively reasonable.

Now, with the soaring extraction capacity, abundant Treasury, and no urgent need beyond wooden buildings, the prices of iron ore and weaponry have naturally undergone major adjustments.

”The chief plans to send these supplies to the Xiao He Camp, so just deduct these 2,500 Contribution Value points from me!”

Upon hearing Shi Ping’s words, Qiu Peng immediately showed a look of sudden realization, giving him a thumbs up, and smiled: ”I see, you’re really putting in the effort; seems like you are determined to secure the Pioneer Department Director position!”

Qiu Peng, though holding the position of Camp Supply Department Director, was also at the Earth-digging Realm, so he too had to join the Hunting Department.

Coincidentally, both he and Shi Ping joined Xia Chuan’s Cloud Jiao Team.

The matter of the Xiao He Camp wasn’t kept secret by Xia Chuan, so he was aware of it too.

It was evident that Xia Chuan sending supplies to the Xiao He Camp was to recruit people, and these people would ultimately be credited to Shi Ping.

”Let’s go for it. With the chief bringing so many to help me, if I can’t secure this Director position, it would be too disappointing for him.”

2,500 Contribution Value points were indeed a huge number for Shi Ping.

He had just over 4,000 Contribution Value points in total, and this transaction took more than half of it, naturally making his heart ache.

Having worked at the Camp Supply Department before, Shi Ping had some understanding of the Contribution Value balances held by everyone in the camp now.

Among those with the most Contribution Value and resources now are the fifteen members of the original Hunting Team, owing to the period of frenzied hunting of Intermediate Cold Beasts with Xia Hong, leaving most of them with more points than they could spend.

Shi Ping’s group came next, which were those fifty-plus breaking through to the Earth-digging Realm later, mostly having between two to three thousand points—thanks to the Cold Beast wave and later battles at the Mirror Immortal Camp, which earned them a lot.

Shi Ping himself performed exceptionally in both events, notably aiding Xia Chuan in fire control during the Cold Beast wave, earned recognition, and received part of a special reward. Otherwise, his Contribution Value wouldn’t differ much from others.

”I’ll notify the others. You should also prepare; the chief is about to head to the North Shore, and we’ll follow tonight.”

Hearing this, Qiu Peng nodded, remembering something before he opened his mouth to ask: ”By the way, Yuwen Dao just went out with many people. Is it to find Hong Guang?”

The Hunting Department counts everyone every night, and the Xuanwu Team led by Hong Guang, totaling seven people, did not return last night—they all knew.

Shi Ping nodded and said: ”The chief just gathered Yuwen Dao and Meng Yi to inquire about the situation. Hong Guang went to that Three Tigers Camp, likely due to a problem occurring—Yuwen Dao was worried about their safety and went to the North Shore to find them first.”

Qiu Peng shook his head, saying in a grave tone: ”That Hong Guang is a bit rash. The last two groups he brought back had problems, and now he’s looking directly for that Three Tigers Camp. There’s likely nothing good to come of it.”

Shi Ping didn’t respond, but his face showed agreement.

Based on the current gathered intel, the people of that Three Tigers Camp were evidently not decent folks. Hong Guang, making no preparations and rashly visiting them to discuss annexation, was bound to face poor consequences.