Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 669: Chapter 279: Refocusing, Expanding Territory, and the Disappearing Army

”Alright, let’s head back!”

Upon Xia Hong’s command, the group hoisted the unconscious Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing onto their backs, gathered the two hunted beasts, and the harvested Double Liquid Color Spirit Fruit and Panxiang Leaf, and followed Xia Hong as they embarked on the return journey.

During the return trip, sensing the presence of many Advanced Cold Beasts nearby, everyone quickened their pace, as if only by staying close to Xia Hong would they be safe.

Xia Hong noticed their actions, shook his head slightly, and cast his gaze towards the depths of the western side of Redwood Ridge, sighing softly in his heart.

”At the current pace, exploring the entirety of Redwood Ridge might take an unknown number of years, I need to think of a way!”

Before the war in Longyou, the Hunting Department’s exploration depth into Redwood Ridge was only six kilometers. With the war in Longyou commencing, a large number of elites left, causing the exploration efforts to halt.

It was hard to imagine that, with Xia Hong managing the valley for nearly three years, the Great Xia’s exploration of Redwood Ridge only extended six kilometers into the outskirts, and with tonight’s advancement of another kilometer, it totaled only seven kilometers.

Of course, with Xia Hong’s increasing strength, he observed more and more, becoming less of a stranger to Redwood Ridge than before.

”Now it’s basically confirmed that the eastern side of Redwood Ridge is Twin Dragon Mountain; the southern end leads to Xing River; the north connects to Pingxi Plain; and to the west is Upper Long Mountain. In the future, as long as we merge our exploration range with those of Yang Lu and Beehive, and control the southern edge along Xing River, the next step would be to explore westward. As soon as Upper Long Mountain comes into view, it can be considered that the entirety of Redwood Ridge has been secured...”

Xia Hong previously surveyed that the total depth of Redwood Ridge to the west potentially exceeded two hundred kilometers. With the current efficiency of the camp’s exploration, it would likely take decades or even a century to explore the entire region thoroughly.

”The Hunting Team is ultimately too small in scale, and their strength is lacking. To accelerate the exploration progress, reliance on the military is necessary. I hope the Cloud Dragon Army won’t disappoint me!”

Xia Hong’s eyes flickered as he retracted his gaze and continued towards Xia City.

Composed of a well-equipped, highly trained army of a thousand at the Earth-digging Realm Limit, barring a large-scale Beast Tide like Arrow Bamboo Forest, there was no Cold Beast capable of stopping them. Even small or medium Beast Tides could be completely withstood.

Once the Cloud Dragon Army truly formed into a combat force, further exploration of Redwood Ridge would become much simpler.

......

Xia Hong quietly led nine people back to Xia City, causing astonishment among the Cold Resistance Level individuals upon seeing their injuries.

They also aimed to hunt Advanced Cold Beasts in the future, so they eagerly probed for information from Yuwen Dao and others, who did not conceal anything and recounted the events.

The injuries of Chen Yingba and Wu Tianxing were severe, requiring more than a month of recuperation in Xia City, temporarily reducing the camp’s advanced Cold Resistance Level combat strength by two.

Fortunately, the Great Xia was not currently engaged in warfare, so the impact was not significant.

Xia Chuan acted swiftly; although Xia Hong allowed five days, he took only one day to finalize the thousand-member roster of the Cloud Dragon Army at the Hunting Department.

On the night of June 5th, that list was placed on Xia Hong’s desk.

Presumably having begun military organization, Xia Chuan donned a pale gold Hundred Forged Armor and explained to Xia Hong: ”At the Earth-digging Realm Limit, there are currently 803 people. The remaining 197, with basic strengths exceeding 27,000, are expected to break through the Earth-digging Realm Limit within three months, given sufficient supplies of Beast Spirit Pills and Beast Meat.”

After glancing over the list, Xia Hong inquired:

”Have all these people gathered in Xia City?”

Xia Chuan shook his head and replied, ”Two hundred and seventy-five people are dispersed between Wushuang and Hanqiong posts, while the remaining 725 are in Xia City. I’ve given them one day to manage all their personal matters. After nightfall on June 9th, I will lead them to Wushuang to meet up with the people there.”

Before the assembly, Wushuang and Hanqiong each stationed a thousand Earth-digging Realm individuals, undoubtedly including some at the Earth-digging Realm Limit.

This time, the army was selected to be stationed at Longyou. Instead of having the over two hundred come back, it was more convenient for Xia Chuan to lead the seven hundred from Xia City directly over.

Xia Hong nodded and continued to ask, ”How many sets of weapons and armor has the Craftsman Workshop prepared? It’s probably still insufficient, right?”

The army’s weapons and armor must be at the Hundred Forging Level. If memory serves, in late April when they returned, Mu Dong had mentioned that the Craftsman Workshop produced five Hundred Forged weapons and two suits of Hundred Forged Armor per day. Calculating from then to now, it’s still less than forty days, so the quantity is definitely inadequate.

Sure enough, Xia Chuan nodded, showing a hint of helplessness.

”The Craftsmen Department has only gathered 350 Hundred Forged horizontal blades, 870 thirty-stone Iron Core Bows, and 140 suits of Hundred Forged Thunder Kui Iron Armor. Weapons are not urgent as each soldier at the Earth-digging Realm Limit essentially has one Hundred Forged weapon; they can first use their own. The Iron Core Bows, combined with theirs, are also complete. The main issue is the armor, which is a bit troublesome, and I’ve ordered Mu Dong to accelerate the production.”

The Hundred Forged Iron Armor crafted by the Great Xia Craftsman Workshop was mixed with Thunder Kui’s Skull, resulting in a pale gold appearance, with a defensive effect at least 30 to 50 percent better than that of regular Hundred Forged Iron Armor.

The forging process is more complex, thus requiring more time as well.

”How long will it take, approximately?”

Xia Chuan pondered for a moment and replied, ”The Artifact Refining Workshop’s fifty furnaces are all dedicated to forging the armor now, producing about four to five sets per day, so it’ll take at least four to five months at the fastest.”

This all boils down to a problem of foundation!

Great Xia’s start was, after all, too late, and for something like Hundred Forged Armor, it’s not about the forging capability but about the immense time required for manufacturing.

Long Mountain and Zhaoyang were able to produce so much, not for any other reason but prior significant investments in this area.

For Great Xia to catch up now, they would have to invest the same amount of time.

”Too slow, have Mu Dong figure out a way to increase the number of craftsmen. Items like Hundred Forged Armor and weapons, including Iron Core Bows, are both necessities and consumables. Demand will only grow over time; with the recent population surge, he should focus on this. Such a slow forging speed will cause issues in the future.”

”Got it, big brother!”

The armor shortage issue cannot be resolved in the short term.

Fortunately, there’s no immediate war, so using Ten Forging Level equipment temporarily won’t cause major issues, as long as no large-scale battles occur.

In the subsequent two days, observable changes took place in Xia City.

Many at the Earth-digging Realm Limit bade farewell to their original Hunting Teams, explained matters to their families, and reported to the soldiers’ camp built by Xia Chuan in the Outer City.

The so-called soldiers’ camp was essentially a simple two-story wooden house. Whether intended to maintain the mystery of the Cloud Dragon Army or not, Xia Chuan had the entire house constructed as a completely enclosed structure, with only a few windows on the top floor, preventing outsiders from seeing inside.

By nightfall on June 6th, nearly all 725 people at Xia City had entered the camp, and none emerged afterward.

The camp resonated with the sounds of combat, piquing the curiosity of many residents in the Outer City. Those attempting to approach were turned away by stationed soldiers.

This undoubtedly heightened the Cloud Dragon Army’s mystery and stirred greater curiosity among people, but regardless of who came, the army remained off-limits.

”I heard they’re dealing with disobedient people; it’s quite brutal.”

”What nonsense, they’re clearly choosing captains and ranking military officers.”

”Nope, they’re dividing into camps. I hear the Cloud Dragon Army is divided into ten camps, with the strongest individuals going to the Reconnaissance Camp. The others are sorted from Camp One to Camp Nine based on strength; the stronger they are, the lower their camp number.”

”What’s the Reconnaissance Camp?”

”You don’t know? The Reconnaissance Camp is the elite group, staying close to the Commander, acting as their eyes and personal guard. I hear the leader of the Reconnaissance Camp must be someone at the Cold Resistance Level.”

”Cold Resistance Level as the leader, tsk tsk!”

.....

Some rumors quickly spread, causing much debate inside and outside Xia City, as people grew more curious about the Cloud Dragon Army.

Unfortunately, the army’s confidentiality measures were extremely effective.

From the camp’s closure on June 6th, no one was able to approach, not even those at the Cold Resistance Level.

Not until the night of June 9th did those outside the city suddenly realize that the enormous camp had vanished into thin air from the Outer City.

”Disappeared, the camp disappeared?”

”What do you mean disappeared? It moved.”

”And the wooden house? Such a large structure is also gone?”

”It was dismantled. I saw it during the nightfall; the 700-plus people took it apart within minutes, moving with astonishing speed.”

”The army is all gone?”

”Gone, I heard they went to Longyou to replace the garrison.”