Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1154: Chapter 394: Exploration Competition—Winning Over the Crowd Isn’t So Easy

”The ones participating in this exploration competition are all tough nuts to crack. It’s not going to be easy to win them over. You’re leading the team just because of your age advantage. In terms of talent, these tough nuts are no less than you are. You’ll have your hands full later on!”

Reflecting on the instructions his father Xiao Kangcheng had given him at the beginning of August, when the exploration competition at He Yin Station officially began, Xiao Hen’s face was grim, and he couldn’t help but deeply agree with his father’s words.

He Yin is no ordinary station. To the east, it is adjacent to the Moao Mountain, which, along with He Yin Village to its east, including the 20-kilometer mountain entrance of Moao Mountain, was allocated to Great Xia by Jiangxia in July.

After the battle at Dajue Temple, the population in all the villages within the Bashang Territory was basically wiped out. So after Great Xia acquired He Yin, they immediately sent people to take over.

Though He Yin has a 20-kilometer mountain entrance to the Moao Mountain Range, which should qualify it as a major station, considering that He Yin is only 27 kilometers in a straight line from Bashang Town, with Bashang City covering it, Xia Chuan ultimately did not designate it as a major station.

However, to emphasize its importance, he did not specifically assign someone to be the Defense Envoy here. Instead, he had Xiao Kangcheng, his father-in-law and the Mountain Yu of the Bashang City Hunting Bureau, oversee it, effectively putting He Yin under the direct control of Bashang City.

With He Yin at hand and a 20-kilometer mountain entrance, Defense Xiao Kangcheng naturally organized a Hunting Team to explore Moao Mountain at the first opportunity.

Moao Mountain is the fourth resource point controlled by Great Xia. A new resource point signifies a vast array of new species. Although Lu Yang had already brought back many new species from Moao Mountain over the past four years in East Ridge, those were acquired through trade. How could that compare with personally entering the mountain to acquire them?

Currently, Great Xia has over seven hundred Advanced Hunting Teams, with countless intermediate and low-level teams. When the He Yin Station was announced in July, many hunting teams immediately sensed an opportunity and swarmed in. For a while, at least a hundred advanced hunting teams gathered at He Yin Station. If not for Xiao Kangcheng limiting the number of intermediate and low-level teams for safety reasons, the He Yin Station might have been overrun immediately.

The Garrison Department had already set clear population limits for all external stations within Great Xia Territory the year before. The permanent population of small stations could not exceed ten thousand, while large stations could not exceed thirty thousand, with a ten percent flexibility allowed. If these limits were exceeded, the local Defender or garrison would face demotion, pay cuts, or other penalties.

Fortunately, Xiao Kangcheng was perceptive and quickly imposed limits when he sensed the bustling He Yin Station. Otherwise, as the newly appointed garrison of He Yin, he would inevitably face penalties from the Garrison Department.

Yet, even with his swift actions, by July 10th, the total population of He Yin Station had already exceeded 10,000. Keep in mind that the station was only announced on the 3rd, and in just seven days, so many people had arrived.

With the influx of numerous hunting teams, the exploration progress of Great Xia in Moao Mountain was naturally swift. In merely twenty days, explorers delved 15 kilometers deep into the mountain, bringing back countless new materials like Cold Beasts, vegetation, Spiritual Medicine, ore, special materials, and more to Bashang City.

Most hunting teams made substantial profits. Needless to say, the Advanced Teams, even members of intermediate and low-level hunting teams, earned at least a thousand contribution value points daily.

Not only was Great Xia’s material stock replenished, but it also acquired a vast amount of new resources. They now awaited the transportation of those materials from Bashang back to Xia City. After subsequent identification and research by the Craftsmen Department, the camp’s productivity would surely leap forward, producing new outputs continuously.

Unfortunately, every advantage comes with disadvantages.

This win-win situation quickly encountered problems.

Due to the sudden influx of Advanced Hunting Teams from Great Xia, the exploration progress was remarkably fast. By late July, Great Xia’s hunting teams inevitably encountered hunting personnel from Jiangxia in the mountains.

The division of Moao Mountain Range by the Nine Towns wasn’t that detailed. The so-called division merely allocated the over 800-kilometer mountain entrance along the line.

The Nine Towns had previously agreed that besides the outer 15-kilometer area, where mutual intrusion was prohibited, there weren’t many restrictions on deeper areas.

Now that Great Xia replaced Bashang as the new member of the Nine Towns, it naturally needed to adhere to this rule. Therefore, in the first 15 kilometers, all the hunting teams strictly followed the rules, not entering the area toward Jiangxia Town in the north.

However, past the 15-kilometer depth, everyone’s thoughts started to become more active.

It should be noted that the number of Advanced Hunting Teams in He Yin Village already exceeded a hundred.

With so many Advanced Teams hunting every night, how could the 20-kilometer-wide Snow Forest area possibly be enough?

As such, some teams ventured northward into the area belonging to Jiangxia Town.

They weren’t exactly breaking the rules, as the Nine Towns agreement only regulated the outer 15 kilometers. Beyond that depth, it was up to everyone’s abilities.

Hunting is considered an extremely sensitive matter for all camps.

Firstly, it’s inherently a life-threatening endeavor, quite dangerous. Secondly, it pertains to the acquisition of cultivation resources, affecting everyone’s interests. Lastly, as it’s conducted in the wilderness, it’s easy for greed to emerge. Therefore, whenever hunting areas are involved, everyone is quite sensitive. Even encountering their own team’s hunting party requires vigilance, let alone encountering people from other camps.