Cave Refuge

Besides that, there was another important issue to address—the problem of preserving the freshness of ingredients. After the floodwaters receded, those creatures that had once lived in water indeed became helpless prey. For the vast majority of aquatic creatures, there was no need to fight; one could easily capture them with just a bit of caution.

However, even so, these aquatic animals, although becoming lamb ready for slaughter once out of water, also, for this very reason, could not survive more than a few days on land. Seafood, as everybody knows, is completely different when dead compared to when alive.

In fact, the members of the Search Teams, who had been out scouting for the past few days, had noticed that they now had to venture further away to find food, and the food they found was already in a state of death, no longer like before when they could find food that was still lively and jumping.

It was precisely because of this discovery that they had heeded the instigation of that guy, wanting to seize the opportunity to get some food and hesitating whether they should leave the camp and join the city being constructed by the Imperial Court.

The survivors who had lived up to this point were basically not fools; otherwise, they would have died in the various natural disasters that had occurred before. If it weren't for concerns about the exhaustion of food, they wouldn't be following that ringleader.

Actually, that ringleader wasn't foolish either. He just thought that Ye Liuyun would still be bound by morals, but he hadn't expected that if Ye Liuyun were no longer constrained by his conscience, he could turn into a laughing stock.

Those who stood behind the ringleader, most originally harbored a herd mentality, thinking that if they had the numbers, then even if they made a fuss, in the end, Ye Liuyun would have to give in reluctantly, considering their multitude.

Even if Ye Liuyun stuck to his principles and refused to budge, they still believed they could use their numerical advantage to push him into a situation where the law does not punish the masses.

But what they never expected was that Ye Liuyun, as they had thought, did give way, but he retreated so much that he became utterly disheartened, ready to abandon the camp that was already more than halfway completed in its construction.

They were all very clear that while constructing the camp, the Ye family were all commanding without truly participating. The food provided daily was also mixed from the Hunting Team's haul with some pasty gruel made from coarse grains in the form of Food Bricks.

However, they were not foolish. Despite the high nutritional value of the seafood brought back by the Hunting Team, it was actually the gruel made from Food Bricks that truly filled their stomachs daily.

It was not that seafood could not satisfy hunger, but to feel the same fullness, one might only need two bowls of coarse grain gruel, whereas for seafood, it would take ten times the volume and weight to be satiated.

For this reason, faced with Ye Liuyun's resolve to go through with his plan, they were caught off guard by his proposal.

Other survivors in the camp, seeing Ye Liuyun's serious demeanor which did not seem to be lying, immediately someone loudly said, "Why should we give up the camp that we worked so hard to build? If those people have objections to the rules and regulations set by Boss Taylor in the camp, they can choose to leave.

Why should our interests be sacrificed for their benefit, capitulating to their noncompliance with the camp's rules and regulations? Why! I do not accept this! Anyone dissatisfied with the camp's regulations, just as Boss Taylor said, can leave on their own accord and not affect our daily lives."

As this other opinion resounded among the crowd, the camp was immediately split into two camps: one side was those following the ringleader, seeking to profit and grab power, and the other was composed of clear-headed survivors willing to continue following Ye Liuyun.

At this time, there was simply no such thing as a third-party neutral faction. Everyone was very clear that all the food within the base was now in the hands of Ye Liuyun. If you were not in Ye Liuyun's faction, even if you were not part of the faction led by the troublemaker, and you wanted to maintain your neutrality by staying in a neutral camp, in the end, you would still be treated as an enemy by Ye Liuyun by default.

After that person finished speaking and directly walked behind Ye Liuyun, the surrounding survivors who were watching the commotion were forced to start choosing sides. Although some had a determined expression and others looked hesitant, the vast majority of people gradually gathered behind Ye Liuyun.

Watching the number of people beside him dwindle, the troublemaker's expression grew increasingly anxious. He still had a way out, which was to leave the camp and head to the city mentioned in the summons. However, the journey was long, and leaving alone would make it very difficult to deal with any problems he might encounter on the way.

So, seeing the very people who had initially conspired with him to cause trouble shamelessly slipping into Ye Liuyun's camp, and noticing that the number of people remaining beside him was already fewer than ten, he suddenly became bolder and started calling out names: "Ean Richard, Sandy Quinn, Seth Leo, William Jefferson..."

As he called out each name, those who had originally blended discreetly into Ye Liuyun's group behind him, could only walk out red-faced and angrily, ultimately, they had no choice but to return to the troublemaker's faction.

At this point, the faction led by the troublemaker had fewer than twenty people left. Ye Liuyun couldn't be bothered to waste words with them and directly said, "You've seen the results. Now, you can either leave on your own or we can send you on your way."

Hearing Ye Liuyun's morbid words, those people's expressions changed slightly. Then, as they left, they didn't throw out threats like traditional villains; instead, they decisively turned around and walked away, not even daring to threaten with a backward glance.

Watching those people gradually leaving, Ye Liuyun then seriously and sternly warned the other survivors present, "If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But if you, like them, try to stir up trouble and take advantage of the chaos, just know that if I catch you, you'll bear the consequences.

Because we have few people in our camp, don't keep things hidden. Just come out with it and ask directly. If it doesn't involve some secret plan, I will explain the reasons to you openly when I have the time.

For instance, the issue that you are most concerned about right now, why I didn't choose to take you with me to join the Imperial Court after seeing the summons, but instead continued to build the camp here.

The reason is quite simple. First of all, there's the issue of food. With the Hunting Team going out every day to bring back food, we can have three meals a day at the camp. Although the taste may not be great, at least we can eat our fill each day and get enough nutrition.

On the other hand, if we were to head to that newly established city, not to mention anything else, the labor intensity there would definitely be much higher than it is here.

Secondly, can you guarantee that the food you'll get there will be better than what we have now?

I believe you are very aware that those Water Bases built by the Imperial Court were all destroyed by the sudden onset of the rusting winds. Have you ever thought about how much food might be left in the hands of the city administrators now, after those Water Bases, filled with a large amount of food, suddenly sank?

You also haven't considered how the Imperial Court went about constructing Water Bases everywhere. Now, if I were to speculate for a moment about the summons they've issued—if, after issuing the summons, all the survivors who've gone to them had to turn in the food they carry...

I believe the initial intention of the Imperial Court's summons was good, but as the saying goes, 'The King of Hell is easy to see, but the little devils are hard to deal with.' No matter how good the plan, if the actual executors don't follow it, the outcome can only be undesirable."