Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Moreover, as the iron ore at the camp becomes increasingly abundant, the construction standards of straight roads across regions are also getting higher and higher. For instance, this straight road connecting Beehive and Wushuang has been reinforced with quite a bit of iron materials, so much so that snow doesn't even need to be cleared anymore. The maintenance costs will keep dropping."

After Xia Chuan finished speaking, he turned to find that Xia Hong had been staring intently to the southwest. He immediately stepped forward and softly asked, "Leader, are you worried about that White Dew Gu?"

Xia Hong snapped out of it, shook his head first, then glanced at the Xia straight road under construction, frowning slightly as he asked everyone, "Do you think the reason there was no beast tide in Arrow Bamboo Forest in May could be related to that White Dew Gu?"

Upon hearing the question, everyone's expressions slightly tensed, falling into contemplation.

After nightfall, they didn't travel with the Cloud Dragon Army via the Xia straight road but instead took the snowy path through Arrow Bamboo Forest to Mirror Valley, and then from Mirror Valley to Beehive, finally reaching their current location.

The reason Xia Hong asked the question was because while passing through Mirror Valley, Yue Feng had reported something to him.

All eight people were present at the time, so they heard it too.

The regular every-four-month beast tide in Arrow Bamboo Forest had disappeared!

When Yue Feng reported it, not only Xia Hong, but all of them were stunned.

Leaving Xia Chuan and the others aside, both Yang Lu and Beehive had relied on living off Redwood Ridge previously, so Chen Yingyuan and Peng Bo were also aware of the beast tide.

Previously, every four months, when the crystal fruit matured, thousands of cold beasts would gather at Redwood Ridge, forming a large beast tide and rushing towards Arrow Bamboo Forest.

By timing, it should have come at the beginning of May.

But this year, indeed, it didn't happen.

At the beginning of May, they were busy migrating a large population from Longyou, only realizing this after Yue Feng's reminder, including Xia Hong among the nine of them.

Luckily the beast tide didn't occur this year, or the migration certainly wouldn't have proceeded so swiftly.

Xia Hong had just been lost in thought, clearly considering the reason for the beast tide's disappearance.

Everything has a cause; the beast tide that never failed to turn up every four months vanished abruptly this year. Linking it with the resurgence of the White Dew Gu this year, as Xia Hong did, isn't without basis.

Yet, all eight remained silent, none daring to confirm Xia Hong's speculation.

The reason is simple: there's no proof yet that the White Dew Gu is alive, just Yuwen Dao's conjecture.

If Xia Hong's speculation held true, it would indirectly confirm Yuwen Dao's assumption that the White Dew Gu indeed hadn't died and might be secretly controlling large numbers of cold beasts with ulterior motives.

If that's truly the case, this would be a huge matter!

"Alright, I'm just confused. Instead of asking you all, it's better to personally take a look on the Yang Lu side. After Wushuang takes a break for two days, Peng Bo will lead the way to Yangyuan Peak to see what's really going on."

"Yes, sir."

Peng Bo showed some excitement. Yangyuan Peak was his home for decades, and for nearly two months, he's constantly wanted to return and have a look.

"Someone's coming through the straight road!"

"It's the army, the army from Xia City."

"Let them through, let them through."

"It's the army heading to garrison Wushuang, make way quickly."

"Make a path for the army!"

.........

Suddenly, the crowd constructing the straight road not far from Snow Hill started to stir.

Those who were originally clustered around the bonfire to work immediately gave way to the tunnel entrance.

As the tunnel opening appeared, soldiers clad in light golden armor, wielding hundred-forged horizontal blades, and equipped with strong bows and arrow quivers, briskly emerged from within.

"Is this the army from Xia City?"

"Why are their armors all golden?"

"Look at the great blades in their hands; they're all hundred-forged great blades."

"Even the bows strapped on their backs are hundred forged level!"

"Just the weight of this gear alone must be twenty thousand pounds, and they're walking without a hint of breathlessness...this..."

"Is the power of Great Xia truly so terrifying?"

..........

Most involved in the construction of the straight road were Longyou captives; only a small portion were craftsmen transferred from Great Xia.

Upon seeing the Cloud Dragon Army, the native craftsmen from Great Xia mostly showed pride on their faces; but the reaction among the Longyou captives was different. Having never been to Great Xia, seeing these soldiers elicited exclamations of astonishment.

The captives constructing the road had only the cultivation level of the Logging Realm, utterly unable to discern the cultivation of the Cloud Dragon Army soldiers, only able to guess through their burden.

"Raise the flag!"

Whoosh......

After about a hundred or so troops emerged, a loud shout suddenly echoed, and immediately, an approximately seven-to-eight-meter tall banner was raised in the front row of the formation, facing the cold wind.

This banner was predominantly black, about two meters wide and four meters long, with a huge golden character "Xia" occupying almost the entire front side, while the reverse side was embroidered with a golden Teng Jiao. The whistling cold wind made the banner flutter, making the Teng Jiao seem as if it were soaring through the clouds, vividly lifelike.

"Speed up, don't delay others from constructing the straight road, quickly!"

..........

"Isn't that Liu Yuan's voice leading them? You let him become the commander of the Cloud Dragon Army's reconnaissance camp. What about your Cloud Jiao Team?"

On Snow Hill, upon seeing Liu Yuan as the commander, Xia Hong immediately asked Xia Chuan.

This army formation almost depleted all intermediate hunting teams of their Earth-digging Realm Limit members, and the Cloud Jiao Team was no exception. Initially, he thought Xia Chuan would keep Liu Yuan in the team, but unexpectedly, he had also brought him into the Cloud Dragon Army.

"There's no other way; no one else is available. Anyway, I brought the Cloud Jiao Team to Wushuang too. Liu Yuan serves as my reconnaissance camp commander while also doubling as Cloud Jiao Team's captain; after all, there's no conflict."

As expected, the Cloud Dragon Army will be stationed long-term at Wushuang in the future, and bringing the Cloud Jiao Team here indeed doesn't affect Liu Yuan holding dual positions, which is a loophole Xia Chuan managed to exploit.