West Continent City, Fourth District.
The ruins of shattered walls and collapsed buildings were covered in wooden walkways and bridge frames. Fierce faces lurked within watchtowers pieced together from concrete blocks and steel rebar.
They carried rifles on their backs and wore the teeth and bones of humans or beasts on their bodies, symbols of valor and savagery.
This was the district of West Continent City closest to West Continent Lake.
With the waterworks neglected for years, the excess lake water had spilled into the city, turning half of the Fourth District into a flooded marshland.
This newborn river spread through the city's low-lying areas, stretching northward before joining the Tian River flowing east.
The main camp of the Tooth Clan stood on the river's northern bank.
The floodwaters covering the streets formed a natural barrier, and mutants that favored damp environments, such as Ripper Claw Crabs, had built countless nests nearby.
The raiders connected the buildings with wooden walkways, reinforced the ruins, and turned their camp into a fortress surrounded by water.
Some of the larger buildings had been converted into workshops for producing weapons and ammunition. Rag-clad slaves sat before workbenches, operating crude tools and hammering away at rough workpieces.
The broad rooftops, meanwhile, had been turned into plantations growing green wheat, Horn Potatoes, and beans for boiling with meat.
In truth, though these raiders lacked education and disliked using their brains, that did not mean they were stupid.
Both their leaders and the Legion's staff officers understood very well just how enormous the daily food, sanitation, and ammunition needs of an army numbering over ten thousand were.
To solve their supply problems, relying solely on the few merchants who handled their spoils was clearly not enough.
Some new tribesmen who understood production had been promoted to "craftsmen."