A cave was not a hole underground, but a hollow beneath the ice cap.
Between the Warm Land and the snowfields lay a vast warm buffer zone. The ice cap was on the verge of melting but had never truly melted, leaving behind countless hollows and hidden passages.
Plants, microorganisms, and small animals struggled to survive in such an environment.
Likewise,
a group of humans also lived in these harsh conditions, fleeing the Warm Land nobles' brutal oppression of serfs.
After all, no matter how terrible the caves were, one could at least scrape together enough to eat and keep warm.
In fact, Russell thought the caves were fairly decent. In his previous life, he had watched the Eskimo documentary Nanook of the North on Douyin. Those Earthlings with ordinary physical constitutions could still survive in the Arctic at dozens of degrees below zero.
Even babies could crawl around naked in igloos at more than ten degrees below zero, which showed just how tenacious life could be.
By comparison, the cave environment was far better.
Moss and mushrooms grew everywhere, and one could occasionally catch snakes, rats, insects, and ants for protein. As long as one worked hard enough, keeping fed and warm was absolutely no problem.
Besides, the Dragon Sleep Continent possessed Extraordinary Power. Many people could nurture a Battle Qi Seed and strengthen their physical constitution. Even humans who had not nurtured a Battle Qi Seed generally had decent physiques—those with poor constitutions had not survived long enough to reproduce.
Back in the ancient era, when Snow Demons invaded and froze the land, humans with weak constitutions had more or less all kicked the bucket.
The humans who remained and reproduced until now all possessed excellent physical constitutions.
"Horace, you were the one who proposed the cave trade