Liu Muxue was stunned by the sight of four Polar People appearing out of thin air in the snow.
Cao Xing, on the other hand, was not surprised.
Anyone who had been a lord knew this was perfectly normal.
At that moment, the four Polar People stared at Cao Xing with wide eyes, watching him expectantly.
Cao Xing began checking their attributes.
Polar Person: Afanasy (renamable) Level: 1, 0/100 (Experience can be gained through combat and other methods.) Detailed Attributes: Click to expand Health: 100 Attack: 7–9 Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 3, Spirit 3, Constitution 5. Talent: Polar Constitution (Can work longer in severe cold.) Satiety: 71 Loyalty: 70 Polar Person: Zack (renamable) Level: 1, 0/100 Detailed Attributes: Click to expand Polar Person: Mamado (renamable) Level: 1, 0/100
The four Polar People had fairly similar attributes, though Zack's constitution was slightly higher than the others'.
Since all of their names had a Western flavor, Cao Xing did not want to bother remembering them.
So, Cao Xing pointed at the Polar Person named Zack and said, "From now on, you'll be called Dazhuang. You'll be the captain of this squad."
"The others will be Erzhuang, Sanzhuang, and Sizhuang."
"Do you understand?"
Liu Muxue let out a snort of laughter beside him, seemingly unable to hold back her amusement at Cao Xing's simple and crude naming style.
Yet delight appeared on the furry faces of the Polar People.
"We understand!"
"Thank you, Lord, for granting us names!"
You have successfully named a Polar Person. Dazhuang's loyalty toward you has increased by 5... You have successfully named a Polar Person. Erzhuang's loyalty toward you has increased by 5...
Cao Xing froze. That could raise loyalty too?
Seventy-five loyalty was already quite high. At the very least, they would not defy Cao Xing's orders.
Now that the Polar People had been recruited, it was time to put them to work.
Cao Xing opened the building interface and began checking the structures available for construction.
Level 1 Simple Furnace: Can be placed indoors. Raises the temperature by 15–20°C. Consumption: 1 wood / 20 minutes Construction Materials: Stone x6 Note: If you don't want to freeze to death tonight, I suggest you build this immediately! Level 1 Simple Stove: Can be used for cooking, steaming, boiling, and more. Construction Materials: Stone x8, Wood x4. Note: Buddy, this is what you eat with. I think you know how important it is, right? Level 1 Lumber Mill: Can process logs inside. Footprint: 30 square meters Construction Materials: Stone x30, Wood x50. Note: If you want to get rich, chop trees first. I suggest putting a lumber mill on the schedule immediately. Level 1 Tailor Shop: Can produce simple cold-resistant clothing or armor. Footprint: 30 square meters Construction Materials: Stone x40, Wood x60. Note: Lord, you wouldn't want your subordinates charging into battle naked, would you? Level 1 Ore Processing Plant: Can smelt and sort ores collected in the wild. Processable Ores: Coal, iron. (Raise the processing plant's level to smelt higher-grade metals!) Footprint: 50 square meters Construction Materials: Stone x80, Wood x150. Note: If you want to craft higher-level equipment, a processing plant is essential. Level 1 Blacksmith Shop: Can forge weapons or tools inside. Footprint: 30 square meters Construction Materials: Stone x100, Wood x200, Iron x20 Note: Listen, buddy. A soldier without a weapon is like a tiger without teeth.
There were many types of Level 1 buildings. Besides those, there were infirmaries, small shelters, walls, gates, and more.
However, these structures required large amounts of stone and wood, as well as the higher-grade material, refined iron.
Clearly, Cao Xing did not even have a single piece of iron.
Moreover, all the stone and wood around the campfire had already been used up.
In this frozen wasteland, where else could he obtain resources?
Cao Xing swept his gaze around the area, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
About one or two hundred meters away, he could see a small forest blanketed in snow and several large boulders.
Those should be the early-game resource points.
Cao Xing took four stone axes and four iron pickaxes from his backpack and handed them to the four Polar People.
Then he said, "Dazhuang and Erzhuang, form a team and go chop down the trees over there."
"Sanzhuang and Sizhuang, take the tools and gather more stone."
The four Polar People immediately straightened up and said respectfully, "Yes, Lord!"
With that, they each took their tools and walked into the snowy expanse beyond the campfire.
Thanks to their talents, they could remain active outside the campfire's range longer than Cao Xing and the others.
All four Polar People had been sent out by Cao Xing to gather supplies.
Liu Muxue blinked her beautiful eyes. "A-Xing, what should we do now?"
Seeing her skin reddened from the cold and her face gradually turning pale,
Cao Xing knew that if this continued, Liu Muxue might not freeze to death, but she would certainly fall seriously ill.
Getting sick in the snow was a very troublesome thing.
Cao Xing said, "Sister-in-law, go work indoors next. Build the indoor furnace and stove first."
"Mm."
Liu Muxue answered softly. She did not force herself any longer and walked gracefully into the house.
Cao Xing checked their remaining supplies.
Food x50, Wood x27, Stone x17.
"Stone is probably what we lack most right now. Wood is also indispensable—we need it for warmth at night."
"The current temperature is enough to barely get us through the first night, but it still isn't safe."
"Then let's upgrade the campfire again."
A system prompt appeared.
Consume Stone x10 to upgrade the campfire?
Cao Xing selected "Yes," then began hammering away with loud clanging sounds.
More than ten minutes later,
Cao Xing saw that the campfire before him had been piled more than a meter high with stones, gradually taking on the shape of a furnace.
The flames blazed fiercely.
Campfire upgrade successful. Current Level: 3. Campfire: Level 3 Campfire Effect: Raises the temperature by 10–20°C within a 40-meter radius. Consumption: 1 wood / 10 minutes. Materials Required for Next Level: Stone x20, Wood x10.
"Very good. The temperature still hasn't increased, but the heating range has doubled!"
But at the same time, the consumption had increased as well. It would use up one piece of wood every ten minutes.
At this rate, the camp's wood would not last long.
Once the wood ran out, they would lose their source of warmth and be forced to face the harsh weather of at least minus sixty degrees Celsius.
Before long, they would freeze to death outright!
Cao Xing frowned. "I hope those Polar People can gather wood smoothly..."
After working outside for so long, Cao Xing felt as if he were about to freeze stiff.
So he too ducked into the lord's cabin.
The cabin was somewhat dim because there was no lighting equipment.
A graceful figure was building a stove in the corner.
She was bent over, her long legs clad in white stockings straight, and above them was her rear wrapped in a dress...
That posture made it look as round as a bowling ball.
"Damn... that's huge," Cao Xing could not help muttering.
Liu Muxue thought Cao Xing had come to inspect her work. She wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and said softly, "A-Xing, the furnace will be finished soon."
Cao Xing shook his head. "Sister-in-law, I'll help you."
"Mm..." Liu Muxue replied softly.
With Cao Xing's help, the furnace's construction progress increased greatly.
A few minutes later, a system prompt appeared.
Level 1 Furnace construction successful...
This time, however, Cao Xing did not hear any reward notification.
He immediately understood.
It seemed that basic buildings like furnaces would not trigger rewards.
Of course, it was also possible that other survivor teams had already built one before him.
This time, more than seven billion people across the world had descended into the ice-and-snow world together. Naturally, there would be quite a few people with astonishing adaptability.
Whoosh!
As the wood was ignited, the furnace gradually gave off an orange-red glow that illuminated the entire lord's cabin.
The lord's cabin was currently empty. Other than the furnace, it was practically bare walls all around.
Beside the furnace, warmth washed over the two of them in waves.
Cao Xing glanced at the indoor temperature.
Current Temperature: -16°C
Though it was still cold, it was much better than the dozens of degrees below zero outside.
Liu Muxue curled up, her whole body trembling continuously.
She had not felt much while working earlier, but now that she came to her senses, she realized her body had long since turned bluish-purple from the cold.
Cao Xing frowned and thought to himself.
Looks like we need to put the tailor shop on the schedule as soon as possible. With the thin clothes we're wearing, we may as well be naked.
If this continues, it won't just be Liu Muxue. I'll freeze to death too.
A powerful sense of crisis rose in his heart again.
Cao Xing began studying the other functions of the lord interface.
When he opened the crafting interface, a large number of basic tools immediately appeared.
Things like stone axes, stone hammers, stone pickaxes, wooden bowls, wooden tables, wooden chairs, wooden beds, and so on...
After looking through them, Cao Xing understood.
"Simple tools and furniture can be crafted from here."
Then he began checking the chat channel function. Four options immediately appeared.
World Channel: Entire server. Each person is limited to 1 message per day. Regional Channel: A 500 x 500 kilometer square region. All survivors in this area are included, with no limit on messages. Team Channel: Only survivors who have joined your territory may speak here. No limit on messages. Private Chat Channel: Unlimited one-on-one chatting.
Cao Xing opened the World Channel, and a flood of messages immediately appeared.
Zhao Shengbing: "Oh my god! Why did I suddenly end up in this damn place? I'm freezing to death!"
Chen Er'ya: "Help! It's so cold, so cold!"
Zhang Qiang: "Didn't the system say we'd be assigned according to family? Who are these people? I don't know them at all!"
Bear Grylls: "A survival game? I like it. This is an unprecedented challenge for me!"
Yamagami Tetsuya: "Let the Gunman shine once again!"
Ma Dongseok: "Fuck! Don't let me find out whose prank this is, or I'll crush his balls!"
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