The next day...
Cao Xing woke from his sleep.
By then, he found the space beside him empty, though the familiar scent still lingered on the pillow.
When he raised his head, he saw a pretty figure crouching by the stove, preparing breakfast.
The sight made Cao Xing feel as though it wasn't real.
In just two days since arriving in this world, everything had turned his expectations upside down.
Liu Muxue seemed to notice that Cao Xing was awake, and looked at him shyly.
"A Xing... you're awake..."
"Wait a little longer, okay? Breakfast will be ready soon."
After their first night together, Liu Muxue's face was touched with a charming flush, along with a trace of bashfulness.
She seemed to have settled into the role very quickly.
Then Liu Muxue brought a steaming bowl of meat soup over to Cao Xing.
Cao Xing took a sip and praised it. "This tastes great, Muxue."
"Really? Hehe..."
Liu Muxue smiled foolishly. "Then drink some more."
Cao Xing nodded.
Watching Cao Xing finish the whole bowl in front of her, Liu Muxue smiled with satisfaction.
A moment later, she suddenly grew a little melancholy.
"A Xing... it seems the drop in temperature last night froze quite a few more people to death..."
Cao Xing thought for a moment, then opened the [Regional Channel].
[Regional Channel 174] [Online Players: 37104/40173]
Compared with yesterday, more than a thousand people had died.
Although the death rate had fallen considerably.
If people kept dying at this rate, there wouldn't be many humans left before long.
Liu Muxue asked worriedly, "A Xing, do you think we'll survive?"
Hearing this, Cao Xing nodded firmly. "We will. We'll survive together."
"Not only will we survive, we'll live very well in this world."
Liu Muxue nodded too. "Mm-hmm!"
After breakfast, Cao Xing stood up, full of energy.
Compared with yesterday, Cao Xing had gained another goal.
That was to survive in this world with Liu Muxue.
He pushed open the door of the Lord's Hut.
The eight Polar Folk and Ilena were already waiting outside.
As for Asam, he had gotten up early and gone to carry out Cao Xing's assignment to survey the surrounding area.
When Cao Xing came out, the Polar Folk called out in unison, "Greetings, Lord!"
"Good morning, Second Lord."
Liu Muxue stood prettily beside Cao Xing, waiting for him to give orders.
Cao Xing nodded and said, "Today, your main task is to build structures for the territory."
"Dazhuang and Erzhuang, focus all your efforts on upgrading the [Campfire]."
"Sanzhuang and Sizhuang, hurry up and build the [Sewing Workshop]."
"Wuzhuang through Bazhuang, your task is to build the [Blacksmith] and more [Small Shelters]."
"Is that clear?"
The eight Polar Folk immediately straightened up and nodded. "Understood, Lord!"
Then, following Cao Xing's instructions, they began hammering away with a clanging sound.
At that moment, Cao Xing faced a problem.
He didn't have enough people for his territory.
There were many structures he wanted to build: the [Blacksmith], the [Lesser Elemental Arrow Tower], the [Sewing Workshop], and more...
But he only had eight Polar Folk, which wasn't nearly enough to get everything done.
Cao Xing sighed. "I have so many resources in my hands now. It'd be a shame if I couldn't turn them into combat power."
"I'll think of something in a bit and see if I can recruit some commoners."
Cao Xing shook his head and continued looking over the two skill books and the piece of equipment he had obtained yesterday.
[Ice Spike: Consumes a certain amount of Spirit to form 1-3 ice spikes, dealing magic damage equal to 0.8 × Spirit to enemies. Has a 30% chance to freeze them for 1 second. Cooldown: 30 seconds] [Aurora Blessing: Gathers the power of the aurora and imbues it into a weapon. Melee attacks deal additional Light damage equal to 0.8 × Spirit to enemies. Lasts 60 seconds. Cooldown: 120 seconds.]
One of the two skills was an attack skill for Cao Xing, and the other was a blessing skill for Liu Muxue.
Both effects were quite good.
The [Aurora Blessing] skill in particular would greatly increase the damage output of the territory's troops once Liu Muxue's attributes improved.
He continued looking through the items.
[Black Iron Plate Armor (Green)] [Quality: Fine] [Armor: 13-15] [Bonus Effect ①: Constitution +5] [Bonus Effect ②: Basic Shock Absorption (When attacked, reduces the knockback caused by the attacker's Strength by 20 points)] ...
"Not bad. This plate armor has great attributes, and it's perfect for Muxue!"
As an Aurora Knight, her main role was naturally to tank attacks.
With the "Basic Shock Absorption" effect, Liu Muxue would be able to take on stronger monsters without being knocked away.
Then there was the last blueprint.
[Standard-Issue Soldier Longsword Blueprint (Green): After learning it, weapons can be crafted at the Blacksmith using materials.] [Crafting Requirements: Level 1 Blacksmith, Iron ×20, Wood ×2...]
Cao Xing thought, "With the blueprint, I can mass-produce weapons and build an armed force of my own."
"But an army needs a lot of troops, and I'll also need to build a Barracks and train them with Training Scrolls."
"And I only have eight Polar Folk. They still need to work, so I definitely can't train them into combat units."
"So I'll set that aside for now."
After looking through all of this, Cao Xing began to feel a little bored.
By noon,
Cao Xing noticed a figure in the distant snow, heading toward his camp.
It was Asam, riding a Frost Wolf.
What puzzled Cao Xing was that three thinly built people were following behind him. They seemed to be women.
Cao Xing went over at once.
"Asam, who are these people?"
Asam jumped down from the Frost Wolf and said respectfully, "Lord, these people are refugees who fled Icepeak City."
"Icepeak City?"
Asam nodded. "Yes, Lord. It's a town thousands of kilometers from here, but it was overrun by a Wraith army."
"These people barely escaped Icepeak City, then ran into Snowfield Hunters on the way. I rescued them, and now they're homeless."
Cao Xing considered this. So they were natives of this world.
That's right. Besides the humans from Blue Star, this world also had plenty of native races.
Besides the Polar Folk, who lived underground year-round, there were humans living on the surface, the Asura who worshipped machinery and gunpowder, and the Icefield Giants, who revered war and strength, among others...
Asam seemed to have taken pity on them and suggested, "Lord, our territory needs more people."
"These three refugees can help us build the territory more effectively."
Nearby, the three human women looked at him with hopeful expressions.
They seemed to know that Cao Xing was the one in charge of this territory.
So the three refugees knelt down and said respectfully, "Lord, please take in us homeless people."
"We're willing to give you everything we have."
Cao Xing was taken aback, and his expression turned a little odd.
Even Liu Muxue, standing beside him, looked at Cao Xing expectantly, as though she very much hoped he would take the three refugees in.
Asam was right. He really did need more people now.
So Cao Xing asked, "Can you cook?"
The three refugees glanced at each other, then hurriedly nodded. "Yes! We can!"
Cao Xing nodded. "All right. From now on, cooking will be your responsibility."
"In your free time, you'll also need to help the other Polar Folk gather resources and build up the territory. Do you have any questions?"
"No, respected Lord."
Cao Xing said, "Excellent. Then welcome aboard."
Cao Xing sent them recruitment requests.
[Recruitment successful: Jasmine, Tulip, and Sapphire have joined your territory. Territory population +3.]
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