[Milk: After consumption, restores 10 fullness and 50 health points] (Some of it has gone bad, but it is still drinkable.)
[Copper: A widely used metal that can be used to make some simple electrical components.]
Cao Xing thought, "Copper is an important metal in this world too. After all, a lot of electrical devices need it."
"Once we have copper, we can make things like electric wires and electric lights."
"Making Snow Robots, and even War Robots, requires a lot of copper."
Just then, a yellowed letter appeared in his hand.
It was also the last item in the storage chest.
[Letter from the Church of Light: Special Item] [Click to read.]
Cao Xing clicked it, and a line of text immediately appeared in front of him.
[To all followers of God of Light, the Lord has sent down a revelation, announcing that the Savior's Seed is about to appear. To welcome the arrival of the Savior's Seed, we will soon carry out a Blood Sacrifice Operation. All followers of the Church of Light near the Ice Crystal Kingdom, please head to the Base near coordinates 71231, 5213, 23719. Once the number of followers reaches a certain scale, we will attack Doren Lake City and sacrifice every living being in the entire town to the Savior's Seed.]
(Note: This is a quest item. You can deliver the letter to Doren Lake City and expose the Church of Light's conspiracy in advance.)
After reading the letter's description,
Cao Xing furrowed his brow. "Does this mean that group of Hunters will carry out a massacre soon, killing every resident of an entire town?"
"Damn, they're completely insane!"
"The system says to deliver the letter, but I don't even know where that Doren Lake City is. How am I supposed to deliver it?"
Cao Xing rolled his eyes.
Then he checked the coordinates recorded on the letter.
Cao Xing breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing it's more than two hundred kilometers away."
"At that distance, it shouldn't affect my territory."
However, although the Hunters' Base was some distance from Cao Xing,
having such a major source of instability in the region was still worrying.
After all, he had already witnessed the Hunters' madness.
Cao Xing shook his head. He had no way to deal with it for now.
He could only set aside the threat posed by the Hunters temporarily.
At least he was safe during the Newbie Protection Period.
Cao Xing led Liu Muxue, the six civilians, and the little girl Tong Chuchu out of the tent.
He came outside and looked at the bodies strewn across the ground and the blood everywhere.
"Asam, Andrew, bring all these bodies over and burn them."
The two powerful Tier 2 creatures followed Cao Xing's orders and gathered up all the Hunters' bodies from the ground.
More than ten minutes later,
a huge fire blazed, engulfing the entire camp.
Watching the smoke rise, the refugees wept with joy.
During the time they had been captured, they had experienced the Hunters' madness firsthand.
One by one, their companions had been taken away, then let out chilling screams from the tents outside.
They had huddled on the cold ground, trembling, afraid that they would be next.
Now, at last, they were free.
The little girl Tong Chuchu beside them was already drenched in tears.
Cao Xing turned around and said to Tong Chuchu, "Let's go. Take me to your camp."
"I... I'll tell you the coordinates, big brother..." Tong Chuchu said timidly.
Cao Xing nodded.
Then the group of more than ten set off in a large procession toward the coordinates Tong Chuchu had given them.
More than half an hour later,
they spotted a Bonfire Camp in the snow in the distance.
The camp had only a simple Lord's Hut. Not even a Polar Folk Hut had been built.
"This is the place, big brother, big sister. I'll go get my mom."
After saying that, Tong Chuchu ran into the Bonfire territory.
Cao Xing was just about to follow her in when a system notification stopped him.
[You cannot enter another survivor's territory during the Newbie Protection Period.]
Cao Xing was startled. He seemed to remember that rule now.
So they waited quietly outside the territory.
Before long, the Lord's Hut opened.
A very tall woman stepped out, at least 175 centimeters tall.
She was still wearing the jeans she had brought from Blue Star, along with a tight white T-shirt.
Her curvaceous figure, with its slightly soft flesh, radiated mature charm.
The woman held Tong Chuchu's hand and cautiously walked over.
Tear streaks were still visible on her mature-looking face. She had clearly just been crying.
Cao Xing saw her name too.
[Survivor: Xia Yanni v1]
As soon as Xia Yanni came out and saw so many people gathered outside her territory, her shoulders trembled.
Asam, riding a Frost Wolf, and Andrew, as strong as a giant bear, especially gave her an intense sense of danger.
Xia Yanni's face went deathly pale with fright.
Tong Chuchu held her hand and comforted her from the side. "Mom, don't be scared. They're the good people who rescued me from that place."
"That big brother and big sister are their lord."
Xia Yanni gradually calmed down.
She looked at Cao Xing with tear-filled eyes and said gratefully, "Thank you for saving Chuchu. Thank you, benefactors."
As she spoke, she started to kneel down with Tong Chuchu.
Cao Xing quickly stopped her. "Ma'am, there's no need to be so polite."
"Chuchu should have told you that my territory needs more people right now."
"If you're willing to join us, you can come back to my territory with us, help build it, and develop it together."
"In return, we'll keep you safe and provide you with food."
Xia Yanni had already heard about this from Chuchu. She tugged at the hem of her clothes, seeming to be weighing some decision.
Cao Xing did not rush her. He knew that leaving one's own camp to join a stranger's faction took considerable courage.
After a moment, Xia Yanni said softly, "I'm willing to join you."
"Thank you, kind young sir, for taking in my daughter and me."
Cao Xing nodded and sent them an invitation to join.
A system notification appeared.
[Survivors: Tong Chuchu lv1 and Xia Yanni lv1 have joined your territory. Territory population +2] [All survivors in this territory have joined your faction. It is now unclaimed. Do you want to claim it?]
Cao Xing clicked [Claim] without hesitation.
[Claim successful. You can now enter this territory.]
Cao Xing stepped into the Bonfire territory and spotted a large chest nearby.
[Open the relic box belonging to the lord, "Tong Guangrong"?]
"Yes."
[Relic box opened successfully. Obtained: Wood *54, Stone *24, Food *3, Rat Meat *2...]
These were the last resources left in this territory.
The little that remained was not even enough to keep the mother and daughter going for a day.
In other words, if Cao Xing had not arrived, the woman would have died within two days, either of starvation after running out of food or of freezing after running out of wood.
Cao Xing drew a deep breath.
This world was full of opportunities, but also full of dangers.
At that moment, Cao Xing made up his mind.
He had to develop his strength and territory as quickly as possible. He absolutely could not let his own storage chest become a relic box!
Before you continue