Apocalypse Lord-Chapter 46 - 44: Blizzard Passing Through

The night quickly passed.

In the early morning, the moment Lin Lan pulled open the curtains, an unbroken expanse of pale white immediately greeted his eyes.

Winter had finally arrived.

The sky was gloomy, and the first snowstorm by the sea came with particular ferocity; the heavy snow had already blanketed the entire world in just the latter half of the night.

Lin Lan returned to the dining table, where a sharp-eared little girl was sitting, trying her best to munch on a hard biscuit.

The little maid had enthusiastically offered to serve breakfast to the Lord, but in the end, she couldn’t resist eating breakfast first herself after setting the table.

Lin Lan also followed Lisa’s lead, putting a biscuit in his mouth and chewing it hard.

Today’s biscuit was pine-flavored; not bad, quite nutritious.

"Eat slowly, there’s enough biscuits."

Seeing the little girl eating hastily, Lin Lan proactively poured a cup of water for her: "But for the time being, we’ll have to make do with biscuits. Hang in there, little Lisa."

"No way! I’m already very happy as long as I’m not hungry!"

Lisa put down her food and smiled broadly: "Sister said that Lord Roland was busy until very late yesterday, so little Lisa will also fill her belly and work hard!"

"Keep it up, little Lisa." Lin Lan smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair.

"What does ’keep it up’ mean?" Lisa blinked her bright blue eyes.

"It means to do things positively, happily, and seriously."

"Oh, oh! Lord Roland will keep it up too!"

The breakfast ended in a joyful atmosphere, Lisa tiptoed to clear the tray of dishes, and Lin Lan headed to the deepest part of the manor’s study room secret chamber.

The mechanism vibrated, and the hidden door opened.

A mechanical maiden with a perfectly beautiful face smiled, gracefully lifting her skirt toward Lin Lan.

·

[Replica settlement in progress...]

[Items acquired: Micro Nuclear Battery *38 (Blue), Activated Metal Composite Material *104 (White), Small Light Beam Cutter *14 (White), Damaged Mechanical Parts *147 (Gray)]

Seeing his treasure trove gradually fill up, Lin Lan’s face broke into a farmer-like smile.

This time, Lin Lan didn’t rush to explore deeper into Ideal City.

According to Bai’s scans, there were many out-of-control mechanical servants wandering in the midsection of the Space Ladder; once they detected an anomaly, they would swarm under the influence of the Starlight Worm.

The quantity of replica monsters was too high, and their levels too daunting for now.

So Lin Lan chose a steady approach, ordering Bai to empty the relatively safe mechanical parts manufacturing factory.

It must be said, Bai was really too useful!

The biomechanical maid worked tirelessly, practically outperforming the laborers from his previous life.

With her in the crew, Lin Lan’s efficiency in scavenging waste soared; he had polished the place down to the ground.

Besides batteries, tools, and materials, he dismantled and dragged back all those abandoned mechanical arms from the workshop, filling the secret chamber space with a pile of irregular shell parts.

After all, they were ancient civilization materials; surely they would be of great use once they found a way to melt them in the future.

Lin Lan happily left the secret chamber and then installed a brand new nuclear battery into the Molecular Reconstructor.

The silver-white furnace roared, greedily absorbing the energy.

Every now and then, a maid arranged by the old steward would enter the study and add raw materials to the furnace, then proceed to whisk away the food that appeared out of thin air.

No matter how magical this matter was, no servant dared to casually leak such news.

After all, in an era like this, learning to keep one’s mouth shut was a mandatory lesson for the servants.

After a brief rest and a routine rub of little Lisa’s cheeks, Lin Lan donned his coat once more and braved the wind and snow to leave the Lord’s manor.

He intended not to slack off during the winter.

Wendy also wished to follow by his side, but Lin Lan gently arranged for her to stay in the manor; the weather was harsh, and the young girl’s body needed rest and recovery.

The wind and snow howled endlessly.

Lin Lan carefully surveyed the territory, hoof marks left in the snow were quickly smothered by the pale white.

In the Lion Heart Kingdom, winter was always the most brutal season.

If food ran too low, even the coastal commoners would take risks at sea during the blizzard, battling the sea in the extreme low-visibility environment.

Yet Seagull Town, on the contrary, showed signs of thriving!

The cold wind couldn’t extinguish the steam-exuding chimneys, and warm lights glowed in every household.

People were using charcoal for heating.

The young folk cut down pine trees day and night, with nearly a third of the fresh pine wood being delivered to the carpenters, who then transformed them into charcoal fuel using the earth kiln method.

But using charcoal couldn’t remain a long-term plan; eventually, the pine trees would run out.

Although Sun Ash Soil could also provide heat, the Sunlight Flame couldn’t burn indefinitely; even trying to exhaust Sean might not supply much warmth...

Lin Lan contemplated internally, continuing onward with his inspection.

People hurried about, and the construction of the new camp was in full swing.

The temporary canvas tents couldn’t withstand the wind and snow; under Lin Lan’s orders, a large amount of wood was transported to the open ground as people reconstructed their homes.

A few wooden houses blocking the wind and snow had already ’grown’.

Women and children were given priority, and the female workers led by Mana were striving to weave fabrics.

Appearance of the clothing didn’t matter as long as it kept people warm.

Praise and prayers from Priest Sean echoed as he diligently taught children the language of the giants, hopeful children’s voices ringing in people’s ears.

A few pieces of Ash Soil ore lay by the newly built furnace, where blacksmiths accompanied by fire shattered the cold piercing frost with their hammers.

The hesitant civilization seemed to have found its direction forward.

Apart from the contemplative Lin Lan, it seemed everyone’s faces bore genuine smiles; everyone was mobilized, and Seagull Town was rapidly growing under Lin Lan’s watch!

The Lion Heart nobles, indulging in their vices, were still utterly oblivious, unaware that destiny had bared its sharpest fangs against them.

Lin Lan continued inspecting outside the town.

Not far away, the sound of trees falling mixed with noisy chatter, occasionally punctuated by Ed’s stern shout:

"Colin! Get up, damn it! I promoted you to Centurion, not to let you be a lazy dog!"

"Your training load is doubled today! Keep swinging that axe! Treat that log in front of you as the enemy’s bones!"

A young fellow gasped, lying on the ground, then rose again in exertion under Ed’s shouts.

How to hone one’s will, how to obey orders seemed to be part of Ed’s training plan.

In his view, the young men continued to push forward with axes in hand, the ground behind them already paved with dense stumps.

Lin Lan’s eyes sparkled with concern.

No, where are our good neighbors? By rights, they should have come by now, right?

A few days ago, having obtained the extraordinarily strong biomechanical maid, he had decided to spar with the Guards under the Lord’s command.

Now, he had access to an even more astonishing ace up his sleeve.

Lin Lan looked at the system panel.

[Card Type: Character Atlas Card (Giant Squad)]

[Function: Summon Heroic Spirits from their prime!]

[Currently Awaiting Summon: Vera the Cartographer, Combatant Ota, Doctor Sami, Priest Ansel]

[Giant Squad Duration: 60 Minutes (Upgradeable)]

[Card Cooldown Time: 48 Hours (Upgradeable)]