Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 21: The Great Harvest

This Snow Mane was actually extremely cautious.

When dealing with the Frost Wolf, even when gravely injured, it did not use its tongue.

Clearly, these Cold Beasts, having roamed the jungles for years, have rich experience in combat. They know how to keep their trump card and decisively refrain from using it unless it's a life-or-death situation.

Unfortunately, Xia Hong had already planned strategically.

Guiding the Snow Mane to lean toward the big tree was to let its tongue pass through the tree, hampering its movement, and attack its greatest weakness.

Indeed, from the beginning, Xia Hong's target was the tongue.

In the previous hunting process at Da Shi Camp, he witnessed the entire event.

Even a large knife couldn't pierce the Snow Mane's hide, let alone the stone axe in his hand.

While the Frost Wolf could tear the Snow Mane's abdomen with its claws and rip its leg muscles with its teeth, Xia Hong was not naive enough to think he could do the same.

The tongue was almost the only place he could hurt it and potentially a mortal point.

Moreover, during this period, his strength increased to 6,400 jin.

So, Xia Hong took a gamble on this opportunity.

The facts proved that his gamble was right.

Cold Beasts, while strong, are not invincible.

Xia Hong tightly entangled it from the front, while Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng slashed madly with stone axes at its injured left hind leg from behind. Despite the Snow Mane's strong will to survive, it ultimately fell with regret.

The massive creature weighing over a thousand jin collapsed with a crash, leaving Xia Hong and the other two almost exhausted.

Yet, all three faces showed a spontaneous sense of joy and relief.

"This... must be over a thousand jin, right?"

"At least 1,400, maybe even more."

"Yue Feng and the five of them should be able to break through."

"Quick, lift it, let's head back to the camp first."

Xia Hong wasn't overwhelmed with joy. After standing up, he immediately extinguished the still-burning torch, then instructed the two to carry the Snow Mane's corpse and quickly return to the camp.

Such a large prey could attract other Cold Beasts or humans, which would be fatal for the nearly exhausted trio.

Fortunately, the journey was thrilling yet safe, and the three finally made it back to the camp.

After exchanging the secret code, the entrance opened. When the Snow Mane was finally placed down inside, illuminated by the bonfire in the cavern, Xia Hong's emotions settled, and he relaxed with a smile.

"Another one has been brought back."

"The leader is so strong, isn't he?"

"We've never seen such a large Cold Beast when the former leader was here."

"This must be over a thousand jin!"

.....

Whether it was Yue Feng's group of five, those a dozen of the same age, or everyone else in the camp, they all gathered around Xia Hong and the others.

Looking at the massive body of the Snow Mane on the ground, its sharp tusks and claws, after a burst of hushed discussions, everyone simultaneously looked at Xia Hong and the other two with eyes filled with admiration and even frenzy.

This type of look was not unfamiliar to Xia Hong, as he often brought back resources to the camp, such gazes became increasingly frequent.

Admiration and frenzy didn't concern Xia Hong too much. Any creature, upon seeing another stronger than itself, would naturally develop such emotions.

What mattered more to Xia Hong was the deeper nuance he saw in their eyes:

Hope.

Hope is what drives people and gives them courage.

When Xia Hong first arrived, he noticed it.

People in the camp generally lacked hope.

Even when Xia Ding was there, the camp had ample Crystal Fruit and no issues with heating, yet no hope could be seen on their faces.

It is understandable, really; the Crystal Fruit offered satiety and heat provided warmth, but these only sustain life, preventing starvation and freezing.

Yet, humans live for more than just survival.

These people have been hiding in the shadows since birth, with the outside world, Cold Beasts, Deceitful Monsters, and even sunlight posing deadly threats to them.

What they lacked the most were a sense of security and dignity.

Both of these could only be supported by great strength.

Cold Beast Flesh is their only hope to grow stronger.

Previously, under Xia Ding's leadership, the frequency at which Great Xia Camp obtained Cold Beast Flesh was too low, meaning too few people received it.

But now, with Xia Hong as the leader for only a little over two months, bringing back two Snow Manes surely stirred great excitement among them.

Even if it isn't their turn now, the reformation of the Logging Team and its growing numbers would eventually bring more prey, and one day it might be their turn.

This is why everyone's eyes showed admiration and frenzy towards Xia Hong.

Because Xia Hong gave them the most precious thing, hope.

"After skinning and deboning, a total of 1,270 jin remains."

The camp's excitement reached a new peak as the weight of the Cold Beast Flesh was announced.

All eyes were fixed on Xia Hong, awaiting his decision.

Most people actually knew they would not receive a share.

But they just wanted to see how Xia Hong would distribute it.

How to handle this Snow Mane was something Xia Hong had thought over long ago.

Seeing everyone looking at him, he spoke directly:

"From now on, all Cold Beast Meat in the camp will be divided according to a three-five-two ratio.

Those who go out hunting will receive 30%; the Logging Realm reservists, meaning Yue Feng and the five others, will receive 50%; the remaining 20% will be divided among those aged between fifteen and twenty-two whose Basic Strength exceeds one thousand jin.

Additionally, regardless of age or gender, anyone whose strength exceeds two thousand jin can join the Logging Team reservists.

Moreover, going forward, any leftover, for instance, this time it's 1,270 jin, we take out seventy jin and let everyone in the camp share it, as a treat."

When they heard about the three-five-two ratio, the camp members were already showing signs of shock.

Hunters only taking 30%?

And upon hearing the last part, regardless of age or gender, anyone whose strength exceeds two thousand jin can join the Logging Team reservists and share the 50%, they all fell silent.

Finally, even the seventy jin leftovers were shared among everyone in the camp.

Suddenly, those who thought they wouldn't receive a share all raised their heads, staring intently at Xia Hong.

"Then, can we also join the Logging Team in the future?"

"Women too?"

"Did I hear wrong?"

"Do we get a share too?"

A few voices rang out among the crowd, and everyone looked at Xia Hong in disbelief. Seeing him nod to confirm they were not mistaken, smiles appeared on their faces, and some even wept with joy.

"Mighty leader!"

Someone, for the first time, shouted those four words.

Subsequently, the crowd followed him, erupting in enthusiastic cheers.

"Mighty leader... Mighty leader... Mighty leader..."

Everyone was engulfed in frenzy, some even directly knelt and bowed to Xia Hong.

Whether it was the cheering crowd or those kneeling to worship him, Xia Hong did not stop them. He understood these people and their actions.

Under Xia Ding, only the Logging Team and their direct descendants could receive Cold Beast Meat in the Great Xia Camp; the others didn't stand a chance.

This chapt𝒆r is updated by frёewebηovel.cѳm.

This was not due to Xia Ding's short-sightedness; he knew that the more warriors in the Logging Realm, the stronger the camp, securing more resources, thus maximizing benefits by allowing more people to cultivate breakthroughs.

Xia Ding understood this principle, but the problem was, he couldn't do it.

Lacking hunting abilities meant that obtaining Cold Beast Meat was a gamble, possibly luck, or essentially scavenging.

In times of resource scarcity, only the Logging Team could be prioritized.

But now it's different.

Xia Hong's face was full of excitement; the biggest gain from tonight's hunt was not this thousand-some jin Snow Mane.

The greatest gain was the validation that hunting with Small Torches was feasible.

Though it involved a lot of luck, it was verifiably feasible.

Now, until he's strong enough to face Low-level Cold Beasts directly, having a proven successful hunting method is vitally important.

This means, around Redwood Ridge, it's not just Rogel Camp that can hunt now.

Great Xia can do it as well!