IMC Chapter 81

This year, ever since the onset of winter, the wind and snow have never ceased, making the time for outdoor activities extremely short. The original snow had yet to melt when fresh snow kept piling up. Looking out from the tribe, everything was a vast expanse of white.

Going outside became very difficult, with snow in some places reaching waist-deep. The forest giant wolves had long moved their entire families to the surroundings of the tribe as the snow thickened. The young giant wolf pups even started living inside the tribe.

The tribespeople were all very eager to feed the forest giant wolves and even competed to take care of the giant wolf pups.

Shu Bao watched the giant wolf pups comfortably lying outside the small wooden huts of the tribespeople and felt as if he were witnessing the birth of domestic dogs. Perhaps when this batch of giant wolf pups grew up, the forest giant wolves would fully integrate into the tribe.

As the frequent blizzards made the winter temperatures drop lower and lower, fortunately, not long after Shu Bao returned, all the tents within the tribe were rebuilt into wooden houses. Wooden houses were far superior to tents in terms of warmth and functionality, with some even possessing magical properties, such as temperature control, defense, and spatial expansion.

Although the exterior of all the wooden houses looked identical in size and style, once inside, some houses had more spacious interiors, while others were warm and spring-like year-round.

Thus, the Xia Wang tribe nestled in their wooden homes, living a happy life of gathering supplies during the day and hunting at night.

The electric tower in the center of the tribe had a strange design that baffled the tribespeople, but it did not dampen their enthusiasm for work. Since the primary materials needed for the construction of the tower were various metals, the only task for the Xia Wang people was to transport the corresponding metals to the designated blueprint area.

The metal reserves Shu Bao brought back were sufficient to build many towers. Furthermore, during this period, many magical beasts’ eggs, unaffected by the cold, continued to hatch.

Most of these magical beast eggs had been captured in the Land of Gold Sources and the beasts either produced rare metals or held other valuable attributes; otherwise, the Empire wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to collect them in the first place.

For example, the Golden Lion, whose fur, as its name suggests, had an extremely high gold content—some of the higher-quality fur even surpassed artificially refined gold in purity. There was also the Molting Iron Snail, and of course, Shu Bao’s long-awaited Golden Snail…

Some of these newly hatched magical beasts were raised in the bracelet’s space, while the more affectionate and cute ones were adopted by the tribespeople. As time passed, more and more magical beasts populated the tribe and the people eagerly anticipated the day when the deity would announce, “Oh, another cute little creature has hatched. Who would like to adopt it?”

In this way, the Xia Wang tribe’s winter was not bleak but rather grew increasingly lively. Strange creatures frequently ran around the tribe and children frolicked with the magical beasts and forest giant wolf pups. Even the bitter cold of winter seemed to retreat a little before their warmth and excitement.

The hatching and growth of magical beast eggs also began to replenish the metal resources consumed by the Xia Wang tribe. Although the current replenishment was quite limited, Shu Bao believed that once the magical beast breeding ground was established, metal production would steadily increase. Moreover, their snake ally from the Chaotic World was also mining, so their future looked promising.

However, not all tribes were as leisurely this winter. On the contrary, due to the relentless blizzards, most tribes were in dire straits. With the loss of wild fruit as a food source, all the pressure fell on hunting. But with the mountains sealed off by snow and animals almost extinct, countless people froze or starved to death this year. In some tribes, no one survived and they were slowly buried by the snow.

In such a disastrous year, only tribes with a deity or those built by participants fared better. This is precisely why tribal deities were so revered in this world. Without their help, the chances of a tribe surviving such a catastrophe were slim.

This is why, even when the deity of the White Bear tribe started eating people, the tribe didn’t consider migrating. In their minds, as long as their deity lived, even if the tribe was reduced to one person, their tribe would still exist. Such blind faith was, ironically, their only hope for survival in this cruel world.

After spending nearly half a month, the resources for the electric tower were finally collected. When Shu Bao clicked on the construction option, he was shocked to discover that the progress bar moved incredibly slowly. A rough estimate showed that the tower would take about a month to complete, which left Shu Bao astounded. Up until now, the system’s buildings had never taken more than three days to build, but this electric tower would take an entire month!

However, Shu Bao didn’t remain puzzled for long. After some careful research, he found that the renovated research center no longer had a level limit. Combined with the tower’s lengthy construction time, Shu Bao guessed that the research center might have transcended its previous level restrictions. In the future, as long as there are sufficient resources and scientists like Tesla, any newly developed technology will no longer be subject to level constraints.

The electric tower’s advanced nature was likely the reason it required such a long construction period.

While the electric tower was still under construction, Tesla had already designed the blueprints for a 3D miniature printing pod. Next came the experimental phase, and if things went smoothly, mass production of the pods might be possible in less than two months.

As winter drew to a close, the blizzards finally subsided, though the weather remained cold. The snowfall had lessened, but the winds had become even fiercer.

It was during this difficult transitional period that Ru Su requested permission from Shu Bao to venture out. Throughout the winter, his mastery of spatial magic had improved significantly. He could now perform short-distance teleportations multiple times and could even transport a team of up to ten people over long distances. Combined with the spatial ring Shu Bao had given him, this was enough to ensure his safety while traveling.

“Great Deity, at this time of year, even the large tribes have mostly exhausted their food reserves. To survive until spring, many tribes will be willing to trade people for supplies…” Ru Su explained the reasoning behind his decision to venture out now. It wasn’t a rash impulse; he had consulted former members of the White Bear trading caravan.

After hearing this, Shu Bao waved his paw without hesitation. “Take whatever you need!”

Once again, Ru Su was deeply moved. He had no intention of being frugal, knowing that he would likely return with many people. These people would need food, so he spent three days selecting members for the trading caravan. They gathered large amounts of food, water, tents, furs, bone necklaces, gems, and shells in preparation for their journey.

On the day of the caravan’s departure, the weather was quite favorable—no wind or snow, just a biting cold.

The tribespeople gathered to bid the caravan farewell, but the deity hadn’t appeared yet. Finally, just as the high priest was about to send them off, a fluffy ball of fur rushed over, and behind him was a large group of magical beasts.

“Great Deity!”

“The Great Deity has come!”

“The Great Deity came to see us off!”

The caravan consisted of a total of ten people, just enough for Ru Su’s long-distance teleportation limit. This meant that, in the event of any unexpected situations, he could ensure that everyone would make it back alive.

The caravan members were overjoyed that the Great Deity had come to see them off and with such a grand display! But the next moment, something even more exciting happened.

The fluffy deity waved a paw and said, “These magical beasts have been carefully selected over the past three days. They can assist in attacks or serve as mounts for escape. There are ones that fly, swim, and run. These twin Bronze-Horn Bulls can even transmit messages over long distances. If anything happens, you can communicate through the horns.”

Shu Bao carefully explained the functions of each magical beast, all of which he had chosen to greatly enhance the caravan’s safety. After a winter of training, their loyalty was also very high, so there was no need to worry about them becoming uncontrollable.

By the time the deity finished his introduction, the ten members of the caravan had gone from pleasantly surprised to tearfully moved. What could they do? They hadn’t even left yet and they were already feeling homesick!

Finally, laden with the hopes and blessings of the tribespeople, the trading caravan mounted their magical beast steeds and set off into the vast, snowy world. Despite leaving the tribe at such a time, they didn’t feel fear. Instead, their hearts were filled with excitement and anticipation. They were determined to live up to expectations and bring back many new people.

Ru Su’s caravan did not venture recklessly into unknown territory. Instead, they followed the old route taken by the White Bear caravan, heading south and skirting around a mountain range to reach a few of the more prosperous tribes.

The journey was fraught with dangers, both natural disasters and human conflicts, but thanks to the team’s experience and considerable strength, they managed to overcome every challenge. The situation outside was even worse than they had imagined. They visited several tribes, only to find them empty—some had perished from cold and hunger, while others had migrated for the winter. However, it was unclear if those migrating tribes were as fortunate as theirs.

Along the way, they also encountered several migrating groups. These groups were extremely wary, no doubt having faced various threats. Ru Su didn’t press them for details; instead, he offered them a small amount of food and informed them that they could head north to the Xia Wang tribe, which was accepting migrating tribes. Alternatively, they could wait where they were for rescue.

If the group agreed to wait, Ru Su would use the Bronze-Horn Bulls to communicate with the tribe, relaying the general location of the group. The tribe would then send a flying beast team to pick them up.

In this way, Ru Su continued south. Without spending a single coin—just by offering food—the Xia Wang tribe gradually gained a steady influx of new people.

Of course, not everyone accepted Ru Su’s suggestion. Some chose to continue wandering the continent, searching for a safe place to settle.

However, those who had survived great losses began to hear a rumor. In this brutally cold winter, a divine tribe called Xia Wang was said to exist. They claimed to possess flying divine beasts and were actively searching the land for tribes in need of rescue. If one followed their advice and waited in place, it wouldn’t be long before these divine beings descended from the sky to take them to a land free from hunger and cold.

The legend described a tribe with divine dragons, towering buildings, and a benevolent deity. It was a place with endless food and warm shelters. However, by the time this legend began to spread, it was already spring, and the roads had cleared. Many tribes without deities began migrating in search of the mythical Xia Wang tribe.

At this time, Shu Bao was unaware that the tribe was about to experience a population boom. The little mouse was happily preparing for the tribe’s first electrification.

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