Chapter 166: Camp Arrangements
“My lord.”
“My lord.”
When Zhou Ming returned, Lin Hai and Lu Tao immediately stepped forward to welcome him.
“Mm.”
Zhou Ming merely responded briefly before directly inspecting the results of their work over the past few days.
Because the Wildfolk had to prioritize survival, they had not spent much effort carefully constructing the caves formed by the underground dark river’s erosion.
If one were to describe the Wildfolk camp’s first impression to Zhou Ming, the word “slum” fit it perfectly.
However, this could not really be blamed on the Wildfolk. After all, every few years or at most every decade, they had to search for a new hidden location.
The camp before them, if not for its exceptionally good environment, would never have been used continuously for twenty to thirty years without being abandoned.
After making a round of inspection, Zhou Ming expressed satisfaction with the work done by Lin Hai and Lu Tao.
The main cave was about two hundred meters long, with its widest point reaching fifty meters, and an underground dark river flowed through the middle.
Under Zhou Ming’s instructions, the tents, wooden huts, and other messy structures here had already been cleared away.
The current work mainly involved leveling the ground and raising the lower areas on both sides of the dark river. This would become the core area of the camp.
At present, everyone else had already moved into the narrow caves along the dark river’s tributaries. In the future, Zhou Ming planned to widen those caves and carve out passages to fully connect them together.
From then on, there would be no need to enter individual caves from the tributary forks of the dark river, allowing quick movement between all the caves.
“Not bad. Although there aren’t major changes, being able to act according to my requirements is worth praise.”
“Thank you for your praise, my lord.”
Although he had received Zhou Ming’s praise, Lu Tao from the Internal Affairs Department showed hesitation. After hesitating for several breaths, he finally gathered the courage to report.
“My lord, with the camp’s current resources, this is already the limit of what can be done. As for the follow-up…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t ask you to cook a meal without rice. I’ve already found cooperation partners on this trip out. They’ll provide the resources you need later on.”
Afterward, Zhou Ming carefully arranged the trading location and the method of exchange. Only then did his gaze shift to the few people standing behind Lu Tao and Lin Hai.
“They’re the ones who previously went out hunting and gathering?”
Zhou Ming had already noticed the few people behind Lu Tao.
The aura around them didn’t resemble ordinary Wildfolk. Instead, they were more like hunters who frequently ventured into the wilderness.
“My lord, yes. Please allow me to introduce them one by one.”
This time, Lin Hai took the initiative to step forward and report.
“Mm.”
After receiving Zhou Ming’s consent, Lin Hai immediately pointed at two young men with similar appearances, lean builds, and buzz cuts.
“My lord, these are Li Hu and Li Bao, two brothers. They’re the best marksmen in our camp.”
“The two of them are skilled at using sniper rifles and once jointly hunted and killed a low-tier ferocious beast, the Spiral-Horn Blade Sheep.”
Hearing the Li brothers’ achievements, Zhou Ming was somewhat surprised.
The Spiral-Horn Blade Sheep had a body length close to two and a half meters and excelled at jumping and running.
The pair of curved horns on its head were as hard as steel, with exceptionally sharp sides and tips. Whether charging head-on or engaging in close combat, it was considered a formidable existence even among low-tier ferocious beasts.
Seeing the satisfied look on Zhou Ming’s face, Lin Hai continued introducing another person. The man stood two meters tall, with bronze-like skin, and from afar looked almost like a humanoid bear.
“My lord, this is Qiu Tieyi. He specializes in body-tempering martial arts. He once relied on a single battle blade to slay a mutated fierce tiger, and he can operate a heavy machine gun while standing. He’s the number one martial artist in our camp.”
“Exiled?”
The burly man before him was clearly not born in the camp. After all, body-tempering martial arts required massive amounts of food and medicinal materials, something the camp’s resources simply couldn’t support.
“Because of killing someone in a moment of impulsiveness, I was exiled from the base three years ago.”
Upon hearing Zhou Ming’s question, Qiu Tieyi immediately admitted it.
“I’ll test your physique.”
Zhou Ming’s tone was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.
“Yes.”
Seeing the cold look in Zhou Ming’s eyes, Qiu Tieyi subconsciously swallowed and could only agree.
Just as Qiu Tieyi set his stance, planted his feet, and placed both hands at his waist, Zhou Ming’s palm, as refined and flawless as carved white jade, lightly pressed against Qiu Tieyi’s body.
In the next instant, Qiu Tieyi felt an overwhelming force crash into him like a collapsing mountain and raging sea, and his body uncontrollably slammed into the rock wall behind him.
Fortunately, the cave had been formed by thousands of years of erosion from the underground dark river. Moreover, due to changes brought by the dimensional rifts on Blue Star, the cave’s rock had already fused into a single solid mass.
Otherwise, such a violent impact might have caused the cave to collapse.
At this moment, Qiu Tieyi’s face was pale, his entire body leaning against the rock wall.
The others around them were confused, not understanding Zhou Ming’s intention in doing this.