Early morning, brick kiln by the river.
Vanus stared blankly at the square wooden box in his hand, his expression a little confused.
He really couldn't figure out how to use this thing, so he lowered his head carefully and humbly asked the foreman beside him for advice.
"How to use this?"
Yang Ergou was a down-to-earth man, and he didn't dislike his subordinates' clumsiness, so he explained it to him patiently.
"This is a mold for stacking bricks. Put the mud in, then press it tightly, turn it upside down on the wooden strips, and wait for it to dry a little, then pull out the mold. But it's too cold recently, whether it's the mud by the river or the mud under our feet, it's frozen as hard as stone. We have to transport the mud into the cave to preheat it... You go and throw the mold here first, and go outside to pick up some firewood."
Vanus nodded woodenly, put down the mold, and walked to the forest beside him.
Looking at the camp behind him, he thought about running away, but the thought only lasted for a moment before he gave up.
Escape?
Where can he escape to?
To the south and east are frozen steel jungles, to the west is a lake, and to the north is a frozen wasteland.
Without a gun, food, or fuel, he is just fat meat in the eyes of aliens and even predators when walking in the wilderness. A thin piece of clothing can't bring him any sense of security at all.
Those real barbarians will not give him the opportunity to pay the ransom. They will only happily chop off his head, make his skin into chair mats or carpets, and introduce them to their barbarian brothers. This is the skin of the legion's centurion. I defeated them!
Vanus felt that it would be better to be shot or hanged and buried than to die in this way, at least he could leave a decent appearance.
The north wind was blowing, and heavy snow was floating intermittently in the sky, and snow fell from the pine trees from time to time.
Finally, he had collected enough firewood. Vanus returned to the brick factory with a bundle of dry firewood and took difficult steps. He saw that the deserted open space had become lively.
Yang Ergou directed the workers to carry the mud into the cave on the side with a cart. He glanced at him and didn't ask him why he was delayed for so long. He just urged him to send the firewood in quickly.
Vanus didn't dare to neglect it and immediately ran into the cave with the firewood.
The temperature in the cave was very high, just like summer. He was shivering with cold just now, but now he was sweating from the heat.
No wonder everyone worked so hard, it turned out that it was much more comfortable here than outside!
Vanus noticed that there was a brick furnace inside the cave, and a towering chimney connected the ground and the ceiling, and extended from the top of the cave.
The workers burned charcoal under the chimney, and the smoke was discharged from the chimney. The carbon produced was sent to burn bricks, and the residual heat was used to soften the frozen soil by the river.
This idea is simply amazing.
Did they come up with it themselves?
Vanus was surprised. Although he was educated in a military academy, he had never done menial work.
Here, he could only be ordered around. Basically, he did whatever others asked him to do, like a hanger-on, and he didn't seem to be too much of a hindrance.
Busy all day.
A group of people worked together to stack ten piles of bricks in the cave, put them on a wheeled iron rack, and sent them to the nearby cave along the flat road paved with bricks.
The charcoal fire was lit.
The cave door was sealed.
Vanus realized that he was not only sweating, but also covered in mud, and the whole person turned into a lump of coal.
Yang Ergou looked at him for a while, and patted his shoulder with a laugh.
"It's the first time, let's go take a shower later."
"Shower... where?"
"There's a small public bathroom here. We're usually too lazy to go to the outpost one kilometer away, so we take care of it here. But you have to pick up the firewood yourself, and the charcoal is used to make bricks."
Vanus breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that there was hot water.
In this damn weather, the river surface is about to freeze.
Taking a cold shower is simply torture!
...
Late at night.
After taking a shower and changing into a fur coat, Vanus sat in a shed with a brazier on. The foreman Yang Ergou came over and handed him a wooden box.
The shape of the wooden box is very similar to the mold for stacking bricks, but it is not dipped in mud. Inside is a hot roasted lamb horn potato and a piece of dried meat as long as a middle finger and as thick as a thumb.
"The hot water is boiling in the stove. Go get it if you need it." Yang Ergou sat next to him and grinned, "How do you feel about your first day on the job? Are you used to it?"
Vanus smiled bitterly in his heart, not daring to complain.
Working here, at least there is fire to warm up. After sealing the cave, it is more relaxed than those subordinates digging ditches in the north.
"It feels good... How long have you lived here?"
Yang Ergou said.
"It's been more than a month, what's wrong?"
Vanus: "You look familiar with this place, I thought you've been here for a long time."
Yang Ergou smiled and said: "Not familiar, but this place is really like home for us."
Vanus: "Home?"
Yang Ergou: "Yes, we were all dying, and we almost died in the dungeon of the plunderers. Later, it was the wise and powerful administrator who planted the flag on the plunderers' lair... We who were rescued had nowhere to go, so we just stayed here."
In fact, compared to those rescued people whose families were broken, he still had a place to go. After leaving the wetland park, he could walk four or five kilometers south to Beth Street, where his relatives were all.
But how could home be as comfortable as here?
Not only was there a warm house, but there was also firewood for heating, three meals a day, and money to spend... To be honest, before coming here, it was the first time he heard of dinner in this world.
There was no dinner in Bet Street. Even oil lamps were rare. When it got dark, only the castle of the old leech was still lit. Everyone went to bed early to rest. At most, they would make a pot of green wheat paste in the evening, dry it into green wheat cakes, and keep it as dry food for the next day.
Before, after the old leech family was driven away by the guns of the manager, Yang Ergou asked for leave to go back and take a look at his family, but he ran back here after less than two days. Not only did he not have the idea of going back, he even wanted to bring his family here.
Life here is like heaven.
Yang Ergou talked for a long time, his mouth was dry, and he found that he had been talking all the time, so he looked at Vanus curiously.
"Speaking of you? Were you also saved by the manager?"
"Hmm..."
Considering the reputation of the legion outside, Vanus did not dare to say that he was a member of the legion, so he nodded vaguely.
Yang Ergou's eyes lit up, but he didn't doubt it. He continued to talk to him about how good life was here. Under the natural rule of the managers, they were not only well fed and well clothed, but also far away from the harassment of predators and alien species.
Listening to the words of the foreman, Vanus fell into silence, and he didn't know what he was thinking in his heart.
The people here seemed to live under order.
However, it was a completely different order from the territory ruled by the legion.
He had no doubt in his heart that the order of the legion was supreme. Only the strong were worthy of talking about civilization. Only the strong could live in this barbaric world that followed the law of the jungle, while the weak were born slaves. Their inferior genes and personalities were not worthy of living upright. As a member of this powerful group, he, with RDX flowing in his veins, was worthy of the most generous material enjoyment, whether it was a luxurious mansion, gold, fine wine or beauty...
But Vanus had to admit in his heart that perhaps these weak people and servants with impure blood and contaminated genes would indeed live a more comfortable life here.
The order gave them the greatest tolerance, allowing them to build and enjoy at the same time.
Let the brick-burning people eat meat?
It's crazy.
...
Around ten o'clock in the evening.
News came from Changjiu Farm that a group of refugees wandered over from the north. Most of them were old, weak, women and children, about a hundred people, like Wu Tiefu and his group, they were all nomads wandering from the north, but the number was obviously much larger.
After hearing the news, Chu Guang immediately issued a task, summoned two truck drivers and more than 30 online players to go to Changjiu Farm for support.
Because the administrator gave too much, many players who had just returned from Changjiu Farm did not even take off their face equipment, and followed them again.
When passing the northern part of the wetland park, Chu Guang suddenly remembered that he seemed to have thrown a legion centurion at the brick factory, so he went over to take a look.
When he arrived at the brick kiln, except for Yang Ergou who was on duty at night and another brick-burning worker, everyone else had already gone to bed.
Over at the shack, snoring could be heard one after another.
Chu Guang found Yang Ergou and looked at him and asked.
"How did the man I gave you do today? Was he lazy? Or did he disobey the instructions?"
Hearing the manager asking about the stranger, Yang Ergou didn't think much and answered respectfully.
"Are you talking about the one from yesterday? He worked hard, but he was a little clumsy and didn't seem very smart."
It seems that this man is very capable and flexible, no wonder he can become a thousand-man captain.
This Vanus is so obedient that he saved him a lot of trouble.
"Well, I understand."
After understanding the situation here, Chu Guang turned and went to the north gate of the wetland park to meet up with the little players waiting there.
Two light trucks, carrying more than 30 people, set off in a mighty procession.
While Chu Guang and his group were on the road, at the same time, outside the north gate of Changjiu Farm, there was a mess.
Hundreds of refugees gathered at the gate, not daring to approach, but not intending to retreat, and negotiated with Old Luca standing at the gate.
Behind Old Luca was the guard team led by Wrench.
Fifteen guards were divided into two groups, standing in a row at the gate and a row on the wall, holding guns tightly in their hands, ready for battle.
Standing next to Wrench, the young guard did not dare to relax his vigilance for a moment, staring at the group of refugees in front of him, and even carefully controlling the white breath from his mouth.
"I said it before... such a big smoke will definitely attract bad people."
Another guard standing next to him cursed in a low voice.
"How dare those people come so close? Aren't they afraid that we are predators?"
"Haha, do you think they are good people? Look at those people, they obviously have hunting rifles on their backs! I bet, if we didn't have fifteen guns here and built such a high wall, I'm afraid we would have to fight a tough battle today!"
The young guard muttered in a low voice.
The comrades next to him agreed with this statement, without any doubt, and even without any different opinions.
In the wasteland, kindness is rarer than gold. Even neighbors cannot be completely assured, let alone these homeless refugees?
When they encounter a force stronger than themselves, they are all little white sheep who can sing and dance. When they encounter a survivor force weaker than themselves, it is not surprising that all members take off their sheepskins and become hungry wolves.
Similar cases are no longer news in the wasteland!
"The wind outside is too strong. Our children and pregnant women are almost freezing to death... Please be kind and let us rest here for a while. We will leave after this blizzard passes."
Standing in front of the refugee team is a burly man with an iron rifle hanging on his back and a revolver on his waist not far from his right hand.
Old Luca noticed that the corner of his clothes was stained with dried blood, but he was not sure whether it was the blood of a beast or a human.
Judging from the respect and awe of the people around him when they looked at his back, this man was probably their patriarch or leader, and his prestige was not low.
It is impossible to take so many people on a long journey in the wasteland without some skills.
"I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to wait for my master to come." Although he was like a dead branch standing in front of this strong man, there was no cowardice on Old Luca's face.
His master was a strong man who could defeat even the Blood Hand Clan and even gain the respect of companies far away on the East Coast.
Just a few refugees, not enough to scare him.
The man stared at him and continued.
"Where is he? Can I talk to him?"
"He is on his way here and will be here soon," Old Luca raised his chin slightly, looked at him, and continued in a steady but powerful tone, "Before visiting someone's home, shouldn't you first report your name? Who are you, who is the person behind you, where are you from, and where are you going?"
The man stared at the old man for a long time, and glanced at the guards behind him and on the wall, as if to judge whether these people are easy to mess with.
Old Luca frowned.
"It seems that you don't seem to have the sincerity to communicate, so we have nothing to talk about."
"Sorry, I'm abrupt," seeing that Old Luca seemed to be about to leave, the man hurriedly said, "My name is Li, most of us are from the central part of the River Valley Province."
Luca: "What does most mean?"
The man named Li nodded and continued.
"We are not from the same survivor settlement. At least half of the people here joined us halfway."
Luca: "This doesn't make sense. If you were a survivor settlement as you said, why did you suddenly leave there? And in winter."
"Because of the damn war, we don't want to, but we have to go," Jiao Li said angrily, "You should have heard that the Legion's people have been fighting in the north for a whole year. The recent sudden cold winter probably made them unable to hold on, and groups of people fled to the south."
Luca frowned.
"Did you meet the Legion?"
Li said angrily: "To be precise, we met the Legion's defeated soldiers. Those people are no different from looters. They robbed everything they saw! Damn, I even feel that looters can at least negotiate, but they are simply a group of scum! Beasts! Scum!"
This burly man almost poured out all the curse words in his stomach, recounting their atrocities in the north and central areas.
However, Old Luca's focus was not on these minor details, but on what this person meant...
The Legion seemed to have lost?
Or at least it was about to lose.
After all, if it was an organized looting, it would not be a rout.
A hint of surprise appeared in Luca's eyes.
The Administrator seemed to have said before that the expeditionary force of the Northern Legion could send a full-strength team of 2,000 people to desert and intercept the Enterprise's Pioneer. It was either that they were sure to win, or that they were about to lose the battle and were ready to take some benefits and leave.
If these people were telling the truth, then the Administrator was probably right...
The surprise in Old Luca's eyes gradually turned into admiration.
And the man named Li was still pouring out his grievances, trying to persuade the old man in front of him to let them in.
At this time, the sound of an engine suddenly came from a distance.
The refugees surrounding the wall were in a commotion, and their faces showed panic expressions. Li also stepped back half a step alertly, with his right hand on the pistol at his waist.
Wrench stared at him, his thumb had already pushed the safety of the arbitrator, and several guards next to him slightly raised the muzzle of their guns.
Seeing the atmosphere take a sharp turn for the worse, Old Luca was surprised and quickly raised his hand to signal everyone to calm down.
"Don't be impulsive! It's the administrator!"
Administrator?
Li was slightly stunned.
At this time, the two headlights in front of the truck suddenly lit up.
Li looked in the direction of the light, his eyes narrowed unconsciously, and saw a tall figure standing next to the truck with the lights on.
That man should be the administrator they are talking about.
Or to put it another way, he is the lord here.
He is wearing an exoskeleton, and what people can't ignore is not the rifle on his back, nor the war hammer standing beside him.
But the soldiers behind him who are eyeing him covetously, and the rifles in their hands.
Facing the dazzling light, Li felt a chill in his heart.
At the same time, a rhythmic voice came from afar through the snow curtain.
"Put down your weapons and accept our resettlement."
"Or"
"Go back to where you came from!"-