Chapter 29: New Rules

Xia Hong was never one to compromise easily.

Just as in his past life, when he sensed the late stages of ALS were about to rob him of all mobility and reduce him to a helpless invalid, he chose suicide outright.

If life holds no dignity, it is better to die gloriously.

But in this perilous, freezing world, achieving that goal is extremely difficult.

Hunger, cold, daylight, frost beasts, grotesques…

Any one of these could claim countless lives.

Alone, it is impossible.

Only by uniting and gathering more people’s strength could he achieve this goal fastest and best—this was Xia Hong’s deepest insight since his transmigration.

Xia Hong believed that, as human beings, everyone inherently yearned for a respectable and dignified life; this was the most basic, primal need of the human heart, without exception.

He was like this, and so were Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and others.

The rest of the Great Xia Camp felt the same.

Frost beast meat was the ticket to such a respectable life.

Before, when no one received frost beast meat, every time Xia Hong returned, the camp was lifeless; apart from those few who had frost beast meat to cultivate, everyone else lay listlessly beside the fire.

But since Xia Hong began distributing frost beast meat, they changed.

Almost everyone, after eating their fill, sought opportunities to train, striving to strengthen themselves and join the logging reserve team to earn a share of frost beast meat.

This sudden surge of vitality in them made Xia Hong realize that everyone in the camp longed for change; given the chance, anyone could unleash tremendous energy.

When countless individuals bursting with energy unite as a group, moving toward the same goal, no obstacle can stand in their way.

Many hands make light work—this was no empty saying.

The size of a camp, determined by its population, was clear proof.

All camps knew that increasing population meant growing stronger.

But constrained by resources and strength, they could not achieve it.

Yet now, the Great Xia Camp, through the small torch’s unconventional path, could.

Xia Hong would never cling to the old rules.

Setting aside personal gain, allocating part of the frost beast meat to strengthen more of the camp’s vital forces, attracting more people, expanding the camp’s scale, and repeating this cycle—this was the best path for the camp’s development.

Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and others were not foolish, but limited by past experience and perspective, their vision was inevitably narrow.

Moreover, since ancient times, interest has moved the heart.

Setting aside personal gain was never an easy thing.

Fortunately, Xia Hong had set the example for them.

At the start of the logging team’s disaster, Xia Hong had distributed the frost beast meat he brought back to them.

So now, he had the authority to ask them to do the same.

In truth, Xia Hong could have ruled absolutely; he was certain that under his orders, Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, and even every other person in the camp would not oppose him.

With his current prestige, he could easily have done so.

But he did not. Instead, he presented facts and reasoned with Xia Chuan and the others.

Abolishing an old system and establishing a new one was simple.

But making everyone understand the reasoning behind it, ensuring the system truly functioned, and turning them into joint guardians of the system—that was far from easy.

Any system’s purpose is to regulate and develop the organization.

If the new system caused Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and others to develop resentment toward the rest of the camp—or even spark conflict—it would contradict that very purpose.

Mainly because, in recent weeks, Xia Hong had clearly sensed that Xia Chuan’s group, the first to break through to Logging Realm, genuinely held grievances against the others, and these were indeed moving toward conflict.

That was why Xia Hong patiently explained to them why he was doing this.

What benefits this would bring to them and to the camp.

After laying out all the advantages and disadvantages, Xia Hong saw Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the others sink into thought; he did not interrupt, only remained silent, waiting for them to fully grasp his words.

After a long while, Yuan Cheng was the first to raise his head:

“Leader, I understand. Only when everyone grows stronger can we truly fear no frost beasts and avoid tragedies like before. I’ll follow you—keep the 3-5-2 meat distribution ratio.”

“No matter how strong an individual is, he cannot change our camp’s overall situation. Leader is right—only when everyone contributes can we live better and longer. I agree: keep the meat distribution rules unchanged.”

“Exactly. We now have the strength to hunt; frost beast meat is more abundant than before, enough to cultivate more Logging Realm fighters. If we cling to the old rules, Great Xia will merely return to its former state. I support the Leader’s decision—the meat distribution rules stay the same.”

…………

Yue Feng, Lin Kai, and the other five also voiced their agreement; clearly, Xia Hong’s words had not only been heard but truly understood.

“Prioritizing the cultivation of more Logging Realm fighters is indeed more important!”

Unexpectedly, the last to grasp it was his younger brother, Xia Chuan.

Seeing the sincerity on their faces, knowing their approval was genuine, Xia Hong exhaled softly and a faint smile appeared on his face.

This matter, though not huge, was certainly no small thing.

The distribution of benefits has always been an ancient, unsolvable problem.

Whether to prioritize the individual or the collective has never had a definitive answer.

But one thing was certain: at present, Great Xia must prioritize the collective.

A group with no strength, unable even to venture out at night, helped nothing and dragged down those of us in Logging Realm.

Even gathering crystal fruit carried some risk.

Abandoning them was unthinkable, but endlessly feeding them with crystal fruit was equally unsustainable.

The old saying goes: give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish, and you feed him for life. Xia Hong deeply agreed.

Helping them grow stronger, improving their survival ability—this was the right path.

Moreover, as everyone’s strength increased, the pace of resource accumulation would accelerate; with more resources, the camp could support more people, creating a virtuous cycle—Great Xia’s future would be limitless.

Of course, more importantly, the resources needed for the camp system’s upgrade now had a source.

Although the system currently only unlocked the small torch, judging from its upgrade conditions and the requirements to unlock other structures, the resources Xia Hong would need in the future would be enormous.

Without a stable, large population to sustain it, Xia Hong himself could never gather so many resources—he had to rely on more people.

The establishment of the new rule was Xia Hong’s challenge to the world’s entrenched beliefs, and his first practical step toward his vision for Great Xia’s development.

Fortunately, thanks to his accumulated prestige and considerable persuasion, everyone listened to him.

“After all, it’s just a makeshift group of a hundred or so people—take it slow. Once there’s a first time, there’ll be a second; we’re not far from getting on track!”

With the new rule established and everyone’s reservations resolved, Xia Hong let the matter go.

“It’s almost dark. Get ready to go out.”

The others nodded and turned to retrieve their weapons.

Only Xu Ning, who had just broken through, knowing this was his first outing, touched the stone axe already hanging at his waist, his expression the most excited.

(End of Chapter)