Chapter 85: Establishing a One-Man Rule

A series of disasters, plus the recent encounter with the Frost Wolf pack.

It gave Xia Hong a deeper understanding and reflection on the plight of humanity in the Ice Abyss world, and on the very structure of encampments.

Strange creatures, cold beasts, extreme weather—even other human encampments—everywhere brimmed with danger; this hellish survival environment meant sacrifice would inevitably be the dominant theme of every encampment.

Even with his system, he was no exception.

Compared to these two types of beings—cold beasts and strange creatures—humanity was far too weak!

Especially Daxia, an encampment at the bottom tier, was as insignificant as ants.

A single low-grade strange creature, a pack of low-tier cold beasts—both were lethal threats to Daxia.

Not to mention the Woodcutting Realm; even he himself, now possessing Earth-Digging Realm strength, would face near-certain death if he encountered such threats;

Ordinary people had no chance at all—their fate was death.

Unity was humanity’s only way out.

Without a strict top-down system of management to unify the encampment’s people, even if they survived temporarily, they would ultimately face annihilation.

Daxia must enforce a single ruler.

In other words, Xia Hong must establish a one-man rule!

Human hearts are fickle; ten thousand people have ten thousand thoughts. Even Daxia alone was complicated enough; now that two encampments had merged, people's hearts were undoubtedly far more complex.

Just now, when he ordered Li Bai and the other five to abandon rescuing ordinary people, they hesitated for over ten breaths before turning their arrows.

That delay caused only a few more ordinary people to die this time—but next time?

In critical moments of life and death, any moment of hesitation could lead to irreversible, catastrophic consequences.

Xia Hong wasn’t so arrogant as to believe every decision he made was absolutely correct, but in certain crucial moments—especially when facing utter despair—the encampment needed only one decision that everyone would believe in and obey.

Whether that decision was right or wrong didn’t matter at all.

A one-man rule would concentrate personal authority too heavily, eventually deifying the individual and conjuring a god out of thin air—perhaps unacceptable in a civilized society.

But in the Ice Abyss, it was unquestionably the best way to gather hearts and forge collective unity.

Earlier, when Shi Qing mentioned how Yang and Li held near-obsessive fervor and reverence for their so-called Great Lord Yang Zun, Xia Hong had merely been curious, but frankly, he hadn’t understood.

But now, he understood.

Perhaps without this method, the Beishuozhen encampment could never have grown to its massive scale of one hundred thousand people—it might have been destroyed long ago by various accidents.

Building an encampment atmosphere of one-man rule, beyond unifying the people, was Xia Hong’s second goal: preparing for future resource collection.

To upgrade the Wooden Dummy to Level Two, 3000 wood and 6000 iron were needed;

To upgrade the Polishing Stone to Level Two, 5000 coal and 10000 iron were needed;

To upgrade the Decoction Pot to Level Two, 20000 wood, 20000 coal, 10000 iron, and ten new recipe types were required.

To upgrade the Level-Two Smelter to Level Three, 2000 wood and 5000 iron were needed.

The upgrade resources required for the four currently unlocked encampment structures were, to Xia Hong, nothing short of astronomical.

Wood: one point per thousand jin; coal: one point per twenty jin; iron: one point per ten jin. Xia Hong had calculated that even if all five hundred-plus people in the encampment instantly broke through to Earth-Digging Realm overnight, it would still take decades to gather enough resources for all four upgrades.

No, not even decades would be enough—they’d still be consuming.

So for resources, Xia Hong needed a massive population.

This was why Xia Hong directly invited Huang Zhao and Dachuan’s encampments to join.

Though ordinary people were useless, where would Earth-Digging Realm cultivators come from without them?

For humans in the Ice Abyss world, the only threshold to Woodcutting and Earth-Digging Realms was cold beast meat.

Xia Hong could already foresee that, in the future, the encampment would need a group dedicated solely to logging and mining.

But once someone gained strength, no one would want to spend every day doing such labor.

After all, even in large encampments, Woodcutting and Earth-Digging Realm cultivators were considered high-ranking, privileged members.

Thus, possessing absolute authority became critically important.

Xia Hong didn’t expect this single question alone to establish one-man rule—it was merely the beginning.

He could roughly guess how everyone would answer.

But he didn’t rush; he simply waited quietly for them to speak.

Perhaps sensing the gravity in Xia Hong’s tone, silence in the wooden hut lasted over a hundred breaths.

“If the leader truly implements the four-tier meat distribution rule he just described, then I give my life to the leader!”

Finally, a young commoner from Luo Ge’s encampment spoke up.

“I agree too—if I can reliably get cold beast meat long-term, I’m willing to give my life to the leader.”

“I agree. If the leader can deliver, I’ll give you my life.”

……………

Once one voice spoke, a second, then a third followed.

Whether ordinary people or the fifteen cultivators, as time passed, nearly all of them spoke up.

Without exception, their stance was clear: if cold beast meat distribution could be guaranteed, they would accept any condition Xia Hong proposed.

Xia Hong understood their thoughts perfectly and offered no explanation—only looked at them all, solemnly saying:

“Good. I will ensure I deliver. Remember your words today!”

No amount of talk was as effective as cold beast meat laid before them.

Xia Hong understood this principle, so he said nothing more.

Suddenly, outside the door, Yue Feng ran up and reached Xia Hong’s side.

“Leader, Luo Ming is outside calling for you—he seems ready to leave with his men.”

Xia Hong paused, nodded, first instructed nearby Xia Chuan to settle Daxia’s people inside the hut, then stepped out alone.

As soon as he exited the passage, he saw Luo Ming and the other twelve men, fully armed and ready, outside the valley.

“Luo Leader, leaving so soon?”

Xia Hong understood Luo Ming—he’d already brought Daxia’s people here; staying longer was inappropriate, and he likely feared facing the hundred-plus people he’d abandoned.

Luo Ming set his young son down, walked to Xia Hong, bowed deeply, his face filled with shame:

“Brother Xia Hong, thank you just now. I, Luo, am truly ashamed!”

Xia Hong blinked, then realized Luo Ming was referring to his defense of him before Luo Ge’s people.

“Luo Leader, where are you going? Could you tell me?”

At this, Luo Ming’s face showed hesitation.

“Don’t worry—I won’t abandon these people and leave Hongmu Ridge. I’m just asking ahead of time; perhaps one day we’ll meet again.”

Seeing Xia Hong had seen through his thoughts, Luo Ming let out a bitter laugh.

“I was petty.”

Leader Xia, I won’t hide it from you—I’ve taken half the encampment’s stored coal and iron. I hope you’ll understand.”

Xia Hong glanced at the four sacks behind Luo Ming, nodded silently. It was normal for someone joining another group to bring some personal provisions.

“Also, I’ve left you two things—take a look.”

As he spoke, Luo Ming pulled out two scrolls made of cold beast hide.

Xia Hong took the scrolls, unrolled the first—and his face lit up with delight.

(End of Chapter)