Chapter 79: Dug Out an Artificial Cave?

God knows how they survived these three days.

In order to prevent themselves from simply falling asleep and never waking up due to the extreme cold, like some people in the region had, they implemented a rotation system.

Rotating every two hours—under these circumstances, it would be a ghost story if they could sleep well.

"Wait, Captain Li Wufeng, the room is too small. Can so many of us fit inside?"

Someone asked in confusion.

"Of course we can't all fit. But we can sleep in two batches. Everyone will just have to make do during this special period."

To this, Li Wufeng already had a countermeasure prepared.

"If we sleep in two batches, will the fuel hold out?"

"It'll hold out. If we run out, we can just ask Shang Chuan for more. There's no need to worry about that. But the daily gathering quota cannot be reduced, understood?"

Although they could receive resource rations from Shang Chuan for free, in return, they needed to go out and conduct gathering ops for Shang Chuan.

To put it bluntly, they were a bunch of gatherers recruited under Shang Chuan.

At a time like this, if they delayed their work because of pursuing comfort, Shang Chuan might not impose any punishments, but he would definitely cut off their rations.

So everyone knew exactly what to do.

As for why the two brothers, Zhao Doulai and Li Wufeng, were here, one would have to mention a certain person.

This person was none other than the 'giant' Mickey who had previously threatened Lan Qingyou.

Back when Mickey wanted to expand, he absorbed quite a few people in the surrounding area.

This action of his prompted many people to harbor thoughts of banding together for self-preservation.

It was also around that time that the two brothers began absorbing people in their vicinity.

However, knowing what kind of place they were in, Li Wufeng was exceptionally careful when absorbing people.

So even up until now, they still only numbered around twenty people.

Fortunately, Li Wufeng managed to establish contact with Shang Chuan, becoming a member of the gatherer squad under him, finally securing a stable source of income.

It was also because of this that they were able to survive that sudden Mana Tide.

"Alright, let me assign the tasks. I, Cam, Otto, Zhao Doulai... we'll take the first watch. The rest of you, go rest first."

Following Li Wufeng's order, the seven or eight people called out took up their guard duty.

The others impatiently carried their bedding from the other small compartments over to here, collapsing and immediately falling asleep.

Forget about men and women shouldn't touch hands—who still cared about that sort of thing right now? Getting a full night's sleep took priority over everything else.

In reality, Li Wufeng's thoughts were also very simple.

Dividing the people into two batches: one squad sleeps, the other squad stands guard. Switch shifts after six hours, then everyone goes out to gather together in the morning and returns together in the evening.

Anyway, the time they could spend gathering in a day was only around ten hours or so.

For a human, six hours of sleep was completely sufficient.

As for asking Shang Chuan to send another heater, it wasn't as if he hadn't brought it up with Shang Chuan.

But this profiteer stated that unless they could gather more materials or quickly find a mineral vein to mine, he couldn't give them any more.

Li Wufeng also expressed his understanding regarding this.

After all, right now, their entire group of over twenty people was being sustained by Shang Chuan, whether it was food, the previous Mana Potions, or this heater.

And Shang Chuan was supporting quite a few people like them.

He was essentially the boss of a company, while Li Wufeng was the manager of a specific project team.

In short, they hadn't even graduated back on Blue Star before arriving on the Kalim Continent to work like oxen and horses.

The bitterness of it all went without saying.

Moreover, Shang Chuan had also mentioned that this massive temperature drop might be temporary. Once the Mana Turbulence ended, if the cold and heavy snow continued, he would consider equipping them with another one.

...

A night passed without incident.

When the sun rose the next day, Li Wufeng and the others had already recovered their energetic states.

Now, each carrying a somewhat worn axe, pickaxe, or saw blade, they stepped out of their home.

Because the massive temperature drop had hit so suddenly a few days ago, they hadn't gone out to gather. So today, the entire team had to mobilize and spring into action to repay Shang Chuan's kindness for the heater.

And also to enable their boss to buy a new car sooner.

After all, something like the heater was only sold around a hundred units a day, and even the fuel was limited.

Yet they had not only received the heater for free, but the fuel was also provided in unlimited quantities. If they didn't work diligently, it would clearly be a disservice to the heater that allowed them to sleep peacefully.

Clang! Clang!

Thud! Thud!

Although they couldn't cast the Gathering Skill that normally everyone could use because of the Mana Turbulence, gathering using the most primitive methods was still perfectly fine.

Fortunately, the resources in this forest were still quite abundant, with plenty of trees, Stone, and Vine around.

Especially Wood.

With their current setup, even if they just chopped down some branches, it was enough for them to obtain over a thousand units of basic Wood.

"With such thick snow, it's amazing that none of these medicinal herbs have withered. The magical world is truly wondrous."

A little girl assigned to gather medicinal herbs commented.

"It's probably because of the mana. As long as mana still exists in this world, these plants won't wither."

Another boy replied.

In this place, whenever you encounter a phenomenon you don't understand, attributing it entirely to mana is definitely the right move.

This was the 'Great Art of Passing the Buck' that many people had summarized after over a month since transmigrating to Karim.

"Lumberjacking is so tiring..."

Zhao Doulai put down the axe in his hand, shook his wrist, and complained.

"Because lumberjacking is tiring."

Li Wufeng, acting as the project manager nearby, didn't coddle him and directly shot back.

"Please, the temperature is already cold enough, so stop making such cold jokes."

Saying this, Zhao Doulai shivered all over.

Then he checked his personal information and noticed the time was almost up.

"The potion duration is almost over, prepare to take the next one."

"Understood!"

"Heard you!"

Those who heard responded one after another, putting down their work. They pulled out an antifreeze potion from their pockets, popped the cork, downed it, and continued working.

These potions were the second batch Lan Qingyou produced. Shang Chuan hadn't sold a single vial, using them all for his own gatherer squads.

After all, he couldn't just keep his gatherer squad fed while they did nothing, right?

Moreover, compared to selling them, the gatherer squad could more specifically collect the resources he needed, especially the medicinal herbs Lan Qingyou required.

With freezing weather rendering it difficult to even go outside to gather supplies, who would possibly gather medicinal herbs just for a single potion?

At a time like this, didn't the role of the gatherer squad truly shine?

"Captain, we found a cave up ahead."

Just as everyone was grunting and puffing while chopping wood and mining, someone responsible for mining Stone came running back.

"What's wrong?"

Li Wufeng asked.

The person in charge of the Stone gathering team looked at Li Wufeng with a strange expression on his face.

"While we were mining Stone just now, we dug out a cave."