Chapter 701: Zhu Yue's Decision

The charcoal marks on the bark were messy.

A few short lines.

A few twisted dots.

And large areas of unreadable blank.

Zhu Yue stared at this set of fragmented pulse charts 'pried' out of the stabbing pain;

He watched for a full fifteen minutes.

In the camp;

From afar came the thumping sounds of chopping wood;

And the fine footsteps of women and children gathering dry twigs;

Plus the brief low whispers of shift changes between sentries.

Everything was as usual.

Only he knew;

Some kind of countdown;

Already following that 'needle';

It had pierced into his sense of time.

"Before autumn..."

He repeated softly;

His fingertip brushed over the position corresponding to the 'Short Strong Pulse'.

That represented 'acceleration' or 'urgency'.

"The Jurchen's blade is accelerating."

"It might fall before autumn."

He closed his eyes;

Known information flashed quickly through his mind:

The camp currently had a population of about 1,200;

Able-bodied men numbered fewer than 400;

Weapons were mainly wooden spears and sharpened bamboo poles;

Metal tools consisted of only a handful of broken knives and farming implements;

Food supplies barely lasted twenty days;

Water sources were still adequate;

But gray-blue anomalies in nearby flora and fauna were increasing;

That intangible pollution was slowly seeping through.

And the enemy……

To the northeast, the Jurchen were rapidly consolidating, Yuneng-armed.

To the south, the Yuan army might come again to suppress.

And the omnipresent, continually worsening 'Rule Erosion' of the environment.

Time;

There might only be three months left.

No;

Perhaps even shorter.

Zhu Yue opened his eyes;

His eyes held no panic;

Only a kind of cold, clear clarity.

He pulled over a new, relatively flat piece of bark;

He picked up the charcoal pencil.

The tip touched down;

He drew a thick horizontal line.

"Ninety days."

He wrote two characters at the top of the line.

"Deadline."

Below the line;

He quickly divided it into sections.

"First stage: Founding Moment. Days zero to fifteen."

The pencil tip skimmed back and forth.

"Goal one: Complete basic verification of 'fire' and 'stone'."

"Snake experiments must yield preliminary conclusions; find physical methods to resist or utilize low-concentration Yuneng Pollution."

"Goal two: Obtain usable iron."

"Mobilize all manpower; repair and strengthen the existing iron smelting furnace; spare no fuel; must produce the first batch of usable pig iron for weapons within fifteen days, even if only fifty catties."

"Goal three: Initially establish defense nodes."

"With the stone formation as center; expand outward three simple moats and wooden walls; set up observation posts and pitfalls at key positions."

He paused for a moment;

Beside it, small characters were annotated: 「Risk: The experiment may cause unknown contamination to spread; iron smelting failure will waste precious manpower and fuel; building walls may expose the camp's location. 」

Then;

He drew the second section.

「Second phase: Time of blade forging. From the 16th to the 45th day. 」

「Goal One: Mass production of iron equipment and armament. 」

「If the first furnace of iron succeeds; immediately expand the smelting facilities; train more artisans; within thirty days; need to produce one hundred spearheads, three hundred arrowheads, and thirty short blades. 」

「Goal Two: Battle formation training. 」

「All able-bodied youths; train two hours each afternoon; focusing on squad coordination, relying on fortifications for defense, and responding to cavalry charges. 」

「Goal Three: Exploration and intelligence. 」

「Send out capable squads; cautiously scout fifty li to the south, west, and north; ascertain the movements of the Yuan army, gathering places of refugees, and possible resource sites. 」

Note: 「Risk: Large-scale iron smelting may cause smoke exposure; training consumes stamina affecting production; outward exploration may encounter enemy troops or suffer losses from mutant beast packs. 」

Finally;

It is the third section.

「From the 46th to the 90th day. Consolidate the base and meet the front. 」

「Goal One: Complete the camp's basic purification layout. 」

「Based on the experimental conclusions; set up a 'Stone Talisman' or a 'Fire Pit' at key points in the camp; attempt to establish a weak order field to suppress contamination spread. 」

「Goal Two: Stockpiling and concealment. 」

「Exert full effort to stockpile food, drinking water, and fuel; improve the camp's camouflage and evacuation plans. 」

「Goal Three: ……Initial battle against the enemy. 」

The final four characters;

He wrote them with extra heaviness.

「Whether the coming force is the Yuan army, mutant beast packs, or Jurchen scouts; we must rely on fortifications and limited iron arms to win the first battle. 」

「If this battle is lost; all is over. 」

Note: 「Risk: The purification layout may be ineffective; supplies insufficient; the initial battle may immediately encounter an enemy beyond our strength. 」

Finished writing;

He put down the charcoal pencil.

On the bark;

An extremely harsh, interlocking, risk-filled schedule has thus taken shape.

Each step treads on the edge of a cliff.

If any link goes wrong;

it could cause the entire camp to fall into the abyss.

But Zhu Yue knows;

There is no safer path left.

The warnings are not baseless.

He must act according to the worst expectations;

Squeeze out every bit of potential.

「Xu Da; Tang He; 」

He called out toward the outside of the tent.

The two quickly lifted the curtain and entered;

They still carried the dust of training on them.

「Elder brother. 」

「Yue brother. 」

Zhu Yue turned the bark toward them.

「Take a look. 」

The two leaned in;

After examining it carefully;

their faces grew solemn.

「Ninety days… to do all this? 」 Tang He inhaled a breath of cool air.

「Iron smelting, wall building, troop training, scouting, and still need to figure out those sinister things…」 Xu Da furrowed his brows; 「Manpower simply cannot be spread out. 」

「If it cannot be spread out; then it must be spread out. 」

Zhu Yue's voice calm;

yet it conveyed an unquestionable resolve.

「From today onward; the camp enters 'war time'. 」

「All labor; taking these three-phase goals as the sole direction. 」

「The elderly, women, and children; responsible for gathering, food preparation, and tanning. 」

「All able-bodied youths; divided into three teams. 」

「One team; follow me in conducting the 'fire stone experiment' and iron smelting; this is the foundation. 」

「One team; led by Xu Da; responsible for constructing fortifications and daily watch. 」

「One team; led by Tang He; conducting basic battle formation drills; simultaneously preparing the scouting squad. 」

His gaze swept over the two.

"Gather every day at mao time; assign today's tasks."

"At sunset, summarize progress; adjust arrangements for the next day."

"Every five days; I will check the schedule progress once."

"Those who fall behind; not only must they catch up; they must also squeeze out extra time to make up for it."

Xu Da and Tang He exchanged a glance;

Both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

This is no longer the previous kind of groping for survival;

but a clear, cruel, military order pushed to the extreme.

"Brother Yue;" Tang He hesitated a moment; "Everyone…… can we hold up? Food is already scarce; with this intensity……"

"If we can't hold up; it's death."

Zhu Yue interrupted him.

"Moreover, they will die quickly; miserably."

"Only by holding on past this; is there a sliver of hope."

He stood up;

He walked to the edge of the tent;

He gazed at the busy, bewildered figures in the camp.

"Tell them the core requirements of the schedule; use the simplest words."

"We only have ninety days."

"After ninety days; there may come a stronger enemy from the north."

"Before then; we must make ourselves hard enough; hard enough to break their teeth."

He turned back;

His eyes were like iron.

"Those who are willing to believe; follow along and work."

"Those who don't believe; can leave; I won't stop them."

"But those who stay……"

"must then follow me; treat these ninety days; using each day as three days."

Xu Da's chest rose and fell a bit;

He gave a deep fist salute.

"Understood; elder brother; I'll go arrange the manpower for building the wall."

Tang He also nodded solemnly.

"I'll take charge of the training; I will establish the rules."

The two hurried away.

The tent returned to quiet.

Zhu Yue sat back in his original place;

He looked again at the simple and cruel schedule.

Then;

He reached out;

He picked up the piece of bark that originally recorded the fragmentary pulse signal.

He placed it side by side with the schedule.

One side is a warning from the other side of the light curtain, full of noise.

One side is his in this mire;

a survival path plotted with rationality and resolve.

Between the two;

it seems as if separated by a heavy barrier of the whole world.

yet it is also gripped by an intangible sense of urgency;

tightly twisted together.

"The first step……"

He muttered to himself;

His gaze fell on the 'first stage goal'.

"'Fire and stone.'"

He blew out the oil lamp.

Outside the tent;

The sunset was sinking into the distant mountains.

The clamor of the camp had not subsided;

but rather, under the shouts and directives of Xu Da and Tang He;

it became more hurried and more purposeful.

A tense, oppressive atmosphere;

began to spread above the camp on this Huai Xi riverbank.

Night was no longer merely rest.

In some areas, the bonfires were required to keep burning;

Collecting fuel became an additional shift duty.

The number of guard posts doubled.

Patrol intervals were shortened.

Zhu Yue did not rest immediately.

He held an oil lamp;

Walked to the few makeshift wooden cages at the camp's corner.

Inside the cages;

Several snakes with gray‑blue eyes;

In the firelight;

They writhed uneasily.

He watched silently for a moment.

Then he crouched down;

He brought the oil lamp close to the cage edge.

The orange‑yellow firelight;

And the ominous gray‑blue in the snakes' eyes;

They faced off silently.

The experiment;

Actually had already begun.

Time;

Was slipping through his fingers;

Drop by drop;

Accelerating in its passage.