Chapter 211.1: Wartime Regulations

On the streets of Boulder Town, the closed doors and windows were rattled by the wind.

There were no pedestrians on the street, only a group of poor people in ragged clothes were pushing carts of snow to be dumped outside the city in the middle of the road.

In the slums on the edge of the outer wall, there were crushed shacks everywhere, and the unkempt people braved the whistling wind and snow, rummaging through the snowdrifts for their missing relatives and friends. Others stood numbly beside collapsed shacks, or knelt on the ground in prayer.

The wooden pole blown over by the wind was left unattended across the gate of the slum, and two loudspeakers tied to it with iron wires intermittently emitted that annoying radio program. "... Hello, dear listeners, how're you? This is the Voice of Boulder Town, and I'm your dearest host, Mr. House."

"Just ten minutes ago, a sudden snowstorm swept the southern part of the River Valley Province. This snowstorm is expected to last for two hours, but please don't worry, in front of the towering giant wall, whether it is the surging Tide or the howling wind, they won't be able to hurt us! Under the leadership of the great mayor, we are invincible!"

"However, our neighbors are not so lucky."

"Although our observation station can’t see what was going on in our neighbors' homes due to heavy snow blocking the view, I can only imagine what a bleak sight it will be."

"If your house collapses, don't be sad, the Wind From Afar Hotel will always welcome you!"

"You will be able to find your second home there!"

...

The sudden blizzard made the entire northern suburb of Clearspring City a mess.

Fortunately, the players hunting in the Elm District had VMs on them, and those VMs had map and compass functions, otherwise, they doubted they would be able to walk out of the forest.

There were trenches and foxholes left by the Army everywhere. Players would accidentally fall into the trenches from time to time, and occasionally, they would find some dead people who hadn't been eaten by jackals, hyenas, or rats...

Overall, players were not too affected by the blizzard.

Even if someone was in trouble occasionally, they could send a distress signal through the map function, and when nearby players saw it, most of them would eagerly rush over to help.

However, relative to the situation of players, native wastelanders weren’t doing so well.

Two of the tribesmen's wooden houses collapsed, as well as a cowshed.

Chu Guang released a mission, and asked Teng Teng, who often dealt with tribesmen, to send them two boxes of bandages, and asked players with experience in medical aid and veterinary to help the wounded and livestock.

As for the brick factory and the industrial area by the river, the situation was relatively good.

Since they were all brick-built houses, they were not affected much by the blizzard. Workers were staying in the factory, the temperature inside was much higher than outside, and the problem of keeping warm was not too big.

However, in Longevity Town, the situation was a bit tragic.

Although the "bubble houses" that the Pioneer helped build were doing fine, and some of the brick houses built later were all good, when arriving at the refugee camp at the east gate, what people saw was a complete mess.

The houses of the nomads were made of wood, and most of the houses were fairly resistant to blizzards.

But most of the shacks those refugees lived in were made of aluminum alloy plates and steel bars picked up from the wasteland. Not to mention the blizzard, even a slightly stronger gust would be able to blow them flying all over the place.

In the face of this sudden blizzard, the refugee camp was completely destroyed!

The entire camp seemed to have been razed to the ground!

"Is this our new home?" Looking at the messy camp in front of him, the man standing at the entrance of the camp had a lost expression on his frozen face.

All he could see were the remains of the shacks, garbage buried in snow, and the wounded lying on stretchers...

Standing behind the man was a group of villagers with large and small bags on their backs. They were from Winter Willow Camp, and many of them had just escaped from the marauders. Some of them were still wounded and their wounds only had simple bandage over them.

After an overnight break at the New United Gas Station, they were placed in the first group heading to Longevity Town.

However...

When they braved the blizzard and arrived with a longing for a new life, what they saw was a scene of complete destruction. It undoubtedly cast a haze on their longing for a new life.

"So where is the camp?"

"Maybe there isn't any to begin with..."

"I'm starting to miss my cabin, I just made it a fireplace... Dammit."

"Don't think about it, there is no going back there."

Just as the villagers from Winter Willow Camp were silently watching everything in front of them, shocked, the refugees standing in a messy camp were also looking at them.

Those eyes were mostly of suspicion. They were completely vigilant towards the group of newcomers.

In the past, although there were occasional new refugees coming to join them, never once were there so many people coming at once; there were more than a hundred people.

"Is the disaster so serious?"

"Bonechewer... Chaos is spreading."

"Oh, the big horned deer watching us, please bless us and provide us peace..."

Jiu Xun, who led his people to search and rescue his companions, frowned at the newly arrived refugees, turned, and returned to the camp to find his brother.

In the crowd, Ma Shan, who was shivering from the cold, opened and closed his lips that were trembling, his eyes full of despair.

"I told you... We should have fled south a long time ago. Now, it's hell everywhere. We have nowhere to go."

The soldier wearing the exoskeleton said that he would take him to see the administrator, but until now, except for the guards who came to ask him a few questions, there were no more updates.

Maybe the administrator didn't want to see him.

There was no hope in entering the shelter. Only despair remained in his heart.

Feeling the cold north wind slashing on his face like a knife, and many pairs of eyes staring at him from behind, Ma Li's Adam's Apple bobbed up and down, his neck frozen. "... Maybe, I'll go to the administrator."

After all, he represented Winter Willow Camp and agreed to transfer his people.

Hearing his son's words, Ma Zhanqiu slowly shook his head. "When everyone is suffering, no one will be able to help us."

No one was obliged to help them.

They were the only ones who could save themselves.

After a while of silence, he looked back at the villagers and shouted in a hoarse but still loud voice. "Looks like it's going to take a while for a warm blanket and hot soup."

"The wounded, the elderly, and the children can look after the luggage, and the others, follow me!"

"Our saviors are in trouble, we need to help them!"

Then the survivors of Winter Willow Camp joined the search and rescue effort.

Thanks to their participation, more people buried under the snow were soon brought out.

Many people were still breathing weakly, they were still alive, but they were suffering severe frostbite.

They were carried into makeshift trenches, where they could shelter from part of the wind and snow. And the guards also temporarily set up a rescue station in the trenches, so they could gather the wounded and treat everyone at the same time.

Because the truck broke down along the way, Chu Guang was delayed for a while, and he had to travel the second half of the journey to Longevity Town on foot.

After arriving at the town, he quickly found Luca, who was instructing the search and rescue work at the east gate.

It just so happened that the captain of the guard, Wrench, and Jiu Li, the head of the refugee camp, were also there.

Skipping the pleasantries, Chu Guang went straight to the point. "How is the situation?"

Luca looked solemn and said in a heavy tone. "Sir, the situation in the refugee camp is very serious, and almost all the shacks have been destroyed. I have arranged for the workers in Longevity Town to drop their work and go to support the search and rescue work. So far, 7 people have been confirmed dead and 21 are injured. There are two people who haven't been found... and the chances of finding them alive are very slim."

Chu Guang's mood sank slightly.

Jiu Li, who was standing beside him, followed closely. "Sir, the original camp is no longer habitable. I implore you to allow us to move into the town. We can assure you that we will not cause you any trouble."

Before Chu Guang opened his mouth, Wrench looked at Jiu Li and spoke for him. "Even if we let you move in, there will not be enough rooms for you to live in. The new houses are still under construction, so you will still have to sleep on the ground in the open space, which will not solve any problems."

Jiu Li said anxiously, "But at least the wall can block some of the freezing wind..."

"Don't be ridiculous?" Wrench shook his head and said, "The roof of our guardhouse was also blown away by the wind, and I just had someone get it back."

Jiu Li was reduced to silence for a while, and just when he wanted to say something again, Luca persuaded, "Wrench is telling the truth, and even if we let you all in, it won't make it any better."

Wrench was telling the truth, Longevity Town simply couldn't hold that many people.

The scale of the refugee camp had grown from 187 people at the beginning to nearly 300 people now. Together with the more than 100 villagers of Winter Willow Camp, the population might exceed 500.

There were only 200 single rooms in the dormitories left by the crew of the Pioneer before, and more than half of them had been rented by players in the Longevity Town and Elm District as a place to go offline. In terms of the other half, it was used for those who had found jobs in the Longevity Town,

The two refugee home apartments currently under construction had only a total of around 400 rooms. Even if construction of the third one started immediately, it would not be ready until the next spring at the earliest.

Allowing the people in was to treat the symptoms but not the root cause. It wouldn't solve any problems, but at most, it would give them some psychological comfort.

Chu Guang thought for a moment and looked at Wrench. "Do you have the map of the northern suburbs of Clearspring City with you? I mean, do you have a physical copy of the map?"

"Yes, sir." Wrench immediately took out a map from his pocket and handed it to Chu Guang.