"Sylvia insisted that I bring this new thing to you..."

"Something new?"

Cao Xing became interested, "Let me see it."

Ellie stretched out her little hand and handed over an ice sculpture shaped like a horn.

Cao Xing took it over

[Obtain: Ice Dragon Horn (Small) *1]

…

"Oh? This is the new material the system mentioned? What does it do?"

Cao Xing took a look at the properties of this thing.

[Ice Dragon Horn (Small): After using, you can actively summon the power of the dragon. In the next six hours, all ice nests within 30 kilometers of your territory will descend near your territory.]

[Note: To reward the user's bravery, you can choose to increase the chance of dropping the Ice Dragon Mark, or choose to increase the experience gained from killing Ice Nest Monsters.]

[Option ①: You can choose to increase the explosion rate of Ice Dragon Mark and Glacial Shard by 100%, and reduce the kill experience value by 80%. ]

[Option 2: You can choose to increase the experience points for killing Icebrood monsters by 50% and reduce the drop rate of Ice Dragon Mark and Glacial Shard by 80%]

…

After reading the notes on the materials, Cao Xing was suddenly shocked!

"Oh my god... this thing can actually summon an ice nest thirty kilometers away to land in my territory."

"You can also choose to increase the drop rate of materials or increase experience points. Isn't this too humane?"

Cao Xing thought for a moment and quickly understood the reason why this prop appeared.

"I see. After the official period begins, the survivors have to fight against the Ice Nest while collecting resources. They have no time to develop."

"If this continues, the billions of survivors will be dying slowly, because their development speed cannot keep up with the upgrade of the Ice Nest."

"And in each region, there should be one or two, or several relatively powerful ones!"

"At this time, they can choose to attract all the ice nests near their territory."

"This way, other survivors will have less pressure and more time to gather resources and develop their territory."

"Similarly, these warriors gained a lot of experience and items by killing the Ice Nest, which is a win-win situation!"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing nodded secretly.

Then he thought, "How about trying it out?"

"According to the proportion, my territory is thirty kilometers in radius, or sixty kilometers in diameter, which means there are about twenty to thirty territories."

"That is to say, if I use this mark, dozens of ice nests will fall near my territory every hour for the next six hours."

"The pressure is still very high, which is equivalent to increasing the difficulty of defense by 20 to 30 times."

Cao Xing weighed it over and then calculated his own strength.

Finally, he came to the conclusion that he could definitely hold off so many Ice Nest monsters.

Cao Xing nodded, "You can give it a try. Whether it's experience or the Ice Dragon Mark, they are both urgently needed for me."

"Of course, not yet. Da Zhuang and his team are still out there gathering resources."

"If I use this Ice Dragon Horn, a large number of ice nests will fall and crush my polar people to death. That will be great fun!"

Thinking of this, Cao Xing decided to use it at night, when it would be dark.

At the same time.

After a morning of fighting.

Blot, Assam and others have already captured all the resource points within a five-kilometer area.

The leader Cao Yi also laid the railroad tracks.

All eight resource points are connected to the [Ore Processing Plant] and [Lumber Mill] in the territory.

Cao Xing stood on the city wall.

Looking at the snow outside the territory, there were suddenly several railroad tracks connecting the territory.

Dozens of mine carts are moving back and forth, loaded with various stones, coal, iron and other metals.

Wood can also be transported using a minecart.

In Cao Xing's territory, the ore processing plant and logging camp also began to work at full capacity.

“Buzz buzz buzz!”

There was a constant sound of sawing wood and falling stones.

Although it seems a bit noisy.

But when Cao Xing saw that the resources in his territory were growing at a gratifying rate, these emotions disappeared without a trace in an instant.

Wood +6

Wood +7

[Stone +6]

[Stone +3]

[Iron+5]

[Copper +3]

【……】

"Very good. At this rate, not counting iron and coal, I can collect about 13 pieces of wood and 9 pieces of stone in one minute."

"And then, we can mine for at least ten hours a day."

"That means I can collect thousands of pieces of wood and stone every day!"

This efficiency is far beyond the reach of other survivors!

And this is the benefit of mechanized mining.

At the same time, the polar man Duan also came over with a happy face and said, "Lord, the small communication device you ordered is ready."

"Due to time constraints, we only had time to build nine."

After hearing this, Cao Xing showed joy on his face.

In this way, he could send Assam and others out to kill all the monsters near the territory.

Da Zhuang and others can also mine resources more safely.

【Obtained: Small communication device*9】

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Duan, well done."

"Now, go make some more electronic components and install a magical water purification device in our room."

"As you command! Respected Lord!"

Then Duan just left.

…

After finishing the battle, Assam and Andrew also walked back from outside the snow.

They came to Cao Xing and said respectfully, "Thank you for fulfilling your mission, Lord. We have cleared all the monsters and beasts in the resource points."

"We brought back the bodies of those beasts."

Cao Xing took a look.

Behind Assam and Andrew were the four bodies they had dragged back.

There are snow wolves that are nearly three meters long, and wild boars with manes covered with steel-like bristles.

Cao Xing nodded, then clicked "decompose" directly.

【Decomposition successful.】

[Obtained: Damaged Wolf Skin (Green) *1]

[Obtain: Fresh wolf meat*64]

[Obtain: Wolf Bone (Green) * 31]

[Obtain: Wolf Fang (Green) * 8]

…

[Obtained: Damaged Wild Boar Skin (Green) *3]

[Obtain: Fresh wild boar*189]

[Obtained: Wild Boar Bone (Green) * 173]

[Obtain: Wild Boar Tusk (Green)*6]

…

Cao Xing said with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad, another wave of meat has been replenished. These bones and teeth can be used to make light armor and arrows."

Assam continued to report: "We also left an Imperial soldier or centaur at each resource point to protect our companions while they mined resources."

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction, "Well done, Assam."

"Now, you two take a break, and then go outside the territory to deal with those ice nests."

Assam and Andrew looked at each other, then nodded and said, "As you command, Lord."

Time flies, and five hours have passed.

Just as Cao Xing expected, the frequency of ice nests now is about one per hour.

Moreover, because of Cao Xing's order, his men did not destroy the ice nest immediately after seeing it appear.

Instead, wait until all 500 monsters are hatched before destroying the ice nest.

In this way, these ice nests became Cao Xing's tools for killing monsters.

Contributed a lot of experience points to him.

At the same time, a white light appeared on Cao Xing's body again.

A system prompt has appeared.

[Your level has been upgraded, current level: Level 15]

[Attributes gained from this upgrade: Strength +4, Agility +2, Spirit +7, Constitution +5]

…

He felt himself getting stronger again.

"It feels great to level up like this. Most importantly, my physique has been strengthened!"

"That way, the situation at night won't happen again."

There was joy in Cao Xing's eyes.

"Oh, by the way, I have a gold ring in my backpack. The required level is 15, and I can equip it now!"

The next moment, a gorgeous ring engraved with exquisite patterns appeared in Cao Xing's hand.

He put it on directly.

At this moment, Cao Xing's physical and mental fitness were greatly improved again!

I looked at my own attributes.

【Name: Cao Xing】

[Race: Blue Star Human Race]

[Level: Level 15 144/50000 (Second Level)]

【Detailed properties: Click to view. 】

…

"Turtle, you won't know until you see it. It's really scary!"

His spiritual attribute reaches 177 points!

If you wear that [Ranger Priest Mask], it will be 187 points of spirit!

What is the concept?

Ice Healing can restore 150 health points per second, plus the bonus of [Holy Ring of the Kingdom].

He is now casting [Ice Healing], which is equivalent to restoring 225 points of life per second!

13,500 health points can be restored in one minute!

Even Sarah now can restore her health to full in two minutes.

"It's really horrible!"

Not only that, as Cao Xing's attributes increase, Ice Armor can also increase an additional 112 points of armor!

With these two skills alone, any level 1 soldier can challenge enemies six or seven levels higher!

"That's awesome! Hahaha!"

Cao Xing was very excited.

"The next step is to wait until dark, call back all the people in the territory, and then use the Ice Dragon Horn."

Cao Xing glanced at the countdown above his head.

【Distance from nightfall: 0:52.】

【Current temperature: -17℃】

…

Night is falling.

However, what worries Cao Xing is that Renis has not returned for such a long time.

You know, with Renis's current movement speed as a level 18 boss creature, plus Hilda's Queen's Will.

She can even move at a speed of 70 to 80 kilometers per hour.

Even if Cao Xing asked her to go somewhere far away, she should have come back.

Thinking of this, he felt a little worried.

However, the only thing that made Cao Xing feel at ease was that there was no sign of Renis being attacked on the battle list.

As the sky grew darker.

Under Cao Xing's gaze.

A figure appeared in the snow and moved towards the territory at a high speed.

After getting closer, Cao Xing saw the other person clearly, and joy suddenly appeared in his eyes.

It was Renes.

He quickly opened the city gate and came to Rhaenys's side.

In order to complete the task assigned by Cao Xing today, this woman traveled nearly 400 kilometers back and forth.

Finally got back before dark.

Cao Xing said, "Thank you for your hard work, Renis."

The slender archer shook his head. "It's okay. This is what I should do."

Then, Renis began to report: "Today, I went to the area according to the location mentioned by the lord and observed it. I indeed found a huge and deep forest."

"But I didn't go in because I felt a threatening aura in that forest."

"So, I searched the area nearby and found a village about ten kilometers away from the forest."

"From the villagers, I learned that the name of this forest is the Witch Forest. It is said that deep in the forest, there lives a powerful witch."

Hearing the latter sentence, Cao Xing's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Witch?"

Renée nodded and said, "Yes, they also told me a story."

"Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a witch who lived in seclusion in the royal city. She had a strong talent for making medicine, and the medicine she made even saved the dying king."

"Her fame soon spread to half of the Western Continent."

"After hearing about this witch, nobles who were suffering from hidden diseases or difficult illnesses traveled thousands of miles to the Ice Crystal Kingdom, and were even willing to spend a huge amount of money just to have this witch make medicine for them."

"Gradually, they found that many people were missing near the witch's residence."

"From commoners to merchants, from nobles to the royal family..."

"In just a few years, the number of people missing near the witch's residence has reached thousands."

"This matter gradually attracted the attention of the king."

"It was not until he ordered the army to search the witch's house that the witch's secret was uncovered."

"Then, the soldiers found a large number of corpses in the basement. They were alive!"

"They were horrified to discover that the witch was using these people's bodies to conduct some kind of horrific experiment!"

Having said this, Renis paused for a moment.

Cao Xing asked, "What happened next?"

"Later, the witch was rounded up and hunted by the army, and she fled into a forest."

"She also disappeared along with the soldiers who were chasing her, and never came out again."

"This is the legend of that forest..."

"However, many villagers told me that the legend is false and there are no witches in that forest because they haven't seen any witches in that forest for hundreds of years."

"So, I'm not sure about the truth of this matter..."

Cao Xing nodded and thought about it and realized it was within his expectations.

For ordinary people, a few decades may be their entire life.

The strong people in this world all have long lives.

Even if such a powerful witch really existed, she would gradually fade out of sight after not appearing for hundreds of years.

The original story has probably changed after being passed down through generations.

Therefore, we can only ask those who experienced that era firsthand what the truth was.

But this also aroused Cao Xing's interest.

He nodded and said, "I understand, Renis. Now, go back and rest."

Renee didn't say anything, but looked at Cao Xing with a repressive look, as if she wanted to say something but stopped.

Cao Xing noticed her condition and asked, "What's wrong, Renis?"

“I…I…”

Renée tried to speak several times, but she still didn't seem to have the courage.

Then he glared at Cao Xing with a reproachful look, turned around and left.

Cao Xing was a little confused.

He shook his head, putting these thoughts behind him.

At this time, he looked at the sky.

As night fell, except for his own territory, the outside world was completely shrouded in darkness.

Although the people can continue to mine resources at night, Cao Xing now has more important things to do.

So he ordered: "Assam, Andrew, go and bring back all our subjects!"

The two loyal subordinates completely obeyed all of Cao Xing's orders.

They immediately headed outside the territory without hesitation.

After a while, the people returned to the territory like ants returning to their nests.

Cao Xing announced: "Everyone, go eat and recover your strength."

"Attention all combatants, there may be a tough battle tonight, so be prepared for battle."

Hearing this, everyone's expression froze!

They all knew how powerful Cao Xing was.

Even he said it was a tough battle, which shows that the battle tonight was indeed very difficult.

Seeing their serious expressions, Cao Xing smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. Believe in our strength, we can stop all enemies from entering our territory."

"Stay in the territory, you will be absolutely safe."

Asam was the first to respond: "My sword will cut off all those who attempt to invade our territory!"

Braum also raised his shield and said excitedly, "Ahaha! No matter what kind of enemies they are, let them come over. Braum will swat them all away one by one!"

Andrew and other fighters all responded, showing great confidence.

Their strong self-confidence also infected the other citizens, and smiles appeared on their faces again.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Go ahead. When you're done eating, gather here."

"As you command, Lord!"

Then, everyone entered the cafeteria.

After all the subjects left, Liu Muxue came to Cao Xing.

There was concern in her bright eyes.

"Axing, what happened to you last night?"

Cao Xing smiled and said, "Don't worry, we are just dealing with some ice nest monsters."

Then, he explained the effects of the Ice Dragon Horn.

After Liu Muxue heard this, the worry in her eyes gradually disappeared.

Then, she also realized the role of the Ice Dragon Horn. If used well, it could bring them huge benefits.

Liu Muxue smiled gently, raised her golden shield and said, "I'll go with you too!"

Cao Xing also smiled and nodded.

"good."

…

At the same time, the people heard that there would be a battle in the evening, so they ate much faster.

Cao Xing also took out a secret-made rabbit from his backpack and started to eat it with Liu Muxue.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill.

In the open space below the city wall, everyone gathered together.

Assam, Andrew and others are ready for battle.

Elisa and the other imperial soldiers were also checking their weapons and arrows.

As for the group of people, they stood aside with serious expressions.

Everyone is ready, waiting for the battle to begin!

…

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