Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1157: Chapter 395: Changing Strategy, Extending an Olive Branch and Maintaining Pride (Part 2)

"That’s right, the competition ends on the first of December, and it’s already the tenth of September. Half of the competition is over, so we must speed up."

"Coming to the wilderness is itself an adventure. If you’re afraid of danger, why come here at all?"

......

Hearing Luo An and the others’ responses, Xiao Hen seemed to have made up his mind, nodding with a deep voice: "Alright, since none of you are afraid of danger, let’s be more aggressive with our team. Every night, we will explore three kilometers into the area. As for the Cold Beasts we encounter along the way, try not to disturb them if possible; if there’s no other way, we won’t follow my previous method of handling them. Just hunt them head-on, using the most time-efficient method, trying to leave as much time for exploration!"

Their main task was exploration, not hunting.

In some ways, exploration is even more troublesome than hunting.

Hunting only requires finding and killing a target within a defined area; exploration’s main aim is to open up unfamiliar areas and understand the terrain, vegetation, climate, environmental characteristics, and the general distribution and habits of Cold Beasts within a new area, comprehensively.

Moreover, the unknown often signifies danger, coupled with the unfamiliar Cold Beast species in the Moao Mountain area, it’s all unfamiliar to the people of Great Xia. So usually, the participating teams establish a distance target for the exploration each night.

Previously, Xiao Hen set a target for his team to explore one kilometer as deep as possible each night. But from early August until now, the total exploration progress was only 21 kilometers, meaning they rarely met the target and usually only managed to move about 500 meters deeper each night on average.

There are reasons for this!

Firstly, Xiao Hen likes to plan and then act. Whenever arriving at a new place, he has the members gather to confirm there is no danger in the area before beginning the exploration work;

Secondly, his style is rather cautious. When encountering Cold Beasts blocking the path, like the Rock Armor Bear just now, to ensure no accidents among team members, he adopts the labor-saving and safe hunting methods, which ensures safety but wastes lots of time.

The fact that Xiao Hen voiced these thoughts now clearly indicates he’s ready to change many of his previous team-leading habits, and upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up.

"We need to be more aggressive!"

"Being six or seven kilometers behind, if we don’t catch up, how can we secure a good ranking?"

"That’s more like it!"

"With the strength of our sixteen members, unless we encounter Advanced Cold Beasts, there generally shouldn’t be any danger."

"Now that’s the spirit of a captain."

......

Seeing everyone’s satisfied expressions, Xiao Hen waved his hand slightly. He didn’t know whether his approach was right, but considering the opinions of the members and resolving team conflicts is something he, as the captain, must do.

"Alright, since you all agree, from now on, let’s split into three smaller teams. Luo An, Luo Cheng, Lu Dong, Zou Ping, Liu Peng, and I will form the front group. The remaining ten will be divided into two teams led by Xiao Lin and Xiao Jing. Xiao Lin leads the middle, Xiao Jing the rear. We’ll explore as fast as possible, and report any issues by whistle immediately."

"Okay!"

The group immediately agreed heartily.

Xiao Lin and Xiao Jing are about the same age as Xiao Hen, with a basic strength of eighty-two thousand and eighty-five thousand respectively. They are naturally just second in strength to Xiao Hen in the team, so no one objected to them leading.

The sixteen members quickly divided into three teams, forming a 6-5-5 formation and began cautiously exploring deeper into the eastern Snow Forest.

Unlike before, Xiao Hen boldly led the exploration without requiring everyone to gather during the move, increasing the speed of exploration significantly.

Those who mapped, mapped; those who recorded, recorded; those who surveyed, surveyed—within just over three hours, the small teams explored more than a kilometer, without disturbing those Cold Beasts sleeping on the trees along the way.

Everyone was immediately in high spirits.

This warm atmosphere even made Luo An and the others view Xiao Hen much more favorably.

"Brother Xiao, what’s your basic strength now?"

Upon hearing Luo An’s low inquiry, Xiao Hen’s face showed surprise.

Even though they’ve been teamed up for over a month, there hasn’t been much chatting among them, and this was the first time Luo An had actively tried to talk to him.

"Ninety-three thousand pounds."

Upon hearing Xiao Hen’s answer, Luo An’s face immediately showed surprise.

He knew Xiao Hen’s strength was definitely superior to his, but had assumed his basic strength was at most over eighty thousand pounds, indicating only an Intermediate Battle Body talent.

Ninety-three thousand pounds, just seven thousand pounds short of the Superior Battle Body threshold.

"Brother Xiao, are you aiming for the Superior Battle Body?"

Luo An couldn’t help but ask another question out of curiosity.

At the Peak of Earth-digging Realm, one can somewhat perceive their Skin Remodeling Progress. Though there might be discrepancies, the general sense would not be far off, so without external help, as time progresses, everyone has a rough idea of their Battle Body talent.

This question is rather private, and if it were a stranger asking, Xiao Hen would definitely ignore them. But seeing that Luo An bore no ill intentions, he answered after a moment of thought, "I think so, I feel it’s possible."

Superior Battle Body!

Luo An’s expression hardened slightly, and he began to hold Xiao Hen in higher regard.