Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 922: Chapter 347: Mirror Valley Council, Power Surge, Dajue Temple, Eight Battalion Tournament

As the first station in the Great Xia’s expansion, Mirror Valley holds a significant position.

It is the first transit point for Great Xia’s northward entry into Longyou. Anyone heading to any outpost in Longyou and opting for the direct route must pass through here. The personnel exchanges between Xia City and Longyou are not worth mentioning; any large-scale military movement toward Longyou inevitably goes through here.

“Like the other outposts, Mirror Valley hasn’t undergone much change these past few years. It’s still the same small basin around three to four kilometers in circumference. However, due to its frequent use as a military transit point, half of the area has been specially allocated for military camps.”

Not far from the southern exit of Mirror Valley, Xia Hong, accompanied by Xia Chuan, Yuwen Dao, and the other four army commanders, swiftly headed toward the garrison. Xia Chuan noticed his gaze fixed on a large cluster of buildings on the left side of the outpost and promptly explained.

So it’s been sectioned off as a military camp; no wonder everyone in the outpost is gathered on the right side with not a single person on the left.

Several hundred paces from the entrance, Xia Hong already saw more than twenty figures waiting at the entrance, smiling as he asked, “I remember the Mirror Valley Defense Commander is Li Longkai, right?”

Xia Chuan was momentarily taken aback, remembering that Xia Hong had been in seclusion for the last three years, and immediately smiled and explained, “That’s old news. Last year, Li Longkai was promoted to East Eighth District Camp Supply Deputy Military Preparation. The current Defense Envoy of Mirror Valley is Luo Ming!”

Xia Hong was moving at a steady pace, and before Xia Chuan could finish speaking, he had already clearly seen the appearances of the more than twenty people waiting outside the entrance, naturally recognizing the one at the forefront as Luo Ming.

“Mirror Valley Defense Commander Luo Ming, with the entire Luoyang Team, pays respects to the Lord, Minister, and the four commanders!”

“Paying respects to the Lord, Minister, and the four commanders!”

When Xia Hong reached the entrance, just five to six meters away from Luo Ming, he instinctively wanted to call out “Brother Luo,” but before he could speak, Luo Ming and the others had already bowed and greeted loudly.

Reflecting that calling him Brother Luo was indeed inappropriate now, Xia Hong shook his head lightly and chuckled, “From today on, there should finally be some strategies to deal with the beast tide in Arrow Bamboo Forest. Luo Ming, this post as Mirror Valley Defense Commander sees a glimmer of hope.”

Xia Hong knew that during Li Longkai’s tenure as the Defense Commander, the annual profits of Mirror Valley were consistently affected by the three annual beast tides, ranking very low.

The annual ranking of total profits from all outposts affects the performance reviews of the outpost officials, influencing their promotions and benefits. Naturally, these individuals would rack their brains to find solutions.

Mirror Valley, affected by the three annual beast tides, always had low profit rankings. Li Longkai experienced significant headaches while serving as the Defense Commander in previous years.

Since Luo Ming was newly appointed last year, he would likely be troubled by the same issue as Li Longkai, which is why Xia Hong teased him in this manner.

He didn’t notice that when he called out Luo Ming’s name, Luo Ming himself, along with the twenty-plus individuals behind him, became visibly excited.

“Defending a region to relieve worries for the Lord, I only know to do my best, striving to transport as much material to Xia City as possible. I dare not speak of any hopes!”

Luo Ming clearly did not expect Xia Hong to still remember him, and his voice carried a noticeable tremor.

Upon hearing such an official response, Xia Hong felt a bit bored, but considering the drastic difference in status between the two now, he understood Luo Ming’s mindset. Just as he was about to move on, he suddenly thought of something and asked with a smile, “I remember you have a son named Luo Cheng, with pretty good talent in spear techniques. He should be an adult by now, right? Is he at Mirror Valley?”

Upon hearing Xia Hong mention his son, Luo Cheng, Luo Ming became even more excited, temporarily forgetting to respond.

“What, isn’t he here?”

It wasn’t until Xia Hong asked a second time that Luo Ming came to his senses, hurriedly cupping his hands to answer, “I never expected the Lord to remember my child; my behavior was inappropriate. I beg the Lord’s pardon!”

Seeing Xia Hong gesturing dismissively, Luo Ming continued to answer, “My son will not turn fifteen until December, so he hasn’t undergone the coming-of-age ceremony. Last month, Lord Lu from East Ridge sent word that they needed five individuals under fifteen years old at the Earth-Digging Realm, and my son just fit the criteria, so he was selected and went over.”

Great Xia stipulates that adulthood is at fifteen. The so-called coming-of-age ceremony refers to the ability to wear the hair-binding crown, usually conducted within one’s family.

“East Ridge, what does Lu Yang need those under fifteen at the Earth-digging Realm for?”

Suddenly hearing news about East Ridge, Xia Hong immediately turned to look at Xia Chuan, saw him nodding to indicate he knew about it too, and quickly waved his hand, “Stop standing here; soon, it’ll stir up the people inside the outpost. Let’s head back to the military camp first!”

The Mirror Valley outpost still housed several thousand people, and if they found out he was here, they’d probably all rush out to show their respects.

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuan nodded and immediately followed Yuwen Dao and the other four behind him toward the military camp on the left side of the outpost. But after taking two steps, he remembered something and turned back to order Luo Ming:

“Luo Ming, dawn is almost here. The army should have finished handling the prey by now and will soon return. You can inform the people inside the outpost to start the fires so that when the army comes back, they can eat right away, and the prey they bring back, you can take over and send back to Xia City.”

“I’ve already prepared!”

The Military Department has regulations that wherever the army is stationed, the people of that outpost are responsible for the military’s meals and logistics transportation, something Luo Ming was clearly aware of. He promptly led his group to continue waiting at the entrance for the army’s return.

Mirror Valley Camp, within the council chamber.