Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 924: Chapter 347: Mirror Valley Council, Power Surge, Dajue Temple, Eight Battalion Tournament (Part 3)

Every time a new division of the army is established at the camp, it means a massive investment of valuable resources, and the subsequent consumption will be continuous.

Although the army is more efficient than the Hunting Team in hunting Cold Beasts, considering they only need to remit half of their loot, it’s somewhat a loss.

Furthermore, there aren’t enough beast tides within the territory for the army to hunt!

Artificially inducing beast tides using small torches is meant for training soldiers, not for capturing prey. Additionally, every training session results in personnel and weapon losses, and it’s not a guaranteed win. For safety reasons, we can’t do this recklessly.

Thus, under the current circumstances of the Great Xia without wars and without expansion, the unrestricted increase of military forces will indeed cause a significant resource burden, especially now that the population has exceeded 800,000. Not to mention precious cultivation resources like Beast Blood Jade Bone, even Beast Meat is gradually becoming tight.

"The beast tide at the Arrow Bamboo Forest will still come every four months. From your performance today, this beast tide might not be a bad thing; it can somewhat ease the camp’s resource issues."

Hearing Xia Hong’s words, Xia Chuan, Yuwen Dao, and the other four people were all stunned.

Even after the beast tide was suppressed today, it will still come in the future?

Remembering that the six people did not know the cause of the beast tide, Xia Hong immediately explained once again.

The beast tide wasn’t attracted by something in the Arrow Bamboo Forest, but was scared out by something within the Redwood Ridge. Hearing Xia Hong’s explanation, Xia Chuan and the others’ expressions immediately froze.

To consistently scare out such a large-scale beast tide, with even a Beast King among them, the power of the thing in the Redwood Ridge must be terrifying!

Seeing their expressions, Xia Hong slightly waved his hand and said, "No need to worry. This beast tide has persisted for so many years without any otherworldly creatures appearing, which proves that it’s not related to us in the short term. Perhaps it’s a plant that restrains Cold Beasts and matures every four months? Since there is no actual threat to us, there is no need to worry.

Since the army has the strength to handle the beast tide, the once-every-four-month beast tide is a good opportunity for us to fill the treasury. This can be considered as turning a bad situation into a good one after our strength has improved!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the six people gradually calmed down.

In particular, Xia Chuan nodded heavily. What Xia Hong mentioned now coincided exactly with his thoughts as he just led the army to slaughter Cold Beasts in the Arrow Bamboo Forest.

"Moreover, since I have emerged from my retreat, and the benefits brought by the Three Pavilions have been digested to a large extent, and the development speed of the three major resource areas has stabilized, it is time to consider expanding externally..."

At this point, Xia Hong paused for a moment in thought.

The six people below were all excited when they heard this.

"Xia Chuan, upon your return to Xia City, you can start expanding the army and establish three more divisions, bringing the total to 10,000 soldiers."

"I obey!"

Xia Chuan immediately clasped his hands in assent, filled with excitement.

"By the way, in these three years, have any new Silver Mines been found?"

Hearing Xia Hong inquire about the Silver Mine, Xia Chuan first showed a look of concern on his face, but then quickly reacted, his expression changing from worry to delight, "In these three years, three Silver Mines have been discovered, one at Beimang Mountain and two at Long Mountain."

The Silver Mine on the North Slope of the mountain wall was already exhausted by last February.

Of course, just because it’s been mined out doesn’t mean the camp has no silver left.

The total extraction from the Silver Mine on the North Slope amounted to 63,500 tons, which converts to 25.4 million points of system silver resources. Xia Hong had already used a considerable amount in the previous years for upgrading buildings, and considering the daily consumption, as well as the usual consumption by the Craftsmen Department and the camp, what remains is indeed not much.

"As of last month, the Camp Supply Department’s total silver inventory was 8,920 tons. To minimize losses, last year Qiu Peng already raised the silver price to 120 points of contribution value per pound. Yet even so, at the beginning of each year, all Cold Resistance Level would exchange their quota in no time. If no new Silver Mines are found, I reckon this remaining stock won’t last more than two years, possibly not even two."

[Resources: wood 1,892.6 million, coal 4,862.2 million, iron 2,762.5 million, silver 2.31 million]

After hearing Xia Chuan’s statement, Xia Hong glanced at the system’s silver resources and shook his head.

The 2.31 million points of silver resources he had were already converted and thus not counted in the Camp Supply Department’s inventory.

The 63,500 tons of Silver Mine sounds like a lot but it’s actually far from sufficient.

Silver can be used to forge weapons, and it can also be used in alchemy. Most importantly, it’s used to ward off malevolent spirits, and due to this property, it’s practically the universal currency for all camps in the Ice Abyss. As Great Xia now grows increasingly connected to more regions being explored, many with Cold Resistance Level personnel carry at least a small amount.

Leaving aside the system building upgrades and daily consumption, just the usual demand from those at the Cold Resistance Level in Great Xia is incredibly high.

The Camp Supply Department currently sets the annual exchange limit for each at Cold Resistance Level at one thousand pounds. With Great Xia now having over five thousand of such individuals, let alone those at the entry level for officials with higher limits, at a thousand pounds each, that’s five million pounds a year, converting to 2,500 tons.

Including the regular consumption from Alchemy Pavilion and Artifact Refining Pavilion’s daily research, the 8,920 tons really won’t last three years, and if we consider the wear and tear on buildings, the time becomes shorter.

"No matter!"

Xia Hong briefly cast off his distressed look and waved his hand, "With the three newly discovered, plus the previous four, we now have seven Silver Mines with known locations. With my emergence from seclusion, Silver Mine will no longer be a problem."