A sudden gust of wind swept through the wilderness, kicking up a large area of sand and fallen leaves, and also lifting the corner of the thick tarpaulin that covered the heavy truck, and a car escort stepped forward to pull the loose rope and vigorously tied the lifted tarpaulin back to the side of the truck, while looking up at the clear and vast sky.

The sky was so clear that nothing could be seen except a few sparse clouds.

"Strange ......," the escort muttered, puzzled by the inexplicable palpitations of his heart just now.

The loud voice of the transport captain came from afar: "Car No. 3!" ”

The escort shook his head, threw some stories of the Winter Spirits and Plains Monsters out of his mind, and responded in the same loud voice: "Car No. 3 is ready!" Chief! ”

"Car Four!" "Car No. 4 is ready!" "Car No. 5 ......"

The mechanics in charge of driving the vehicle got into the driver's seat high in the front of the car, and the driver and co-pilot also boarded the car one after another, the humming of the power ridge charging brought a reassuring feeling, and the voice of the team commander came from outside: "Check the condition of your vehicles, this is not a short journey, the Holy Spirit Plain is free!"

"The Gorgon River shipping has stopped, and we are the only transportation route this winter.

"Let's go! The compatriots on the plains are still waiting for these food and medicines! ”

The magic engine made a low roar, the gears and levers rotated and rubbed under the power of the machinery, and the heavy large magic guide cars gradually accelerated, and on the vast winter wilderness, the man-made steel behemoth roared, loaded with the materials urgently needed by the reconstruction area of the Holy Spirit Plains, and smeared a black trail on the vast land, and the trajectory pointed far to the north......

In the plains, the Gorgon River, the dry season arrived as scheduled, and the drop in the water level of the river made it difficult and dangerous for large ships to navigate.

In the old days, this meant that all those who begged for a living on the river would go into "hibernation" like the peasants on the plains, and all but a few brave men would obediently return to their shacks by the river, snuggle up to their families, light a warm fire, rely on the food they had stockpiled, and wait quietly for the end of winter, both for ordinary sailors and for the ship-owners.

But this year's situation is slightly different from previous years.

A team known as the "Joint Reconstruction Regiment" came to the plains from the side of the Rock Fortress, and this team set up camps in the scorched East Whitsunday Plains and began the rebuilding work in full swing, shouting the slogan "Take back the land from the jackals and winter", and with a certain incomprehensible enthusiasm, they were trying to revitalize the land.

Winter, which had nothing to do, suddenly became lively.

Dürin, the boatman, jumped off the raft with his two sons, and the workers who were waiting on the shore immediately stepped forward and skillfully dragged the raft with hooks and ropes to the shore, and more people rushed up to untie the ropes that bound the raft and dragged the logs that made up the raft to the shore to be sent to the camp not far away.

The Whitewater River has been closed, but the course is not completely frozen, and although the big ships are no longer able to sail, small rafts and boats can still navigate the shallower waters, and Durin, a native who lives on the Gorgon River, was hired by the Joint Reconstruction Team to help transport the logs cut down upstream to the camp area downstream—using the ancestral art of raft tying and the courage and experience honed over the years of begging for food between the reefs.

The man, who had been floating on the Gorgon River for half his life, craned his neck and watched as the men in gray-blue winter clothes busted between the shallows and the high ground on the shore, in this freezing winter, on days that were not suitable for work.

He couldn't comprehend what was happening in front of him, because nothing like that had ever happened before.

He didn't intend to get too involved in these people's affairs, because he was an honest "river people", and those who came out of the Rock Fortress carried the royal flag and the army escorted them.

But he still cranes his neck and spends a long time looking at the southerners who seem to be not afraid of the cold, and the natives who are said to have lived in the eastern part of the plains of the Holy Spirit.

It is said that the natives who had escaped during the previous war and had been hiding in the cities and towns to the south, and now they had returned with the southerners with the intention of rebuilding their homes.

Doolin didn't see any faces he knew from the "natives" - most of them were dead.

Durin looked at the people in the shallows and on the riverbank, for he was somewhat envious of their thick winter clothes, and the aroma wafting from them when they made a fire on the riverbank—those winter clothes had no patches, apparently new clothes, and the occasional smell of meat wafted from them when they cooked—they had meat to eat every week.

In this winter, Durin's life is actually much better than in previous years - originally he planned to spend a difficult winter, because of that terrible war, because of those terrible monsters, the fertile fields on the east bank were destroyed, the villages and towns were also destroyed, the nobles and lords died, ran away, the merchants also fled in all directions, and the "river people" who relied on transporting goods for the nobles and merchants to survive were cut off half of their livelihoods, everyone thought that the next days would be extremely difficult, but what they didn't expect was that The southerners returned to the land they had burned down with their rumbling machines.

The Joint Reconstruction Mission (JREU) has brought unexpected jobs, or a chance to survive, to the rivermen, sailors and captains on the Gorgon River as they prepare for the winter.

Doolin was grateful for the generosity of these outsiders, and was quite willing to trade his craft and experience for the whole family for winter rations, but ...... He still had some envy of the fresh, neat winter clothes, and the meat stewed in the cauldrons on the banks of the river.

A tall thin man in a gray-blue cotton robe walked past and stopped in front of Durin: "Citizen—today's share is complete, you can go to the camp at any time to receive your salary." ”

This is a "government officer" from the south, and his identity is indicated by a special armband and a badge on the front of his shirt.

Duhrin woke up from his wandering mind and quickly lowered his head in front of the "big man": "Okay, sir, I'll go ...... soon"

The government office official wearing the armband laughed: "To be honest, you really don't consider signing up?" We're even more short of people to the north, and we're recruiting experienced rivermen, so if you join the Reconstruction Mission, you can go to the camp in the north to help. ”

Durin immediately showed a humble smile: "I...... Forget it, I have a wife and children at home...... The youngest daughter is just over three years old......"

"Actually, you can bring your family along...... But it doesn't matter, it's all voluntary, and when you want to sign up, just come to me at any time. ”

Du Lin nodded hurriedly, "Yes, sir, thank you very much." ”

When meeting an official of the Government Department, he should address the other person as Mr./Ma'am, not as an adult or lord, which was a rule that Durin had learned after many interactions with these self-proclaimed "junior officials of the Joint Reconstruction Corps", and although he didn't know why anyone would not like a more honorable title, he did his best to obey the other party's request.

"You're welcome," the young government official waved his hand, "it's getting late, get paid and go back—be careful on the road, citizen." ”

"Yes, sir."

Durin and his two sons turned around and walked away briskly, and the tall, thin government officials shook their heads with a smile as they watched the three of them leave.

A young man in a black winter coat walked by, stopped behind the government official, and said casually: "Actually, you don't need to call them citizens - they don't understand them when they come, and the word 'citizen' is still some distance away from them." ”

"I like the word 'citizen,' and I like to talk and hear it," the government department official said, glancing at the young man in a black winter suit, "Is Secretary Norris still outside?" ”

"Yes, he's checking the soil to the north."

“…… We weren't able to open enough arable land before it froze, and everything had to be made up next spring, and there was a sense of urgency for everyone, but Minister Norris's health was no longer healthy after all," the young government department official sighed, "It would be nice if the snow could be delayed for a week this winter......

"Yes...... "The young man in the black winter coat frowned, looking at the north side of the camp with a slightly worried gaze.

The banners of the Cecil Empire fluttered in the cold wind, the makeshift wooden walls of the camp were painted with huge letters - "Take back the land from the jackals and winter", the craftsmen and the folk were busy in an orderly manner, reinforcing the camp's windbreak walls and wooden houses, preparing a warehouse for the new supplies to come, soldiers patrolling the camp vigilantly to guard against the hungry beasts of the wilderness and the possible crystalline monsters that had escaped the purification sweep, The Minister of Agriculture, Norris, and his assistants stood on high ground near the northern gates, staring at the frozen expanse of land.

In winter, snow falls, and it freezes.

Mankind has trekked, rebuilt, and cultivated this scorched earth with flesh and blood, but the great power of nature is not in the slightest mercy because of the bravery and industriousness of man, and it works more coldly than machines, raining and snowing according to the law, freezing the land according to the law, neither delaying nor forgiving.

"Less than 30% of the land in this area has been reclaimed...... The winter in the Holy Spirit Plain is half a month longer than in the south, and more than half of the reserve fields will definitely miss the spring ploughing at the beginning of next year," Norris said in a low voice, "We are spending the grain ...... that we have managed to raise in the west."

"But at least a few camps have taken hold, the makeshift roads have been built, the minister," said one of the aides, "as long as these camps stand up in the winter, we will be able to clear the land as soon as the thaw thaws next spring, and at most we will miss a season of food ......"

Norris sighed, "You can only think in the best direction of everything...... Ahem......"

He coughed violently.

The air flow through his trachea, tearing at the lungs damaged by the typhoid fever in his early years, he felt the cold air seem to pour into his internal organs, dissolving the little strength left in this body little by little, but before the violent cough caused an imbalance, two pairs of young hands reached out from the side in time to hold the crumbling Minister of Agriculture.

"Minister," exclaimed a young official nervously, "are you alright?" ”

"I'm fine," Norris finally relented, he reached into his arms, took out a small metal potion bottle, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip of the slightly bitter potion inside, the warm feeling spread in his body, making his words a little more energetic, "Alas, after all, I am old, and the cold wind of the Holy Spirit Plains is not very kind to me. ”

Pitman's special rejuvenating potions replenished Norris's strength, but he could still feel his internal organs steadily declining - alchemical potions and druid spells might make an old man feel better, but the deep damage caused by aging cannot be reversed by man.

He put away the remaining half of the potion or so, and couldn't help but smile as he looked at the young faces around him who showed worried, nervous, and concerned looks.

"Let's go back."

Norris shook off the hands that were holding him, turned in the direction of the camp, and walked slowly forward.

He walked into the camp and walked to his barracks.

Those working to rebuild their homes are busy on both sides of the road.

Wizards from the South are debugging a magical obelisk, and a magical crystal device is slowly spinning in the cold wind.

Craftsmen are measuring the foundations of a vacant lot in preparation for the construction of a warehouse.

Several men were sawing through a huge piece of wood, and the man holding the saw was vaguely familiar...... He was a refugee who had been helped by the investigation team, and his most valuable possessions were a small cart full of tatters.

His wife was not far away, stirring the food in a large pot with a long-handled spoon, and beckoning the men in a loud voice to get ready to call it a day and prepare for dinner.

The "precious" trolley turned out to be there, and instead of being discarded, it was parked in the open space next to it, piled with potatoes and turnips pulled out of the warehouse.

Norris remembered that he had a similar-looking cart back then—and he pushed it all the way from Old Cecil to the Dark Mountains.

The cart had been burned as firewood in the first winter, and the land next to the Dark Mountains had become an amazing place.

Norris's back straightened slightly.

He's not done yet.

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