Black clouds were closing in on the city, a cold wind was blowing, raising waves of yellow smoke and thick fog, and there was a faint smell of frost and snow in the air...
"call"
Hexagonal rhombus-shaped snowflakes were falling one after another, and misty clouds and mist enveloped the entire Yong City, making it misty and desolate.
Yongcheng is located in the extreme south of the Celestial Empire. The weather has always been hot and humid. Even in winter, it rarely snows. Even if it does snow, it is only very fine and light snow. Has there ever been such a heavy snow as today
There is already snow almost as deep as knees on the ground. The whole world is white, like a sea of frost and snow. The white snow shines on the sky and the earth, and it is covered in silver. Now Yongcheng is like a castle in an ice and snow empire. .
"Old Wang, you are wearing too few clothes. Look how you are frozen."
"Hey, I know it's cold... but I've already put on all the clothes I can wear... Actually, it's okay. If I work more, my body will naturally warm up, hehe."
The middle-aged man named Lao Wang smiled honestly, showing his white teeth. He was blowing out thick white smoke as he spoke. His hair was covered with white frost, and his rough cheeks had already been frozen with fine lines. crack.
He was wearing seven or eight pieces of thick clothes, wrapping himself up like a big fat man. However, these clothes were all dirty and shabby, and they looked like they had no thermal insulation effect. So he wore so many clothes. Still know how to tremble all over.
"This weather... is extremely cold. It must be 30 or 40 degrees below zero, right? ***... This kind of temperature is not unusual in the north, but the air in our south is humid. When it gets cold, it's like being soaked in ice. Water, last night I was hiding in bed and woke up from the cold in the middle of the night... "
Another middle-aged strong man folded his arms, his teeth chattering. He wore an old thick military scarf around his neck and a peaked cap on his head... It's funny to wear a peaked cap on such a cold day. In fact, he I also want to wear a warm hat, but there is a shortage of supplies in Yongcheng. Many warm clothes are not enough.
"Tsk, tsk, the weather is getting more and more unusual... Not to mention that I haven't seen the sun for several months, and now it's actually snowing heavily... What can we do? Should we continue to work? It's snowing heavily. Can we really continue to build a city wall this big?”
"Hey. If we don't work, how can we get steamed buns? My whole family is counting on my job..."
"Yeah, the people in the army are not that kind. They don't want to raise useless people... If you want to be well fed and clothed, you have to work for them... "
A large group of men gathered together, letting the wind and snow blow down, one after another falling on their faces. The crystal water droplets from the Flower City slid across their necks, making people gasp for breath with the cold.
Now, it is the cold winter season.
In places like Tiannan Province, December used to be only late autumn, and people usually only wore autumn clothes, and some sturdy children even only wore short sleeves, but this year is different... because this year is the end of the world. the first year. The Earth's magnetic field, climate, ecology, and crust have long been in chaos, so it's not surprising that heavy snowfall fell in Yongcheng in December, and the temperature dropped to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Although it is not unusual, many people were not mentally prepared or took preventive measures... and were immediately caught off guard.
Just ask. In a messy city like Yongcheng, where seven million ordinary citizens don't even have enough to eat, and people starve to death every day, the quality of life is naturally extremely poor. As for the issue of warmth, it is naturally impossible to take into account both. The lowest temperature in several months is only minus ten degrees Celsius. Wear more clothes and be patient and you can get through it...
But now, the weather has become so cold that peeing can freeze, making it unbearable for ordinary people, so the freezing weather has suddenly become the biggest enemy of survival!
Those survivors who live in buildings are living a more comfortable life...but there are also many poor survivors who have not been assigned housing yet and can only live miserably in wooden sheds, bridge piers, basements, and abandoned houses. These buildings There is no way to protect you from the wind and rain. When the cold wind blows, it will definitely cool you down...
I don’t know how many people will freeze to death due to the heavy snowfall last night. Perhaps, after this cold wave passes, those who freeze to death will not even have a chance to collect their bodies...
"Come on, come on, please be quiet, the army is finally here!"
Suddenly, the crowd shouted such a sentence, and many men shivering in the cold wind quickly turned their heads, only to see a group of soldiers pushing several small wooden carts hard towards this place in the heavy snow. Come.
"Everyone, no matter how hard you work in the cold and snowy weather, it must be very humiliating and hard... But no matter how humiliating and tiring you are, you must persevere. The work of building the city wall cannot be delayed. We have finally waited for this opportunity to breathe. Don’t neglect this hard-won opportunity just because of this little snowstorm…”
An officer at the head stood with his hands behind his back, raised his head in an imposing manner and said to the nearly a hundred men.
"Second Lieutenant Liu... That's true, but the snow keeps falling. It can freeze people to death. The snow on the ground is almost as thick as knees... Look..." A migrant worker named Lao Wang He bent down and said in a humble tone.
"Well, the army will naturally understand everyone... The workers who continue to work today will each receive three more steamed buns..." The officer patted the cabin of the small wooden cart and said with a smile.
"Wow, that's great!"
Three steamed buns are too important for survivors in the apocalyptic era. Don't think that fist-sized buns are humble, but this is enough for an adult man to have a full meal. If you save a little, it can even be enough for a whole day. The energy consumption is tantamount to a small fortune for a strong man who has to support his family...
To be honest, the army does not have much surplus. Although it relies on those magic plants to absorb the flesh and blood of insects for nutrition and can produce more than one million kilograms of food every day, there is still not enough food for distribution... Yongcheng is a very realistic city. , its focus is on useful people. Even if it occasionally sympathizes with the old, weak, sick and disabled, it cannot fully take care of the lives of the weak...
Yes, Yongcheng provides free food to the weak every day, two steamed buns for adults and one steamed bun for children. However, this is not enough to eat at all. If you want not to starve, then you can work for the army. Go build city walls, build houses, help with transportation, enlist in the army, grow crops, please the officers...
"In addition to receiving three more steamed buns, the army will also distribute some insect eyes to each household. These insect eyes are high-energy fuel. Once ignited, a blazing flame will emit for several hours, which is enough to keep warm at night. That’s it.”
The officer raised his eyebrows. As he spoke, he took out a flying dragon louse's eye from his pocket, which was as big as an orange. He used his gloves to push aside the snow under his feet, placed the eye on the ground, and then Use a match to ignite the insect's eye, and you will see a bright blue flame burst out, and then it will burn extremely vigorously. The flame is one meter high, and the heat that bursts out is quite amazing, ten times more powerful than a heater. !
This is what high energy bug eyes are for.
The eyes of the first-level mid-level sickle beetle are used for lighting, the eyes of the first-level high-level red-capped beetle are used for barbecue cooking, and the eyes of the second-level low-level flying dragon louse can be used to keep away the cold. The biological energy contained in this thing is frighteningly high. , I don’t know what the ingredients are, but its burning value is hundreds of times that of coal!
As for the second-level mid-level insect eyes and above, they are strategic resources. They have a wider range of functions and are more rare. They are mostly used for casting, melting, enchanting, making talismans, magical blessings, etc. Only inheritors can use them, and they will definitely not be lost among the people. of.
"Well, when did the army become so generous..."
The crowd started talking quietly, and everyone's eyes were glaring, and they all felt astonished as if the iron tree was blooming and the water was flowing back. Ever since Commander Lu Dingyun's accident happened, the army has rarely distributed supplies to ordinary survivors on a large scale. Even if there is, it is just a small amount of food. Nowadays, in the snowy weather, the army is giving away so many low-level insect eyes saved for free. Although it is reasonable, it still makes people feel a little unbelievable.
"The army has always been very generous, especially after Commander Lu and Commander Chu passed away one after another, and Commander Ran took power..." The second lieutenant coughed, and then opened a box on a small wooden cart, revealing the low-level insect crystals inside, and shouted. shouted:
"Come on, come on, everyone gets three insect crystals. It's best if they can be fused to strengthen their strength. Even if they can't be fused, they can still be considered as extra wealth for you..."
"Wow! Three pieces of insect crystal?"
The migrant workers building the city wall were all stunned, and then they all burst into cheers in unison, and they all looked at each other with their eyes widened.
Don't think that three low-level insect crystals are rubbish to the inheritors. Super masters like Li Jiayu, Ran Hongxia, Yang An, and Gu Qing may not even look at low-level insect crystals, but this thing is for For ordinary people, it is still a good treasure that is out of reach. In the black market, a good low-level insect crystal can even be exchanged for ten pounds of food, and if it is a red-topped beetle crystal that can increase arm strength and leg strength, Spotted beetle crystals are even more valuable, and can be fetched at least thirty kilograms of grain!
Thirty kilograms of grain is enough for an ordinary person to survive for nearly two months, which is why there is a saying in Yongcheng: one low-level insect crystal is equivalent to a human life.
Not every ordinary person can fuse insect crystals to strengthen their physique. Calculating roughly, only one-half of the people have the qualifications to fuse insect crystals, and the remaining half will have to be weak ordinary people their whole lives. , it will never be possible to become strong enough to have the power to protect yourself...
"Yes, it's just three insect crystals. You should be lucky that the army has changed its policy... Commander Ran's policy now is..."
The officer took a leisurely glance at the migrant workers and said word by word:
"Everyone is a soldier!" RQ