A sudden wind swept across the wilderness, kicking up a large amount of sand, gravel and fallen leaves, as well as a corner of the thick tarpaulin covering the heavy truck. An escort stepped forward and pulled the loose rope, and tied the lifted tarpaulin back onto the side of the truck while looking up at the clear, expansive sky.
The sky was so clear that nothing could be seen except some sparse clouds.
"Strange wind..." the escort mumbled, puzzled by his inexplicable heart palpitations just now.
The loud voice of the transportation captain came from afar: "Car No. 3!"
The escort shook his head, and shook some stories about the winter spirit and the strange story of the plain out of his mind, and responded with the same loud voice: "Car No. 3 is ready! Boss!"
"Car No. 4!" "Car No. 4 is ready!" "Car No. 5..."
The mechanics in charge of driving the vehicle got into the high driver's seat at the front of the vehicle, and the follower and co-pilot also boarded the vehicle one after another. The buzzing sound of the power ridge charging brought a sense of reassurance, and the voice of the fleet commander It came from outside: "Check the status of your vehicles, this distance is not short, the Holy Spirit Plain is freezing!
"The shipping on the Gorgon River has stopped, and we are the only shipping line this winter—
"Let's go! The compatriots on the plain are still waiting for these food and medicine!"
The magic engine made a low sound, the gears and levers rotated and rubbed under the power of the machine, and the heavy and large magic vehicles gradually accelerated. In the vast winter wilderness, the man-made steel giants roared, full of holy spirits. The urgently needed supplies for the plain reconstruction area smeared black tracks on the vast land, and the tracks pointed far to the north...
In the plain area, the Gorgon River, the dry season is coming as scheduled, and the drop in the water level of the river channel has made it difficult and dangerous for large ships to navigate. As the managers of the various sections of the river channel issued warnings, the busy shipping on the Gorgon River for more than half a year finally gradually slowed down. cease.
In the past, this meant that all those who begged for a living on the river would go into "hibernation" like the farmers on the plains. Except for a few brave people, everyone would go back to the huts by the river and snuggle up with their families. , light a warm fire, rely on the stored food, and wait quietly for the end of winter. This is true for ordinary sailors, and the same is true for ship owners who own ships.
But this year's situation is slightly different from previous years.
A team called the "Joint Reconstruction Regiment" came to the plain area from the Rock Fortress. This team built large and small camps in the scorched East Holy Spirit Plain, and started the reconstruction work in full swing. Shouting the slogan "take back the land from wolves and winter", with some incomprehensible enthusiasm, they are trying to bring this land back to life.
The winter, when there was nothing to do, suddenly became lively.
The boatman Du Lin 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 and dragged it to the shore. The ropes that bound the raft were untied, and the logs that made up the raft were dragged to the shore, ready to be sent to the camp not far away.
The Baishui River has been closed to navigation, but the river channel is not completely frozen. Although large ships can no longer sail, small rafts and boats can still sail on the shallow water. As a local living on the Gorgon River, Du Lin accepts He was hired by the Joint Reconstruction Corps, and his task was to help transport the wood felled from the upstream to the camp area downstream—using his ancestral rafting skills and the courage tempered by years of begging for food among these reefs and experience.
This man who has been floating on the Gorgon River for half his life stretched his neck and watched those people in gray-blue winter clothes busy between the shallows and the highlands on the bank. In this freezing winter, it is not suitable for working here. busy days.
He couldn't understand the scene in front of him, because this kind of thing had never happened before.
He didn't intend to get too involved with these people's affairs, because he was an honest and responsible "river man", and those who came out of the Rock Fortress carried the royal family's flag and were escorted by the army.
But he would still stretch his neck and spend a long time looking at those southerners who didn't seem to be afraid of the cold, as well as the locals who were mixed among the southerners, who were said to have originally lived in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain.
It is said that those local people had escaped during the previous war and had been hiding in the southern cities and towns. Now they have returned with the southerners and intend to rebuild their homes.
Du Lin didn't see the faces he knew among the "locals"—these people were probably dead.
Du Lin looked at the people on the shoal and the river bank, because he was a little envious of those people's thick winter clothes, and the aroma that wafted from them when they lit a fire and cooked on the river bank—there were no patches on those winter clothes, and they were obviously new clothes, and they Occasionally, the smell of meat wafts through the meal—they eat meat every week.
In this winter, Du Lin's life has actually been much better than in previous years - he originally planned to spend a difficult winter, because of that terrible war, because of those terrible monsters, the good fields on the east bank were destroyed, and the village and The town was also destroyed, the nobles died and ran away, and the merchants also fled in all directions. The "river people" who relied on transporting goods for the nobles and merchants for a living lost half of their source of income. Everyone thought that the next It would be extremely difficult, but what I didn't expect was that those southerners returned to the land they had burned with their rumbling machines.
The Joint Reconstruction Mission brought unexpected opportunities for work, or life, to river workers, sailors, and captains on the Gorgon River who were preparing for the hard winter.
Du Lin was very grateful for the generosity of these outsiders, and was quite happy to exchange his skills and experience for the whole family's winter rations, but...he was still somewhat envious of those new and neat winter clothes, and the meat stewed in those big pots by the river bank.
A tall and thin man in a gray-blue cotton robe walked by and stopped in front of Du Lin: "Citizen—today's share is complete, and you can go to the camp to collect wages at any time."
This is a "government official" from the southern border. The special armband and the emblem on the chest of his clothes show his identity.
Du Lin woke up from his distraction, and quickly lowered his head in front of this "big man": "Okay, sir, I will go soon..."
The official of the government affairs office wearing the armband laughed: "To be honest, you really don't consider signing up? We are even more short of people in the north, where we are recruiting experienced river workers. If you join the reconstruction team, you can go to the camp in the north to help .”
Du Lin immediately showed a humble smile: "I... forget it, I have a wife and children at home... the youngest daughter is only over three years old..."
"Actually, you can bring your family there... But it doesn't matter, everything is voluntary. 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 government officials, you should address them as Mr./Ms., rather than as adults or masters. This is the rule that Du Lin learned after dealing with these self-proclaimed "low-level officials of the United Reconstruction Corps" many times. Although he didn't know why some people would not like a more honorable title, but since the other party asked for it, he obeyed with all his heart.
"You're welcome," the young government official waved his hand. "It's getting late, so go back after receiving your wages—be careful on the road, citizen."
"Yes, sir."
Du Lin and his two sons turned their heads and walked away quickly. The tall and thin government affairs official watched the three leave and shook his head with a smile.
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 when they come here, and the resident register of this area It's not finished yet, and the word 'citizen' is still a little far away from them."
"I like the word 'citizen', I like to say it and I like to hear it," said the council official, and glanced at the young man in a black winter coat. "Is Minister Norris still out there?"
"Yes, he's checking the soil on the north side."
"...we didn't get enough arable land before the freeze, everything can only be made up next spring, everyone has a sense of urgency, but Minister Norris' health is no longer healthy after all," sighed the young government affairs official Tone, "It would be great if the snow this winter could be delayed by a week..."
"Yeah..." The young man in black winter clothes frowned, looking towards the north of the camp with a slightly worried gaze.
The flag of the Cecil Empire was fluttering in the cold wind, and the temporary wooden walls of the camp were daubed with huge letters in eye-catching paint—"Take back the land from wolves and winter." The craftsmen and peasants were busy in an orderly manner , They are strengthening the camp's windbreaks and wooden huts, and preparing a warehouse for the upcoming new supplies. Soldiers are patrolling vigilantly around the camp, guarding against the hungry beasts in this wilderness and those who may have escaped the purification Sweeping up the druse monsters, Secretary of Agriculture Norris and his aides stood on the high ground near the northern gate, gazing at the frozen expanse of land.
In winter, it snows and freezes.
Human beings trudge, rebuild and reclaim this scorched land with their flesh and blood. However, the mighty power of nature will not be kind to human beings because of their bravery and hard work. It operates more ruthlessly than machines, and it rains and snows according to the law. Freeze the land according to the law, without delay or forgiveness.
"The land reclaimed in this area is less than 30% of the plan... The winter in the Holy Spirit Plain is half a month longer than that in the southern region, and more than half of the preparatory fields will definitely miss the spring plowing in the next spring," Norris said in a low voice, "We are consuming the west The food that was finally raised..."
"But at least a few camps are standing, and the temporary roads have been repaired, Minister," an assistant couldn't help but said, "as long as these camps are standing in winter, we can open up the wasteland as soon as the frost thaws next spring, and we will only miss a season at most." food..."
Norris sighed: "Everything can only be done in a good direction... cough cough..."
He coughed violently.
The air currents flowed through his trachea, tearing at the lungs damaged by typhoid fever in the early years. He felt that the cold air seemed to be pouring into his internal organs, bit by bit dissolving the little energy left in this body. Before his cough caused the imbalance, two pairs of young people's hands stretched out from the side in time to support the crumbling Minister of Agriculture.
"Minister," a young official called nervously, "are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Norris finally recovered. He reached into his arms and took out a small metal medicine bottle. He unscrewed the cap and took a sip of the slightly bitter medicine inside. The warm feeling spread in his body Kailai added a bit of strength to his words, "Well, after all, I am old, and the cold wind in the Holy Spirit Plain is not very friendly to me."
Pittman's special rejuvenation potion supplemented Norris's physical strength, but he could still feel his internal organs were steadily declining-alchemy potions and druid spells might make an old man feel better, but the effects of aging The deep damage cannot be reversed by manpower.
He put away about half a bottle of potion left, looked at the young faces around him who showed worried, nervous, and concerned expressions, and couldn't help but smile.
"Let's go back."
Norris shook off the two hands that were supporting him, turned to the direction of the camp, took steps, and walked forward slowly.
He walked into the camp, toward his barracks.
Those working to rebuild their homes lined the roads.
The magicians from the south are debugging a magic obelisk, and the crystal device full of magic is slowly rotating in the cold wind.
Craftsmen are measuring the foundation on an open lot in preparation for the construction of a warehouse.
Several peasants were working together to saw off a huge piece of wood. The man holding the saw was vaguely familiar... He was a refugee who had been helped by the investigation team. His most precious possession was a small cart full of broken pieces.
His wife was not far away, stirring the food in a cauldron with a ladle, calling the men with a loud voice to get ready for work and dinner.
The "precious" cart was there too, not abandoned, but parked in the open space next to it, piled high with potatoes and radishes pulled from the warehouse.
Looking back, Norris remembered owning a similar-looking cart—he pushed it all the way from Old Cecil to the Dark Mountains.
That cart had been burned for firewood that first winter, and the land next to the Dark Mountains was a wonderful place now.
Norris straightened his slightly stooped back.
He's not done yet.
Miaoshuwu