Don’t raise unruly people in extreme cold weather

Chapter 893

The cleanup of the camp lasted three full days.

With the day and night operations of large autonomous robots and steam knights, the collapsed prefabricated houses, twisted metal supports and tents buried by rubble were finally cleared one by one.

Mechanical arms grabbed the wreckage with precision, and the steam knights used their strong arms reinforced with steam armor to carry large building materials. The entire camp echoed with the roar of steam engines and the sound of metal colliding.

Thanks to the fact that the camp was originally built on land cleared from urban ruins, this reconstruction saved the most time-consuming work of leveling the land.

After inspection, engineers found that although the surface facilities were severely damaged, the foundation did not need to be restructured and the leveled land did not need to be reworked, which saved at least 30% of the reconstruction time.

The characteristics of temporary buildings show their advantages at this moment - there is no need to lay a foundation, just build on flat land, and the reconstruction speed is naturally much faster than that of permanent buildings.

On the first cleared site, the workers erected ten military tents in just half a day.

By the evening of the next day, rows of prefabricated mobile houses had been neatly arranged like building blocks.

Although these temporary shelters are simple, they are sufficient to shelter from wind and rain.

The medical team gave priority to housing the elderly, children and the wounded. Warm lights gradually lit up in the night, bringing a long-lost sense of security to the frightened survivors.

As basic shelter was solved, the camp faced severe supply shortages.

Nearly half of the granary was destroyed in the previous disaster, and most of the stored grains and dry food were devoured by the flames caused by the explosion. The remaining part was also contaminated by acid rain and corrosive mucus, emitting a disgusting stench.

The stock of medical supplies is running low, bandages and disinfectants have long been sold out, and even the most basic painkillers have become a scarce resource. The wounded can only grit their teeth and endure the severe pain from their wounds.

As for the city’s original water supply system and groundwater, Perfect simply chose to abandon them.

The reason is simple. In the previous attack by the evil god's followers, although Perfect destroyed the evil gods they summoned and caught all the attackers who showed up, the pollution still seeped into the ground and polluted the water source.

This made the camp managers extremely anxious. At the material allocation meeting, the head of the missionary group frowned, and the list in his hand clearly showed that the food reserves were only enough to last for three days, and the water purification equipment was even more stretched.

Fortunately, Perfect is still there and she can make decisions on many things, which prevents the management of the camp from being too chaotic.

Under Perfecto's orders, various advanced alchemical instruments were put into use to provide the camp in the City of Seven Hills with all kinds of much-needed supplies.

The industrial production line of the floating city module runs day and night, producing compressed biscuits and nutritional potions, temporarily alleviating the food crisis.

As for water, which is the key source of survival, it also has a stable supply after Perfectcot personally built a large water purification equipment.

This equipment uses an alchemical matrix and steam power to filter and purify polluted water sources layer by layer, ultimately producing clear drinking water. Although the output is limited, at least the camp is no longer in panic due to water shortage.

However, just as everything was going smoothly, the Steam Knights on guard outside the camp suddenly sounded a sharp alarm - a large group of unidentified people appeared in the ruins in the distance and were slowly moving towards the camp...

The loudspeaker built into the Steam Knight's armor spread the alarm throughout the camp, and the piercing beeping sound caused the survivors who were working to stop what they were doing.

Some people looked up in panic, some subconsciously hugged the children around them, and some reached for the makeshift weapons hidden under their clothes.

Faced with the sudden onslaught of people, the steam knights outside the camp did not dare to neglect and directly set up huge protective tower shields and muskets, taking a defensive posture. The heavy tower shields made a dull thumping sound when they hit the frozen soil, and the mechanical sound of the muskets loading was crisp and piercing.

The steam knights formed a steel defense line, and the white mist sprayed from the joints of their armor condensed into frost in the cold wind.

"Keep alert!" The Knight Commander gave the order through the armored communicator: "Anyone who tries to break through the defense line will be killed without mercy!"

Although they did not drive these people away or attack them, they showed an unwelcome and resistant attitude.

The Steam Knights stared at the uninvited guests under their helmets, their fingers on the triggers, ready to respond to possible attacks at any time.

Obviously, these sudden appearances posed a great threat to the camp that had just been attacked.

They could be followers of evil gods disguised as refugees, corrupted humans, or even some new type of monster.

The survivors in the camp began to whisper to each other, and fear spread among the crowd like a plague.

Regardless of whether they pose a threat to the camp, their presence at this time is a threat in itself.

The camp had just experienced a catastrophe and was short of supplies. Its fortifications had not yet been fully repaired and it could not afford any additional risks.

The Steam Knights stand ready, ready to defend this hard-won refuge with steel and fire if necessary.

Fortunately, the people who came were not dangerous people, they were just survivors.

However, they were not survivors from the City of Seven Hills, but from surrounding towns.

They were ragged and staggered, like a group of fallen leaves blown away by the cold wind.

The people in the front row used tree branches as crutches, leaving marks of varying depths on the frozen soil; the people behind supported each other, and every step was extremely difficult.

Women wrapped babies in rags while men pushed creaky carts piled with their few remaining possessions.

Those towns were also attacked by the evil god's followers. Although the losses were not great because they were not the main attack direction, they also lost the guarantee for their continued survival.

So they could only head towards the City of Seven Hills under the guidance of missionaries sent by the empire, trying to obtain protection.

"My Lord Regent, should we accept them? Given the current situation in the camp, I'm afraid we can't afford so many people." The head of the mission asked Perfectot for instructions, while also pointing out the difficulties they were facing.

However, this was an easy solution for Perfect. She thought for a moment and gave an answer: "Let them settle nearby. The camp is still under reconstruction. It is in a mess and is not suitable for settling them. There is no place to settle them.

Let them imitate the camp and build their own camps, energy towers and building materials, etc. The Empire will provide them. "

"Yes, Regent." The missionary leader bowed in response.

(End of this chapter)