Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 214: Elite Mining Cheng Ping's Resentment

The two knives Xia Hong carried on his back were actually quite conspicuous.

Both the ceremonial sword and the horizontal sword are narrow-bladed swords, which are obviously different from the common broadswords in the Bingyuan world. Moreover, the ceremonial sword is so long that it is almost as tall as Xia Hong. It is normal for him to pay attention when he sees it.

When Luo Ming heard that Cheng Ping wanted to see the knives, his heart skipped a beat. Then he turned around and saw Xia Hong's eyes asking for help. He knew that the two knives were very important to him, so he quickly spoke to Cheng Ping.

"Sir, what good things can someone from a small camp have? These two knives are narrow and thin. It's obvious that they were made with insufficient iron ore..."

"Stop talking nonsense. I told you to open it, so just open it. Why are you wasting your words?"

Before Luo Ming could finish his words, he was interrupted by Cheng Ping.

Cheng Ping looked straight at Xia Hong, and seeing that he looked embarrassed, he suddenly became more interested in the two knives behind him.

It is indeed impossible for people coming out of a small camp to get anything good, but there are always exceptions. Maybe I can get a bargain today?
The other four people who were on duty with Cheng Ping looked at this side with a sly smile on their faces. It was obvious that they knew Cheng Ping's style very well and they all had an expression as if they were watching the fun and not minding any trouble.

After being interrupted, Luo Ming's face suddenly turned ugly, but he was obviously a little afraid of Cheng Ping. He didn't dare to continue speaking. He just turned to look at Xia Hong and gave him a helpless look. The meaning in his eyes clearly showed that he hoped he could hand over the knife.

Seeing the meaning in Luo Ming's eyes, Xia Hong's expression gradually became gloomy.

It is impossible to show it to Cheng Ping. Given his personality, if I really show it to him, there will definitely be troubles one after another, and in the end I will probably not be able to stay in the Hive.

In that case……

After a long time, Xia Hong turned back and looked directly at Cheng Ping, and said in a low voice:
"These two knives are relics of an old friend. They are very important to me. I have sworn a solemn oath that anyone who wants to pull them out must kill me first. If you really want to see it, go ahead!"

As Xia Hong's firm voice fell, Cheng Ping's face froze instantly.

The four people beside him, who were originally watching the fun, also changed their expressions.

Luo Ming and Shang Ping were completely dumbfounded.

If you want to see the knife, kill him first.

No one expected that Xia Hong would refuse so thoroughly.

Cheng Ping's face was frozen for more than ten breaths. After it gradually became gloomy, he glared at Xia Hong, walked slowly in front of him, and said in an extremely gloomy tone: "Are you threatening me? Do you think I dare not kill you?"

"I have no such intention. I am just telling the truth. If you don't believe me, you can try it and you will know!"

Xia Hong had a calm face and a composed expression. Although there was no anger in his tone, the firmness in his words did not arouse any doubt.

Everyone present could clearly feel that if Cheng Ping made a move, Xia Hong would definitely fight to the death.

"Forget it, Captain. This kid just got here and is a bit of a rookie. You'll know after he's been here for a while. Let him in!"

"There's no need to create conflict here. It won't look good if it gets out of hand."

"Yes, Captain, forget it!"

…………

The four people who were on duty with Cheng Ping could no longer sit still. They stood up and walked to Cheng Ping and started to persuade him.

These people came forward to persuade him, which was considered a way out. Cheng Ping's originally embarrassed expression immediately subsided a little, but there was still strong anger in his eyes when he looked at Xia Hong.

He stared at Xia Hong for three or four breaths before revealing a grim expression:

"You're so brave today, I'll play with you later!"

The incident caused by the double swords passed away for the time being.

Luo Ming and Shang Ping led Xia Hong forward, but their faces looked unhappy. Although they didn't say anything, Xia Hong could still see that they probably had some opinions about him.

"Don't worry, the two of you. I am responsible for this matter. Chengping also had his eyes on my sword. Even if he wants to cause trouble, he will only come to me and will not involve you."

Hearing Xia Hong's words, Luo Ming couldn't help it. He turned around and looked at Xia Hong helplessly, saying: "If they are just two ordinary swords, it's okay to give them to him. Cheng Ping's identity is not simple..."

After Luo Ming's explanation, Xia Hong finally understood why Chen Ping was so arrogant.

Cheng Ping has an elder sister named Cheng Mei, who is the woman of the hunting group leader Chen Yingba. She has been very favored recently. Guarding the gate of the base is considered a lucrative job in the Beehive, and Cheng Ping was able to get the job by relying on his sister's persuasion.

Watching the city gate is not a big deal, but the advantage is that anyone can take care of it and plunder the passing geese. Cheng Ping is greedy by nature. Relying on the relationship with his sister, he dare not mess with anyone except those in the elite team. No matter who they are, they will be plundered by him once they enter the gate.

When Luo Ming led a hunting team before, he would cut several pieces of the prey into pieces and take them away.

Some people reported the matter to the higher authorities, but in the end nothing came of it. Everyone knew there was nothing they could do about it, so they just let it go.

After Luo Ming's explanation, Xia Hong frowned repeatedly.

"Aren't the frigid beasts you hunted outside managed and distributed by the camp after you bring them back? So many people are being exploited by him, and the higher-ups don't care?"

Seeing Xia Hong asked this question, Luo Ming remembered that he had just arrived and knew nothing, so he simply gave a brief introduction to the management model of the Beehive Camp.

To put it simply, the management model of the Beehive Camp is meritocracy.

As the name suggests, the elite system means that everything is centered on core elites, and almost everyone in the camp serves them.

There are more than 30,000 people in the Beehive Camp. The most core and important one is naturally the hunting group led by Chen Yingba. The whole group has more than 700 people, all of whom are at the Digging Realm, and they form more than 30 hunting teams.

And among these more than 700 people, only more than 100 people have obtained elite status.

"For elite members, their food, clothing, housing, transportation, training needs, servants, and even women are all taken care of by the higher-ups. They only need to practice, and even the frequency of hunting is entirely controlled by themselves. They can go when they want to, and not go when they don't want to. They only need to obey the orders of the group leader and the two leaders. They are considered the most valuable group of people in the hive!"

More than a hundred people?
Xia Hong frowned and asked, "There are only a hundred people. The entire Hive camp has more than 30,000 people, plus there are more than 600 Digging Realm. It should be easy to support more than a hundred people. Even if they don't go out hunting at all, they won't need much meat, right?"

"They can't use it, but their families, followers, and even servants and women need a lot of it..."

After hearing this, Xia Hong immediately understood.

It is no wonder that the original intention of this so-called elite system is to select a group of the best elites in the camp. They are responsible for special training and improving their strength, while the others are responsible for their support. Then, this group of elites will take on the responsibility of guarding the camp and protecting the safety of others.

Such a system should be very reasonable when it is first implemented.

But judging from Luo Ming's attitude at this moment, it is obvious that this system has begun to change.

If nothing unexpected happens, these more than one hundred elites should have formed a community of interests, which is equivalent to the privileged class in a beehive. The rest of the people can only live a good life by relying on this group of people.

"So what is the way to gain elite status?"

Upon hearing this question, Shang Ping couldn't help but said, "First, the basic strength must be over 30,000 jins, and secondly, it must be jointly recommended by eight elites, and finally it can be reported to the leader, who will then go to the chief and second leader for approval before it can be obtained."

…………

Xia Hong was suddenly speechless, with a look of disbelief on his face.

This has blocked the upward channel!
How has such a system been able to operate in the Hive for so many years?

Seeing the incredulity on Xia Hong's face, Luo Ming also showed a helpless smile and said, "It's actually not difficult to understand. You just need to understand the specific composition of the more than 100 elites in the camp, and you will know."

Xia Hong lowered his head and thought for a moment, then immediately realized the key point. "Those more than one hundred elites are all relatives of the three leaders. Even if they are not relatives, they are related by marriage, right?"

Luo Ming and Shang Ping's expressions changed slightly. They were surprised at Xia Hong's sharpness and nodded, confirming his guess.

"There are a total of 162 elites in the Hive, which are actually 162 elite families in disguise. These 162 people are closely related to each other. Most of them are related to the Chen family and the Wu family. Even if they are not related, they will forcibly send their daughters to the three of them as concubines as a way to get close to them. In this way, the elite system will be implemented more firmly and unshakably!"

After Luo Ming finished speaking, Shang Ping immediately sneered and said, "They also symbolically give out one or two elite qualifications every year, but those who succeed in being promoted are either the sons-in-law of those elite families or their followers and vassals. They have basically nothing to do with people like us."

In this way, Xia Hong roughly understood the matter.

Not surprisingly, these elite families united together, not only colluding with each other to form interest groups and closing off the promotion channels for others, but they also certainly recommended each other and passed on their elite identities through to future generations, so that their elite status would only circulate within their own ranks.

This Cheng Ping and his sister Cheng Mei must also be members of elite families, otherwise how could they be so courageous.

"There are only six hunting teams composed of elite families. They can bring back all the prey they harvest. The other 28 hunting teams must hand over half of the prey they bring back, including iron ore, coal, and other materials.

Over time, the members of the elite families will naturally be much better than us in terms of both strength and hunting experience. It is only natural that we will not be able to beat them in the subsequent series of competitions..."

Xia Hong fell silent upon hearing this, and in the end he could only shake his head in silence.

Although this mode of operation makes the elite families feel comfortable, it is undoubtedly fatal to the development of the hive camp.

No wonder the beehive has not been able to develop after so many years.

If Chen Yingyuan was not stupid, he would be able to see the drawbacks, but the problem is that he, his family, and a series of in-laws are all beneficiaries of this system.

How easy is it to transform yourself?
Xia Hong turned to look at Luo Ming with a look of sympathy on his face.

Luo Ming's basic strength has reached the limit of 30,000 jin. According to the rules of the Beehive Camp, he is qualified to be promoted to elite. But judging from his attitude in front of Cheng Ping just now, it is obvious that this matter is a long way off for him.

If he were younger, he could find someone from an elite family to marry into, and then over time, he might be able to make it to the top. But he is so old and has a child. Considering that Li Baihe, Xu Kang, and Shang Ping are also following him, it would be difficult for him to integrate into that elite group.

For a moment, Xia Hong could roughly guess Luo Ming's situation in the hive.

"Hong Yu, I promised Yue Feng to bring you here because we are both from Hongmu Ridge. But you can see that I have only been in the Hive for two years and my position is not high. I am afraid I can't help you too much with the following matters. After you report to the hunting group, the rest depends on you."

When Luo Ming opened his mouth to say this, Shang Ping beside him seemed to be hesitant to speak, as if he had thought of something. In the end, he just sighed slightly and said nothing.

Seeing the two people's embarrassed expressions, Xia Hong didn't say much, just nodded and smiled: "Brother Luo can help me so much, Hong Yu is already grateful, I dare not trouble you two for the next thing, just take me to the hunting group to report, thank you!"

Luo Ming nodded, said nothing more, and walked inside with Xia Hong.

The buildings in the honeycomb underground space are distributed in a circular shape, with the core building in the middle area. Soon Xia Hong followed Luo Ming and the others to the door of the tallest building in the middle.

"The hunting group is on the second floor, follow me!"

Xia Hong looked up at the five-story building that was more than 20 meters high. His mind moved slightly. He glanced towards the top floor and then followed Luo Ming upstairs.

After entering the building, Xia Hong discovered that the entire five-story building was made of pure iron, except for a layer of wooden boards on the ground. There was a coal stove every five meters inside, and the lights were bright. There were many people coming and going.

"Coal, iron, animal meat, animal bones, animal skins... The first and second floors should be partly storage rooms. There are sounds of ironwork, cutting, and carpentry on the third floor. It should be a functional floor, just like the wooden buildings in Daxia before... There are people practicing boxing on the fourth floor, but there are not many people. It should be a place for members of the elite families to practice... On the fifth floor, doesn't the beehive only have three cold-resistant levels? How come there is an extra breath..."

After the membrane was perfectly reshaped, Xia Hong's perception was much better than usual. Within a radius of 200 meters, he could sense any movement clearly unless people of the same level deliberately concealed it.

Naturally, he had little interest in anything inside this building.

Only the fourth cold-resistant aura on the fifth floor made him very curious.

Chen Yingyuan, Wu Tianxing, and Chen Yingba. According to Yuwen Tao, the beehive should only have these three cold-resistant ones. Who is this extra one?

Could it be that this beehive camp has something else hidden?
This question can only be solved later.

Xia Hong quickly followed Luo Ming to make the report. For an ordinary Digging Realm person to join the camp, there was naturally no need for the team leader Chen Yingba to show up in person. It was just an ordinary Digging Realm person who registered Xia Hong.

"Hong Yu, 28 years old, Digging Realm, basic strength . According to the rules, you will automatically become a member of the hunting group. Is there any hunting team that wants you?"

Hearing the question from the person at the registration office, Xia Hong was stunned and then shook his head.

"No?"

The man was startled when he heard the voice, then he looked out the door and found that Luo Ming and Shang Ping had already walked away. His expression suddenly became strange.

"If there is no hunting team that wants you, then you have to go mining first. The iron mine is short of people recently. You should report there tomorrow. You must complete the mining quota of 100 kilograms of iron ore every day. When you join the hunting team and complete the meat delivery, you will only have a mining quota of ten days per month."

Xia Hong only then realized what Luo Ming had just meant when he said that he could only rely on himself from now on.

So he said that because he didn't want me to join his hunting team.

Luo Ming must have seen that he had just offended Cheng Ping, and was worried that if he was brought into his hunting team, he would be harassed by Cheng Ping later.

Xia Hong frowned, but did not blame Luo Ming. It was just that he had finally managed to sneak into the Hive Camp, and he did not have that much time to waste on mining.

"Do I have to join a hunting team? Can I create one myself?"

The man at the registration office was stunned when he heard this, then he looked up at Xia Hong and said with a hint of sarcasm: "That's fine, but you have to bring three people with you to report to me first, and then hand in three low-level frigid beasts before it can be considered a success. During this period, the daily iron ore mining volume must still be handed in on time."

"I see. What about my residence?"

"It's over there in the mining area. You can get there through Passage 19. There will be someone there to take you. Just go there."

The newcomers couldn’t even get a place to live.

A person at the digging level has to live in a mining area.

Xia Hong shook his head repeatedly in his heart, but didn't say much. He turned around and walked out of the building and walked towards the door.

"Boy, are you going to the mines?"

As soon as he reached the door, Xia Hong was stopped by Cheng Ping. Seeing the other party's gloating attitude, he just frowned, walked around him and continued to walk out.

"I'll give you another chance. Hand me the two knives on your back. Once I ask, Luo Ming will definitely accept you. How about that?"

Being stopped by the other party again, Xia Hong was almost losing his patience. This time, he simply couldn't bear it. He looked up and stared at Cheng Ping, saying:

"If you really have a powerful backer, why don't you attack me right here? I'm not as strong as you anyway. If you kill me, then you can take these two knives. If you don't dare, then...get out of here!"

Xia Hong emphasized the last two words "get out" and almost shouted at Cheng Ping. His voice was so loud that it immediately attracted many people nearby to watch.

Cheng Ping's face turned the color of liver, his chest was heaving, and he was obviously very angry. However, even though he put his hand on the hilt of the knife two or three times, he still didn't dare to draw the knife. Seeing that more and more people were watching, he could only grit his teeth and retreat to the side. In an extremely gloomy tone, he whispered to Xia Hong:
"You bastard, if you sleep in the mine during the day, remember to keep one eye open."

"I am waiting for you!"

Xia Hong replied him with four words as if no one was around, then walked out the door.

Cheng Ping stood there, staring at Xia Hong's back with a gloomy and resentful look on his face. He was obviously thinking about how to deal with this newcomer who had disobeyed him twice in a row.

(End of this chapter)