Chapter 157: Camp Situation
“Lin Hai, I didn’t expect you could even snatch the prize.”
When Zhou Ming took back the Dark-gold Purple-patterned Python and found a barely clean wooden hut to wait for news, Lu Tao moved up beside Lin Hai and voiced his dissatisfaction.
There had originally been a chance to monopolize all authority, but now Lin Hai had forcibly stepped in and taken half. Naturally, Lu Tao felt resentment toward him.
However, Lu Tao was also a smart man. Now was not the time to stir up conflict, so his tone carried a mocking, sarcastic jab.
“I’ll handle the people count. Supplies are yours.”
Lin Hai only glanced at him, left behind that single sentence, and walked away directly.
“Hmph…”
Seeing this, Lu Tao did not say anything more. His expression simply grew much darker.
After that, the two of them began to compile the camp’s information according to Zhou Ming’s instructions.
Because of Zhou Ming’s order, the Wildfolk in the camp were very cooperative. Not a single person caused trouble at this moment.
The reason was simple: everyone wanted to shake off the Wildfolk status.
The punishment of exile into the wilderness had not risen only after the Alliance was established; it had already begun back in the Doomsday Era.
Because of the invasion by Ferocious Beasts and foreign races, the human population on Blue Star greatly decreased, and humans themselves became a precious resource.
For those who had committed grave mistakes but whose crimes did not warrant death, killing them would harm the overall interests of Blue Star’s human race, while imprisoning them would require additional resources.
For Blue Star’s humans, who were clearly under resource strain, this approach was obviously not feasible, so the ancient penal method of exile regained vitality.
With the Alliance’s founding, this way of dealing with criminals did not disappear.
Because the Doomsday Era trend of human experimentation had not vanished with the Alliance’s establishment—in order to perfect the Beast Tamer system, it instead became even more rampant.
To protect the safety of the lower-class populace, preserve public support, and prevent fractures within the Alliance, the penal method of exiling criminals continued to be kept.
If one wanted to conduct dark activities, then go find Wildfolk with no human rights—this was also the result of deliberate, covert guidance from the Alliance’s upper echelons.
And in the Alliance’s several-hundred-year history, Wildfolk with no human rights were not without a chance to turn things around.
Because they were not protected by Alliance law, some Professional Beast Tamers without backing turned their gaze toward Wildfolk outside the Alliance bases when establishing their own forces.
Thus, quite a few lucky ones seized such opportunities to shed their Wildfolk status, and there were even precedents of people becoming Transcendent Beast Tamers.
And such rumors circulated in every Wildfolk camp—everyone hoped to encounter that kind of chance.
Except for Xiao Kuang and the others who had chosen to flee at the first moment, not knowing the specific reason.
After Zhou Ming stated his purpose, the others neither fled nor resisted, because no one wanted to miss the opportunity right in front of them.
Only then did the others willingly cooperate with Lin Hai and Lu Tao to complete the task, not daring to look down on the two of them due to their former status.
An hour later, the two met up and came to the wooden hut where Zhou Ming was, reporting the camp’s detailed situation.
“Lin Hai, you speak first.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Lin Hai immediately took out the roster he had compiled from his chest.
“Reporting to my lord, the camp currently has an actual total of two hundred and seventy-three people: two hundred and fifteen males and fifty-eight females.”
“There are twelve children under ten years old—nine boys and three girls.”
“There are twenty-three youths aged ten to fourteen—eighteen boys and five girls.”
“The total number aged fourteen and above is two hundred and thirty-eight—two hundred and one males and thirty-seven females.”
“Among them, the oldest is forty-five years old. Also, among the females there are five pregnant women, and none of them knows who the father is.”
“Out of the total two hundred and seventy-three people, two hundred and twenty-two have collected resources in the wilderness and have hunted mutated animals.”
“Among them, thirty-nine have experience participating in hunts of low-tier Ferocious Beasts.”
“In addition, there are fifty-three people who were sent out hunting by Xiao Kuang and have not yet returned to camp. Because they were dissatisfied with Xiao Kuang’s management, they were assigned hunting tasks during the winter.”
“However, these people are very strong. Most of them have top-class martial arts strength and can fight ordinary mutated animals head-on.”
“My lord, this is the detailed personnel situation in the camp. Because time was short, it was too late to count those with special skills. I ask my lord’s forgiveness.”
After speaking, Lin Hai immediately presented the roster in his hand.
“Not bad.”
Zhou Ming gave the roster a simple look and was very satisfied with Lin Hai’s performance.
“Lu Tao, you?”
Zhou Ming then lifted his gaze and looked at Lu Tao standing to the side.
“Reporting to my lord, the camp currently has a total of fifty-three firearms: seven handguns, forty-four rifles, and two heavy machine guns. There are only a bit over ten thousand rounds of various bullets.”
“These firearms are all very old. Besides having various problems, their power can only reach half that of similar firearms within the base.”
“As for other firearms, they’ve already been taken away by the hunters who went out.”
“In terms of food, there is still one and a half tons of old rice. Various kinds of dried meat total around eight hundred jin. Various kinds of air-dried wild vegetables are only a bit over one hundred jin. Various canned goods total more than three hundred. Salt is only seventy-eight jin.”
“In terms of tobacco and alcohol, there are seventeen barrels of beer, two barrels of baijiu, and three cases of cigarettes.”
“In terms of medicine, it’s mainly antibiotics and hemostatic powder for treating external wounds, totaling more than two hundred boxes.”
“Then there are the animal hides and medicinal herbs in the warehouse that are used to trade with the Ironfang Gang. These were collected before winter, prepared to be traded with the Ironfang Gang when spring comes.”
“Because there are too many types, I can only estimate the total value—roughly more than ten million. In actual trades with the Ironfang Gang, they’ll only give several hundred thousand.”
“And when buying the supplies we need, it’s either old, obsolete stock, or the prices are abnormally inflated.”
Hearing this, Zhou Ming also silently shook his head—this was purely treating them as slaves.
“Looks like I’ll have to invest quite a bit of resources in the early stage.”
After learning the camp’s specific situation, Zhou Ming knew he would have to spend no small amount of effort.
The only benefit was that these people’s lives and deaths were under his control.
“Please forgive us, my lord.”
After Lu Tao and Lin Hai exchanged a glance, they hurriedly bowed and expressed apologies, worried that Zhou Ming would abandon them.
“Alright. Since I came to find you, I was already mentally prepared.”
After Zhou Ming briefly reassured them, he then stated his arrangements.
“From now on, the camp will temporarily be divided into two parts: the Internal Affairs Department and the External Affairs Department.”
“The Internal Affairs Department will be responsible for managing all matters big and small within the camp. The External Affairs Department will be responsible for hunting, gathering medicinal herbs, and external combat.”
“The former will be handled by Lu Tao, and the latter by Lin Hai.”
“Many thanks for my lord’s reward.”
Hearing Zhou Ming’s arrangement for the two of them, Lin Hai and Zhou Tao immediately showed joy—this time, they could be said to have won their gamble.
“Don’t rush to be happy. If you can’t meet my requirements, don’t blame me for turning ruthless.”
“Please rest assured, my lord.”
Zhou Ming did not pay attention to their promises and immediately put forward his requirements.
“First, there must be order in the camp. It cannot be as chaotic and unbearable as before.”
“Second, supplies in the camp must be issued uniformly, distributed by the principle of ‘more work, more gain,’ with priority given to those in the External Affairs Department who go out to carry out tasks.”
“Third, children and youths under sixteen do not need to do other work. Arrange people to give them specialized training: wilderness survival, martial arts, and firearms shooting. Among them, for the clever ones, find ways to cultivate them toward scientific research.”
“Fourth, arrange the women for nursing, the kitchen, and caring for the younger ones.”
“As for specific rules and regulations, the two of you discuss it together and give me a detailed report.”
“Yes.”