Chapter 208: Returning to the Camp
On the way there, the blazing sun had accompanied them; on the way back, wind and snow covered their bodies.
After using one merit to lift the forced Alliance Conscription status, Zhou Ming planned to return to the underground camp to take a look. This was considered the longest time he had been away since establishing his force.
As for the conscription identity card, Zhou Ming had no intention of canceling it.
Other than the fact that there was still one merit left in it, he planned to rest and reorganize before continuing into the Panlong Mountain Range.
And that extra merit naturally belonged to Fang’s share.
Because it was due to Zhou Ming and the others that everyone had a chance to keep their lives, everyone unanimously decided that the extra merit would belong to him.
The camp was very close to the military stronghold. Dozens of kilometers were covered in no time at all.
Along the way, Ferocious Beasts were nearly extinct. Every day, a large number of combat vehicles passed through, and the Alliance had long since cleared the route clean.
Therefore, helicopters that no longer had to worry about safety also began transporting supplies back and forth between Qinghui Base and the military stronghold.
There were even civilian engineering teams that had already begun assisting the Alliance officials in building bunkers and gun emplacements outside the safe zone of Qinghui Base.
This was clearly preparation for the possibility that an anomaly appeared in the Panlong Mountain Range and the Alliance would no longer be able to continue containing the Giant Race.
After all, Qinghui Base had existed for two to three hundred years, with several million people living there. It was impossible to abandon it casually.
Three Mounds Ridge—this was the surface location of the camp Zhou Ming had built. Because there were three hills arranged in the shape of the character “品”, he had taken a simple place name.
“It seems that after I left, the camp didn’t suffer any harassment from external enemies.”
After arriving at Three Mounds Ridge, Zhou Ming swept his gaze around. There were no traces left behind from battle.
But thinking about it carefully, given the situation Qinghui Base was currently facing, any disputes would be suppressed without hesitation.
Picking a fight at a time like this was no different from smearing mud in the Alliance’s face. It would be strange if they weren’t encircled and wiped out.
Even for an organization like the Dark Card Organization, Zhou Ming hadn’t heard anything at the military stronghold about recent actions from them. They were clearly far more restrained than before.
“Sir.”
When Zhou Ming rode Silver Scale close to the camp entrance, the hidden sentry on duty came forward to welcome him with an excited mood.
One of them even immediately ran into the camp. It was obvious he was going to report to the camp’s upper ranks.
“After I left, nothing happened in the camp, right?”
“Reporting to you, sir, everything has been fine. At the beginning, the Rat Nest still caused us trouble, but it was thoroughly suppressed by the City Defense Army.”
“Rat Nest? Then I’ll have to find a chance to settle accounts.”
The reason they dared to make a move was clearly because they had the Golden Flower Group, the local hegemon, backing them.
But they hadn’t expected the situation in the Panlong Mountain Range to become exceptionally critical. Because of that, the Alliance naturally suppressed these rule-breaking forces with thunderous force.
After briefly understanding the camp’s situation, Zhou Ming then retracted Silver Scale and returned to the camp on foot.
“Congratulations on your safe return, sir.”
All the camp’s upper ranks had gathered to welcome Zhou Ming back. Joy filled their faces—after all, Zhou Ming was the pillar that held up the entire camp.
“These past few months have been hard on everyone.”
“It’s all thanks to sir. Our efforts can’t compare to even one ten-thousandth of yours.”
Lu Tao immediately spoke up, shamelessly flattering Zhou Ming. As the weakest among the camp’s upper ranks, he was constantly worried that his position wouldn’t be secure.
Moreover, even though they stayed outside Qinghui Base, they had still heard news of the Panlong Mountain Range’s situation.
“Alright. Go to the meeting room and report the camp’s changes over the last few months.”
“Yes.”
Toward everyone’s respect, Zhou Ming wouldn’t be blinded by the power in front of his eyes.
After witnessing the scene in the Panlong Mountain Range—Professional Beast Tamers as soldiers, and Transcendent Beast Tamers as generals—these people in front of him didn’t even qualify as cannon fodder.
Perhaps only something that determined the survival or extinction of a race might stir a trace of interest in Zhou Ming, but a greater possibility was that he would continue pursuing the pinnacle of power.
As everyone began reporting one by one, Zhou Ming gained a general understanding of the camp’s changes.
The biggest change was the number of people in the camp.
Because of the anomaly in the Panlong Mountain Range, many small Wildfolk camps felt increasingly unsafe. As a result, quite a few Wildfolk camps proactively came to pledge allegiance.
However, Lin Hai and Lu Tao, the two upper ranks who mainly managed the camp, still carried out to the letter the orders Zhou Ming had left behind earlier, executing the upper ranks of those Wildfolk camps that came to surrender.
Of course, they also had selfish motives, fearing that among those people there would be threats to their own positions.
Especially Lu Tao—compared with Lin Hai, who had undergone Bloodline Modification, the only way he could guarantee his position was to loyally carry out the orders Zhou Ming issued.
Considering the camp’s stored supplies, the two ultimately only took in two thousand Wildfolk. Now the total number of people in the camp had surpassed three thousand.
And among the newly accepted Wildfolk, they discovered more than ten research talents. All of them had been exiled for various reasons.
However, their research ability still hadn’t reached a level the Alliance valued, otherwise they wouldn’t have been exiled into the wilderness. Still, being assistants to Su Ningfeng was more than sufficient.
So according to Zhou Ming’s earlier arrangements, these dozen-plus research talents were assigned to Su Ningfeng’s Scientific Research Department.
In addition, there were three Apprentice Beast Tamers, who were currently managed by Su Mei.
Also, among the newly accepted Wildfolk, five hundred people had been temporarily selected to undergo training as reserve members of the hunting squads.
The specific arrangements still required Zhou Ming to personally decide.
After understanding the situation, Zhou Ming immediately decided to expand the hunting squads to ten, each still at a hundred-person scale.
The squad leaders at each level required for the new hunting squads would be selected from the original three hunting squads—this counted as a reward for the veterans.
As for the special operations squad, its numbers would be expanded from the original thirty people to one hundred.
Besides the camp’s changes requiring Zhou Ming to make adjustments, there were also some other matters that required his key attention.
For example, the Inspection Department had caught some unruly Wildfolk.
After Zhou Ming learned of it, he naturally had them sent to the little black room, where he would personally correct their mistakes.
Then there was the matter that Su Mei had already met the requirements for class advancement, but she lacked the necessary Class Advancement Materials. Zhou Ming directly stated that he would handle this personally.
In addition, there were members of the special operations squad who had already met the requirements for Bloodline Modification and had submitted applications for Bloodline Modification.
It could be said that there were many matters Zhou Ming needed to handle after returning to the camp, and most of them required him to personally step forward to make the final call.
However, Zhou Ming had long anticipated such a situation.
For matters such as expanding the camp’s departments and increasing the number of hunting squads, Zhou Ming only put forward his requirements, then completely let Lin Hai and Lu Tao take responsibility for handling them.
The matters that truly required him to handle were only Bloodline Modification, Su Mei’s class advancement materials, and dealing with rule-breaking Wildfolk.
After thinking it through repeatedly, Zhou Ming planned to complete Bloodline Modification first—there were a total of five members from the special operations squad.
After settling Bloodline Modification, he planned to go to the Black Market to buy Beast Knight class advancement materials, and by the way inquire about the Alliance’s follow-up plans for the Panlong Mountain Range.
Only after completing these matters could he calm down and verify the knowledge he had obtained in the Panlong Mountain Range.
Knowledge that had not been verified had no true value.
However, just as Zhou Ming had everyone withdraw, Su Mei reported a piece of news.
The Scorpion-Lion was looking for him.