Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 119 Are you sent by God to save us? Food! (10,000 words, including three bonus chapters)
"Report! We've made a new discovery!"

The drone pilot's slightly hurried voice came through the communication channel.

"What discovery?"

Su Mingjin was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, resting when she heard this. She suddenly opened her eyes and sat up straight.

"Transferring information to the big screen!"

On the main screen in the command center, the image suddenly switched.

A high-altitude drone is transmitting real-time footage from over 100 kilometers away.

The coordinates indicate that the target is 173 kilometers away.

The center of the picture is a lonely hillside.

A dark, endless horde of undead surged toward the top of the hillside like a swarm of ants.

On that hillside, a makeshift fortress built of boulders and wood was already in imminent danger of collapse.

A group of savage warriors dressed in animal skins are desperately resisting from their fortress.

Their weapons were pitifully primitive, consisting only of bows and arrows, torches, and various kinds of trees, yet they managed to hold off the undead's attack.

"Wow... these savages are pretty fierce." A staff officer couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

The camera zooms in, revealing a giant nearly 4 meters tall wielding a massive log as thick as a telephone pole. With a single blow, bone fragments mixed with mangled flesh scatter everywhere, instantly clearing a small area.

Immediately afterwards, several savage warriors stepped forward in unison and threw burning torches into the pile of broken bones and rotten flesh, causing thick black smoke to billow up.

"The giants are quite lethal, and the savage warriors are also very well-coordinated." Commander Man stroked his chin, his tone filled with the unique appreciation of a soldier. "This is the survival wisdom that those savage tribes have honed on the edge of a knife."

"When the blizzard came, the undead not only attacked us, but also swept away all living things in this area." Commander Fu nodded. "It's a miracle that these savages have survived until now!"

Su Mingjin's gaze, however, passed over the brutal battlefield and landed on a wider area.

She frowned slightly: "There's no strong electromagnetic interference, and the undead haven't unleashed a blizzard? Didn't they detect us?"

Having dealt with those undead for so long, they knew they were treacherous and cunning, and the command had long since figured out their attack patterns.

For example, before a large-scale offensive, nighttime attacks, blizzards, and strong electromagnetic interference are almost standard features.

The drone pilot quickly reported: "Commander Su, since the end of yesterday's battle, the widespread electromagnetic interference has been steadily decreasing. That's why we were able to penetrate to such a distance with our drones. Currently, our drone force is a full eighteen kilometers away from the Savage Tribe!"

Eighteen kilometers!

Su Mingjin's breath hitched for a moment. No wonder those guys hadn't noticed!

She made such a childish mistake; it turns out the pilot was just being cautious.

After confirming that the drone would not be detected, a young staff officer couldn't help but mutter to himself, "If these giant brothers could come here, the mess hall's food standards would have to be raised three levels, right?"

His companion immediately nudged him, signaling him to shut up.

"Should we save them?" Brigade Commander Man looked intently at Su Mingjin. "If this drags on any longer, they probably won't be able to hold on."

Sometimes, the reality check comes very quickly.

As Commander Man was preparing to rescue these innocent savages with his kind heart, for some unknown reason, the undead army suddenly stopped attacking, began to retreat, and then silently stood a few hundred meters away, waiting.

Seeing that the undead army had stopped attacking, Su Mingjin's gaze was fixed on the screen, her brows furrowed.

"Why aren't you attacking anymore?"

"Are they accumulating magical power? And waiting for the next wave of attack?" a young strategist said.

Seeing the undead army that hadn't attacked for a long time, Su Mingjin frowned even more deeply: "Wait a minute, my intuition tells me that this is too much of a coincidence!"

Commander Fu asked in surprise, "General Su, do you think this is a ruse?"

The group hadn't expected this, but upon hearing Commander Fu mention it, a sudden understanding dawned on them.

A bitter plot?
The brigade commander's words seemed to make a lot of sense.

Before this, all creatures in the world were hostile towards them.

They faced undead armies, beast hordes, and all sorts of magical attacks; they were subjected to absolute malice.

The more intelligent savage tribes look almost exactly like their humans, with brown hair, except that some of them are very tall.

Professor Deng said they have some precognitive abilities, and if the other side can use these savage tribes to infiltrate their ranks, it could very well be a ruse.

Su Mingjin's fingertips tapped lightly on the cool tabletop, but her gaze was fixed like a hawk's as she switched between the map and the real-time screen.

In the command room, apart from the low hum of the machines, there was only the rhythmic tapping of her fingers, each tap striking a chord in everyone's hearts.

“Brigade Commander Man’s guess is similar to mine. The more I watch, the stranger it seems!” She finally spoke, her voice not loud, but it made the air in the entire command room freeze.

"Pilot, deploy the drone to various surrounding tribes and see where battles have taken place!"

"Ok!"

As the video footage was adjusted, fires were found burning in various locations, along with traces of burned bodies.

A large number of mangled human remains, burned beyond recognition, were discovered in one of the destroyed ruins!
If this was a ruse, the savages suffered too many casualties as a result.

This savage tribe was a melting pot of various tribes. It used to have a large population, with over six thousand people when it was first discovered by humans. Later, they migrated south on foot.

A few days ago, the population here was over three thousand, with at least a thousand able-bodied young men capable of fighting.

The current total population of the savage tribe is less than one thousand, and there are only a little over three hundred male and female savage warriors left!
"President Su, I don't think this is a ruse, and even if it were, we have the strength to deal with it!"

"President Su, we've discovered that there are quite a few children in their tribe!"

There was dead silence in the command room.

The undead were in no hurry to launch a full-scale attack. Instead, they used this most cruel method to gradually wear down the will to resist of the savage tribe. Coming from the modern world, they couldn't bear to see so many people die!
"Should we save them? I think those savages must know a lot about this world; we need intelligence!"

Commander Man asked the question again, but this time there was a hint of unease in his voice.

He looked at Su Mingjin, awaiting the final command.

"Old Man, intelligence is important, but those guys don't know who's friend and who's foe," Brigade Commander Fu said coldly.

“If we rescue them, we can get firsthand information! How long have these savages lived on this land? Their understanding of this place is much better than ours.”

Seeing some disagreement in the command room, the young staff officer who had been muttering about the giant's food earlier whispered to his companion, "Xiao Wu, do you think... if we rescue that four-meter-tall guy, how many kilograms of meat will he eat in one meal? Are our cooks' pots big enough?"

His companion glared at him and mouthed, "Shut up!"

"All quiet."

Su Mingjin's cool voice rang out, and the argument came to an abrupt end.

She stood up, looked around at everyone in the command center, her gaze calm yet sharp.

"Our original plan was to proceed steadily and cautiously, step by step. But the appearance of the undead and the beast tide has shattered our plans. We can no longer stick to the old ways and follow the established procedures."

“Everyone’s point is valid. This could very well be a trap, and the rescue operation would be extremely risky.”

She paused for a moment before changing the subject.

"But this is a world with gods and magic! If we save them, we won't feel guilty, and we won't develop inner demons in our future cultivation. Of course, the main reason is that these people might provide us with more information."

Her gaze eventually returned to the large screen, to the dilapidated, crumbling fortress and the figures of those alien humans fighting a bloody battle.

"They are the only intelligent life on this land, besides us, that is still resisting the dead. Their existence itself is a value, a hope."

"I've decided, to save them! To unleash our goodwill! And at the same time... to demonstrate our absolute power!"

Su Mingjin's voice was firm and unwavering.

"Although we don't yet know whether the other side is friend or foe, we cannot become the only lone traveler on this isolated land. Commander Man!"

"Here!" Commander Man straightened up abruptly, his eyes shining.

Su Mingjin looked at him and gave the final order: "Ten minutes to develop a remote support plan and a rescue plan. Get everyone ready for battle!"

"Understood, but it won't take ten minutes, it can be done in one minute!"

The moment Commander Man turned around, his entire aura changed, like a tiger released from its cage, his roar almost lifting the roof off the command room.

"Communications Department! Deploy the cellular relay drones! Ensure our signal strength!"

"Yes!"

"The necromancer isn't unleashing blizzards and electromagnetic interference; he's probably planning to pull a fast one at a crucial moment. Let's deploy wireless CIMC equipment everywhere!"

Commander Man's eyes were fixed on the electronic sand table, his mind racing, issuing a series of clear and forceful commands:
"Air units, advance in echelons! Attack aircraft and armed helicopters take off in formation, open up angles, and launch a saturation attack on the target simultaneously!"

"understand!"

"Special forces..."

The entire command center resembled a sophisticated war machine that had been activated, with countless streams of data flashing on the screens…

The reports from the correspondents came one after another, brief and forceful.

"Report! Sharp Sword has moved into assault position!"

"Report! The cellular relay network is 70% deployed!"

"Report! 150 thermite bomb killer drones have been launched and are expected to arrive on the battlefield in seven minutes!"

"Report! The attack helicopter formation will reach its designated attack position in five minutes!"

"Report! The long-range rocket artillery brigade is ready to fire at any time!"

Listening to the reports from various units, Brigade Commander Man finally showed a slight smile on his tense face.

Su Mingjin behind him remained silent, simply watching the blue arrows representing their own troops on the electronic sand table. They were like unsheathed blades, piercing straight into the red areas representing death.

They watched the signal indicating that the attack helicopter formation was about to reach its designated position.

Commander Man took a deep breath, as if trying to catch a whiff of the last moments of calm before the battle, and then abruptly pressed the communicator.

"Long-range rocket artillery brigade! Target data link confirmed!"

His voice was cold and cruel, devoid of any emotion.

"Saturation rapid fire! Mix high-explosive and incendiary rounds! Two loads, plow that entire surface!"

"AI-powered suicide drone swarm, free-for-all! Prioritize eliminating all undead units suspected of casting spells! Burn them all!"

"Understood!" came the unanimous reply from the communicator.

Commander Man put down his communicator, looked at the impending rain of steel on the screen, and muttered to himself, as if he were pronouncing a sentence to the dead, or giving a final mobilization order to his soldiers.

"Heh heh, let those skeletons have a good taste of what they call divine justice!"
-

Jinhe, the leader of the Ice River tribe, put down his obsidian spear and breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the servant of the Cold God who had retreated to a point beyond the range of arrows.

The other warriors of the tribe and the last surviving giant collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

He looked around at the dejected tribal warriors, his gaze drawn to a female warrior whose chest had been ripped open and who was on the verge of death.

A huge gash was torn open in her chest, and her internal organs mixed with blood gushed out; she was on her last breath.

Jinhe stood up and knelt on one knee next to a female soldier.

He gripped the obsidian dagger in his hand, preparing to perform the liberation ritual that had been passed down through the tribe for thousands of years.

His people, all wounded and numb, huddled behind the simple stone wall, awaiting death or the mercy of their chief.

Upon seeing this, the giant muttered something, then grabbed something that looked like a papaya and started gnawing on it, clearly trying to replenish his energy.

Outside the fortress, those "servants of the cold god," who were once their ancestors and compatriots, were gathering into a silent, unstoppable tide of death, standing tall outside.

Jinhe thrust the dagger down.

The female warrior was cut off under his gaze, and then revealed it to him.

The soldier beside him, suppressing his grief, threw him into the fire!
Previously, these wounded and dead warriors would at most be abandoned in the Land of the Gods, awaiting their own death.

Now that the servants of the god of cold have suddenly attacked them, the fear of death and confusion have forced them to change their traditional rituals!
Having dealt with the injured, Jinhe staggered to his feet and looked around.

The tribespeople sat or lay against the simple stone wall, their eyes vacant, like a herd of reindeer waiting to be slaughtered.

Dead silence.

Apart from the crackling of the campfire, all that could be heard was the howling of the wind and snow.

He cleared his parched throat and roared with all his might, "Get up and eat something! They've only retreated temporarily! The test of the Cold God isn't over yet. If you want to live, eat something and replenish your strength!"

Jinhe's voice was hoarse, but it was like a slap in the face to every tribal warrior who wanted to escape reality.

People slowly began to move, pulling out dried fish preserved with precious salt from their pockets and tearing into them with the cold snow water.

A young tribal warrior felt a sharp pain in his teeth and muttered a curse: "Why are they attacking us? We've served them for countless years!"

A burly man with a broken arm grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow by salted fish: "Who knows? Maybe the God of Cold wants us to hurry up and serve it!"

The young tribal warrior fell silent, only chewing harder, and as he ate, soft sobs began to emerge.

Jinhe picked up a piece of winter-cured fish. The salty and fishy smell hit his nostrils, but he seemed to be savoring an unparalleled delicacy, his gaze sweeping back and forth between his tribesmen and the darkness outside the fortress.

Morale recovered a little, but only a little.

He thought of his father, who lay peacefully on an ice bed during his thirty-fiveth birthday night, awaiting the call of the cold god.

At that time, becoming a servant of the God of Cold was an honor, an eternal life, and a faithful service.

The God of Cold never sends servants to attack them; they are protected by the God of Cold, and they only need to have an old man deliver something to the other party each year to ensure their safety.

Unfortunately, everything changed recently.

In the first year of his reign as leader, his children died one after another.

Immediately afterwards, the gods of the south sent down a divine oracle in his dream that still terrifies him to this day—or rather, a bloody nightmare.

In the dream, the summoned servants were no longer the ancestors who protected the tribe, but a group of monsters whose souls had been taken away and who were left only with the instinct to kill.

They tear living people apart, greedily devour flesh and blood, sparing not even infants.

At the end of the dream, God's voice, filled with unprecedented terror and exhaustion, left only two words.

Run away!
Years of worship, along with the desire to live and the fear of death, ultimately transformed into motivation.

So he led his tribe on a long southward migration.

The once pristine land has been taken over by undead creatures transformed from ancestors, and the beings they once worshipped have turned against them.

We finally settled down on this glacier near the sea, thinking we could finally catch our breath, but those guys still came after us.

Jinhe's teeth were grinding together, and the dried fish in his hand was squeezed out of shape.

Is it a clumsy joke, or a test?

No, this is not a test, it is a curse that even the gods cannot control.

He dared not voice this speculation, for it would utterly destroy the last pillar of his people's spirit.

Fortunately, they occupied the area in advance. When other tribesmen saw that the extremely ferocious Ice River tribe had occupied the coastal area, they would not be unwise to attack them, but would choose to retreat.

After staying here with his tribesmen for a while, Jinhe found that life here was actually quite good.

Some of the tribes even thought this would be their home.

Who knew that Black Sails was attacked by the servants of the Cold God yesterday?

In just one day, over a hundred skilled fighters from their tribe were killed.

Other tribes in the vicinity also suffered various attacks.

Although they have managed to hold on for the time being, how long can they last without enough food?
The members who were assembled in such a hurry carried very little food, enough for only a few days and nights of rotation before it was all used up.

At that point, they will have no choice but to eat the corpses of their tribe to fill their stomachs!

Although many warriors in the tribe enjoy eating corpses, it is ultimately a disrespect for their ancestors.

Jinhe was worried about the future of his tribe, and his gaze fell on the enormous giant.

"If we can't hold on any longer..." Jinhe swallowed hard, just as he was about to suppress the thought, when he suddenly heard a tribal warrior exclaim in alarm.

"what is that?"

A young tribal warrior pointed his trembling finger at the distant sky.

Jinhe looked up and gazed in the direction he was pointing.

The next second, the pickled fish he was chewing fell to the ground with a thud.

He saw something he couldn't understand!

Was that a miracle?
Or rather, it's something even more terrifying than a miracle.

He saw countless blinding lines of fire tearing through the dim sky, trailing long tails of flame, as if an entire starry sky had fallen in anger.

The speed was so fast that even his mind couldn't keep up.

Jinhe barely had time to blink before the meteors accurately struck the dark mass of the Cold God's servants in the distance.

There was no warning.

There was no sound. Those indestructible, immortal ancestral undead in their eyes, those monsters that could easily tear open the chests of tribal warriors, were like mud crushed by an invisible hand the moment the fire touched them.

Flesh, bones, ice, frozen soil... everything was blown into the sky.

Immediately afterwards, an even more terrifying burst of flames erupted, and an orange-red sea of ​​fire instantly engulfed the area, igniting everything.

Only then did the belated sound and the tremors of the ground finally arrive.

"Boom—rumble!"

That wasn't a sound.

That was the roar of heaven and earth, the destruction of the world.

Jinhe and his companions felt the earth tremble and the heavens and earth roar!

The terrifying roar was like an invisible hammer that slammed into everyone's chest, making their eardrums ring and their internal organs feel dislocated.

"what!"

"The gods are angry!"

"Get down! Everyone get down!"

The tribal warriors, who had never seen anything like this before, were completely thrown into chaos. They screamed in terror, some ran away with their heads in their hands, while others knelt down and kowtowed frantically in the direction of the sea of ​​fire, chanting the name of some unknown god.

Jinhe was also jolted and staggered, but he clung tightly to the ground, forcing himself to lift his head, his eyes wide like copper bells, staring unblinkingly at the sea of ​​deathly flames.

The servants of the god of cold are burning.

Those monsters, undeterred by the bitter cold and tireless, are twisting, melting, and turning into charcoal in the flames.

He suddenly remembered the divine message from the gods of the south that had appeared in his dream—if they did not migrate south, they would surely be destroyed.

So this is what destruction looks like?
But why were the servants of the Cold God, who were hunting them down, destroyed instead of them?
Jinhe's heart pounded wildly, a mix of extreme fear and a sliver of absurd hope making him feel like he was suffocating.

“Chief…look, those things…” an older warrior pointed tremblingly to the sky.

Jinhe shifted his gaze from the sea of ​​fire and saw the second wave of monsters.

Those were countless palm-sized black "birds," emitting a teeth-grinding buzzing sound, like the deadliest swarm of bees, nimbly weaving through the smoke and dust of the explosion.

These "big birds" have very clear targets; they precisely swoop down on necromancers who are trying to reassemble their bodies in the explosion or who are chanting incantations and emanating strange energy fluctuations.

Under the massive attack, the targeted mage will soon burst into a burst of sparks and fall into complete silence.

This is a massacre.

A massacre from an unknown source, efficient, precise, and ruthless.

"Hey...hehe..."

Beside Jinhe, a soldier who had lost an arm in the previous battle stared at this unbelievable scene, first stunned, then grinned and let out a disjointed laugh.

"Burn! Burn them to death! Burn them well!"

He was laughing, and then tears started streaming down his face.

Jinhe didn't laugh; he just stared intently at the battlefield.

He saw that the monsters that had once brought them endless despair were being wiped out in large swaths by a force he could not comprehend, like cleaning up garbage.

Is this the power of the gods?
Rumble!
A deafening explosion came from not far away.

Several unlucky guys who stood up without fear were immediately knocked to the ground.

One tribal warrior's upper body suddenly vanished, and two other tribal warriors were sent flying.

The last giant here, because he was so tall, was sitting on the ground when he was hit directly in the head by shrapnel.

When Jinhe saw this, he felt fear in his heart. As he was thinking about how to serve Ming and beg for the other party's forgiveness, a powerful blizzard suddenly swept across the land.

The dense explosions ultimately failed to stop the necromancer from casting a blizzard!

The blizzard prevented them from seeing the explosion immediately; they could only hear the terrifying sound of the explosion and the ground shaking.

Jinhe didn't know how much time had passed, but he felt the sound of the explosion in the sky and earth dissipate, and the shaking of the earth gradually disappeared.

The wind and snow disappeared along with everything!
The wind and snow gradually subsided.

The strange smell, a mixture of burnt, sulfurous, and some kind of pungent chemical, grew stronger and stronger, penetrating the nasal cavities of every savage tribe and causing their eyes to water.

Jinhe raised his head, and his vision cleared from blurry.

The remaining tide of the dead has vanished without a trace, leaving the land scorched and devastated.

Just then, a new buzzing sound came from afar.

It wasn't the sharp, swift sound of the previous bird; this sound was deeper and heavier, carrying an unparalleled sense of oppression, as if a giant beast was parting the clouds and coming.

"The gods... have the gods come?"

"Kneel down! Don't raise your head! Don't anger the gods!"

"God..."

The warriors of the tribe, who had just straightened their backs, slumped down again, their foreheads pressed tightly against the cold, muddy ground, their bodies trembling like leaves.

This time, Jinhe did not kneel.

He used all his strength to support himself on the ground, staring intently in the direction from which the sound came.

The fear remained, but a stronger curiosity and determination kept him from looking away.

He must see clearly who this divine punishment is!
Several enormous black iron birds tore through the clouds and hovered in mid-air with an arrogant posture.

They were so large that their shadows were enough to cover the entire camp.

As the iron bird approached, it stirred up a fierce wind, swirling up rubble and ash that filled the air, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some battery-powered microphones were left near the fortress.

This is a formation consisting of helicopters such as the Z-20 and WZ-10.

The pilots on the helicopter watched the snowstorm gradually recede into the distance, then looked at the tribe of wild men kneeling on the ground and kowtowing incessantly. After confirming that it was safe, they said to their passengers, "Squadron Leader Zhao Chong, we are about to reach the target area and are preparing to land!"

Zhao Chong looked through the porthole at the primitive tribe kneeling below, and his brows twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Roger that!"

"Gentlemen, proceed according to plan. Establish an outpost at the abandoned stone fortress next to them. Teams two and three, guard the perimeter and eliminate any remaining undead units."

"Roger that!"

Inside the helicopter, Zhao Chong, fully armed, looked at the many soldiers preparing for landing.

After transporting supplies back to the not-completely-damaged B5 logistics base, they handed over the defense mission and then returned to headquarters for a day of rest.

They thought they would be taking turns fighting and resting, but then the higher-ups discovered that the savage tribe had been attacked.

The Zhao Chong squadron, which was not rotated out, naturally led its newly revitalized soldiers to participate in this rescue operation.

The ropes were thrown down, and one by one, fully armed soldiers slid down to the ground.

Their movements were crisp and clean, landing silently, each step revealing the efficiency of long-trained individuals.

Upon witnessing this scene, Jinhe's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints.

Those people are so weird!

That was neither a servant of the gods nor a knight from southern legends; the knight's weapon was out of place.

Also, those things that gleam coldly on their bodies are steel armor, right?
Legend has it that in the South, only knights wore armor.

What a wealthy oddball!
Jinhe's temples throbbed instinctively as he looked at the weapons they held, which resembled tree branches.

He had never seen such bizarre steel weapons before, but his instincts told him not to provoke them.

Immediately afterwards, several iron birds flew toward the stone fortress that had been breached by the undead not far away.

The hatch opened, and several small, six-wheeled metal "monsters" were lowered out, nimbly weaving through the ruins.

The communication channels used to assist these savages are transmitting various commands.

"Get the cat-shaped cart first, and clear the area around!"

A relatively relaxed command came through the team channel from Zhao Chong.

Just then, the giants that had died in the bombing suddenly got up.

It was a large creature, waving its pale arms, and roaring as it charged toward a soldier who had just landed.

Jinhe witnessed this scene and his heart leaped into his throat.

Such powerful giants actually transformed into servants of the Cold God within them.

It’s over!

These guys can smash the head of the bravest tribesman with a single blow, and the giant trees they swing can even break a person in half!

The enemy is actually inside their castle! They're all doomed!

Just when Jinhe felt desperate!

The strange human warrior casually raised his arm, and the short black stick in his hand made a few loud "thump thump thump" sounds.

The next second, the undead giant's head exploded like a smashed watermelon, splattering red and black matter all over the ground.

The headless corpse swayed twice before collapsing heavily to the ground. As its body began to convulse, a burst of flame erupted, igniting it instantly.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.

It's so fast that people can't react in time.

Beside Jinhe, the soldier with the missing arm had just raised his weapon, preparing to swing it at the giant. Upon seeing this, he gaped, unable to close his mouth for a long time.

His expression shifted from terror to blankness, and finally to an almost manic worship.

Jinhe felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

Those are undead giants; they dealt with them far too easily.

It's like stepping on an ant.

After doing all this, these divine messengers didn't even glance at the burning undead giant, as if they had merely cleared away a rock blocking their path.

They completely ignored Jinhe and his tribe, and headed straight for the stone fortress.

In the days that followed, they saw iron birds flying back and forth in the air, carrying huge square iron boxes to the fallen stone fortress a kilometer away.

The iron crates were precisely placed near the ruins of the fortress, and they were seamlessly joined together, building a brand new fortress that gleamed with metallic luster at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Jinhe stared blankly at all of this.

"If we had this..."

He suddenly understood.

Are they... going to stay here?

A more complex and incomprehensible emotion than when facing the undead army gripped his heart.

These beings, so powerful as to be incomprehensible, are actually going to be their new neighbors?
Perhaps by following the powerful ones, the lives of our people will be much better?
Do they... need help?

When this thought arose, Jinhe felt an impulse!

After watching the other party clear away the external servants of the Cold God, they began to tidy up the house made of stone and steel.

Jinhe pondered for a long time before instructing his people to prepare their precious supplies.

He thought about it for a long time and decided to pay the other party a visit!

A few hours later!
One kilometer away from the savage tribe, in the newly built temporary outpost, the air was still filled with the smells of metal cutting and permafrost renovation.

The soldiers were very efficient; quickly, over a hundred men transformed the area into a relatively safe fortress in just a few hours.

In 24 hours, this place will be transformed into a base equipped with various living facilities and protective capabilities!
Zhao Chong did not participate in the construction; instead, he waited for others to arrive.

He strode over to greet the civilian staff who were getting off the helicopter.

"Professor Yu, thank you for your hard work. We have cleared the surrounding area, and the communication with the indigenous tribes is now entirely up to you."

Professor Yu Qiwen, who was at the head of the group, was tall and had a refined appearance. His eyes were sharp and insightful.

He was wearing a protective suit with an inner lining, which looked simple and convenient, making him seem somewhat out of place in this fortress made of camouflage stones and steel.

Yu Qiwen is from the diplomatic system, fluent in several languages, and has a strong background in psychology. He is also exceptionally skilled in language learning, making him highly suitable for communication.

He smiled and shook hands with Zhao Chong, his grip neither too light nor too heavy, just right: "You are the experts on the battlefield. Leave the rest to us."

Zhao Chong nodded and stepped aside to make way: "The equipment is all set up. Full-band sound acquisition and multi-angle monitoring are in place. The real-time support channel of the think tank is also open for you, so you can access any data at any time."

"With such thorough preparations, I can't afford to mess things up." Yu Qiwen joked, then his expression turned serious as he waved to his team behind him, "Everyone, let's get to work."

His team immediately dispersed and skillfully operated the equipment in front of them, with screens lighting up to display real-time footage of the fortress's perimeter.

Zhao Chong then turned around and continued communicating with the company commander of the stationed troops, perfecting the first modern defense line on this alien land.

Everything is going on in an orderly manner.

Suddenly, a soldier on guard duty reported over the communications channel, his voice tinged with barely suppressed surprise.

"Report! There's movement from the target tribe! They...they're carrying something and walking towards us!"

Zhao Chong glanced at his tactical watch; less than two hours had passed since they finished the battle.

Yu Qiwen, who was familiarizing himself with the equipment, also heard the report. He quickly walked to the monitor screen, where a small group of natives, led by Jin He, were cautiously approaching.

"So fast?" Yu Qiwen was somewhat surprised. "They didn't show any fear or intention to run away; instead, they took the initiative to make amends?"

"It seems that artillery fire can sometimes be more effective than ten thousand declarations of friendship." Zhao Chong's tone was calm, as if he were stating a fact.

“This really saves me a lot of trouble. The other party doesn’t seem to be overly interfered with by some unknown entity!” Yu Qiwen laughed, the sharpness in his eyes fading and replaced by a scholarly gentleness. “Our neighbor is much smarter than we imagined, so we should also extend goodwill.”

He turned to his team and instructed them: "Prepare Plan B: high-calorie canned meat, and bring out a few of the latest self-heating thermal suits."

He then carefully straightened his collar, took a deep breath, and walked out of the fortress.

The importance of this initial contact cannot be overstated, and Su Mingjin and others at headquarters were also following the entire process through live video feeds.

Outside the fortress, a biting wind howled.

Jinhe and several of his clansmen stopped a hundred meters away, looking tense and clutching tightly the things wrapped in animal skins in their arms.

They wore crudely stitched animal clothing for warmth, which looked extremely simple, but it could keep out the cold. Their faces were smeared with unknown animal fat, and they tried their best to smile to make themselves look harmless!
When Yu Qiwen saw them, he thought of his friends in the Middle East who are good at singing and dancing!
With a warm smile on his face, he slowly stepped forward alone.

He didn't get too close, stopping about ten steps away from the other person, and signaled the staff behind him to bring the items forward.

A pot of steaming meat soup was placed on the ground, and the rich aroma of meat instantly filled the cold wind.

The clansmen behind Jinhe couldn't help but swallow hard, their Adam's apples bobbing.

"Are you sent by God to save us?"

Yu Qiwen couldn't understand what the other person was saying. He simply picked up a neatly folded dark-colored garment and unfolded it in front of them. The texture and luster of the fabric were something Jinhe had never seen before.

After doing all this, Yu Qiwen took a few steps back, spread his hands, and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Hello. It's nice to meet you!"

The basic logic of human beings expressing goodwill seems to be common to all civilizations.

Jinhe couldn't understand the strange syllables, but he understood the other person's movements.

There was no mockery in that smile, and no murderous intent in those eyes.

He recalled his grandmother's descriptions of the etiquette of merchants from the far south, and, imitating his memory, awkwardly bowed deeply to Yu Qiwen.

Then, he carefully placed the fish oil and cured dried fish that he treasured in his arms on the ground, and said words of thanks in the tribal language.

Yu Qiwen didn't understand, but just smiled and nodded, then pointed to the food and clothes on the ground, and then to them.

Then, pointing to the pot of broth, he clearly uttered two words: "Food, something to eat! It's for you."

Jinhe's pupils contracted slightly.

He carefully watched Yu Qiwen's lip movements, then looked down at the pot of meat soup that was emitting an enticing aroma, and then at the dried fish he had brought.

A realization dawned on him.

He grinned like Yu Qiwen, then imitated Yu Qiwen by putting the dried fish away. After taking a few steps back, he pointed to the dried fish he had brought, then to his mouth, and uttered a series of tribal syllables.

Yu Qiwen's eyes lit up.

He immediately understood what Jinhe meant, smiled and nodded, then pointed to the dried fish and said just as clearly, "Fish."

Jinhe's breathing quickened slightly.

He pointed to the pot of broth again, and after a long pause, he finally managed to utter two words, somewhat awkwardly mimicking the pronunciation he had just heard.

"food!"

(End of this chapter)