Chapter 735 People Who Rebuild Their Homes

A sudden gust of wind swept across the wilderness, lifting up a large piece of sand, gravel and fallen leaves, as well as a corner of the thick sheet covering the heavy truck. To the side of the truck, while looking up at the clear sky.

The sky was so clear that nothing could be seen except for a few sparse clouds.

"Strange wind..." The escort muttered, puzzled by his inexplicable heart palpitations just now.

The loud voice of the transport captain came from afar, "Car No. 3!"

The escort shook his head, tossed some stories about winter ghosts and plains ghosts out of his mind, and responded with the same loud voice, "Car No. 3 is ready! Boss!"

"Car No. 4!" "Car No. 4 is ready!" "Car No. 5..."

The mechanics in charge of driving the vehicle got into the high front of the driver's seat, followed by the driver and the co-pilot one after another. It came from outside, "Check the status of your vehicles, this journey is not short, the Holy Spirit Plain is freezing cold!

"Navigation on the Gorgon has stopped, and we're the only shipping line this winter--

"Go! The compatriots on the plain are still waiting for these food and medicine!"

The magic engine made a low noise, the gears and levers rotated and rubbed under the power of the machine, and the heavy and large magic vehicles gradually accelerated. In the vast wilderness in winter, the man-made steel behemoth roared, full of Holy Spirit The materials that are urgently needed in the reconstruction area of ​​the plain are painted with black traces on the vast land, and the traces point to the north from afar...

In the plain area, the Gorgon River, the dry season arrives as scheduled, and the drop in the river water level makes the navigation of large ships difficult and dangerous. As the managers of various sections of the river issued warnings, the busy shipping on the Gorgon River for more than half a year finally gradually gradually. cease.

In the old days, this meant that all those who were begging for a living on the river would go into "dormancy" like the farmers on the plains, and all but a few daring ones would obediently return to their shacks by the river, snuggling with their families , lighting a warm fire, relying on the stored food, quietly waiting for the end of winter, the same is true for ordinary sailors, and the same is true for the captain of the ship who owns a sailing ship.

But the situation this year is slightly different from previous years.

A team called the "United Reconstruction Team" came to the plain area from the rock fortress. This team built large and small camps in the scorched East Holy Spirit Plain and started the reconstruction work in full swing. Shouting the slogan "Recapture the land from the jackal and the winter",

With some incomprehensible enthusiasm, trying to bring the land back to life.

The winter, when there was nothing to do, suddenly became lively.

Boatman Du Lin jumped off the raft with his two sons. The workers who were waiting on the shore immediately stepped forward and skillfully used hooks and ropes to drag the raft to the shore. The ropes that tied the raft were untied, and the logs that made up the raft were dragged to the shore, ready to be sent to a camp not far away.

The Baishui River has been closed, but the river is not completely frozen. Although large ships can no longer sail, small rafts and boats can still sail on the shallow water. As a local who seeks a living on the Gorgon River, Doolin accepts He was hired by the Joint Reconstruction Corps, and his task was to help transport the logs felled from the upstream to the camps downstream—using the ancestral craft of rafting, as well as being tempered by begging for food among these reefs all the year round. Courage and experience.

The man who had floated half his life on the Gorgon craned his neck to watch the men in grey-blue winter clothes bustling between the fords and the shore highlands, not suitable for work in this freezing winter busy days.

He couldn't understand the scene in front of him, because this kind of thing had never happened before.

He also didn't intend to get too involved in these people's affairs, because he was an honest "Riverman", and those who came out of the rock fortress carried the banner of the royal family and were escorted by the army.

But he still cranes his neck and spends a long time looking at the southerners who don't seem to be afraid of the cold, as well as the locals who are mixed with the southerners and are said to have lived in the eastern area of ​​the Holy Spirit Plain.

It is said that those natives who escaped by chance during the previous war and have been hiding in the cities and towns to the south have now returned with the southerners, intending to rebuild their homes.

Doolin didn't see the faces he knew from the "natives"—most of them were dead.

Doolin looked at the people on the shoal and on the river bank, because he envied the thick winter clothes of those people, and the aroma wafting from them when they were cooking on the fire on the river bank-the winter clothes had no patches and were obviously new clothes, and they Occasionally the smell of meat wafts from the cooking time - they have meat every week.

In this winter, Duolin's life has actually been much better than in previous years - he originally planned to spend a difficult winter, because of the terrible war, because of those terrible monsters, the fertile fields on the east bank were destroyed, the village And the town was also destroyed. The nobles died, ran away, and the merchants fled. The "Rivermen" who depended on transporting goods for the nobles and merchants for a living lost half of their source of life. The days that come down will be extraordinarily difficult, but unexpectedly, those southerners return to the land they burned with their rumbling machines.

The Joint Reconstruction Corps has brought unexpected jobs, or a chance to live, for river workers, sailors, and captains on the Gorgon who are bracing for a hard winter.

Doolin is very grateful for the generosity of these outsiders, and is quite willing to use his craftsmanship and experience in exchange for winter rations for the whole family, but... He is still somewhat envious of those new and neat winter clothes and the meat stewed in the cauldrons by the river bank. .

A tall and thin man in a gray-blue cotton robe walked by and stopped in front of Doolin. "Citizen - today's share has been completed, you can go to the camp to collect your wages at any time."

This is a "government office official" from the southern border. The special armband and the emblem on the front of the clothes show his identity.

Doolin woke up from the distraction, and quickly lowered his head in front of the "big man", "Okay, sir, I'll go soon..."

The Government Affairs Office official with the armband laughed, "To be honest, you really don't think about signing up? We are even more short of people in the north, where experienced river workers are being recruited. If you join the reconstruction team, you can go to the camp to help in the north. "

Du Lin immediately showed a humble smile, "I...let it go, I have a wife and children at home...the youngest daughter is only three years old..."

"Actually, you can bring your family there... but it doesn't matter, everything is voluntary. When you want to sign up, just come to me at any time."

Doolin nodded hastily. "Yes, sir, thank you very much."

When meeting officials of the Government Affairs Office, they should address them as Mr./Ms. rather than adults or masters. This is the code Du Lin has learned after many dealings with these people who call themselves "the grassroots officials of the United Reconstruction Corps". Although he didn't know why some people didn't like more honorable titles, since the other party asked for it, he obeyed with all his heart.

"You're welcome," the young government office official waved his hand. "It's getting late, so go back after you've received your wages—be careful on the road, citizen."

"Yes, sir."

Du Lin and his two sons turned their heads and walked away quickly. The tall and thin government officials watched the three people leave, and shook their heads with a smile.

A young man in black winter clothes walked by, stopped behind the government office official, and said casually, "Actually, you don't need to call them citizens - they don't understand it, and the resident register of the area. It's not finished yet, and the word 'citizen' is still a long way from them."

"I like the word 'citizen', I like to say it and I like to hear it," said the State Administration official, glancing at the young man in black winter clothes. "Is Minister Norris still out there?"

"Yes, he's checking the soil to the north."

“…We didn’t get enough arable land before the freezing hit, and everything can only be made up next spring. Everyone feels a sense of urgency, but Minister Norris is no longer healthy after all,” the young council official sighed He sighed, "If only the snow this winter could be delayed by a week..."

"Yeah..." The young man in black winter clothes frowned and looked towards the north of the camp with a slightly worried gaze.

The flag of the Cecil Empire fluttered in the cold wind, and the temporary wooden walls of the camp were painted with striking paint in huge letters - "Recapture the Land from the Jackal and the Winter", and the craftsmen and the people were busy and orderly. As they fortified the camp's windbreaks and wooden huts, and prepared a warehouse for incoming new supplies, soldiers patrolled vigilantly around the camp, guarding against hungry beasts in the wilderness and those who might have escaped. Purging the mopping cluster of monsters, Norris, Minister of Agriculture, and his assistants stood on the high ground near the northern gate, gazing at the frozen swathes of land.

In winter, it snows and freezes.

Humans use their flesh and blood to trudge, rebuild, and reclaim this scorched earth. However, the mighty power of nature does not have the slightest mercy because of human bravery and industriousness. It operates more ruthlessly than machines, and rains and snows according to the law. Freeze the land according to the law, neither delay nor condone.

"The land reclaimed in this area is less than 30% of the plan... The winter in the Holy Spirit Plain is half a month longer than that in the south, and more than half of the reserve fields will definitely miss the spring ploughing next spring," Norris said in a low voice, "We are spending The food that the west finally raised..."

"But at least a few camps have stood up, and the temporary roads have been repaired, Minister," an aide couldn't help but said, "As long as these camps hold up in winter, we will be able to open up wasteland as soon as the freeze is thawed next spring, and we will only miss a season at most. food……"

Norris sighed, "You can only try to think in a good direction...cough..."

He coughed violently.

The air flowed through his trachea, tearing at the lungs that had been damaged by typhoid fever in his early years. He felt as if the cold air was pouring into his internal organs, melting the little energy left in this body little by little. Before the coughing caused the imbalance, two pairs of young hands stretched out from the side in time to support the shaky Minister of Agriculture.

"Minister," a young official called nervously, "are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Norris finally came over. He reached into his arms, took out a small metal potion bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip of the slightly bitter potion inside. The warm feeling spread in the body. Kai Lai added a bit of energy to his words, "Alas, after all, I am old, and the cold wind of the Holy Spirit Plain is not very friendly to me."

Pittman's special rejuvenation potion replenishes Norris's physical strength, but he can still feel his internal organs are steadily declining - alchemy potions and druid spells may make an old man feel better, but aging brings The deep damage that comes from cannot be reversed by human beings.

He put away the half bottle of potion left, looking at the worried, nervous, and concerned young faces around him, he couldn't help but smile.

"Let's go back."

Norris shook off the two hands that were supporting him, turned to the direction of the camp, stepped forward, and walked forward slowly.

He walked into the camp, towards his barracks.

Those dedicated to rebuilding their homes are busy on both sides of the road.

The magicians from the south are debugging a magic obelisk, and the crystal device full of magic is slowly rotating in the cold wind.

Craftsmen are measuring the foundation of a vacant lot, preparing for the construction of a warehouse.

Several civilians are working together to cut a huge piece of wood. The man holding the saw is vaguely familiar... He is a refugee who has been helped by the investigation team. His most valuable possession is a small cart full of tatters. .

His wife was not far away, stirring the food in a large pot with a long-handled spoon, and with a loud voice beckoned the men to finish work and prepare for dinner.

The "precious" cart was there, not discarded, but parked in the open space next to it, piled with potatoes and radishes pulled from the warehouse.

In retrospect, Norris remembered having a similar-looking cart—he pushed it all the way from Old Cecil to the Dark Mountains.

The cart had been burned for firewood in its first winter, and the land next to the Dark Mountains was now a wonderful place.

Norris' hunched back straightened slightly.

His work is not over yet.

.