337: Chapter 337 Lin Yuan Has the Final Say

On the day the frost crystal stone renovation was completed, the temperature inside the Shelter stabilized at 22 degrees.

22 degrees.

On an ice sheet at minus 170 degrees, this number seemed like a joke.

But it was real.

Over five thousand people felt the warmth seeping out from the walls at the same moment.

It was not the dry heat of a radiator.

It was a uniform, gentle warmth that wrapped around them from all directions.

Like a blanket.

The entire Shelter had turned into a giant blanket.

Someone cried.

Not because they were moved.

It was because they hadn't been warm for too long.

When a person suddenly warms up after being cold for a long time, the body has a strange reaction—the nose tingles, the eye sockets heat up, and then tears fall.

This isn't being dramatic.

It's a physiological reaction.

Xia Muqing said so.

She calls it "thermal stress lacrimal secretion."

Translated into plain language, it means: cried from warmth.

Ye Qingxue stood in the command room, watching the stable "22" on the thermometer.

Six days.

She said it would be finished in six days, and it was finished in six days.

It was even four hours ahead of schedule.

When Lin Yuan walked in, Ye Qingxue was tidying up the progress schedule.

"Finished?"

"Finished."

Lin Yuan glanced at the thermometer.

"Not bad."

Ye Qingxue didn't speak.

But the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"Not bad."

A perfect score.

The day after the Shelter returned to normal operation.

Qin Ziyan's Special Operations Team discovered a group of people five kilometers west of the Shelter during a routine patrol.

About forty people.

Men, women, old, and young.

Dressed in rags.

Most of their skin showed an abnormal blue color—the initial symptoms of the frost curse.

Their limbs were stiff, and their lips were purple.

When they walked, they looked like a group of half-frozen puppets.

The leader was a middle-aged woman.

In her thirties, her face was full of frostbite marks, and her hair was frozen into ice blocks.

Behind her followed a dozen or so children and some elderly people.

The children were wrapped in various rags and plastic bags, like moving piles of trash.

But the eyes in the trash piles were alive.

Big and bright.

Carrying fear, but also hope.

When the middle-aged woman saw Qin Ziyan's patrol team, her legs went weak, and she knelt directly in the snow.

"Please, take us in."

Her voice was as hoarse as sandpaper.

"The children are freezing to death."

Qin Ziyan looked at her.

Then she looked at the group of people behind her.

Forty people.

On an ice sheet at minus 170 degrees.

Wearing rags and plastic bags.

Being able to walk here was a miracle in itself.

Qin Ziyan was a soldier.

A soldier's first reaction was to assess the threat.

Forty people, mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children, no weapons, no aura of an Ability User.

Threat level: zero.

But Qin Ziyan did not make the decision.

She didn't have that authority.

"Wait here," she said.

"I'm going to report this."

Then she left the patrol team to guard them and ran back to the Shelter herself.

She ran fast.

Because she knew that on an ice sheet at minus 170 degrees, the validity period of the word "wait" was probably only two hours.

After two hours, those children wouldn't need to wait anymore.

Because they would turn into ice sculptures.

In the command room.

After Qin Ziyan finished her report, the people present reacted differently.

Ye Qingxue fell silent.

She knew Lin Yuan's rules.

The Shelter only took in females.

This was an ironclad rule set from the very beginning.

But there were children among the forty people.

There were elderly people.

There were mothers kneeling in the snow begging them to take them in.

Ye Qingxue did not speak.

Because she knew that this decision should not be made by her.

Ling Shuanghan was very calm.

"In the Everwinter World, we have encountered this situation countless times."

Her voice had no fluctuation.

"Every time we soften our hearts, we pay a price."

Ye Qingyue felt heartache.

"Those children..."

She only said three words before she couldn't continue.

Ye Qingyue was the medical team leader.

She had seen too many people die because of the frost curse.

Adults could still endure without screaming when they died.

Children couldn't.

Children would cry.

They would cry until their voices grew smaller and smaller, and smaller.

Then there was nothing left.

Ji Wushuang's attitude was the simplest.

"Lin Yuan calls the shots."

Four words, solving everything.

Luo Qinghan's reaction was different from everyone else's.

She wasn't feeling heartache, nor was she calm.

She was vigilant.

"First, confirm their identities."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"In the Apocalypse, refugee groups are the most common disguise."

Everyone looked at Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan was eating.

Roasted sweet potatoes made by Chu Yanran.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a sweet potato—it was some kind of tuber ingredient from the system supplies.

Through Chu Yanran's magical hands, it turned into the appearance and taste of a roasted sweet potato.

Chu Yanran had a talent: no matter what ingredients were given to her, she could make a taste that made people homesick.

The roasted sweet potato was one of them.

Lin Yuan finished one.

He wiped his hands.

Then he spoke.

"Take the women and children in."

The command room was quiet for a second.

"Do not take the men. But give them three days of food and warm supplies, and let them leave on their own."

No hesitation.

No entanglement.

No "let me think about it."

This was Lin Yuan.

The rules remained unchanged—the Shelter only took in females.

But within the scope of the rules, he would not stand by and watch them die.

The women and children were taken in because they met the rules.

The men were not taken in because rules were rules.

But he gave them three days of supplies because Lin Yuan was not a beast.

Three lines, crystal clear.

Ye Qingyue breathed a sigh of relief.

Ling Shuanghan nodded.

Luo Qinghan did not object, but she added,

"Before they are taken in, I will interrogate them first."

Lin Yuan: "As you wish."

Luo Qinghan's "interrogation" was not an interrogation.

It was observation.

She would watch everyone's eyes, expressions, and micro-movements.

The Reborn Person's ten years of Apocalypse experience gave her a near-perverted sensitivity to "disguise."

Whether a person was acting or not, she would know in three seconds.

The forty people were brought into the temporary area on the outskirts of the Shelter.

Luo Qinghan stood in the corner and spent about twenty minutes looking at everyone.

Conclusion: No imposters.

They were all real refugees.

Real despair.

Truly at the end of their ropes.

When Luo Qinghan reported to Lin Yuan, her tone was very flat.

"Clean. No problems."

Lin Yuan: "Mm."

The reception began.

Among the forty people, there were twenty-three females and children, and seventeen males.

The females and children were brought into the Shelter.

Ye Qingyue and the medical team were waiting at the entrance.

The initial symptoms of the frost curse were not difficult to treat—just use the frost curse antidote unlocked by Ye Qingxue.

But when she saw those children, Ye Qingyue still froze for a moment.

The youngest was about three or four years old.

Wrapped in an adult's down jacket, only a small face was exposed.

The small face was blue.

Not a healthy rosy color, but the blue of the frost curse.

But those eyes—big and bright.

When looking at Ye Qingyue, they didn't cry, nor did they smile.

They just looked.

Like a small animal confirming whether the person in front of it was safe.

Ye Qingyue squatted down.

"Don't be afraid," she said.

"It'll be warm once you get inside."

The child looked at her for three seconds.

Then it reached out a small blue hand and grabbed Ye Qingyue's finger.

The finger was as cold as an ice pop.

Ye Qingyue's eyes reddened instantly.

She didn't cry.

She took a deep breath and picked the child up.

"Let's go, big sister will take you to eat something hot."

Nearby, Chu Yanran had already prepared hot porridge.

Twenty-three portions.

Every portion was steaming.

The moment the middle-aged woman walked into the Shelter, she saw the environment inside.

Warm.

Bright.

There was hot food.

The walls were warm.

The air was warm.

Even the floor was warm.

She stood at the door, stunned for about five seconds.

Then she cried.

Not wailing.

It was silent weeping.

Tears slid down her frostbitten face and dripped onto the warm floor.

She wasn't moved.

She was because—she finally didn't have to worry about the children freezing to death anymore.

This thought had swirled in her mind for who knows how many days.

Every night she counted the number of children.

Every morning she was afraid one would be missing.

Now she didn't need to count.

Because it was warm here.

The seventeen males did not get this treatment.

They received three days of food—compressed biscuits and c-grade energy mineral water.

And warm supplies—one cold-weather jacket each.

Then they were sent out of the Shelter area.

Qin Ziyan was responsible for executing this task.

When she handed the supplies to them, her expression was very calm.

But her hand used a little force.

It was as if she wanted to stuff the supplies more tightly.

More securely.

So that they wouldn't be blown away in the minus 170-degree wind.

The seventeen men took the supplies, turned around, and walked into the wind and snow.

No one looked back.

It wasn't that they didn't want to look back.

It was that they didn't dare.

If they looked back, they would see the warm lights of the Shelter.

If they saw it, they wouldn't be able to walk away.

If they couldn't walk, they would die outside the city wall.

So, they didn't look back.

Ling Shuanghan stood on the city wall, watching those backs disappear into the wind and snow.

Her expression was calm.

She had seen too many such scenes.

In the Everwinter World, for people left outside, if one out of ten survived, that was considered lucky.

Of these seventeen people, how many would survive?

Ling Shuanghan did not calculate.

Because calculating was useless.

The first batch of refugees was just the beginning.

The next day, about eighty more people arrived.

From the southeast direction.

Survivors from a medium-sized stronghold.

That stronghold had completely collapsed on the third day of the Frost Tide—their stronghold was built in an abandoned shopping mall, and the mall's steel structure became brittle at minus 165 degrees.

The entire building collapsed during a storm.

The eighty people had crawled out of the ruins.

On the third day, about one hundred and fifty more people arrived.

From different directions.

Gathering sporadically.

It was as if all the survivors on the ice sheet had received some kind of signal—"There is a warm place in the north."

This signal was not sent out by Lin Yuan.

It was spread by the male refugees who had been let go.

They took their three days of supplies and walked into the wind and snow, went to other strongholds, and told others: "There is a Shelter in the north. The city wall is made of alloy. It is warm inside. They take in women and children."

When Lin Yuan heard this news, he was eating lunch.

Kirin meat stewed with radish made by Chu Yanran.

But Chu Yanran insisted on making it taste like radish.

The radish was, of course, not a real radish.

It was some variant of the system supplies.

Lin Yuan took a bite.

"So the three days of supplies I gave them turned into free advertising."

Ye Qingxue stood by.

"...That can be understood that way."

Lin Yuan took another bite.

"The advertising effect is not bad."

Ye Qingxue didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.

By the evening of the third day, nearly two hundred rejected male refugees had gathered on the outskirts of the Shelter.

They did not leave.

Instead, they spontaneously built simple wind Shelters outside the Shelter's city wall.

Using ice blocks, rags, and anything they could find.

The wind Shelters couldn't block much wind.

But at least it was better than standing bare on the ice sheet.

They didn't dare to cause trouble.

The Shelter's alien alloy city wall was ten meters high.

The Female Warriors of the patrol team passed by every half hour.

The aura on everyone didn't look like they were easy to mess with.

The gap was too obvious.

Causing trouble was equivalent to looking for death.

But they were also unwilling to leave.

Leaving meant death.

Staying meant there was at least a glimmer of hope.

What if the Shelter changed its mind?

What if the people inside softened their hearts?

What if—what if nothing would happen.

But the word "what if" was the last painkiller in the Apocalypse.

Chen Hanyue was responsible for the management of the outer perimeter.

She reported the situation outside the city wall to Lin Yuan.

"Over two hundred people. No trouble. But they didn't leave either."

Lin Yuan was drinking tea.

It wasn't real tea.

It was c-grade energy mineral water with some kind of spice mixed by Chu Yanran, tasting like tea.

"As long as they don't cause trouble, ignore them."

Chen Hanyue hesitated for a moment.

"What if they freeze to death outside the city wall?"

Lin Yuan put down his cup.

"That is their choice. I gave them supplies, and they chose to stay instead of looking for other strongholds."

Chen Hanyue didn't say anything more.

She knew what Lin Yuan said was correct.

But "correct" and "comfortable" were not the same thing.

That night.

Ye Qingxue came to find Lin Yuan.

Not to deliver hot water.

But to discuss something.

"I have a proposal."

Lin Yuan looked at her.

"Establish an outer city on the outskirts of the Shelter."

Ye Qingxue's voice was very steady.

As if she had been thinking about it for a long time.

"The outer city is not part of the Shelter. But it can provide basic warmth and food. The management rights will not be in your hands; leave it to the refugees to self-govern."

Lin Yuan did not answer immediately.

He was calculating.

Calculating costs.

Calculating benefits.

Calculating risks.

Some Intelligent Building Modules.

Some basic supplies.

The cost was not high.

And the benefits?

If two hundred people froze to death outside the city wall, the news would spread, and the reputation of the Lin Yuan Shelter would be ruined.

In the future, if anyone passed by, they wouldn't come to seek refuge.

They would walk around it.

They might even come to retaliate.

If two hundred living people were kept outside and given a place to survive—they would be grateful.

Grateful people would work.

Working meant output.

Output meant profit.

Lin Yuan thought for three seconds.

"Fine."

Ye Qingxue's eyes lit up.

"But there are three conditions."

The brightness dimmed a little.

"First, people from the outer city cannot enter the Core Zone of the Shelter."

Ye Qingxue nodded.

"Second, the outer city needs to elect its own manager."

Ye Qingxue nodded.

"Third, if the people in the outer city want to obtain more supplies, they need to exchange them for labor. Mining, patrolling, building fortifications."

Ye Qingxue nodded to everything.

She had thought of all three conditions.

In fact, she had already prepared a complete outer city plan before she came.

All three conditions were in the plan.

She just wanted Lin Yuan to say it himself.

Because the rules that Lin Yuan said himself had stronger execution power than those relayed by anyone else.

"I'll arrange it," Ye Qingxue said.

Lin Yuan looked at her.

"Is this something you want to do?"

Ye Qingxue thought for a moment.

"This is something beneficial to the Shelter. Two hundred free laborers are more useful than letting them freeze to death."

Lin Yuan smiled.

A very small smile.

So small that if Ye Qingxue weren't standing right here, probably no one would have seen it.

"You are becoming more and more like me."

Ye Qingxue froze for a moment.

"...That's not a compliment, is it?"

"It is," Lin Yuan said.

His tone was very serious.

Ye Qingxue looked at him for two seconds.

Then she turned and left.

When she reached the door, her steps paused.

With her back to Lin Yuan.

"Being like you isn't bad either."

The voice was very light.

So light that Lin Yuan wasn't sure if he had heard it clearly.

But he didn't press for an answer.

Because Ye Qingxue had already left.

She walked very fast.

Faster than usual.

Lin Yuan looked at the closed door.

He thought about it.

What did "Being like you isn't bad either" mean?

Forget it.

Don't think about it.

He wasn't good at analyzing these kinds of words.

It was simpler to analyze supplies.

Outside the window, the wind and snow continued.

Outside the city wall, over two hundred people huddled in the simple wind Shelters.

They didn't know that a plan for an "outer city" had already been passed inside the Shelter.

They also didn't know that the person who made this decision was currently staring blankly in the command room.

The reason for the blank stare wasn't the outer city plan.

It was the sentence "Being like you isn't bad either."

But this matter, Lin Yuan would never admit it even if he died.