47: Do you want to hug a thick thigh?

The disappearance of the Ninth Princess suddenly strained relations between the Empire and the Barbarians, causing turmoil throughout the border region, with troop movements and scouts everywhere.

In the Ten Thousand Mountains, the previously bustling forum also became extremely deserted, with only 108 Lords remaining, and everyone rarely spoke to each other.

Only the trading channel still had some goods listed for trade, indicating that these people were still present.

After experiencing life-and-death battles, everyone seemed to have become much quieter, all desperately developing silently.

Han Huohuo originally wanted to build a teleportation gate, but upon checking, he found that building one required five different types of rare resources.

Han Huohuo didn't bear to build it; he pondered for a long time, realizing his original camp's location wasn't good, and it was also very dangerous there.

At that camp, he had fought both the Barbarians and the Northwest Grand Commandant; its coordinates had been exposed, making it a target. If one day it were truly surrounded by a large army, that place could be completely abandoned.

Therefore, not a single living person was left at that camp; only some mechanical workers and mechanical Wolves remained, turning it into a pure resource production base.

As for the library and the Magician Guild, they had also been rebuilt here, and they began upgrading technology and magic.

It was warm in the Main Camp, and the fireplace flames were ambiguous. Han Huohuo looked at the shy Mu Jiu; he didn't ask Mu Jiu where she was from or where she came from. Anyway, from now on, she was his.

If Mu Jiu didn't say, he wouldn't ask.

"Your puppets are very strong, but not strong enough. I once saw the Mo Family's most powerful puppet; it was a giant steel beast with immense power. One beast could hold off a thousand troops."

Mu Jiu continued, "Seeing how much you like puppets, you could actually go to the Mo Family to learn. I think the biggest advantage of your puppets is that they are much smarter than the Mo Family's puppets. The Mo Family's puppets are powerful but clumsy."

"Haha, no need. Believe me, as long as you get me enough resources, my puppets will be ten thousand times stronger than the Mo Family's!"

Looking at Han Huohuo's confident and passionate eyes, Mu Jiu's eyes brightened.

Which girl doesn't like a dominant man?

"We need talent, we need a lot of talent," Mu Jiu said.

Mu Jiu had already arranged for a large number of mechanical workers to clear the land, but winter was approaching, so they could only clear the land but not cultivate it.

Therefore, this winter would likely be the most difficult one. Only when spring arrived next year would Tongtian City enter its next new phase of development.

They were gathering all the fruits they could, and numerous hunting teams were sent out to prepare for winter.

Han Huohuo calculated that feeding the people in the camp shouldn't be too big of a problem. Even if there was a slight shortage of food, he had plenty of gold coins and could buy some back.

But the next day, upon waking up, he went out and saw Liu Qiang proudly coming to report to Mu Jiu.

"General Mu, I recruited over twenty people yesterday, and found several with special skills among them."

This was Mu Jiu's order, and Liu Qiang executed it well.

Mu Jiu didn't show any emotion, nodding, "Good, keep looking. Winter is coming, and I believe many vagrants will need a place to escape the severe cold."

After Liu Qiang left, Han Huohuo couldn't help but say, "We don't have that much food stored. Let's not recruit so many people at once, okay?"

Han Huohuo meant that recruiting people was fine, but it should be done at the right time. This season, with food scarce, wasn't very suitable.

Mu Jiu looked at Han Huohuo and said, "Then you want to watch the vagrants freeze to death in the mountains during winter?"

Han Huohuo originally wanted to say, I'm a bandits, not a philanthropist. What does it matter to me if vagrants freeze to death?

But looking at Mu Jiu's watery big eyes, he ultimately didn't say it.

Forget it, those vagrants don't concern me, but Mu Jiu is my woman now, so Mu Jiu concerns me.

Food, there's always a way to solve it.

Probably sensing Han Huohuo's reluctance, Mu Jiu had to persuade him, "I'm not asking you to be a bleeding heart, but you need to know that this is the best season to win people over. Once spring arrives, the opportunity will be missed."

Mu Jiu didn't say everything she wanted to say.

Han Huohuo understood that crisis and opportunity are twin sisters that go hand in hand. Seizing the crisis is seizing the opportunity.

He thought about it and didn't think it was a big deal; it should be solvable. The possibility of the Great Qian Dynasty sending troops in winter was very small, so although the harsh winter conditions were tough, it was also a window of opportunity for his own development.

He nodded, tacitly agreeing.

Mu Jiu and Hua Mulan both went out to get busy.

Han Huohuo came to the market, ready to trade and see if he could buy some food.

Suddenly, he was startled!

He discovered that in the Ten Thousand Mountains, only 107 camps remained!

Another one was eliminated. Who did it?

While he was in a daze, a private message suddenly lit up.

He opened it and saw it was a Lord named Huo Zheng.

"Is Boss Han Huohuo there? Something big happened last night, did you know?"

"What happened?"

Han Huohuo thought to himself, I was having a good time with Jiu'er last night, how would I know what big deal happened in the Ten Thousand Mountains?

"Wu Qiming suddenly attacked a Lord last night and wiped out their entire family. That guy has a lot of terrifying mechanical weapons, especially giant crossbows. Those are standard Great Qian Dynasty weapons; I don't know how he got them."

"Wu Qiming?"

"Yes, several Lords who know about it are very panicked. We've always had dealings with that Lord who was wiped out. He was defeated and died instantly, and now everyone is panicking. After thinking it over, we can only ask you for help."

Han Huohuo couldn't help but think of the young man in white he saw at the Wang family. Could it really be him?

Who supported him? Why did he continue to eliminate other Lords?

Han Huohuo thought about it and felt that he was not suitable to get involved in this mess for the time being.

"I don't know that Wu Qiming, and I don't know where he is. Even if you ask me to deal with him, I wouldn't know where to start, right?" Han Huohuo paused, then added, "Moreover, none of us know the reason why he wiped out that Lord. I won't rashly intervene."

Huo Zheng had nothing to say, expressed regret, and the two immediately ended the call.

This world is too dangerous; every step must be carefully considered. One cannot act rashly and must never fight an unprepared war.

Han Huohuo thought for a moment and built a barracks.

【Are you sure you want to build the Thief Guild?】

"Confirmed!"

Wood -500

Stone -250

It was called the Thief Guild, but it was actually a barracks for training scouts and spies.

That little girl was overflowing with saintly compassion, but Han Huohuo didn't plan to support idlers. If you eat my food, you have to work for me.

If you can't help me protect this city, what do I need you for?

I'm a bandits, not some philanthropist.

The barracks were built in the area that had been planned with Hua Mulan. This large area was reserved for various barracks in the future.

He called Hua Mulan, "General Hua, I'll leave this barracks to you to manage. Help me train some scouts to collect information on all the camps in our Ten Thousand Mountains."

Hua Mulan smiled, "Don't you want to scout for information on the Barbarian King and Wanqing City? How much of a threat can a few banditss be? These two places are your biggest threats to survival."

Han Huohuo was very awkward. Of course, he wanted to scout for information on these two places, but he deliberately didn't say so because the Barbarian King was Hua Mulan's former master. He didn't expect Hua Mulan to not mind and point it out directly.

However, mentioning these two places.

Han Huohuo suddenly had many ideas: "Mulan, tell me, in our Ten Thousand Mountains now, we are actually surviving in the cracks. Whether it's Wanqing City or the Barbarian King, if they really wanted to crush us, we would have no power to resist. Our Tongtian City still needs a few years to develop. Help me think, how can we gain safe development time?"

Hua Mulan looked at Han Huohuo sideways. The Lord had even changed his address today, even calling her Mulan. Clearly, this kid had some new tricks up his sleeve.

Although she was a Barbarian, she was incredibly intelligent. With a little thought, she understood and couldn't help but laugh and cry, "You mean..."

Hua Mulan pointed her finger to the north.

Han Huohuo chuckled, knowing that Hua Mulan understood, so he nodded, "Tongtian City is a newborn baby, now caught between two strong forces. To survive, we must cling to a strong leg, don't you think?"