Lex once again signaled Matthew, who wanted to speak, to hold his tongue.
After briefly pondering, he spoke in a somber tone: "I understand your difficulties, but I must clearly tell you, the speed at which the Mimicking Monster gains strength is hard for you to imagine.
Right now, you're completely no match for it, and it's hard to predict how strong it will become if we delay any longer."
Pausing here, he looked up to meet George's eyes, continuing earnestly:
"Believe me, to eliminate that Wood Puppet Monster, sacrificing a small number of people is entirely worth it!"
Matthew couldn't hold back either, speaking with a cold smile:
"Fools, sometimes necessary sacrifices are unavoidable. If you can't even comprehend this simple truth, how do you fit to be leaders?
You should count yourself lucky to have encountered us; if not for being fellow humans, we wouldn't bother to help."
"Honorable sirs, I admit, you have great skills and strength, and are truly indispensable in dealing with the monster, but our Taylor Camp has lost all our Axeheart Realm fighters, leaving only my brother and me. We simply can't contribute any manpower or assistance."
Even though Matthew's words made sense, repeatedly calling them worthless and fools had finally pushed William to the point of no return.
Originally, Taylor Camp suffered the greatest losses, and he was most intent on withdrawing.
Matthew's repeated disrespect and mockery only fueled his intent to leave.
Even so, William knew the two of them weren't to be offended, so although his tone was stiff, he dared not show any displeasure on his face.
Instead, he respectfully bowed to the two before turning to George:
"Leader George, I am truly sorry, but we must withdraw. We've been out for over half a month, and the camp is probably running out of food. If we don't return soon, people will starve."
George opened his mouth to persuade them to stay, but seeing only the solitary Barry behind William, he held back, simply looking up at the position of the moon before speaking:
"Brother William, dawn is near. Let's return to Rogel Camp first. Tomorrow night, I'll pack a bag of Crystal Fruit for you to take with you."
Hearing this, William immediately displayed a look of gratitude.
"Thank you, Leader George. I am deeply grateful!"
Seeing the other four leaders eager to follow William, George quickly spoke up: "Honorable sirs, leaders, dawn is nearly breaking. Let's return to the camp first and discuss the rest together?"
The four leaders exchanged glances, hesitating for a moment before nodding.
On the other side, as soon as William mentioned leaving, Matthew's expression turned grim, and he even took a step forward, seemingly ready to act if Lex hadn't stopped him.
Seeing George truly agreeing to let William leave, Lex's brow furrowed sharply a few times but after glancing at the other four leaders and thinking it over, he refrained from speaking.
Signaling George and the others to go first, Lex followed with Matthew in tow, deep in thought.
When the others had walked some distance away, Matthew turned to Lex and spoke quietly: "These fools don't know what's good for them. Brother, we should leave and go back to get some helpers. That monster won't escape."
A flash of hesitation crossed Lex's face, but he eventually shook his head:
"If we bring more people, that monster won't be ours anymore, and it would take too long for a round trip. Its power will surely get stronger, and by then we might not be able to handle it."
After saying this, Lex looked at the people ahead, stayed silent for a moment, then sighed and continued:
"That monster has already lost a hand to us, its strength should have diminished quite a bit. Let's try one last time. If it doesn't work, we'll go back for reinforcements. These people… we'll just let them fend for themselves!"
---
The outpost of Rogel Camp is located in a valley sandwiched between two mountains to the east of Redwood Ridge.
Both mountains are elongated vertically, rising two to three thousand meters, similar to Tower Mountain where Taylor Camp is located.
Over the years, the cold has frozen them, and the surrounding rock faces are covered with a layer of black ice crystals.
The mountains are taller than Tower Mountain, so naturally, the crystals are thicker as well.
However, the strange thing is that the further down you go on the mountain, the thinner and lighter in color the black ice crystals become, until at the very bottom, nearing the ground, they've turned the color of ordinary stone.
Upon closer inspection, you can see a continuous layer of white mist surrounding the stone wall, and as the white mist rises, those black crystals keep melting, turning into a water flow that drips down the stone wall.
"The high temperature from burning coal can even melt these age-old ice crystals. Rogel Camp should never freeze anyone to death."
Even though Sam has stayed at Rogel Camp for half a month, every time he returns, he can't help but marvel bluntly.
The other three leaders, along with William and their Axeheart Realm personnel from their respective camps, upon hearing Sam's words and seeing the white mist on the stone wall, also showed a look of envy on their faces.
"Freeze to death? What a joke. At Rogel Camp, let alone the fact that everyone has a piece of Beast Skin Clothing, with these coal blocks for heating all year round, we haven't had anyone freeze to death in nearly twenty years."
George didn't say anything, but one of his subordinates couldn't help but speak up.
From his rather proud tone, it's not hard to see that as a member of Rogel Camp, he felt quite proud in his heart.
Hearing that no one had frozen to death in twenty years, the crowd's look of envy intensified.
Especially for the leaders of the five small camps, they could most directly feel the power of that statement.
Strictly speaking, compared to the Cold Beast and Mimicking Monster, cold is the simplest survival challenge faced by humans.
However, even so, the number of people who die from cold each year is still significant in various camps.
As small camps, they can only rely on woodcutting to keep warm.
The problem is that woodcutting doesn't guarantee a harvest every time.
If unlucky enough to encounter a Cold Beast, not only would they gain nothing, but they might even lose their lives.
The problem is that in recent years, the growth rate of trees in Redwood Ridge has been more and more rampant.
Sometimes, they can't even find a tree that can be cut down in a whole night.
Not only is obtaining wood difficult, but the physical condition of the ordinary people in the camps is also a major issue, especially children.
When facing a sudden drop in temperature, even hiding in a cave with a bonfire might not prevent them from freezing to death.
So, while twenty years without freezing anyone to death may seem ordinary to Rogel Camp, it is a huge luxury for these five small camps.
Where there is envy, there is disdain.
"Ignorant country bumpkins, making a fuss over nothing, and feeling proud about such a trivial thing!"
Unlike the faces of envy on people like Sam, Matthew's face was full of disdain.
Evidently, what had occurred earlier left Matthew with a deep grudge against the group, so he directly used the phrase "ignorant country bumpkins" to mock everyone as inexperienced.
Lex, although not speaking, had an expression on his face that was not much different.
"Not to mention Manhattan Town, even slightly stronger medium camps know to lay down coal stone, soften the ground, and transplant crops, but you all only know to use it for heating.
Holding onto a treasure without knowing how to use it, and still being complacent about it, is simply stupid to the extreme!"
The others had no reaction to these words.
Only George was stunned, then thought of something, and his face immediately showed a look of joy.
"Thank you for the guidance, my lord. I only learned today that coal stone has such uses."
Matthew's face froze.
His intention was only to ridicule and joke, not to guide George, and he didn't expect it to backfire.
However, he thought of something, quickly backtracked, and sneered, "Don't get happy too soon. The land needed for those crops isn't small, and you five Earthripper Realm folk would take ten to eight years to extract the coal stone necessary."
Not long after being exuberant, George was hit with a metaphorical bucket of cold water.
Although he said nothing, the leaders of the five camps with Sam and William flashed evident anger in their eyes towards Matthew, clearly displeased by his taunting of George.
"Enough, stop rambling and get inside quickly!"
Lex noticed the undisguised anger of the five leaders and looked somewhat displeased, but said nothing, just gave Matthew a glance, signaling everyone to go inside first.
"Everyone, let's talk inside!"
George, whether naturally without a temper or having a good self-cultivation, after being teased by Matthew, acted as if nothing had happened and invited everyone inside.
While people were speaking, they hadn't forgotten to walk and had already reached the middle of the valley.
Though a medium-sized camp, similar to the Harper and Taylor camps, the location where Rogel Camp is stationed is very concealed.
The entrance to the valley is filled with huge boulders and trees.
A normal person would never guess that behind them hides a camp of over a thousand people.
George led the group around the boulders from the left side, and several subordinates, familiar with the path, walked ahead of him to a heap of rotten wood from which they pulled out a giant log over five meters in diameter and fifty meters long.
Once the log was pulled out, the stones and other trees on top should have collapsed, but they didn't move at all.
A thirty-meter-long passageway appeared out of nowhere amidst the heap of boulders and trees.
No one was surprised, having seen it before, and followed George inside without changing their expressions.
Passing through the passage, the entire inner side of the valley was revealed.
The depth of the valley wasn't clear, but just the left and right sides were about three to four hundred meters wide.
The most amazing thing was that the tops of the two mountains interlocked, blocking the valley completely from light.
Of course, solely like this is not enough to fend off the harsh cold.
Unlike the Harper and Taylor Camps, which rely on burning bonfires in enclosed spaces to warm, Rogel Camp has built five gigantic houses inside the valley.
These can't really be called houses but rather boxes constructed with giant wood.
Each of the five wooden houses is square, about fifty meters wide, estimated to accommodate several hundred people each.
Fires burn inside all five buildings with white smoke continuously wafting out from vent holes at the top, accompanied by voices conversing inside.
The wood houses, illuminated by the fire inside, gleamed with a faint golden light, clearly built using the strongest Golden Frost Tree.
"It gets warm as soon as you enter the valley, coal burning is indeed good!"
Sam extended his hand to feel the inside temperature of the valley, unable to help but exclaim.
People from the camp had already come out to greet them, and George casually exchanged greetings, leading the group toward the innermost wooden house.
As they approached the wooden house, Barry, who had been following William, suddenly perked up and turned his head towards the left side of the wooden house.
"Big brother, what's that place?"
William, following his gaze, then noticed that beside the innermost wooden house was a small wooden house less than ten meters wide.
George noticed and approached them, explaining, "That's my father's residence."
Upon hearing this, both men were stunned.
George's father, the previous leader of Rogel Camp, Steve?