"Leader Bruce, are you serious?"
Bruce didn't speak, simply nodding lightly at them.
Upon receiving Bruce's confirmation, Sam and Ben's faces lit with joy, their bodies trembling with excitement.
They stood there, overwhelmed, unable to speak for a while.
After more than ten breaths, they managed to calm their emotions, took a deep breath, and both bowed deeply to Bruce:
"I, Sam, thank the leader for his great grace."
"On behalf of over two hundred people in the camp, I, Ben, thank Leader Bruce."
Bruce quickly stepped forward to help them up, without showing much surprise.
Merging all the camps around Redwood Ridge into Harper was something he had considered for a long time; only before, he wasn't in a hurry.
The events of tonight served as a wake-up call.
Just moments before, he had been smug about taking over Rogel Camp, only for a pack of Frost Wolves to appear.
Escaping tonight relied purely on luck and courage, not strength.
What about next time?
What if an unrelenting Snow Mane Group or another Cold Beast pack comes next?
What then?
There must be acceleration, both in camp strength and personal power; both need rapid advancement.
Otherwise, such dire situations will soon recur.
Bruce took a deep breath, said no more, and quickened his pace towards Rogel Camp with the group.
"Leader, the number of people has been counted.
In total, 39 people died just now, including two from the Axeheart Realm of Rogel Camp. Finally, 304 people have reached the valley."
In the valley, the people who had already arrived gathered in the log cabin.
Hearing Charlie's report on the casualties, Bruce felt a bit heavy-hearted but quickly adjusted his emotions and turned to look at the right side of the log cabin.
This log cabin was the same one rebuilt by Rogel Camp after the disaster, only thirty meters wide, and was crowded with four to five hundred people.
On the left were the more than three hundred people from the Harper Camp, and on the right were the survivors of more than a hundred from Rogel Camp after the last disaster.
At the forefront of the more than a hundred people from Rogel Camp stood fifteen people, who should be the seventeen from the Axeheart Realm that George mentioned earlier.
Two died in the recent Frost Wolf attack, so only fifteen are left.
Bruce noticed that whether it was these fifteen from the Axeheart Realm or the more than a hundred people from Rogel Camp, there wasn't much resistance on their faces when they looked at him.
However, there was obvious reluctance when they looked at the more than three hundred people from the Harper Camp.
Bruce, of course, understood the reason behind this.
Strictly speaking, the fact that these over a hundred people survived last time was not unrelated to him, so they were grateful and had goodwill towards him;
While the resistance towards the rest of the Harper Camp was simpler, they were just worried that once the two groups merged, he, as the leader, would treat them differently.
Perhaps not wanting the people of Rogel Camp to see this, after arriving at the valley, George took Celeb, Jaden, and others to hide elsewhere and did not enter the log cabin, so these more than a hundred on the right would be the ones staying here in the future.
"Everyone!"
The people of Harper were still immersed in the recent disaster and hadn't recovered, and the hundred or so from Rogel Camp were in turmoil over the uncertain future, which made the log cabin very quiet.
As soon as Bruce opened his mouth, everyone immediately looked up.
"Although I don't know why Leader George must leave, since he has made a decision, we should respect and understand it. Moreover, not just I, but you all should trust Leader George's character. If he could safely take you all with him, he certainly wouldn't abandon you, right?"
Upon hearing this, the faces of the more than a hundred from Rogel Camp darkened considerably.
The pain caused by the Wood Puppet Monster had not yet healed, and George's departure felt like the last straw breaking the camel's back.
In the past couple of days, their despair had come in waves.
At first, there was the thought of blaming George, of course.
But as the weak, they knew they had neither the right nor the qualifications to blame.
What George had done for Rogel Camp in his ten-plus years as leader was more than all of them combined; let alone the fact that George did not just leave directly but found a way out for them.
So even though they knew George's departure was a foregone conclusion, in their hearts, they were still grateful to this former leader, George.
The words Bruce spoke not only served to explain George's actions to everyone, but also helped everyone let go of their last bit of unease.
Yes, with the leader's character, if he could take us all safely, he wouldn't just leave by himself.
It all comes down to the fact that we are the useless ones.
"I know what you are all worried about. Since Leader George has entrusted both Rogel Camp and all of you to me, from now on, you are all part of Harper. I won't say much more."
Bruce did not say much, and after two sentences, he gave an eye signal to Charlie, who had been informed beforehand on the left.
Though Charlie felt hesitant, with Bruce's command, he could only step forward and once again explain the previously discussed rules for dividing Cold Beast Meat into four levels to the more than a hundred people from Rogel Camp.
"Everyone can get a share of Cold Beast meat?"
"Those aged thirteen to thirty can get a kilogram every day?"
"Not only that, if one's strength reaches three thousand kilograms, they can get two kilograms every day."
"How is this possible, can we really hunt that much Cold Beast meat?"
"Axeheart Realm members get a fixed five kilograms a day, did I hear it wrong?"
"Special contributions can also earn Cold Beast meat rewards."
"Those under thirteen can get five kilograms a month."
"This can't be true, can the leader hunt that many Cold Beasts?"
---
All of the more than a hundred from Rogel Camp, whether it was the fifteen from the Axeheart Realm at the front or the ordinary people behind, or even the children under ten, were all stirred up at the moment.
Not just them, those like Ben and Sam, who had just agreed to join Harper, also looked up at Bruce with eyes full of shock.
The ordinary people of Harper were still okay since they already knew.
But for Charlie, Tony, and others from the Axeheart Realm, their faces showed some concern.
Especially Charlie, who had just explained the rule of dividing meat into four levels, looked at Bruce several times, wanting to speak but holding back.
This four-level division rule wasn't much of a problem when there were only the more than three hundred people of Harper, as Bruce said, six Cold Beasts a month wasn't too hard for the current Harper.
But with the addition of the 171 from Rogel Camp, plus the soon-to-be-joining Dagua and Ben families, there would be at least four to five hundred people, which posed a big problem.
For so many people, if divided into four levels, the consumption of Cold Beast meat each month would be at least three or four times more, and the hunting workload in the same proportion.
Isn't this too aggressive for the current Harper?
Despite wanting to stop him, Charlie, facing Bruce's resolute eyes and the skeptical looks on the faces of those from Rogel Camp, realized it was not the right time to oppose and kept quiet.
"Leader Bruce, are you sure you can achieve this? Previously, when our leader was around, with the camp's five Earthripper Realm members, we could only hunt five Cold Beasts a month at most.
Your strength is indeed very strong, but not to the extent of exceeding five heads, right? Given our current numbers, according to your distribution rule, we would have to hunt at least ten a month, and though I highly respect you, this is impossible for the current camp!"
An Axeheart Realm member from Rogel Camp stepped out and directly questioned.
What he didn't know was that Sam and Ben, standing in the back, shook their heads the moment they heard 'ten a month.'
Not ten, combining their camps and with over four hundred people, at least fifteen, and they must be adult Cold Beasts weighing more than a thousand kilograms.
The two calculated this in their minds, glanced at each other, and lightly shook their heads, feeling it to be impossible.
Despite the improbability, deep in their hearts, there arose a faint anticipation, causing their breaths to quicken as they looked up and tightly watched Bruce to see what he would say next.
"Whether it can be done or not is up to me and the Hunting Team; I am just asking you if you agree to this rule!"
Bruce did not offer any explanation, only asked this one more question.
"Agree, of course, everyone can get Cold Beast meat, why wouldn't we agree!"
The log cabin fell into silence until after a while, a weak voice emerged.
"Agree, of course agree."
"I agree too."
"Agree!"
The voices started weak and scattered, but soon crescendoed to a tumult of responses.
"Good, since you agree, let me make it clear. When I take people out hunting, it won't be for nothing. Until you break through the Axeheart Realm, you can only do tasks within your capabilities inside the camp, and no one will blame you.
But as soon as you break through to the Axeheart Realm and gain the ability to venture outside, everyone in the camp must go out, whether it's to pick Crystal Fruits, cut down trees, mine… everything will be managed by me, including your lives! Do you agree with this?"
As Bruce finished speaking, the whole place fell silent.