In the end, the four large knives fell into the hands of Aaron, Michael, Sam, and Tony, while the remaining eleven men were all equipped with bows and arrows.
"Leader, the one who lasted the longest among the remaining twenty-one is Jason."
"Jason, greetings to the Leader!"
As Charlie finished speaking, a middle-aged man in his thirties stepped forward from the back and respectfully bowed to Bruce.
Bruce nodded, glancing behind Jason at the twenty people who were not selected for the first hunting team.
As previously discussed, these twenty-one would now become members of the woodcutting team, with Jason, the strongest, serving as the woodcutting team leader.
The woodcutting team would venture out with the hunting team, but their duty was primarily to chop trees in the outer regions where danger was minimal.
Even if they encountered trouble, given the current hunting area of Harper, the hunting team could arrive promptly, so they didn't need weapons, just basic woodcutting tools.
However, seeing the downcast expressions on these people's faces, Bruce had a thought, glanced at the fifteen members of the hunting team, and said aloud, "Those not selected this time, don't worry. As I mentioned, members of the first hunting team, although they enjoy the benefits, are temporary. Only by reaching the Earthripper Realm will they become true members of the hunting team."
"You fifteen will receive the best resource allocation in the camp, so you should be the quickest to reach the Earthripper Realm. If anyone from the woodcutting team achieves it before you, as per the selection results, the last in line will step down for someone from the woodcutting team."
Upon hearing this, the fifteen newly selected hunting team members visibly tensed up; the woodcutting team, however, showed renewed excitement.
"Moreover, I am currently serving as the acting leader of the hunting team. Whoever from you reaches the Earthripper Realm first and can lead a hunt, I will appoint him as the hunting team leader, and the leader's benefits will double from the hunting team member's baseline!"
Double?
Ordinary hunting team members get ten kilograms per day.
So the leader would get… twenty kilograms a day?
Upon realizing this staggering sum, everyone's expression became fervent, and their breathing quickened.
With the members of the hunting and woodcutting teams settled, Bruce looked up to find that the entire camp's attention was still focused on him.
Looking at the Cold Beast flesh already laid out in front of him, Bruce understood why everyone was watching him.
He didn't say much, just nodded at Charlie, then waved his hand towards the crowd, saying loudly:
"Everyone, line up, we're starting… meat distribution!"
At the mention of distributing meat, the eyes of everyone in the camp lit up.
The bustling sound from below reached his ears.
Without the need for Charlie to organize, over seven hundred people, including more than thirty in the Axebreaker Realm who were eligible to receive Cold Beast meat, formed an orderly queue.
Charlie had prepared earlier, instructing Tony, Clark, and Clint, along with four skilled meat cutters, to set up the chopping boards and begin distributing Cold Beast meat by rank.
"Aaron, hunting team member, 10 kilograms."
"Michael, hunting team member, 10 kilograms."
"Eric, hunting team member, 10 kilograms."
---
"Jason, woodcutting team leader, 10 kilograms."
"Jordan, woodcutting team member, 5 kilograms."
---
According to Bruce's rules, within the camp of nine hundred people, excluding over a hundred ordinary people over thirty, the remaining seven hundred plus would all receive Cold Beast meat.
The hunting team of 15 each got 10 kilograms, the woodcutting team of 21, except for the leader at 10 kilograms, the rest 5 kilograms each; the 302 reservists aged 13 to 30 got between 1 and 2 kilograms based on Basic Strength;
And for the 392 people under thirteen, 5 kilograms each per month, there was plenty from tonight's three prey, so Bruce decided to distribute it all at once.
Although it seemed like a lot of people, in reality, it was just over 2000 kilograms in total.
Of course, the challenge wasn't just for today, but to sustain this every day from now on.
With more than half of tonight's 4280 kilograms of Cold Beast meat used up, everyone in line had received their share, and the inside of the wooden hut was filled with laughter and joy.
Those who received meat were eagerly discussing how to prepare it, and those who didn't could see their children or siblings getting some, their faces filled with joy and satisfaction.
In fact, the camp consisted of just over nine hundred people, and the more than a hundred who did not receive Cold Beast meat were over thirty, typically having relatives in the reserves, woodcutting, or hunting team by association.
Given the Axebreaker Realm's practice progress, they wouldn't use up ten kilograms of Cold Beast meat a day, so if they had family in the hunting team, they would likely receive some too;
Even if there were no family members in the hunting team, there's always the woodcutting and reserves.
It's foreseeable that once their families enter the hunting team and there's meat overflow, they'll eventually receive their share.
"Leader, the distribution is done. Hunting team 150 kilograms, woodcutting team 110 kilograms, reserves totaled 420 kilograms, and the largest share was the children under thirteen, totaling 392 people, and they received 1960 kilograms collectively.
But that's a one-time distribution for a month, totaling 2640 kilograms used tonight, with 1640 kilograms left."
Charlie reported the expenses item by item, then pondered for a moment before continuing: "At this rate of distribution, the Cold Beast meat usage is projected to be 600 to 700 kilograms daily over the next thirty days."
Bruce nodded, as this was consistent with their previous calculations.
The number of kids under thirteen was 392, but they only received five kilograms per month, needing only 2000 kilograms in total, not a heavy burden.
Five kilograms a month might not seem like much, but it's enough for children to slowly improve their physique, with Bruce's focus not on immediate breakthroughs to the Axebreaker Realm, but laying the groundwork for future reservists.
Children raised on Crystal Fruit versus those raised on Cold Beast meat would have vastly different physiques, and while the difference may not be apparent right away, over time, the next generation of Daxia Camp would experience a revolutionary change.
"Everyone, quiet down!"
With a simple remark from Bruce, the wooden hut fell silent immediately, with everyone turning to look at him, their eyes filled with undisguised fervor and respect.
Clearly, this meat distribution event had elevated Bruce's status to a frightening level in their hearts.
Bruce could sense this, but he paid it little heed, speaking in a deep voice: "Once the Cold Beast meat is in your hands, I won't manage it further. Whether you use it yourself, give it away, or even waste it is up to you. But do you remember what I said before?"
What had he said before?
The crowd, enveloped in joy, paused momentarily in confusion.
But soon, Aaron and others recalled.
Aaron and the Reeves brothers, along with others from Rogel Camp, exchanged looks.
The fifteen men then stepped forward, knelt before Bruce, and solemnly declared:
"From now on, our lives and deaths are inconsequential, and we will serve the Leader's commands."
With Aaron and the others' actions, everyone was reminded of what Bruce had said earlier.
"By distributing Cold Beast meat according to the system, I will manage everything in the camp from now on, including your lives."
At this moment, everyone lowered their gaze at the Cold Beast meat in their hands, then raised their heads to look at Bruce.
Everyone in the wooden hut, including Charlie, Tony, and the Harper Camp's nine hundred plus people, without hesitation, collectively knelt, reverently saying in unison to Bruce:
"From now on, our lives and deaths are inconsequential, and we will serve the Leader's commands."
Bruce nodded, exhaling slightly.
This indicated that the newly merged Harper Camp, formed from four groups, had solidified its loyalty, and moving forward, as long as they continued hunting and implementing this system steadily, the camp's unity would be secured.
With unity, the overall strength improvement becomes naturally inevitable.
As the Cold Beast Meat was distributed, everyone couldn't wait to start their training, regardless of it being daytime.
Calling it training, in reality, means eating the Cold Beast Meat and then absorbing the energy contained in it through evaporation to enhance Basic Strength.
Bruce did not hold back and instructed Charlie and Tony to teach all four routines of the long fist thoroughly.
So, within a short while, the sound of punching could be heard from the wooden building.
The wooden building, with a side length of only thirty meters, also had to accommodate the Iron Melting Furnace and various other materials.
With all nine hundred plus people from the camp present, one could imagine the level of crowding inside.
Thus, only a small portion of people could practice the punches, mainly from the Hunting Team and Axebreaker Team, and only a few reserve members who could find vacant spots.
The Iron Melting Furnace has a radiation range of a hundred meters square; the temperature within seventy meters' extension from the wooden building is actually not much different from the inside.
Ordinary people can move freely within this range at night; only the presence or absence of wind makes a distinction.
It's not doable during the day; the cold temperature during the day originates from the sunlight.
Back when the Golden-eyed Demon Sheep attacked, Bruce had tried; even his Earthripper Realm strength couldn't resist the chill contained in the sunlight, let alone the others in the camp.
Training itself is an affair for the night; today everyone didn't bother about day or night because it was the first time they received the Cold Beast Meat and started training directly.
But the small wooden building with insufficient space per person was still a fact.
Bruce frowned slightly, glanced around the crowd, saw Mu Dong in the corner pondering with a wooden board, thought for a moment but didn't approach him.
In the following days, Bruce led the Hunting Team, managing to bring back two to three prey almost every night, and even four one night.
The supply of Cold Beast Meat was fulfilled according to the earlier set rules without fail every day.
Although the excitement of the camp's people had dwindled, their enthusiasm for training grew even higher.
When Bruce led the team out at night, the camp's reserve members were already practicing punches outside the wooden building, and even when returning from the hunt as dawn approached, the reserves were still mostly outside training.
With sufficient Cold Beast Meat and such training enthusiasm, Bruce eagerly anticipated the surge of Harper's Axebreaker Realm combat power on that day.
As for the Logging Team, Bruce no longer took direct charge, merely listening daily to reports from the team leader Jason, while monitoring the numerical increase in system log resources.
This steady and fulfilling routine continued for six days.
On the sixth day, when Bruce returned to the camp with the Hunting Team.
Jason and Edward immediately came to him together.
As they approached Bruce, Jason spoke first:
"Leader, during these days, leading the Logging Team, I've familiarized every Ice Tree on the eastern outskirts of Redwood Ridge.
There are a total of thirty-seven trees with the same growth cycle, all of which have just borne fruit.
Some weren't fully harvested, so I've led the team to gather them all, resulting in 140,000 kilos of Crystal Fruits."
Bruce instructed the Hunting Team to take the prey for processing, then walked to the side of the Iron Melting Furnace and sat down on the ground, signaling Jason and Edward to also sit first.
Technically, with ample supply of Cold Beast Meat, the significance of Crystal Fruits diminishes, considering only over a hundred people in the camp don't receive Cold Beast Meat.
Calculating two kilos per person per day, they wouldn't consume much even in a year.