Bruce maintained a calm expression and nodded.
The hunting ability has already far exceeded capacity, and the Cold Beast meat has overflowed to such an extent.
Increasing the population base and expanding the camp size is a natural progression.
In fact, he had been considering it three months ago, but at that time, the excess Cold Beast meat wasn't too much.
Plus, since Harper had only recently absorbed four groups, the cohesion wasn't very strong, so it was delayed until now.
Currently, Harper is resource-rich; the reserves of Cold Beast meat are sufficient; and staple foods like Crystal Fruit are in vast quantities.
The new residences about to be completed, according to Bruce's earlier design, can accommodate over ten thousand people, whereas the camp currently has only 902 people.
Even with the addition of Brocolli and Vegeta's camps, which together total no more than five or six hundred people, Harper can sustain them.
It can also provide them with opportunities for cultivation.
As for whether these two camps would agree to merge into Harper, it's not even a concern for Bruce.
Plentiful food, comfortable sleep, warm clothing, a safer and more stable environment, plus an ample quota of Cold Beast meat, and the opportunity for everyone to cultivate.
As long as John and Max, the two leaders, are not fools, they know how to choose.
"Alright, I'll find time to head north to meet Max and John later. Once the leaders find out we're willing to take in the two camps, they will surely be ecstatic."
"These two camps combined have over five hundred people. Once they join, Harper's total population will be about fifteen hundred, not far from the standard of a large camp!"
As soon as Aaron finished speaking, Charlie eagerly added a sentence.
The others, upon hearing the words "large camp," were immensely excited.
Even Bruce couldn't help but feel the same.
Even the previously strongest Rogel Camp had a population of only about thirteen to fourteen hundred at its peak.
In the surrounding areas of Redwood Ridge for decades, there has never been a large camp.
Once Harper achieves this accomplishment, it would mark an unprecedented historical milestone for the surroundings of Redwood Ridge.
More importantly, such a great achievement was accomplished by Bruce, the leader, in just over a year.
Realizing this, Charlie, Aaron, and Michael, along with the other two, all turned to look at Bruce, visibly moved, not hiding their fervor and admiration at all.
"In the coming month, during hunts, I will not take action unless absolutely necessary, and the five of you will be the main force. I hope you won't let me down and can successfully take over the Hunting Team from me in a month!"
Upon hearing these words, the five nodded solemnly.
After contemplating for a moment, Bruce continued, "If you perform well, next month, I'll take the five of you to expand the hunting area and venture another 500 meters into Redwood Ridge!"
Hearing Bruce announce the expansion of the hunting area, the five became instantly excited.
The curiosity for the unknown and the desire to explore are timeless primal urges within humanity, just as present in Bruce as in Charlie and Aaron.
For humans in the Ice Abyss, to be sure, they are unfortunate, with dangers everywhere and crises at every turn, where death is a commonplace occurrence;
But in a certain sense, they are also fortunate, because, for them, there are far too many unknown things waiting to be explored.
Take Harper Camp, for example, the area beyond 500 meters into Redwood Ridge is completely unknown to them, let alone the regions further in.
Of course, it's not just Redwood Ridge; on George's map, there's the frozen river on the southern side of Redwood Ridge; the Arrow Bamboo Forest on the northern side; the Pingxi Plain beyond the small path through the Arrow Bamboo Forest, and so on…
Even the valleys where Harper Camp resides, and what lies on the mountains on either side, remain entirely unknown to them.
Of course, curiosity is one thing, and no matter how strong the desire for exploration is, Bruce won't act recklessly, understanding he has but one life.
With the improvement of strength, gradually expanding the exploration range is the most prudent approach.
Currently, the basic strength amplification provided by Cold Beast meat is negligible, so Bruce temporarily gave up cultivating and allocated all his time in the camp to practice archery and blade forging.
After realizing the importance of bows and arrows, Bruce made a strict rule that everyone at Harper Camp, regardless of who they are, must practice archery, and appointed William as the Chief Instructor.
William, finally having a legitimate task, especially one appointed by Bruce personally, was very dedicated.
The camp originally had only eleven bows and arrows, so he innovatively instructed the Craftsmen Workshop to use wood and Cold Beast tendons to create a batch of imitation bows specifically for those who hadn't yet reached the Axeheart Realm to practice with.
For those in the Axeheart Realm, their basic strength was too great for imitation bows, so William requested Bruce's approval to permanently keep one of the eleven bows from the Hunting Team in the camp for practice, which was granted by Bruce.
With only one bow in the camp, it certainly wasn't sufficient for over a hundred people in the Axeheart Realm, but at present, there were no alternatives.
Those wishing to practice archery had to either queue up or wait for when the Hunting Team wasn't venturing out so they could use the ten bows left idle for practice.
Being the leader, Bruce naturally had certain privileges, and whenever he practiced archery, William would accompany him for guidance.
With this archery master present, Bruce's archery skills improved rapidly.
The second matter, blade forging, was in preparation for those about to break through to the Earthripper Realm.
The camp currently had six individuals at the Earthripper Realm, but considering the Shock Cold Blade in Bruce's possession, there were only five Ten-forged Blades in total.
If not for Charlie having the Wood Puppet Black Blade, leaving him without the need for a Ten-forged Blade, the six would not even have a complete set of weapons.
With weapons in the Axeheart Realm, at most you gain some self-defense abilities; the Earthripper Realm is different.
When equipped with ten-forged weapons, they can truly break through the defenses of lower-level Cold Beasts, significantly enhancing their power.
Taking advantage of the current surplus of iron ore and the fact that there are no other immediate needs, we should first prepare a batch of weapons to be reserved for those who will later break through to the Earthripper Realm.
It's always wise to be prepared.
The extraordinary nature of the polishing stone is now evident.
From smelting iron, shaping, hammering out the forging patterns to the final sharpening, it requires very little skill, only the strength of the Earthripper Realm, and the entire process can be completed in just one night.
Now the camp has more than just one person in the Earthripper Realm.
With the polishing stone, Bruce naturally wouldn't craft the weapons himself as he did in the past, but instead entrusted the task to Charlie, Michael, and the others.
Of course, during the forging, he still had to supervise.
The standard broadsword used in the camp requires six to seven hundred kilos of iron ore for each one made.
This amount of iron ore is enough for six Earthripper Realm individuals to dig for a whole day, so waste is definitely not acceptable.
Naturally, Bruce did not hand over the forging tasks just to be lazy.
The main reason was to see if there are any individuals among the current Earthripper Realm with a talent for forging.
If someone like him, who knows nothing about forging, can easily create ten-forged weapons using a polishing stone, then if someone with a talent for forging takes over, it should be even easier, and they might even forge more powerful weapons on the existing foundation.
Unfortunately, after observing Charlie, Aaron, and the three Reeves brothers, the five of them were clearly only interested in the weapons themselves and did not have any special talent for forging.
Bruce was not discouraged, however, as talent is often built upon a large population base.
Once more people break through to the Earthripper Realm, it's only a matter of time before someone with a talent for forging emerges.
Of course, practicing archery individually and forging weapons with Charlie and the others were just things Bruce did in his spare time when he stayed at the camp and didn't go out.
Currently, hunting and mining remain the primary tasks of the Harper.
There is no need to mention mining, as both coal and iron are essential and in-demand resources.
Since there is such an overflow of Cold Beast meat, it is only logical to allocate more time to mining.
Bruce intended to hand over the hunting duties to Charlie and the others, so during subsequent hunting trips, to train the Hunting Team, he would only watch and not take action unless necessary.
Perhaps the previous experiment against the Snow Mane, which nearly ended in failure, had a motivating and mocking effect given by Bruce.
In the hunts that followed, Charlie, Aaron, and the five of them became much more cautious, their hunting techniques became increasingly proficient, and their harvests grew increasingly abundant, more importantly, there were no more dangerous situations.
Bruce observed their rapid improvement and was naturally satisfied, also relaxing the restrictions on the five of them, allowing them to conduct hunting activities as they wished, while he only watched from the side to prevent accidents and gave no advice or orders.
After a few attempts, confirming that they indeed possessed the ability to hunt jointly, Bruce truly felt at ease and began to intentionally distance himself in subsequent hunts, letting them hunt independently.