Chapter 265: Imperial Ranking War: Brutal Cold

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On the first day of the calamity, the temperature dropped to 20°C at its lowest, right before midnight.

By the 2nd day, that dropped another five degrees, making it 15°C.

On the 3rd day, it dropped another five degrees, making it 10°C.

By the time the first week of the calamity arrived and the weekly crisis began, the temperature dropped to -10°C. At this point, snow had already covered the land, and the surface of the river had frozen over.

The wild animals and some of the weaker monsters started disappearing; they were either hunted already or had gone into hiding to wait out the end of this harsh winter.

The first weekly crisis during wasn’t all that special. It’s just a disappearance of their sense of taste for 12 hours. It wasn’t that bad. Like the previous crises that everybody faced, they could just wait until it’s over to make it completely trivial.

It’s the creeping cold that concerns them most. Because during the crisis, the temperature drops even more. It should’ve dropped to -10°C at most, but during the crisis, it dropped by another five degrees, making it -15°C.

The temperature returned to -10°C once the crisis passed, but it was a reminder that things will only get progressively worse from here on out. Especially during the weekly crisis events.

The Heavenly Bronze Empire Team was doing just fine. Even though the temperature outside was on the negative, the interior of the rock was warm and cozy. The difference between the temperature inside and outside the rock was actually staggering, and everybody knows of it since, even as the temperature drops, most of them still go out to hunt.

Their winter clothes—the ones that Ren convinced them to buy before the calamity descended—were a lifesaver. And Ren’s precaution turned true because the moment winter came, the prices of winter clothes in the shop did increase.

Had they delayed their purchase by a couple of hours, they would’ve bled more merit points than necessary.

Because of their preparations, though, the team was fine.

The temperatures outside haven’t dropped to a point where they trapped them inside the rock just yet. Before that happens, they will go out, hunt more food and resources until they can’t anymore.

It is better to have an excess of food rather than nothing.

**

By the time the 2nd week came, the temperature dropped even lower.

-45°C on the end of the 2nd week, -50°C throughout the duration of the crisis.

It wasn’t just the chill either. This was accompanied by a strong hail and peppered the whole rock. If it wasn’t for the defensive formation Ren installed, the hail might’ve punched holes on the surface of the rock, allowing the freezing cold to penetrate it.

At least ¾ of the river’s depths turned into a solid block of ice at this point, with some of the weaker monsters entombed in it. Even the monsters who managed to dive to the very depths were already cold, and it wouldn’t take long before they, too, became entombed in ice.

There is still monster activity during this time. Most of the active ones were hungry and very aggressive. It’s their survival response to this harsh winter, making the act of hunting them more dangerous than before.

But because the temperatures were dropping even lower, there are very few monsters to hunt. The few that could be hunted were the dangerous ones, making the supply more scarce.

Once again, Ren’s lead allowed the team to be ahead of the curve.

Had the team not endured the cold and hunted even during the cold, they would’ve begun eating through their stockpile sooner. And with them bringing less and less game in their recent hunts, their resources would’ve started dropping by now.

They would’ve been fine anyway; they have more than food and resources stockpiled to last until the end of this calamity. But that’s not an excuse for them to slack off.

This winter might only last for this month, but what about the next calamity? They can’t be unprepared for the following one, so it’s better to be frugal and wise when it comes to their expenditures and maintenance.

**

By the 3rd week, it was constantly -80°C to -90°C outside...

The sharp drop in temperature became even more harsher during this week because it dropped to -100°C during the crisis.

Ren actually felt concerned during this time because he was sensitive to what the land looked like outside. He went to the altar to check if the temperature regulating formation was still holding on, and fortunately, it still does.

This one has become the most vital piece of survival tool they have right now. Everything else could freeze outside, but this formation can’t be destroyed; if it does, then the whole team will be in danger.

But just in case...since he knows that this calamity will rage even fiercer at the last week, Ren strengthened the formation.

He can’t improve it, but he could make it more durable, and he could ensure that it will hold out until the worst part is over.

The team can’t go out on hunts anymore. The base was practically buried in snow and ice. The harsh winds outside were razor sharp and carried a biting cold capable of freezing someone within seconds.

Even if, somehow, they could still go out and hunt, the monsters they’ll encounter will be too few, and those ones are the most dangerous because any monster that could endure such a harsh climate would be bound to be troublesome.

For the sake of safety, Ren halted the hunting operation. It just wasn’t worth it anymore. He told everybody to stay inside the rock and train to keep themselves sharp and active.

They have more than enough food and water stored. The whole team was also sensible, knowing to consume less so that they won’t eat through their stockpile faster.

So, from here until the end of this calamity, the only concern of the team was keeping themselves entertained. They’re safe and secured within the rock; thanks to their preparations, they just need to wait it out.

Entertaining themselves wasn’t a hard challenge either. They have plenty of ideas to do that.

**

In contrast to the warm and cozy atmosphere within the rock, the status of the other teams could only be described as miserable. And even that might be an understatement.

Forget about earning merit points; staying alive by itself was their major concern for them.

All teams, except Heavenly Bronze, have had casualties during the harsh winter, and that list was still growing as days passed.

Their tiny camps have been proven incapable of sheltering them from the cold and harsh winds of winter. The first hail that occurred was more than enough to destroy the tiny shacks and palisades they built around themselves.

Each team, at this point, was only left with more or less than ten people. Everybody else died because of winter or by the jaws of the dangerous beast that is still actively hunting during the calamity.

These people aren’t truly dead. They’re ghosts for now, only acting as observers around their team. They can’t go far and could only wait until they’re revived.

They are stuck like this because at least as ghosts, they aren’t cold. They aren’t suffering. They plan on waiting out until the winter is over before reviving themselves or having others do it for them.

But this was under the premise that at least one person in their team still lives. So long as at least one person in the team is still alive, others could still resurrect through merit points.

If that last person dies, then the whole team is eliminated right then and there.

Only those who had been exploiting this method were informed of this. Which added another layer of pressure to these teams.

That in itself will be challenging, because the last week of this winter became even more exaggerated.

Previously, the temperature dropped by five degrees each passing day. In the last week, though? It was dropping by 10 whole degrees each day.

And to make matters worse, something called a Great White Storm started at the end of the 3rd week and will only stop until the scheduled end of this extreme cold calamity.

That is to say that the world outside was completely uninhabitable. Everybody could only hide somewhere to wait it out. This isn’t something that they could survive through sheer willpower.

The temperature dropped until it reached -200°C, and the whole realm was buried under thick ice and snow.

Other teams suffered throught this event immensely. They barely had enough time and luck to actually find some place to hide. All they could really do is to wait it out. There’s nothing else they could do.

And whether some teams will be lucky to have at least one of their remaining members alive until then was another matter in itself. The ghosts could only pray and hope for their teammates to hold on.

All they could do is to let others suffer in their stead and promise to take care of them later when all of this is over. Because they certainly don’t want to be in their place right now.