Chapter 266: Imperial Ranking War: Cold Ends, Heat Comes, Everyone Prepares

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The Extreme Cold Calamity ended in a bizarre manner.

Hours prior to its ending, everything was still covered in ice and snow. The great white storm still raged on, and it didn’t look like it was stopping anytime soon.

But once the announcement came that the calamity had ended, all the frost, ice, snow, and even the great white storm raging on just simply disappeared like they were never there in the first place.

It was so strange...

Just a couple of minutes ago, the whole realm was buried in snow. Then, in the next, everything was back to how it originally was.

There were no traces of snow, ice, or even the faintest chill in the breeze. There’s nary a whisper that the cold ever happened and raged upon the whole realm for a whole month continuously.

It simply was gone. Like everything the teams have suffered this past month was nothing but an illusion...a lie.

Yet as bizzare and unexpected that outcome was, they could do nothing but just accept it in stride. Lingering about it only delays them for what’s to come next. The system wouldn’t even dignify them with a response.

The next scheduled calamity was the opposite of the previous one: the Extreme Heat Calamity.

It will essentially occur the same way as it did with the extreme cold, but instead of temperatures dropping, this time, it will rise.

This was exactly as Ren remembered it in the canon story, which made him less surprised.

The current ranking of teams in this war was

**

[Current Imperial Ranking]:

#1. Heavenly Bronze Empire: 2,367,510 points (Lead Contributor: Soren Marek Vire)

#2. Burning Firmament Empire: 185,025 points

#3. Deep Blue God Empire: 174,150 points

#4. Free Heavenly Paradise Empire: 163,810 points

#5. Berserk Mountain God Empire: 152,505 points

**

Yes. The Heavenly Bronze Team still had an outrageous lead, and everybody was aware of that.

While other teams were suffering from the bitter and harsh cold outside, the Heavenly Bronze team was inside their base, warm and cozy. They were comfortable, had enough food and water to consume, and never lost a night’s sleep.

Their consumption hasn’t even reached half of the food and water they stockpiled—and this was largely because of their sufficient and careful preparations.

And because they did so well during the first calamity, the system rewarded them.

The Heavenly Bronze Team will be exempted from the weekly crisis for the entirety of the next month.

It wasn’t much since the crisis was more like a tedious challenge than a real crisis, but it’s still nice to not deal with them.

And so long as they hold the first place, this reward will be permanent throughout their stay here. That’s what the system said.

This part surprised Ren, because this didn’t happen in the canon.

Though, to be fair, it wasn’t until in the later half of the year that the Heavenly Bronze team managed to catch up to other teams and took the lead in the canon. And by then, the war between teams was already raging hotly; nobody had the time to care about the weekly crisis, and the author never mentioned it again. It was only implied that others were still dealing with them.

Because of the changes he made, the results were like this. And so far, neither Ren nor anybody in the camp thinks that other teams will catch up to them, even if they were given a whole month to do so.

The advantages of the Heavenly Bronze team were just too much.

**

"We won’t have to deal with the pesky weekly crisis. That’s good. We have an enormous lead compared to other teams; that’s also good. But that doesn’t mean we can be complacent."

Ren stood before the whole team as he said this.

"Even though we don’t have to deal with the weekly crisis for the next month, if the previous calamity were to be used as a reference, we still have to be careful."

"You all saw how bad natural calamities could be for us, for everybody. We get through the previous one safely and comfortably by being prepared and being thorough."

"It will be the extreme heat starting tomorrow. And if the previous calamity taught us something, it would be that it’ll get progressively worse each day and week that passes."

"So, back to our grind we go."

"We will send teams out to hunt and replenish our stockpile. We will do maintenance around the base, and we will continue to extend our lead until we get to the point where other teams could only compete for second place."

"Once again, make your preparations. Buy appropriate clothing, check on your tools, and be ready to move soon. I’ll check on our surroundings and will bring you a new and updated map you all can study soon."

"That’s all, dismissed."

**

This will be the routine for the team from now on, and nobody has complaints with that.

So far, everything has been predictable, and others have no problems obeying orders. Especially since they could see that their obedience was bringing in results.

The data on the ranking list reflects that perfectly.

This helped improve the atmosphere within the team, and that’s how they’re able to work as a unit, rather than separated with varying ideals.

While Ren was observing the restored realm and drawing an updated map, he was working on the temperature regulation formation in the base.

He didn’t want to wait until the calamity had begun and they were all sweating in heat before making a move.

Before it happened, he wanted to see if he could improve it. And the answer to that is yes, but very minimal. At most, all he could do was to make sure that this thing’s durability wouldn’t fade or deteriorate as fast as it was before. He could also optimize the way it regulates the temperature all around the base, but that’s pretty much it.

Ren can’t do anything beyond that since he isn’t a true expert when it comes to runes. He just knows a little bit to not be ignorant about it.

He also updated and strengthened the other formations since they too suffered from the previous calamity. But just like in the previous formation, the improvements he could do were very limited as well.

But it’s still better than nothing.

**

Looking at the other teams would put into perspective how vastly different the situation was.

While the Heavenly Bronze team was coasting smoothly and experiencing a little vacation, the other teams were still scrambling for scraps.

The good news is that no team has been eliminated. Everybody was still in the game.

Almost all of those who died have now revived and were doing their best to take advantage of the downtime before the calamity raged on completely.

They’ve been traumatized by the previous calamity, and they’ve now learned how to set aside their pride and prejudice to start working as a team. Even if they had to raise their hand against their own people, they would do so in the name of survival.

There’s no escaping this hell, after all. And honestly, their performance had been atrocious.

And so, they began building and hunting.

The other teams began looking for a new place to build their base while others went out to begin hunting. They knew they had to act fast because the calamity won’t wait until they’re ready.

Looking at the ranking list just hurts them.

The lead of the Heavenly Bronze team was so large, it might as well be a chasm that could never be crossed.

But at this point, they could hardly concern themselves about that. What matters to them is how they will survive the incoming calamity that will turn this whole realm into a version of hell they’re surely not prepared for.

Forget about searching for the whereabouts of the Heavenly Bronze team; they don’t even know if they’ll survive the next couple of weeks. How can they spare energy into looking for a fight?

By now, everybody has been slapped awake to the harsh reality, whether they wanted to or not.

Of course, not everybody was as cooperative, but for the sake of survival, they had to work together.

Any ideas of surpassing the Heavenly Bronze team had to be put on hold for now. They don’t even have a decent roof above their heads; how could they be thinking about that right now?

"It’s not too late yet," is what they tell themselves.

It’s only the beginning of their second month here. There are still ten months ahead of them; a lot of things could happen within that time, and there will certainly be opportunities to catch up to that team.

For now, their main priority was to build their base, gather enough food and water, and survive the incoming hell because it sure as hell will come.

As for whether their efforts will be enough for them to make it through the next month, that will be determined by their actions.

They could only really hope that their desperate scramble will be enough.