Chapter 374 - 275: Your Female Leader, Her Body Doesn’t Seem Quite Right

Chapter 374: Chapter 275: Your Female Leader, Her Body Doesn’t Seem Quite Right

"I agree!" Queen Xia Qingge was the first to concur, then quickly added a reminder, "But we can’t go raiding ordinary villages and camps."

Tang Wen nodded. "Of course. The poor don’t have much food to begin with. Besides, the reason we’re seizing food is to take care of the poor in our own camp."

"Even if you get the food, you can’t just hand it out indiscriminately."

Fearing Tang Wen lacked management experience and had an overly simplistic plan, General Zhou spoke up to advise him.

"Don’t worry, Uncle Zhou. I’ve been through hard times, so I naturally understand how these things work," Tang Wen continued. "Once we have the food, we’ll implement a work-for-relief program. As long as you’re willing to work, the camp will provide food. Those who work hard get more to eat. Anyone caught slacking will be kicked out."

General Zhou nodded in approval.

"As for getting the food," Tang Wen mused, "I need to plan it out."

Seeing the expectant looks in their eyes, he added, "If everything goes to plan, I can get the food within a month."

One month.

It wasn’t a long time.

Given the reserves of Black Mountain Camp and Five Families City, lasting another month would be more than manageable.

Everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The way they looked at Tang Wen now held a new light.

Running out of food was a problem they faced every winter.

The camp could never solve it on its own.

On top of that, there were external threats from Black Mountain Camp and Exotic Beasts.

Every winter, conflict with Black Mountain Camp was inevitable, breaking out several times.

Attacks on the camp by Exotic Beasts were even more frequent.

After the meeting was dismissed, the Commanders departed.

Only the core members—the Queen, General Zhou, and Zhou Bing—remained in the room.

Tang Wen laid out his plan. "I have two targets: the Huang Family and the Boat Gang. Both are major powers. They each have camps that produce food. We’ll just go straight to their granaries and take it."

With that, he took out a Scroll.

When unrolled, it revealed a simple map of Ganshan City and the surrounding thousand *li*.

It was densely marked with the camps, large and small, of the various major powers.

The Huang Family’s camps were marked with yellow circles.

On them were written labels such as "Military," "Farming," "Poultry," and "Iron Mine."

These labels indicated the primary purpose of each camp.

The "Military" label designated a camp purely for cultivating Martial Arts talent.

The Huang Family had been able to dominate Ganshan City for years because they produced an endless stream of experts. This was largely due to their emphasis on cultivating talent.

The "Military" camps trained orphans and the children of Huang Family members.

Any promising prospects discovered were immediately sent to the Huang Family’s main base to receive a greater investment of resources.

Those with average aptitude were left behind and trained to become ordinary guards.

The "Farming" camps, needless to say, were for farming.

The "Farming" camps were usually located on plains with a good water source.

If a camp grew fruits and vegetables, the map would be marked with "Fruit" and "Vegetable" as well.

The map left those who had grown up in the camp somewhat stunned.

"The Huang Family actually has so many resources!" "You should say that all the major powers in Ganshan City control vast territories."

Besides the Huang Family, the map also showed the territories of the Chen Family, the Lu Family, the Black Water Gang, and the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall.

Among them, the Commerce Association, Boat Gang, and Horse Gang had the fewest camps, but their spheres of influence were vast.

Purple lines representing the Commerce Association branched out in all directions, perfectly connecting the various powers of Ganshan City.

The lines also extended beyond the edges of the map.

The cyan lines of the Boat Gang were less conspicuous on the map, but they had docks on every navigable river and lake.

Besides freight, the Horse Gang also supplied the major families with low-level War Beasts—Exotic Beasts bred for the battlefield.

Their primary territories were grasslands, forests, and mountainous regions.

These areas weren’t suitable for growing crops, but they were perfect for raising all sorts of large Riding Beasts.

Tang Wen had seen this map many times, so he wasn’t as shocked as the others. He said with a smile,

"Our Flame Camp is starting to develop, too. We now have jurisdiction over Black Mountain, the Northern Silver Wolf Forest, and Five Families City."

"How can you compare? They’re all just more mouths to feed."

"One step at a time."

General Zhou was more considerate of the consequences. His expression turned solemn as he asked, "Are we really going to provoke these two major powers?"

Tang Wen recounted Bai You Ruo’s ordeal.

General Zhou thought for a moment and nodded. "The great powers are ruthless in their ambition. We need to prepare a fallback plan."

Tang Wen completely agreed. "For now, it’s unlikely that another faction from the Bai Family will come for revenge. But if someone does come looking for trouble, we’ll retreat into the White Tiger Tribe’s territory."

The Bai Family was even more powerful than the Huang Family.

But aside from Bai You Ruo and her companions, no one knew Flame Camp existed.

Even if they did, they wouldn’t give it a second thought.

’Retaliate against a power that doesn’t even have a Fifth-Grade expert? And cross tens of thousands of *li* to do it?’

At such a critical moment in the Bai Family’s succession struggle, Bai Ningbing’s faction didn’t have that kind of time to waste.

The Queen suddenly frowned and asked in front of everyone, "This Honored Guest Elder position with the White Tiger Tribe... how did you come by it?"

Tang Wen glanced at Zhou Bing, squeezed her hand, and said with brimming confidence,

"I’m on good terms with their Saintess."

The air fell silent. All eyes turned to him.

A smile graced Zhou Bing’s fair, pretty face.

General Zhou looked at Tang Wen’s face and nodded in sudden understanding.

Xia Qingge understood as well. She reached out and patted Tang Wen’s shoulder, giving him a look that clearly said, ’Well done, you little devil.’

Tang Wen, however, was thinking about another question.

’The White Tiger Tribe must be hiding some kind of secret.’

’Otherwise, why wouldn’t a power with a Strong Fourth-Grade expert just unify the entire Northwest Land?’

’What was that about the Huang Family being unable to leave Ganshan City?’

’Could it be that the White Tiger Tribe is under a similar, unknown restriction?’

Xia Qingge, General Zhou, and the others continued to study the map.

Tang Wen smiled to himself, then clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. "What I’m about to say next is quite important. It’s an unsolved mystery."