"The two teams have about forty people."
"Their clothes don’t have any special features; everyone is wearing their own."
"But the people in the back seem to be a more organized team."
"More organized?"
"It couldn’t be official personnel, could it? That doesn’t make sense."
Divya’s voice came from behind him; both women had seen the message and rushed over from the living area.
Vikram didn’t ask any more questions. In the time it would take to ask, he could already see the black dots gradually appearing on the distant snow from the Shelter’s main gate.
Because he had used the clairvoyance orb and his Physique crushed everyone else in the Shelter, he saw them clearly earlier than the other members.
Initially, he thought it was two groups of people coming to cause trouble at his shelter together.
But now it seemed more like one team was chasing another team in front.
"What the hell?"
"Which unlucky soul is about to be robbed and killed, and has run all the way here?"
As the opposing party drew near, they could already see a wall with an open gate in front. The team running in front sped up.
And they were clearly heading straight for the currently open gate.
From a distance, they started shouting, "Brothers up ahead, please help us out, let us in to hide."
"Boss, should we... let them in?"
Seeing that they seemed to be just survivors fleeing for their lives, Ron was a bit unsure.
Vikram, however, didn’t hesitate for a moment and waved his hand, saying, "Close the gate."
"Alright!"
No matter what happened to the people outside, Ron only listened to Vikram’s words, and the gate was tightly shut without any hesitation.
Not long after it was closed, there was a rapid knocking sound outside the door.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
"Brother, please help us! We’re not bad people; the ones chasing us are."
"We’re all unfortunate souls surviving in the Wasteland, Brother, you can’t just stand by and watch us die."
Inside the gate, everyone remained silent.
"Brother, quickly open the door. Later, whatever you want, we can discuss it. I promise I won’t hide here for free."
"Food, water, Crystal Orbs, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. As long as you open the door, I’ll even give you my woman."
The knocking on the door became more frequent, and coupled with the other party’s increasingly fast speech and gradually panicked tone, it really didn’t sound like he was faking it.
Vikram remained expressionless.
Whether they were telling the truth or not wasn’t something he could determine from a few shouted sentences alone.
Instead of making a decision immediately, he wanted to first understand what had actually happened.
If they were merely innocent survivors being hunted, helping them might not be a bad idea.
But if they had brought unnecessary trouble to his doorstep, that would be an entirely different matter.
"Let’s wait and see first," Vikram said calmly.
"I want to know who’s chasing them... and why."
The following conversation outside the wall made Vikram quietly narrow his eyes. "So, that’s what’s going on..."
"Run! Why did you stop running?"
"Weren’t you people from Green Wind Shelter so arrogant before?"
"Hmph! Just wait until our boss returns! Once his strength rises again, he’ll wipe out all you trash from Blue Frost Shelter!"
"Oh? Didn’t you say the same thing before? Why are you so quiet now?"
Hearing the exchange, Ron immediately snorted.
"I was wondering how these people managed to run straight to our Shelter from so far away lo. HuhSo they’re from Green Wind Shelter."
Vikram, however, didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he quietly listened to every word being spoken outside.
From their conversation alone, he had already pieced together quite a bit of information.
One side belonged to Green Wind Shelter, while the pursuers were from a force called Blue Frost Shelter.
Judging from their tone, the two shelters had been enemies for quite some time, and Green Wind Shelter had previously held the upper hand.
However, after Snape’s death and the loss of several of their strongest members, Green Wind Shelter had clearly begun to collapse.
Vikram gently rubbed his chin.
"Blue Frost Shelter... I’ve never heard of them before."
This meant one of two things.
Either they had only recently risen to power... Or they had been hiding their strength all this time.
At the same time, another thought surfaced in Vikram’s mind.
Since Green Wind Shelter had already fallen into chaos, many of its ordinary survivors would inevitably lose their protection.
And wasn’t he currently preparing Territory 3 specifically for recruiting large numbers of survivors?
If these people truly weren’t beyond saving...
Recruiting them would save him a great deal of time compared to searching for scattered survivors one by one.
Of course, that didn’t mean he would blindly help them. He still needed to determine whether these people were worth saving.
As for why the people from Green Wind Shelter were being chased so miserably now, what else could it be?
It was most likely because Snape and his strongest subordinates had been killed by Warry a few days ago, leaving Green Wind Shelter leaderless.
At the same time, another thought surfaced in Vikram’s mind.
"That’s right..."
"Green Wind Shelter should still have plenty of supplies and resources."
"And judging from the conversation, Blue Frost Shelter has only recently begun taking action."
"It seems I’ll have to visit Green Wind Shelter tomorrow."
"If I don’t collect what I’m owed first, Blue Frost Shelter might beat me to it."
Outside the wall, the argument continued.
"Don’t get too cocky, you Blue Frost bastards! We only lost our boss. That doesn’t mean the Green Wind Shelter is finished!"
"If you dare touch us today, you’ll regret it tomorrow!"
"Given a little time, we’ll elect a new leader, and Green Wind Shelter will recover!"
The members of Blue Frost Shelter merely laughed.
"Heh... keep dreaming."
"By the time you find your next leader, everything worth taking from Green Wind Shelter will already be gone."
"You still think you’re the rulers of this region? Wake up."
Hearing those words, the expressions of the Green Wind survivors gradually turned pale.
They knew very well that their shelter was currently in complete chaos.
Even if Blue Frost wasn’t much stronger than them, without a unified leader, Green Wind had already lost its greatest advantage.
Seeing the Blue Frost members drawing closer, one of the Green Wind survivors suddenly roared,
"Damn it! Our strength isn’t much weaker than theirs!"
"We’re going to die anyway! We might as well fight for a chance to survive!"
"Brothers... charge!"
His shout immediately reignited everyone’s fighting spirit.
The two groups simultaneously tightened their grips on their weapons and charged toward each other.
Just as the two sides were about to collide, a figure suddenly descended between them.
Boom! Snow exploded in every direction.
The violent shockwave forced both groups to instinctively stop in their tracks.
Standing calmly between the two sides, Vikram slowly straightened his body, his indifferent gaze sweeping across everyone present.
For a moment... The entire battlefield fell silent.
The sudden appearance of Vikram between the two groups left everyone stunned.
The leader of Blue Frost Shelter was the first to recover.
He frowned slightly and cupped his fists.
"Brother, what do you mean by this?"
"We’ve never offended you before. Why are you interfering in the grudge between Blue Frost Shelter and Green Wind Shelter?"
Vikram didn’t even spare him a glance.
Instead, he shifted his gaze toward the frightened members of Green Wind Shelter.
"How many people are left in Green Wind Shelter?"
The survivors looked at one another.
One of them cautiously stepped forward.
"If... if you save us, we’ll tell you everything."
Vikram smiled faintly. "Deal. I’ll save you."
The Green Wind survivors’ eyes immediately lit up.
However, before they could celebrate, Vikram continued,
"But from this day onward, every one of you will work for me. You’ll become members of my territory. Anyone who refuses... can stay here."
The Green Wind members didn’t even hesitate.
"We agree! As long as you save us, we’ll follow you! Our shelter is already finished. We have nowhere else to go. We’re willing to join!"
Seeing how quickly they agreed, Vikram nodded in satisfaction.
"Don’t celebrate too early. My territory has rules."
"The first rule is absolute obedience.My orders are to be carried out without question."
"The second rule is loyalty. I don’t care what kind of people you were before today, but after joining my territory, betrayal is unforgivable."
"The third rule is contribution. My territory doesn’t raise freeloaders. The more you contribute, the better your treatment will be."
"Food, equipment, better housing, cultivation resources, and even promotion opportunities will all depend on your contributions."
"As for those who refuse to work..."
Vikram shrugged.
"I don’t waste food on useless people."
"The fourth rule is simple. You are forbidden from harming or exploiting your fellow members. If there are disputes, I’ll decide them."
"Anyone who secretly murders, robs, or bullies their own people... I’ll personally bury them."
After hearing those conditions, the Green Wind survivors became even more excited.
Compared to Green Wind Shelter under Snape’s rule, these requirements were more than reasonable.
At least here, hard work could genuinely improve their lives.
"Now..." Only then did Vikram slowly turn his head toward the members of Blue Frost Shelter.
His calm eyes swept across every one of them.
"So... You were saying something just now?"
Seeing Vikram openly choosing to protect the Green Wind survivors, the members of Blue Frost Shelter immediately frowned.
The acting leader stepped forward and asked in a cold voice,
"Brother, what exactly do you mean by this? This is a grudge between Blue Frost Shelter and Green Wind Shelter. Why are you interfering in our affairs?"
Vikram glanced at him indifferently before letting out a faint chuckle.
"So what if I interfere? What are you going to do about it?"
The arrogant reply instantly made every member of Blue Frost Shelter’s expression darken.
The acting leader narrowed his eyes.
"Brother, don’t think that just because you’ve saved these people, you can ignore Blue Frost Shelter."
"You may not know us today, but our Shelter Leader will personally—"
Before he could finish speaking, one of the younger members hurriedly stepped forward and whispered into his ear.
"Captain... be careful with your words. The information we received a few days ago..."
"The person Snape personally led his men to deal with... was this shelter."
"And after that day... Snape completely disappeared."
The acting leader’s pupils instantly contracted.
"What?"
He slowly raised his head, looking at Vikram once again.
This time, there was no trace of the previous confidence in his eyes.
If the rumors were true... Then the person standing before him might be the very one responsible for Snape’s disappearance.
His back instantly became covered in cold sweat.
After remaining silent for several seconds, he finally took a deep breath.
"Brother... I can’t make the decision regarding today’s matter. I’ll report everything that happened here to our Shelter Leader."
Vikram smiled faintly.
"Go ahead. I never said you couldn’t."
He casually rested the tungsten steel hammer on his shoulder.
"If your Shelter Leader has any opinions... He can come and tell me himself."
The acting leader’s expression changed slightly, but in the end, he didn’t say another word.
Just as the acting leader of Blue Frost Shelter was about to turn around and leave, Vikram suddenly called out to him.
"Wait."
The acting leader stopped and looked back." What is it?"
Vikram crossed his arms and asked casually,
"When was the Blue Frost Shelter established? And why have I never heard of it before?"
The acting leader remained silent for a moment before replying, "Our shelter was established not long ago."
"As for why... It was created because many survivors couldn’t endure the oppression and injustice of Green Wind Shelter any longer. They gathered together and eventually formed Blue Frost Shelter."
Vikram nodded thoughtfully.
"I see."
Then a mocking smile slowly appeared on his face.
"If that’s the case... Where were you when Snape was still alive?"
The smile on the acting leader’s face instantly froze.
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