Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 294: Breaking the Ice and Building Hope

They also had Fire-type ability users on standby.

Kim Haru learned about these incidents from Gang Yuwon’s daily reports and occasionally witnessed similar situations during his visits to the ice excavation site.

However, even though Kim Haru observed these efforts, he never brought up the idea of paying these ability users extra for their work.

At most, he instructed the kitchen staff to prepare an additional portion of food for them.

As the days passed, the ice on the river became thinner.

In the beginning, the workers’ excavation speed couldn’t keep up with the rate at which the river froze.

However, as the excavation area expanded and the Unmelted Frost Bamboo Tree accelerated the softening process, they finally reached a point where the rate of freezing couldn’t keep up with their progress.

Upon hearing this news, Kim Haru handed the pigweed he was holding to Kang Hose and immediately rode a sled to the site.

During the time spent excavating the ice, Kim Haru hadn’t been idle.

He had already designed tools for digging sand out from the riverbed.

If it were any other season, Kim Haru might have considered sending workers underwater to manually gather sand.

Enjoy new stories from novelbuddy

However, in such harsh winter conditions, the surface ice would refreeze almost immediately after being broken.

Sending people into the icy water was out of the question.

As a result, this task had to be carried out using tools.

Without excavators available, Kim Haru had to rack his brain for alternative solutions.

Fortunately, while this post-apocalypse world lacked excavators, it had ability users.

Kim Haru sketched a blueprint and instructed the workers to create a simple machine with a digging head at the front and a lever at the back.

He even made a scaled-down model for testing.

The digging head would reach the riverbed to scoop up sand, and the lever would allow workers to lift it manually.

By setting the fulcrum correctly, lifting the sand wouldn’t require excessive effort.

Initially, Kim Haru had considered using a simpler pulley and rope system.

However, after conducting some experiments, he abandoned the idea.

The rope, though flexible, could be lowered into the river and raised back up, but it couldn’t guide sand into a basket on its own.

A Water-type ability user would have to manipulate the river water, adjust the basket’s direction, and bury it into the sand.

Even if this intricate operation was feasible, there weren’t enough idle Water-type ability users available for such a task.

Thus, the final solution was the lever-based digging tool.

With a tool to scoop out the sand, Kim Haru also didn’t forget about tools to sift it.

The filters were relatively easy to make; Metal-type ability users could produce several large ones.

Once the tools were completed, they had been stored in Kim Haru’s system backpack.

Now was the perfect time to put them to use.

After arriving at the riverside, Kim Haru didn’t bother admiring the newly built Igloo bustling with life around him.

Instead, he immediately reorganized the workforce.

One group was tasked with practicing the use of the lever-operated digging machines.

Another group was assigned to handle the sand brought up from the river—loading, unloading, and filtering it.

The remaining group continued breaking ice, but now their focus was on re-clearing areas of the river that had already been opened.

Without consistent effort, the ice over the river would freeze solid again within half a day.

The members of the Bangnang Safe Zone received their new assignments with cheerful smiles.

They didn’t fear hard work—they feared having no work to do.

Initially, when they completed the task of breaking through the river ice, many worried they’d no longer be needed.

However, to their surprise, Mr. Kim had already planned additional tasks for them.

Not only were their wages maintained, but he also handed out bonuses as a reward for their efforts in breaking the river ice.

Everyone was overjoyed.

This winter turned out to be the most comfortable one that they had ever experienced.

The Igloo were significantly warmer than the frigid outdoors, providing a cozy space for sleeping.

Read lat𝙚st chapters at fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓ Only.

Crowding together in these shelters, they avoided the bitter cold that used to claim lives during the night.

If the Fire-type ability users had enough power to maintain their fireballs for longer durations, the warmth inside the houses would be even better.

The new work of breaking ice and excavating sand also gave the refugees steady income.

Most of them chose to receive their wages in the form of points, which they used to purchase food from the Pyeongseong Safe Zone.

As a result, many people enjoyed hearty meals they hadn’t had in a long time.

Better still, they were only responsible for their own breakfast, as both lunch and dinner were provided by Kim Haru’s operations.

Even the heartiest eaters could fill their bellies, while those with smaller appetites often had leftovers, which they saved for the next morning or shared with hungrier companions.

The more frugal people saved their points to buy necessities like clothing, shoes, or bedding.

Some pooled their resources to purchase a blanket made of mutated silkworm silk.

That night, they huddled together under it and had one of the most restful sleeps of their lives.

Others used their points to buy pots, pans, and personal items like toiletries or supplies for women.

This vibrant trade revealed to the refugees from the Bangnang Safe Zone how different the Pyeongseong Safe Zone was compared to any other safe zones they’d encountered.

Here, the snow was softer.

The temperatures were less severe.

And the people weren’t huddled indoors waiting out the winter but were instead filled with determination and purpose, busily attending to various tasks.

What truly stunned these people was the food in Pyeongseong Safe Zone.

Most of it was normal food!

The refugees from the Bangnang Safe Zone could hardly believe their eyes.

At a time when some people elsewhere were afraid that consuming too much mutated food might turn them into zombies—and had resorted to cannibalism—there existed a safe zone where entire populations could afford to eat ordinary vegetables!