Starting from Robinson Crusoe

Approaching October, the temperatures in the Baihar Mountain Range keep dropping.

Daytime temperatures hover between 6 and 3 degrees Celsius. Once the sun sets, they quickly drop below zero.

Moreover, as winter approaches, daylight in the entire challenge area grows shorter. Chen Zhou and Paul must rise before dawn and begin work with torches in the darkness.

...

The snowfall paused briefly, but the wind never ceased, especially on the mountainside where it’s stronger, making the perceived temperature even lower.

While still indoors and capable of handling shelter affairs, Chen Zhou had Paul inject the Genetic Modification Injection and the Cold Tolerance Gene Modification Injection.

Though the Space-Time Administration Bureau consistently shows malice in unexpected places, they are never deceptive when it comes to item descriptions.

The Genetic Modification Injection might alleviate some side effects, but the symptoms from the Cold Resistance Gene Transformation Agent still caused Paul great distress.

He simultaneously suffered from skin swelling, abdominal pain, diarrhea, muscle soreness, and reduced appetite, leaving him dazed, staggering when walking, nearly unable to work, and mostly confined to the shelter.

The swelling made Paul’s thin face rounder, looking quite amusing.

During meals, Chen Zhou often teased Paul about his face, joking that the Cold Resistance Gene Transformation Agent also had a fattening effect, to which Paul merely chuckled.

While enduring the side effects, diarrhea naturally sapped what little energy reserves were left, and unfortunately, his appetite decreased right at this time.

Every day, as they cooked the pine nuts, Paul had to force himself to swallow more food during meals.

Even with some meat chunks and sour berries added, the bland pine nut porridge was far from appetizing.

During this period, under dual mental and physical strain, Paul’s craving for strong liquor peaked. More than once, he mentioned to Chen Zhou during meals that he wanted to try brewing alcohol, no matter how bad or how weak the brew might be.

Chen Zhou thought it was just a drunken jest from Paul’s longing for alcohol, but after his symptoms eased, Paul indeed began researching how to brew alcohol in the cold mountain-side shelter.

Of course, Paul understood the balance between personal interest and team priorities. He would only attempt it while muttering after completing his work.

...

While waiting for Paul’s gene modification to complete, Chen Zhou mainly focused on three activities—

Gathering fuel, collecting pine nuts, and hunting wild animals.

With the entire vast primeval forest at their disposal, exiting the shelter and heading down the slope, pine and fir trees were everywhere, ensuring no shortage of firewood.

However, anyone with life experience in high latitudes knows you can’t wait until you need fuel to grab an axe and head to the mountains to chop wood—it’s too late then.

During deep winter, heavy snowfall builds a thick layer that doesn’t melt, burying naturally fallen branches under the snow, freezing them solid.

Such firewood, even if picked up, would be soaked through by the snow. It wouldn’t dry quickly enough to ignite; even when lit, it would only smoke, stinging the eyes.

If a snowstorm strikes, getting out of the house becomes impossible.

The snow blown by the wind blankets the entire mountain, blocking the door outside. Once the accumulated snow is cleared, every step outside becomes a struggle.

At that point, the energy spent looking for, chopping, and transporting a single log might even exceed the energy the log itself would provide.

If the snowstorm lasts long, raging for five days and nights, folks have no opportunity to leave their homes, relying only on the fuel stored at home.

On the prairie, ravaging snowstorms are termed white disasters, feared most by herders—

The ruthless snow and wind.

Chen Zhou once witnessed a herder with hundreds of cattle and sheep become emptied of wealth overnight.

Even in modern times, with shelters intact enough to block the wind and snow, if a snowstorm persists too long, blocking roads and preventing hay from arriving on time, herders’ cattle and sheep could starve to death.

Hence, the importance of firewood has always ranked high in Chen Zhou’s mind.

...

Most northern villages lack central heating; rural families typically install boilers themselves, using radiators for warmth.

In earlier years, boilers were rare, and although coal prices were low, so were the incomes of common folk. Some thrifty families simply didn’t burn coal during winter, relying on firewood for warmth.

Burning wood can’t be done with boilers—

Boilers consume fuel quickly and inefficiently, heating slowly compared to iron stoves.

During Chen Zhou’s childhood, his grandmother’s winter heating relied on stoves and heated brick beds.

He estimated they consumed at least ten thousand pounds of firewood each winter.

Of course, this was because her household not only had stoves but also two heated beds and had to warm pig slops during winter, consuming far more than ordinary homes.

Yet counting practically, five tons of firewood was still considered economical.

Given the long winters in his hometown, lasting from early October to late April the following year—roughly five months—a boiler would burn at least four tons of coal. Compared, five tons of firewood wasn’t an exaggerated amount.

In the Prehistoric World, both the duration and severity of the winters would far exceed those of Chen Zhou’s hometown.

Chen Zhou estimated that at least twenty thousand pounds of firewood had to be prepared, just barely enough, and that’s only because the shelter was small and didn’t demand high heat sources for warmth.

However, everything has pros and cons; though the shelter was small, it was exceedingly primitive. Even with windproof insulation treatments made to the wall seams, strong winds would still seep through the cracks into the room.