Landlord in the Arctic

All this time.

The River Beach Camp had been like a warm oasis in the Far North Tundra, its greatest reliance being the tribe’s Fire Seed.

Under the continuous protection of the Fire Seed, the temperature within the camp had been stably maintained at around -10 degrees Celsius.

Compared to the surrounding ice and snow, where the harsh environment could easily drop to several tens of degrees below zero, this place could be considered pleasant.

Because of this, everyone had grown accustomed to the relatively mild cold.

They rarely needed to wear heavy, bulky animal-hide clothing for warmth; a single lightweight cold-proof suit was usually enough for daily needs.

However, a problem had arisen.

To resist this disastrous cold wave, the Fire Seed had consumed an immense amount of Soul Power. It could no longer maintain its all-encompassing protection and was forced to gradually shrink its area of control over the camp.

As the Fire Seed’s protective circle shrank,

the extreme low temperatures from outside began to encroach upon the camp.

The cold-proof suits, once warm enough, were rendered useless in the face of the plummeting temperatures.

The thin suits offered no resistance against the cold wave’s low temperatures.

After telling Black Hide to prepare some animal-hide coats, Feng Shan hurried to a corner of the warehouse. He stared at the thermometer on the wall, his gaze fixed on the steadily falling line.

Time seemed to crawl in the icehouse-like warehouse, each second stretching into an eternity. The red line on the thermometer plummeted like an out-of-control sled.

In less than ten minutes, the number displayed on the thermometer made his heart sink.

The indoor temperature had already plunged to -30 degrees Celsius.

’No wonder Xiaohua looked like a frightened little animal at the warehouse door just now. Her face was as white as a sheet, her lips had lost their color, and her whole body was trembling uncontrollably. Even her voice quivered when she spoke.’

The temperature outside had to be far more bone-chilling than it was in here.

The howling north wind, carrying a blizzard with it, felt like it could freeze a person’s bones solid.

Feng Shan knew this was with the Fire Seed still struggling to maintain its faint protection.

Without the Fire Seed, given the overwhelming force of the cold wave, the camp’s temperature would have likely dropped to -60 degrees Celsius in the blink of an eye.

By then, the entire camp would be completely frozen solid, transformed into a dead, silent land of ice and snow.

’Now that would be a terrifying world of absolute cold.’

Lifting his gaze to look outside the warehouse door, he saw the camp ground was already covered in a thick layer of snow.

Pristine white snowflakes danced wildly in the roaring gale, like a horde of crazed white phantoms.

They rampaged through this world of ice and snow, pouncing on every corner of the camp and mercilessly burying its paths and buildings.

The once-familiar roads, buildings, mossy grounds, and fruit trees were all covered by the blanketing snow.

Everything had become a blur, as if nature had repainted the landscape.

Just then, Sun’s figure appeared at the warehouse entrance, struggling through the howling wind and snow.

He looked like a snowman that had just crawled out of a snowdrift.

Snow covered his body, his hair was frozen into stiff icicles, and a thin, glittering layer of ice had formed on his eyebrows. With every step, his feet made a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound.

A white mist of cold air radiated from his entire body.

Stepping into the warehouse, Sun shiveringly pulled a walkie-talkie from his coat. He gasped for breath, exhaling clouds of white mist, and spoke with difficulty through his purple, frozen lips.

"Brother Feng, the cell phones have no signal. Yves said the extreme low temperatures from the cold wave might have damaged the signal tower’s electronic components. We can only use walkie-talkies to communicate now."

"Understood, Sun." Feng Shan’s expression was grave as he took the walkie-talkie, a hint of worry in his eyes.

Losing the cell signal meant losing their channel of communication with the outside world.

This undoubtedly made dealing with the cold wave even more difficult.

Sun stared at the vast, white expanse outside the warehouse, a world that seemed to have no end. He shook his head helplessly, the muscles on his face twitching from the cold as he muttered.

"I’m going to deliver walkie-talkies to the others. This damn weather... it turns on a dime."

With that, he wrapped his now-thin cold-proof suit tighter around himself and pulled his collar up higher, trying to block out more of the wind. Then he plunged back into the swirling snow, struggling toward his next destination. His figure quickly vanished into the vast curtain of white.

Inside the warehouse, the dim yellow light flickered in the bone-chilling cold, as if it might be extinguished by the frost at any moment, barely illuminating its surroundings.

Feng Shan once again threw himself into the task of taking inventory of the food.

Time ticked by, and with every box of food he counted, more of his breath condensed into white puffs in the air.

Finally, through his tireless efforts, the food inventory was complete.

Feng Shan let out a long breath, preparing to head to the tavern to report the situation to Natasha.

He had only taken a few steps out of the warehouse when the piercing wind drove a flurry of snowflakes down his collar. He instinctively shrank his neck, and a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He remembered there was a satellite phone in the wooden villa.

He had bought it in Fairbanks when he first arrived in the Crown Territory.

At the time, the saleswoman had emphasized that even if the satellite receiver failed due to extreme weather or other malfunctions, the phone could still be used to send text messages, ensuring communication in critical moments.

The moment the thought occurred to him, Feng Shan immediately turned and hurried toward the wooden villa.

He waded through half a meter of snow, the wind howling and the blizzard raging. His vision was completely obscured by the swirling snow, forcing him to navigate by memory alone.

He finally made it to the wooden villa.

He saw Tyson and the Tiger Pack huddled in their warm wooden crate den. They would occasionally poke their heads out, their tiger eyes wide as they stared at the dark gray sky, seemingly puzzled by how the weather had suddenly turned so foul, with snow blanketing everything.

Feng Shan was about to push the door open when he suddenly stopped.

Looking at the strong, healthy tigers before him, which were unafraid of the severe cold, an idea sparked in his mind. ’Tigers are naturally resistant to cold.’

’And they’re agile and powerful. With their help, we could save a lot of hard labor in this icy hellscape.’

At this thought, Feng Shan turned back to the tiger den. He cleared his throat, which was a bit hoarse from the cold, and shouted to Tyson.

"Tyson, the camp’s been hit by a blizzard! Since you all are just lazing around, go to the tavern and find Natasha. See if there’s anything you can do to help."

AWOO!!

Receiving his master’s command, Tyson let out a low growl, followed by a long howl to the sky, calling the Tiger Pack out of their den.

Standing in the snow, the Tiger Pack shook their thick fur, sending snowflakes flying. Then, they set off with powerful strides, like a column of small tanks. The half-meter-deep snow was nothing to them.

The Tiger Pack plowed through the thick snow, trotting toward the tavern and leaving a trail of deep paw prints behind them.

Watching the Tiger Pack’s retreating figures, a gratified smile appeared on Feng Shan’s face.

’Good, they’re all obedient kids.’

He then pushed open the door and entered the wooden house, ready to find the satellite phone.

The house was silent and empty, like an abandoned island.

The cold wave and blizzard had struck so fiercely that Natasha had summoned all the bodyguards and maids to the tavern to deal with the crisis.

Feng Shan, cloaked in wind and snow, hurried through the entryway and stepped into the living room.

In the living room, dim light struggled to filter through the cracks of the window, barely illuminating one corner.

In this play of light and shadow, he discovered a tiger lying by the fireplace, dozing comfortably.

Its massive, agile body rose and fell gently with each breath, emitting faint wisps of heat into the cold air.

"Huh? What are you doing in here?" Feng Shan couldn’t help but exclaim softly.

The tiger’s hearing was sharp. It was instantly startled awake and lifted its head alertly, its eerie green eyes flashing in the dimness.

Upon realizing it was Feng Shan, it quickly got up, as if embarrassed for oversleeping, and let out a soft, low growl as a greeting.

Feng Shan was momentarily taken aback, then remembered that he had apparently promised Natasha she could have one of the tigers.

’I just didn’t expect a tiger from the pack would actually be persuaded.’

Looking at the powerfully built tiger before him, Feng Shan smiled, waved his hand, and said gently,

"It’s alright, you can keep lying down."

Then he continued his search for the satellite phone.

...