CHAPTER 770: THE EARLY WINTER

Garrett was unaware of the discussions among his seniors. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t care. He didn’t need this paper; as long as he could submit something to the professor, it didn’t matter if it wasn’t published.

He was now busy practicing his mental power every day. To be honest, practicing mental power diligently had its benefits. At the very least, Garrett found that when he was researching direct current resuscitation and defibrillation spells, it went much more smoothly—

At the very least, he could directly feel the heartbeat without relying on an electrocardiogram.

One electric claw spell, and he could tell if the heart was recovering its vitality or getting more damaged without staring at the ECG and calculating the anterior wall, posterior wall, atrium, and ventricle. His mental power gave him the answer directly.

Keep going, Garrett!

Use your mental power more precisely, more delicately!

Try to feel the beat from the sinoatrial node, conduct it along the atrial wall to the ventricle, feel the contraction of the atria and ventricles, and the process of the electric impulse returning to the atria and sinoatrial node!

Although he couldn’t do it now… he could feel the heart’s contraction and relaxation, sense the blood flowing in and out, but feeling the heart’s electrical and muscle currents was still beyond him…

Sigh, he had to work harder and advance! If he wanted to manually craft a CT scan or an electron microscope, he needed to become a high-level mage, and if possible, strive to become a legend!

Garrett buried himself in medical and magical research. Time passed silently, day after day, month after month. From spring to summer, from summer to autumn, until finally, drifting snowflakes once again covered the earth.

Lady Ophelia of the "Radiant Scales" lazily turned over in her soft cloud nest. The cold wind on her face made the silver dragon, who loved the cold, feel extremely comfortable.

She glanced at the vast expanse of frozen sea, bent her long neck, and buried her head under her dragon wing, murmuring softly:

"This winter came a bit early… fortunately, the big fish and large magical beasts have been stocked up, so the little ones will have something to eat when they hatch…"

Even if there was a shortage of food, the silver dragon was confident in her hunting abilities. Flying out a hundred or two hundred miles, diving into the sea, there were always endless big fish to catch.

To the east of the dragon’s nest, on the vast wasteland a thousand miles away, the barbarian tribes were hurriedly dispersing their grand gathering. The barbarian elders were shouting to their people to quickly pack up, load the carts, and return to their tribes.

Elder Brock, draped in feathers and wearing a feather crown, stood at the camp gate seeing them off. He caught a snowflake in his hand, his old face filled with deep worry:

"This winter… came a bit too early. The final big hunt of Akura was only halfway through, and the meat hasn’t been stocked up… this winter, many small tribes will have a hard time…"

Half a year ago, they received warnings from the council and letters from Garrett, warning them of a great famine next year and urging them to stock up on food by any means possible.

But it was not that easy. The barbarians lived in the extreme north, where farming was a joke, and they relied on fishing, hunting, and raiding for survival. Stocking up food? They could hunt all the wild animals around, but it would take ten years for them to recover.

Raiding wasn’t easy either. Even if they could raid the Rhine Kingdom and the tribes further east, it would cost the blood and lives of their warriors. If too many died, they would become targets for others on the wasteland.

Even if they succeeded in raiding without many deaths, how would they bring it back?

Gold and jewels were easy to carry, but food, salt, and livestock were heavy and took up space. By the time they crossed the sea and traveled a thousand miles on land, they would lose more than half of it.

"Hopefully, spring will come early next year… reindeer can eat grass, salmon will return to the rivers, the hills will turn green, and the wild animals will grow well in the mountains…"

In the Dwarf Kingdom, King Rossegar walked out of the Great Furnace for the first time in months and stood on the mountain top, looking out. With all his might, he couldn’t see the Holy Mountain in the distance, only wave-shaped mountain ranges turned into vast expanses of silver white overnight.

The mountain peak where the Great Furnace was located was still fine, with abundant geothermal heat, it hadn’t been covered by snow yet. King Rossegar recalled the stored food in the royal court and barely breathed a sigh of relief:

At least he believed Garrett’s message and used royal funds to buy a large stockpile of food. From the current perspective, even if the worst happened, the royal court should have enough… ŖᴀNꝊBȧ

"Max, accompany me to check the warehouse and confirm the food reserves are sufficient and haven’t been tampered with—especially not stolen for brewing." The sturdy dwarf king gathered his thoughts and issued orders one by one:

"Ingwav, send out the Ram Knights to patrol within five hundred miles of the royal court. This winter has come too early, and I’m afraid some might not be prepared."

The Firehammer Clan, Steelhammer Clan, and Silverbear Clan living in the royal court should be sufficient. In extreme cases, the dwarves living nearby could be taken care of. As for the other clans…

"Gavin, select a group to visit the other clans outside the royal court—the Ironbone Clan, Wildhammer Clan, and especially the troublemaking Blackrock Clan, to check their situation."

"Winter has just started. If their food reserves are insufficient, there might still be time to buy and stockpile…"

He sighed deeply. According to Garrett’s letter, the crops would fail all next year. Not only would crops not grow, but even the growth of pasture would be poor, and livestock would die in large numbers.

He wondered if the barbarian brothers were prepared.

Some barbarians stocked up on food, some preserved meat, and some sharpened their axes. On the border of the Rhine Kingdom, the elderly Sky Knight "White Wolf" William donned his best armor, standing long and gazing north:

"From now on, we must increase our vigilance and intensify training!" His powerful voice thundered like a storm on the high walls:

"Winter has come so early, those barbarians will definitely come to raid! Gather the villagers, move them into the city if possible, or into fortresses. If they can’t get in, reinforce the village walls!"

This winter, who knew how many of his young men would sacrifice… The support from the Radiant Church was limited, should he secretly procure more penicillin?

"Frost Flower" Veronica Rudolph tightened the reins, her brows furrowed with hidden worries. Luckily, her defense area faced the vampire-ruled Black Forest, where the pressure shouldn’t be too great.

Vampires didn’t need much food, and as long as their subjects weren’t starving to the point of desperation, they shouldn’t come raiding. However, thinking about the future situation, this 12th-level knight couldn’t help but sigh:

"Never mind, let’s postpone the wedding for another year… now really isn’t the time for marriage or pregnancy…"

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