Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste-Chapter 924 - 152: Blood and Ashes

At midnight, amidst the blizzard-raged desert, Azhar led three hundred elite warriors stealthily approaching the New Moon Tribe.

The warriors wrapped their weapons with cloth soaked in sulfur to avoid reflections; the camels' hooves were covered in felt, making their advance almost silent.

They first dealt with the outer sentries using poisoned blow darts, then quickly dispersed to infiltrate the camp.

The New Moon Tribe was presently enjoying a rare warmth.

The small mobile energy tower emitted an orange glow, dispelling the cold within the tribe.

Elders dozed around the tower, children smiled for the first time in winter.

No one noticed that amidst the snowstorm outside the camp, death was closing in.

"For the tribe!" Azhar's roar pierced the night sky.

Three hundred warriors attacked simultaneously, their sharp scimitars glimmering in the snowlight.

The New Moon Tribe's warriors hastily mounted their defense, but it was too late—most of them fell into the blood-soaked ground before they could even pick up their weapons.

When the Empire patrol arrived, all they saw was the chaotic scene and the weeping New Moon tribesmen.

The energy tower had already disappeared, leaving behind chaotic camel hoof prints leading deep into Black Stone Mountain.

This successful raid like wildfire spread among the tribes.

The surface of the winter desert was calm, but beneath, turbulent currents surged.

Other chieftains began to meet frequently, greed flashing in their eyes.

"If Azhar can achieve this, why can't we?" a chieftain slammed the table at a secret gathering.

Soon, several well-equipped tribal cavalry units became active in the desert.

They appeared out of nowhere, specifically targeting the Empire patrol's supply convoys, snatching food and fuel before vanishing into the snowstorm.

More cunning were those spies disguised as hunters.

They hovered around tribes with energy towers, deliberately exposing the weapons at their waists, yet always kept still.

These intermittent threats made the tribes receiving Empire rewards anxious all day, forced to allocate more manpower to protect their precious energy towers.

Behind all these actions, an invisible hand was manipulating.

The chieftains never showed themselves, instead inciting the herders dissatisfied with the Empire through trusted aides.

"Go and rob," they seduced, "The Imperial People won't care about such minor losses."

Behind these seemingly scattered attacks, an invisible hand manipulated like the shadow of a wolf lurking in the dark, testing the Empire's response whilst sharpening its claws.

The desert wind grew ever colder, and the conspiracy in the shadows threatened to erupt at any moment.

-----------------

In the Floating City's council chamber, Perfikot listened to Redcliff's report, her slender fingers rhythmically tapping the table, each crisp sound unwittingly causing Governor Redcliff at the lower end to tense his spine.

"So," Perfikot finally spoke, her voice soft enough to send chills down one's spine, "Our chieftain friends think it's fun to play hide-and-seek in the snow?"

Redcliff's Adam's apple moved slightly: "Regent, indeed, they have become increasingly audacious. Yesterday, yet another transport team was attacked, losing—" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"I'm not concerned about how much was lost." Perfikot suddenly stood, she slowly approached the sand table, "Do they think these petty disturbances can probe the Empire's limits?" The cold smile at the corner of her mouth made the room's temperature seem to drop a few more degrees, "Truly laughable in their naivety."

Colonel Valken instinctively straightened his back, the heels of his military boots gently clicking together. When Perfikot turned to him, the chill in her eyes sent a shiver even through this battle-hardened veteran.

"Colonel Valken," her voice resumed the kind of unsettling calmness, "I recall you proposed to give those savages an 'unforgettable lesson' last time?"

"Yes, Regent." Valken's voice, roughened by excitement, "My forces are at your command."

Perfikot nodded gently, turned to gaze at the swirling snowstorm outside: "Then proceed." She raised her hand, making a graceful beheading gesture, "No warnings, no negotiations. I want their camps reduced to ashes, their wails echoing across the desert."

She turned around, the chill in her eyes forcing everyone to lower their heads: "Let them understand with blood what 'the patience of the Empire' means."

At the break of dawn, the trumpet of the Empire's reprisal sounded.

Valken's steel battalion did not storm forth as expected, but disassembled into many parts, lurking among the dunes like desert scorpions.

Twelve well-equipped task forces launched quietly under the cover of morning fog, each outfitted with the latest repeating firearms and special support from Perfikot's Steam Knights.

At midday, the Gray Wolf Tribe cavalry who had previously attacked the supply line were returning heavy-laden.

The young warrior leading them was toying casually with a stolen Empire pocket watch, when suddenly he heard the neat mechanical clattering sound from behind a dune.

"Hide—" his warning barely finished, thirty rifles simultaneously erupted in deadly fire.

Lead bullets pierced felt with sounds akin to hail, instantly knocking more than twenty riders off their horses.

The survivors turned their horses in terror, seeing four Steam Knights approaching from all directions.

These three-meter tall steel giants exhaled white mist, their hydraulic joints emitting terrifying hisses.

The lead Knight raised his right arm, the rotary machine gun's barrels began preheating and spinning.

"For the Empire." An icy declaration issued from behind the visor.

The next morning, caravans passing by witnessed a macabre scene—seventeen bodies chained to wind-eroded pillars, with congealed blood droplets glistening like rubies in the morning light.

Each body bore the imperial eagle emblem branded on the chest with a hot iron, the burnt flesh's smell lingering in the cold wind.

Simultaneously, the Empire courted those tribes that remained loyal, promising them more food rations and energy tower usage rights.

The warriors of these tribes, familiar with the desert's terrain, led Empire troops straight to the hostile tribes' camps.

Overnight, three of the provocative tribes were uprooted, their chieftains captured alive, marched on horseback for public display.

The news reached Black Stone Mountain, finally panicking the surviving chieftains.

"How dare they…" a chieftain trembled, "We were merely testing, yet they've eradicated an entire tribe!"

Another chieftain slumped onto the blanket, face pale: "Valken's troops left no survivors… even women and children weren't spared…"

Azhar stood in the shadows, fists clenched tightly.

He had thought the Empire would first negotiate then suppress, as they did last time, granting them room to maneuver.

But this time, the Empire tore the rules to shreds, proclaiming with the most bloody means: any provocation would be met with total annihilation.