With Shen Feng's help, blizzards continuously descended upon the ground, creating snowdrifts at least four to five feet deep. While such depth could freeze a person to death, the insects hiding underground would also be the first to perish upon encountering the ice and snow.
Seizing this opportunity, the soldiers rapidly cleared the ground. Once they located the locusts' nests, they would quickly excavate them, allowing the accumulated snow to enter and melt, instantly freezing the locusts to death underground.
Tom and the heads of several consortiums began to confer. The Great Lakes region originally did not belong to them. However, after the doomsday descended, the local organizations had collapsed, leaving behind numerous gangs. Now that their army had arrived, they could take over the Great Lakes region.
"I suggest that the major cities in the East jointly manage the Great Lakes region. The grain produced next will be enough for us to unify the entire North America once again!" Tom said to the consortium representatives.
"Your plan is excellent, but we never expected that you could invite the Wind God from the distant East. This is truly an incredible feat! It will be of great help to our future actions. North of the Great Lakes, there is also very fertile soil that is currently unmanaged. Why don't we take this opportunity to seize the land on the other side as well?" the other consortium heads said greedily.
The Great Lakes region was not just the territory of the Lighthouse Country; there was also a country to the north, Canada. However, in the doomsday, the northern country had collapsed earliest. Now, the land around the Great Lakes in the north was unmanaged. Seizing it at this opportunity was a good strategy, as their ancestors had prospered through plunder, and taking over land on the other side was no issue.
Tom nodded upon hearing this plan and said, "Although this plan was conceived on the spur of the moment, it is indeed feasible. However, there is one point I wish to remind everyone present: we will need to increase investment from now on. What do you all think?"
"Increasing investment? We're in!" Several consortiums immediately expressed their willingness to increase investment.
These consortiums had now seen the benefits of acquiring land. As long as they could seize enough land, they would control vast amounts of grain during the ensuing doomsday. The plains around the Great Lakes were particularly suitable for agriculture, and the abundant water resources would protect them from drought. Seizing more land during this rare opportunity would lead to a better future, and their families would undoubtedly approve.
Shen Feng was unaware that his mission had become more arduous. For several days, he had been floating in the sky, maintaining contact with the ground via walkie-talkie. Helicopters delivered supplies to him daily, including drinking water, food, and books to alleviate boredom.
Humans are inherently social animals, requiring social interaction to prevent psychological illnesses. While Shen Feng floated in the sky, he had no one to communicate with. Even using the walkie-talkie yielded only cold replies. In such circumstances, reading was the only way to alleviate his loneliness.
However, as the plan to clear the locusts proceeded smoothly, many soldiers on the front lines discovered an anomaly. While clearing the lakefront area, a soldier suddenly encountered a strangely shaped animal. This creature was exceptionally tall, reaching a height of five meters. However, upon seeing humans, it did not engage in combat but turned and fled, disappearing into the water.
"There are monsters in the lake. These monsters seem to be quite timid; they immediately retreat into the lake upon encountering humans," a soldier reported.
Upon hearing this, the officers in the army immediately took it seriously. They then set up numerous cameras along the lakefront to capture footage of these creatures. If these monsters posed a threat to humans, they would not hesitate to strike.
However, after the army's cameras captured images of these creatures and analyzed them, they became elated. They had discovered what these strange animals were: mutated beavers.
In North America, there is a peculiar animal called the beaver. These beavers have a strange appearance, resembling a rat but not quite. Beavers are herbivores, strictly speaking, preferring trees as their food source and enjoying felling trees to build dams.
Long ago, when people living in North America discovered beavers felling trees, they considered beavers to be culprits destroying the natural ecosystem, as deforestation leads to soil erosion, which is widely known. However, in subsequent research, scientists discovered that beavers actually built dams, which benefited the formation of swamps. The presence of swamps and wetlands made it easier to conserve water. Wetland systems are known as the "kidneys of the Earth" and are crucial for climate regulation.
Thus, upon understanding this, scientists immediately urged the protection of beavers to facilitate population recovery. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Beavers, having been hunted for years as destroyers of the ecosystem, finally suffered severe blows. Later, unscrupulous merchants discovered that beaver fur was very smooth and could be used to make high-quality clothing. Driven by profit, many hunters began to hunt beavers. Eventually, the beaver population became difficult to recover, and they became a strictly protected animal.
"Immediately notify all soldiers not to hunt beavers. They must be protected. These beavers can build dams, which have a positive impact on the local ecosystem. Furthermore, do not damage the nests and dams built by beavers," the army immediately issued an order prohibiting soldiers from harming these mutated beavers.
The mutated beavers remained herbivores, their habits unchanged. Despite their giant size after mutation, their fear of humans had not diminished. Therefore, upon encountering humans, these beavers chose to flee immediately, not daring to confront them.
Greedy soldiers discovered this and became avaricious. They all knew that beaver fur was a raw material for high-quality clothing, and killing beavers would yield substantial rewards. With such a great temptation before them, they naturally disregarded the military order.
"When such a great opportunity to get rich is right in front of us, how can we let it go? If we quietly kill one beaver, we can get a lot of money and escape poverty in the future," some soldiers were secretly discussing their plan to hunt beavers.
Thus, in the following period, these beavers suffered. Originally, after building dams and nests, these beavers would stay hidden in their nests and not come out. Upon seeing humans, they would flee madly, not daring to confront them.
However, humans did not intend to let the beavers go, not only because beavers were harmless but also because their fur was too valuable. Just skinning one and taking it back could bring immense wealth, even elevating them to the middle class.
Therefore, during the day, people pretended not to see the beavers. But at night, soldiers would follow their remembered directions to the beaver nests, directly dismantle the dams, find the beavers in their nests, kill them, and take them away, slaughtering all, regardless of age or sex.
"What a bunch of greedy bandits! If they discovered endangered protected animals, in China, they would be protected first. I never expected them to hunt so recklessly in North America, and the higher-ups don't even care. Truly bandits!" Xu Xing couldn't help but curse in a low voice upon witnessing this scene.
The translator beside her dared not say anything, as if the soldiers overheard these words, it would surely provoke their resentment.
In China, the protection of wild animals is extremely serious. Even in doomsday, casual hunting is forbidden. In the past, anyone who dared to capture a protected animal would face imprisonment. But it was not like this in North America. These people publicly supported various laws but acted contrary to them in private. During the day, they memorized the locations of beaver nests, and late at night, they would earn extra income by killing beavers, skinning them on the spot, and taking the pelts back.
Moreover, in the minds of many soldiers, this method of earning extra income posed no problem, as they had lived this way for centuries. Especially in doomsday, many poor people relied on hunting for meat. Now, they had merely killed a slightly unusual prey, which was no big deal.
Xu Xing once had a very good impression of North America, as she had heard of its beautiful scenery and prosperous culture and technology. Everyone likes a powerful country.
But when she actually came here, she developed a sense of disgust. She suddenly realized that this country was filled with immoral behaviors such as plunder and hunting. Even harmless protected animals like beavers were brutally killed. Previously, some people shamelessly traded their country's national treasures. It could be said that the people here were greedy and shameless. If it weren't for the purpose of obtaining the national treasure, she wouldn't bother staying with these scumbags.
Of course, the heads of these consortiums currently had no intention of concerning themselves with the petty actions of their subordinates. For them, as long as they could obtain land, any price was worth paying. As for the beavers hunted by the soldiers, since humans had already caused the extinction of many species, one more beaver wouldn't matter.
Blizzards continuously fell from the sky, forming thick snowdrifts on the ground. Countless insects were frozen to death in the snow. However, human activities were also hindered. Despite the obstacles, the soldiers worked with great enthusiasm, knowing that outstanding performance would be rewarded handsomely.
Under these circumstances, the soldiers' disaster arrived.