Louis had dealt with the spring food issue and was thinking about handling other problems.

Meanwhile, the prophecy from the Daily Intelligence System about the "Winter Disaster" loomed over his heart like a sword yet to fall.

Although the intelligence never explicitly stated what would happen, it only mentioned that "the evil forces nurtured by the Snow Swearers are stirring."

Furthermore, it mentioned that this crisis would sweep the entire Northern Territory this winter, not unlike the great rebellion two years ago.

"If it is indeed something summoned by the Snow Swearers... be it a beast or monster, I must be fully prepared," he thought.

"Of course, if it's really an Evil God..." He looked up at the sky outside the window, "then I'll flee immediately."

Despite having a nine-year compulsory education, even in this fantasy world, he didn't hold much faith in deities.

He would worship only what was useful, and if something was useless, it was fake.

If it endangered him, then it was an evil monster that needed to be eliminated.

He wasn't arrogant and had already prepared himself to face the worst-case scenario.

For this moment, he needed to establish a defense line before the disaster struck, a line that could both hide people and hold off monsters.

To confront this potential cataclysm, he summoned Mike, the most seasoned master craftsman in the Red Tide Territory and the chief engineer of the Red Tide Castle.

"We already have experience with Earth Tower structures, I want to build two more in the Red Tide Territory," Louis said while unfolding a map and pointing to five territories, "and at least one simple Earth Tower should be built in the other five camps."

"Like the Red Tide Castle?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

"A bit rougher," Louis said lightly, "they'll serve as granaries, resource warehouses, training grounds, stables during peacetime...

But once calamity strikes, they can close their gates and the populace can hide inside for a month if necessary."

Mike scratched his beard, his eyes glinting with excitement: "You should have mentioned this earlier! Do you know how high the efficiency of the Red Tide construction team is? To roughly build one, without decorations, takes only half a month per structure!"

"That's your efficiency, what about the other territories?"

"That depends on how skilled their craftsmen are, but if you're willing to send a team from our side to supervise, it might be faster."

"Mike, I always have a feeling... that we might be facing a great enemy this winter." Louis gazed northward, where clouds churned over the depths of the Snow Ridge, as if something unseen was awakening.

He turned to look at the old craftsman beside him, "Do you have any other defensive measures suitable for here?"

"You've come to the right person." Mike's eyes lit up as he fished out a dusty, rough blueprint from his belt, his face alight with the enthusiasm of a child.

As he spread out the blueprint, his fingers moved nimbly, pointing out the details.

"Firstly, reverse slope paths with rolling log traps!"

Grabbing some parchment, he stacked them together, "We'll reshape the nearby mountain paths into zigzag gentle slopes. When enemies arrive, will they charge forward? Let them slowly circle around. We'll set ambushes at the corners."

He pulled out a small wooden stick from his pocket, placing it at the top of the 'slope.'

"At that moment, logs with spikes, rolled from the slope," he gestured a strong push, "boom, whoever dares to go up, won't come back alive!"

"A whole gang of barbarians comes, and they'll roll down in droves." He described with great animation, even adding sound effects for the falling logs.

Louis nodded approvingly, tapping his chin lightly: "Good, these should be built on the ramps leading to the Earth Towers... the harder the climb, the worse their fate."

"And there's something even more ingenious," Mike said, patting his knees as he stood up with a grin, "Have you ever heard of vibration columns?"

"Vibration columns?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"Our Northern Territory permafrost is indeed hard, but it vibrates faster than anywhere else. I plan to bury several large hollow columns under the snow outside, with copper bells inside. When a large number of enemies move or beasts attack, the ground vibrates, ringing the bells."

Mike tapped his boot, "We can hear the 'jingle' from inside the city, and then no one sleeps, we go straight to battle readiness."

Louis's eyes also brightened: "No need for patrols, listening to the earth for movement... this is true Northern Territory wisdom."

Mike proudly said: "That's right, I'm not boasting, our Northern Territory craftsmen may not say it outright, but our minds have long been filled with emergency contraptions like these."

Louis nodded slowly, a cold gleam in his eyes: "Good, implement these measures promptly as you said."

Mike chuckled: "At that time, our enemies won't even see us, but they'll first encounter rolling logs, fall into pits, and be scared half to death by the ringing..."

Just as Mike finished speaking, the heavy wooden door creaked open, and a guard entered.

"Lord, there's a party outside seeking an audience," the guard bowed slightly, "The leader claims to be Willis Calvin. Your brother."

"Willis?" Louis raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of unexpected surprise.

He had known through the Intelligence System that his two elder brothers had arrived in the Northern Territory.

But he didn't expect Willis to come see him first.

"Let him in," he said calmly, though his tone did not conceal his cautiousness.

The guard bowed and withdrew.

......

At the Red Tide Territory's city gate, the cold wind lightly blew against a cloak as Willis Calvin sat firmly on his warhorse.

His deep gaze rested on the round, enormous, earth-tower-like castle in the distance.

This was not the "Northern Territory" he recalled.

He had passed through too much desolation in the Northern Territory.

Starving people, collapsing houses, muddy roads...

But what lay before him now at Red Tide Territory seemed like a heterogeneous existence intentionally sculpted by some other force.

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