Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 126

Chapter 126 New Neighbors

Chapter 126 New Neighbors

The process was underway.

“Merging in progress: Region 6, Region 12, Region 33… Total of 50 subsectors integrated.

+35 Free Coms

“World restructuring initiated. Survivors, remain inside your designated territory. Do not venture beyond

A low rumble shook the ground, building into a violent tremor that lasted a solid five minutes. When everything finally stilled, the notifications flashed clearly.

“Region merge complete.

“Current sector: No. 66–Winter Conflict Zone.

“Current channel population: 10,000/10,000.

“New rankings will be generated in 72 hours. (Survivors, push hard to climb the ladder!)”

* Riley set down her mug and immediately pulled up her tablet.

The old Region 8 channel–once down to just two hundred quiet users–was now utterly transformed. The user count in the top corner glared back at her: 10,000.

Messages were flooding the chat box, scrolling too fast to read.

“Rogue: Wait, a sector merge? Already? Which sector is this even?”

“PeakFox: Finally outta that hellhole! Region 3 was a nightmare–no one should have to live like that.”

“BigBossTrader: Buying wood! Serious buyer here–bulk amounts, price is flexible!”

“WarWolf Recruiting: WarWolf is recruiting! Guild leader is Level 12, established base. Elite players only. Join us, become part of the family.”

“Has anyone seen my ally? Name’s ClearWaters. I thought all sectors would merge together…”

“Warrior’s World guild open for recruits! Leader owns a rare–tier blue weapon. Requirement: 30% daily resource contribution. Seeking protection? Rally to coordinates (1125, 4585) now!”

“Hey, the guy above–our guild leader has an epic–tier purple weapon. You sure you want to broadcast those coordinates? Might get a visit you didn’t ask for.”

Chaos.

Complete chaos.

Pleas for help, trash talk, trading ads, gear flexing–all tangled together in one overwhelming stream. A handful of so–called “major guilds” were already spamming recruitment posts, their tone dripping with the arrogance of those who thought they’d already made it.

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Neighbors

“Yeah… every community’s got its share of oddballs.”

Riley frowned and muted the public channel notifications.

This wasn’t a survivor camp–it was a rowdy, hostile bazaar. The aggression in the air felt heavier than anything she’d seen back in the early days of Region 8.

Just then, a new group invitation popped up.

“Player Tart King has invited you to join the group: ‘Region 8 Survivors‘ Lounge (128 members)

Riley tapped accept.

The moment she entered, she saw TartKing already posting.

“TartKing: @everyone Everyone still alive? Check in–don’t tell me you got wiped already!”

“FrostWolf: Here. That quake was something else–a river just popped up right outside my base. Almos got flooded out.”

“NoName: I’m here! The public channel is insane. Everyone’s talking about taking each other out. This place feels way more chill.”

“ToxicReaper: Seriously, what a bunch of amateurs. That ‘WarWolf guild? Mostly level 7s talking big. Nothing to worry about.”

“AverageJoe: They haven’t seen real power yet. If they knew what we had here, they’d probably lose it.”

The group had just over a hundred members–and every single one carried the “Brave and Unyielding title.

“TartKing: Hey, look who’s here!

“TartKing: By the way, this is an auto–channel the system set up for everyone with the Brave and Unyielding title!” 2

“Welcome, boss!”

“Welcome, SpicyBurger!”

“TartKing: Let me start things off with a little treat!

“Lucky Drop: Strawberry cake -50”

“A drop! Quick, grab it!”

“I’ll pitch in too–got plenty of wool. Fifty bundles for everyone.”

“ToxicReaper (Alchemist): Love the vibe in here. Uh, side note–I botched a batch of potions today. Anyone want ‘em? Minor side effect: might lose a little hair. But they kill pain real good

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Chapter 126 New Neighbors

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“AverageJoe: ToxicReaper, give it a rest. That last ‘hair tonic‘ of yours turned my fur green–still hasn’t worn off! @SpicyBurger, now that the sectors have merged, you think our little lounge might get targeted?”

“FrostWolf: Let them try. We’re small, but we’re geared. Just saw some guy on the world channel bragging about an uncommon–grade iron sword. Almost spit out my drink. Who here isn’t wearing at least rareftier armor?”

“TartKing: Exactly! Anyone starts trouble, they’re getting a faceful of my cast–iron skillet! Oh, and hey has everyone eaten? Just pulled a batch of blueberry cookies out of the oven. Listed on the exchange now -half price for group members.”

The small group hummed with warm, lively chatter.

“Pineapple Beer: @TartKing save me two. Also, heads up, everyone–don’t show off your gear out in t open. Since the server merge, all kinds of sketchy players and troublemakers are lurking around Do flex your stuff in world chat. Keep everything within the party or guild. Things are chaotic right now, and plenty of people will play dirty just to climb the rankings.”