Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 712

Chapter 712 The One Who Held the Camp Together

Chapter 712 The One Who Held the Camp Together

These people were never supposed to be fighting on the front lines. They were meant to bake bread, brew ale, carve wood, and repair houses around camp.

Now they wore ill–fitting scrap armor, gripping crudely made spears and crossbows, holding a defensive line soaked through with blood.

Riley’s fingers tightened slightly.

“How bad are the casualties?” she asked.

Joseph’s footsteps stalled. He didn’t answer right away.

“Let’s talk inside first.”

The second he said that, Riley knew the numbers were terrible.

She didn’t push him further.

The wooden shelter outside the tool shed was even more chaotic than before.

Three empty medicine bottles sat beside the camp map. Jack was hunched over, logging arrow consumption. He snapped his head up at the sound of footsteps. Seeing two Rileys walk in, he froze briefly before quickly regaining his composure.

“Riley.”

Riley glanced at his sling. “How’s your injury?”

Jack nodded firmly. “It’s nothing serious. It doesn’t slow me down.”

TartKing walked over and cast a healing spell on him. She checked the makeshift wooden splint strapped to his arm and frowned. D

“The bone’s slightly out of alignment. Who set this?”

Jack glanced toward Joseph.

Joseph looked away. “The outer wall was broken open that day, I didn’t have time to put it up properly.”

Jack shrank his neck and mumbled, “He’s just bad at it, honestly.”

TartKing looked between the two of them and spoke gently. “I’ll check both of you later. Your medical setup here is way too crude.”

Joseph and Jack both nodded quickly, relieved to hear it.

Riley walked over to the table and stared down at the map.

Three layers of defensive lines were marked out.

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Chapter 712 The One Who Held the Camp Together

Crossed–out sections far outnumbered the parts still holding.

Staring at the red cloth markers, she could practically see the camp shrinking inward day by day,

Every strip of red represented lives lest in the fight.

TartKing turned her gaze toward the other “Riley” in the room.

She’d been too focused on fighting her way through the monster horde earlier to think about it.

Now that they stood in the same small shelter, the whole situation felt incredibly strange.

+5 Tren Count

This person wore Riley’s coat, copied her face, her gaze, even her every movement. If Tart King hadn’t fought right beside the real Riley this whole time, she would’ve been fooled at first glance,

TartKing blinked in shock. “Riley, what’s-”

Riley also looked toward the duplicate.

C.P. stood nearby with its tail low. The flames on its body finally dimmed down a little. It padded over to the real Riley, nudged her right hand with its nose, then circled her once, as if making sure she was truly back and unharmed.

Riley lifted a hand and stroked its head.

“You’ve gotten so thin.”

C.P.’s ears twitched.

For a second, it looked just like a wronged big dog, nuzzling deeper into her palm. But the moment the sound of monsters slamming against the wall echoed outside, its head shot up, fiery light flaring in its eyes

once more.

The other “Riley” stood perfectly still. Slowly, her eyes turned red.

A faint light flickered over her body.

The face that belonged to Riley faded away, revealing Neeko’s true appearance.

Her pointed elf ears peeked through her messy hair, dusted with ash and dried blood. Her face looked far skinnier than before. The oversized coat hung loosely on her frame. Scratches covered her wrists and knees, and bandages were wrapped around her shoulder.

The second she shifted back to her original form, she could no longer hold herself together. She threw herself straight into Riley’s arms.

“Riley!”

The impact knocked the wind out of Riley’s chest, nearly making her stumble backward.

TartKing hurried forward to steady her. “Easy! Be gentle! Riley’s hurt!”

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Chapter 712 The One Who Held the Camp Together

+5 Free Cry

Necko immediately pulled back, too scared to press closer. Still, she couldn’t bear to step away, clutching

htly to the hean of Riley’s coat as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I didn’t know when you’d come back… Everyone was counting on me. I copied your tone, your posture. your calm expression… but I was so scared.”

She paused and roughly wiped her tears, afraid the guards outside would see her crying.

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