Building My Empire in the Frozen Apocalypse (Riley Carter) novel Chapter 77

I Stayed Even When It Started Hurting by Tarin Kross 77

Chapter 77 Continental Shift

Chapter 77 Continental Shift

“Careful, it’s really hot.”

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Riley picked up a piece of the fried fish, blew on it gently, and held it out to Neeko. Neeko took the whole thing into her mouth, gasping and huffing as the heat hit her, but she refused to spit it out. Her face brightened with pure joy.

“So… so good!”

She mumbled through her full mouth, her tail whipping back and forth like a helicopter blade.

The two of them stayed close to the electric hot pot, watching the blizzard rage outside as if it were trying to scrub the world clean, all while sharing the sizzling meal.

Once they were done eating, Riley didn’t just kick back. She pulled out the cotton and fabric she’d traded for earlier and settled under the lamp to start stitching together some new winter gear.

Neeko lay sprawled on the rug nearby, using the tablet Riley had given her to keep watching an educational cartoon, softly repeating a word or two every now and then.

From time to time, the banging outside grew louder–Ghouls hurling themselves against the stone walls. Every time it happened, Neeko’s head jerked up, instantly alert, her lips curling back in a soundless snarl, a low growl vibrating in her throat.

Then Riley would reach over and stroke her head gently. “It’s okay. They can’t get in.”

And Neeko would relax again, her eyes glued back to the screen.

Time crawled by.

More and more profile pictures in Server Channel faded to gray. The cries of desperation grew quieter, slowly replaced by the numb silence of those who were still breathing.

Only 1,200 players left.

That was the harsh truth of the apocalypse–it didn’t care how pitiful you were.

By nightfall, the wind and snow seemed to let up a little, though there was no real sign they were stopping for good.

Riley washed up and slid back onto the couch. Neeko shifted into a small white cat and curled up warmly in her arms.

“Goodnight, Riley.”

The blizzard raged for two full days and nights, finally clearing on the morning of the third.

Long–awaited sunlight broke through the clouds, spilling over a frozen, silent world of white.

“Ding”

Riley was checking the camp’s control panel.

“Current Camp Level: Lv.3”

“I’ve pretty much gathered enough supplies,” she murmured. “Just a little more, and we can upgrade to Level 4”

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Chapter 77 Continental Shift

Level 4 wasn’t just a number–it meant expanding their territory and even unlocking higher–tier buildings.

“Time to stretch our legs.”

Riley stood up and pushed open the heavy wooden door, which had been frozen shut for days.

“Click.”

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The cold was still biting, but the knife–edged wind was gone. She took a deep breath of the crisp air and instinctively glanced toward the woods to the west–her usual spot for gathering firewood.

But what she saw made her freeze completely.

“Wait…”

Riley blinked, wondering if the snow had messed with her vision.

What woods?

The once–flat snowy field looked like some invisible giant had torn the land apart and put it back together all wrong. Now, in its place, stood a towering range of black–and–white mountains.

Thick layers of ice and snow covered the slopes, but in the exposed sections of rock, she could just make out dark mineral veins, along with broken wooden walkways half–buried in snow and rusted mine carts.

An abandoned mine?

Just then, a line of pale blue system text faded into view in the corner of her vision.

“Server Announcement: The first phase of “Continental Shift” has concluded.

“Congratulations to surviving players on advancing to the next stage. Your region has been relocated to new coordinates.

“Current area resource density: Medium (contains Coal, Iron Ore, trace associated minerals).”

“Continental… Shift?”

Riley muttered the words. She remembered what PineappleBeer had mentioned about the “region refresh“.

So this was what a refresh looked like.

Like shuffling a deck of cards, the system had scrambled the entire world map and dealt it out again. You never knew whether you’d wake up to a blessing or a curse right outside your door.

But for Riley right now, this was nothing short of a miracle.

“Coal!”

Her eyes lit up instantly.

Even with the wind turbine covering their power needs, their main heat source was still the fireplace. That high–grade smokeless coal burned hot and long, way better than wood.

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