Human effort was a remarkable thing, especially when backed against the edge of extinction.

Construction sites everywhere across the Mingfa Camp. Stone hauled from ruins throughout the district, cement found in the rubble of a cement plant, mixed and mortared into rough, massive structures that rose across the landscape. Against evolved beast threats — particularly airborne ones — the new architecture prioritized thickness over height: stone walls, stone floors, stone ceilings, built heavy.

The logging teams were bringing in evolved trees from the surrounding area. The wood was something genuinely new — not just bark showing metallic gradation but the internal grain as well, the entire structural matrix shifting, hardness approaching ironwood standards. These timbers were going into the load-bearing columns.

The Research Institute had made an optimistic projection: within perhaps a year, evolved tree lumber might be substituting for structural steel.

But the buildings couldn't go up. They had to go down. Air threats remained unmanageable — the Pox Fly swarm at Xinqiao Airport; the Dragon Hornets and Bloodthirsty Mosquito colony from the Huoshan Oasis direction, both capable of ranging this far. Individual large-bird evolved beasts passing through occasionally. Human capability against airborne threats was still defensive only.

Leadership meetings proliferated alongside the construction.

Shen Cong attended none of them.

The decision to leave had been made. Forcing himself to integrate was pointless. The leadership had tried summoning him several times and received no response, and had gradually stopped trying. Unless there was a direct threat requiring response, he didn't enter the camp anymore.

When he did go in, it was to the Research Institute — checking for new technical developments, commissioning work he needed done. The Swiftclaw Leopard hide was in the hands of a skilled leatherworker for curing.

He also visited the sweet potato fields, the soybean plots, and the peach orchard regularly. The Activity Peach seedlings wouldn't fruit for at least half a year — too young. What he was waiting for was the current sweet potato and Life-Saving Yellow Soybean crop to mature. Both stored well, and both could be cultivated in Great Vajra's greenhouse.