With such an answer, Malin got on the sled car, communicated with the sled dogs and their lead dog using chunks of meat as bait to serve him.
Eventually, Malin sat in the sled car, sipping tea warmed by the semi-enclosed small stove, letting the lead dog lead the team behind the vehicle containing old Jack and Gaiate.
Humans, after all, need to enjoy life a little.
When moving across the snowfield, where there is no point of reference, Salis had very little visibility in the blizzard and returned to its spot by Malin’s feet after a while, shook off the snow from its body, then burrowed into its nest with Bippo, snuggling together on a cushion lined with soft leather jackets, enjoying the warmth of the stove.
Meanwhile, Malin looked at the giant ruins of the city in the distance, which should be Tumelira; in Malin’s time it wasn’t any major city, but by the time of the Great Destruction, it had grown sufficiently large.
Nevertheless, ultimately, all of it was destroyed by Chaos, and like other cities that no one had visited since their destruction, it was now probably full of death brought by that ruin. Standing in the midst of the snow and wind, the city became a steel graveyard... and a prison for its inhabitants.
There were also some giant deer on the snowfield, very large; they seemed not to fear humans, and after having checked, Malin confirmed they were not corrupted by Chaos.
They should be edible.
As a typical Chinese person, this was Malin’s first thought—he planned to ask old Jack when they reached the site.
If the deer were edible, the source of raw materials for the Northern Meat Factory would be secured.
Thus, when the caravan arrived at the scene, Malin hung Bippo’s nest at his waist, jumped off the vehicle with his gun, and followed the two old men to the scene of the incident, consulting old Jack about this matter.
"You mean those moose? Of course, they’re edible. But although they won’t attack people on their own, if you hurt them, you’ll need to be ready to either outrun them or be gored to death," old Jack said before glancing at the gun in his hand, "However, once this is over, we’ll kill one to take back. That’s the North’s finest meat."
"Thank you." With this answer, Malin was reassured. Later, the meat factory would open in Copenhagen; they would also set up a breeding base in the Semi-Plane, maintaining high-intensity production. By the time of the Tide of the Dead, these canned goods could even be sold to the Northern Kingdom at half price or given away as logistics support.
As long as the Northern Kingdom fought hard to defend its territory, giving them away for free was an option—so long as the Northern Kingdom remained, the North of the Sydney Federation and Farol Principality would be safe, allowing them to fully combat the rifts in the Carterburg region and the Chaos that ran out of the super-sized Dark Zone of the Eastern Kingdom.
"Alright, Malin, we’re here, stay sharp," old Jack’s reminder brought Malin out of his thoughts. Malin nodded and signaled to Salis to circle in the sky. Considering that the opponent was skilled with crossbow arrows, Malin told Salis to be smart and land to give an alarm if it encountered a suspected target.
The first body was quickly discovered; it must have been a victim who attempted to escape to the sleds during the rout, an adult with a wound on the back of the head, round in shape, and strangely, there was no penetration injury on the front.
"Doesn’t look like a crossbow arrow. This thing can’t possibly have such little force," old Jack was the first to voice his opinion.
Malin nodded, "Besides, I have my doubts about what this thing could be. It must be very hard to have penetrated the skull, but it didn’t come out the other side. Is it possible to cut it open for examination?"
Malin had respect for every deceased individual; if it wasn’t okay, then it wasn’t.
"No, the body needs to be transported back. In the North, we don’t follow that practice. Besides, my agreement doesn’t count; he’s not my relative, I have no right to do that," old Jack said somewhat helplessly, so Malin could only check the surface of the wound—it was very round, indeed like a man-made object. Since the victim was fleeing, it entered the back of the head, maybe because it was from too far away to drill out from the front.
"Speaking of crossbow arrows, the distance is a bit far, but the assailant seems to have a good aim. Old Jack, did the survivor mention if it was snowing nearby when they were attacked?" Gaiate approached and after speaking, looked at Malin, "Any discoveries, kid?"
"The wound is very smooth, more like it was caused by a Spell Formation. If it’s a crossbow arrow, I can’t confirm its material," Malin concluded, deliberately scanning the surroundings, "This area is very open. If the murderer really can remain invisible, then they will be a very difficult opponent to handle. I hope the infrared spectrum can capture their presence." As he spoke, Malin activated the infrared function of his goggles and looked around, but found nothing.
"The murderer is probably not here; is there a possibility that the murderer was just passing by?" Malin always had a suspicion; the Frost Giant’s hunting team was just a bunch of big fellows with chunks of meat. They had nothing worth looting, and the murderer also spared the wounded and children.
"I don’t think it’s a different kind; they wouldn’t spare the wounded and children. The child said the murderer could become invisible and used arrows to kill. In my view, it’s very likely a Mech Soul Armor that’s gone out of control," Malin felt his analysis was probably the closest to the reality, "A Mech Soul Armor out of control, seeing the tall Frost Giants, instinctively thinking they are not human but invaders, but spared the children dragging the wounded, thinking the height of the children is close to that of a normal human, so it spared the children and the wounded."