Upon seeing Winston go in, the three leopard cubs denied entry by their father stared at each other, then ground their claws and quietly climbed up the tree.
Despite their stealth, before they even entered, a gentle breeze that blew into the tree exposed their movements.
Parker glared at them. “Scram to the top story!”
“Howl—”
The leopard cubs curled up and gazed upwards. The top of the tree, appearing sharp and slim, looked unreachable.
Now that they started hunting for prey, they knew of the dangers of remaining on the ground. Knowing that they couldn’t enter a short tree hole, they resigned to their fates and started climbing towards the top of the tree.
Winston climbed up the tree. He didn’t choose to occupy the second story. As for the third story that once belonged to him, it was now occupied by Curtis. Hence, he adapted himself to the circumstances and constructed his nest on the fourth story.
He slept peacefully that night.
The next day, Winston sent someone to transport the filtered saltwater to the Flos Eriocauli field, to pour into the stone pit for it to be exposed to the sun and wind.
Apart from the excellent sunshine, there were also no tall trees around, so the wind was stronger. The beastmen merely kept vigil and waited for less than two days, before they obtained very pure salt.
Even the salt cooked from the half-filled buckets looked much prettier now. Back then they had crystallized into blocks, but now they had turned into clear crystals, very much like the texture of sand, easily crushed in one’s hands.
After a jar of salt was distributed to every member of the tribe, only a layer had vanished from one stone bucket.
These five and a half buckets of salt would last the village for several decades.
After some pondering, Winston gathered the single males in the village and tossed a bomb to them.
“What? You’re asking us to use the salt to exchange for females from other villages?”
The loud voice of the male underneath the tree attracted Bai Qingqing’s attention from up there. She walked to the tree hole entrance and gazed downwards.
Winston, who acutely sensed the gaze upon him, instantly turned his head. Seeing that it was Bai Qingqing, his ferocious expression instantly turned gentle.
Turning back, he said to the young beastmen, “With more females in our village, there will be higher chances of you guys getting a spouse.”
“But what are we to do? Will the other villages consent to the exchange?”
The minute that question was voiced out, someone else raised another doubt. “What are we to do if they give us the lousiest females?”
With nary a change in his expression, Winston said calmly yet vigorously, “We have salt, and we can afford to give them more. We don’t have to fear that we won’t get any females.”
The males, although eager to give it a shot, still had their doubts.
“We have enough females in our village. Once we become more powerful, the females will be willing to take us as their spouses. Those who aren’t able to get a spouse can only blame themselves for being too weak.” This came from a strong and rather conceited male.
Winston sneered and asked in turn, “Then, do you have the means to protect your female?”
“Of course.”
Quite a few beastmen voiced the same.
“Back when the scorpion tribe invaded, I don’t recall many males feeling confident of protecting the females in the village.” Winston mercilessly reminded them of how pathetic they were back then.
The young beastmen felt ashamed of themselves at the mention of this.
Since this was a major affair, the tribal head was naturally present. He very much hoped for new females, but he only had procreation in mind and hadn’t thought of the more far-reaching implications, such as infrastructure. It was only upon hearing the king’s words that he could sense that the king aimed to expand their village.
“What are you planning to do, Your Majesty?” the tribal head asked, confused.
“Have you heard of the City of Beastmen?” Winston asked in turn.
The tribal head replied, “Yes, Your Majesty. I know that it’s a very big beastman settlement and that you came from there.”
“Then, do you know how many females are there in the City of Beastmen?” Winston revealed the answer without waiting for their guesses. “Twenty times what we have here. Nearly four hundred females.”
The beastmen broke into shocked gasps.
That was way more than the number of females they had in their village.
“The great number of females was what attracted powerful beastmen from various lands to join the city. There were more than ten thousand males…”
