At night, the newly migrated Tudenan set up a bonfire on the new site of migration and held a ceremony in accordance with the custom of the Hellfire people to pray for blessings.
After the ceremony, the sturdy women smeared salt, that was made from crushing rock salt, on the large fishes and pierced iron rods from the head to the tail of the fish, before placing them on the bonfire and barbecuing them.
The juicy fat of the big fish turned into a brownish color that was gradually being scorched by the heat and gave off an alluring aroma.
The fish meat was distributed based on each person’s appetite. Even the women and children could eat until their heart’s content. This kind of delicacy that was unimaginable in the past elicited cheers of joy everywhere from the tribe.
The only exception was the group of aborigine chiefs who were sitting around Zhang Lisheng around the largest pile of bonfires under the Tudenan totem pole. Most of them lowered their heads and chowed down on the first-class meals mixed with fish, beast meat and wild berries in a reserved and silent manner. Other than the few most important chiefs of the tribe, nobody else dared to make any sound.
“A fishing boat can sail with just 35 people. The harvest of 27 fishing boats is almost the same as the entire hunting ground of Tudenan. In the future, as long as more fishing boats are built, the tribe’s people will surely be able to have their stomachs filled to the max and prosperity will be in front soon!” The old chief craftsman Tumulu kneeled and had an intoxicated look despite not drinking any alcohol as he looked at the bustling and joyful scene in his surroundings and said loudly, “All of this is your feat, Great Raider!”
To a Hellfire tribe, the effect of having sufficient food was indeed far-reaching. The children could grow faster and stronger when they were full, the women would most likely conceive and produce healthy babies when they were full. These two seemingly simple points were the most important foundation for the tribe to flourish.
As a craftsman, Tumulu had a straightforward perspective but Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, saw it from a long-term perspective. “Tumulu, an ample amount of food is a crucial part of the tribe’s prosperity but a powerful warrior is also very crucial. If you become complacent for having a fishery, the demise of Tudenan will only come in front of you. Tugra, Tumu! There’s no doubt that the fishery will become the main source of food for Tudenan but the hunting grounds of the tribes must not be abandoned as well! Both should be balanced well… Alright, let’s do this! Pick 3000 strongest warriors with the strongest combat skills and give them a partner each! Allow them to tie a feather on their arms as a sign of serving as the tribal hunters and fighters. The other hunters, on the other hand, will be turned into fishermen.”
There are more than 30,000 tribesmen in Tudenan. Among them, other than 400 to 500 people who were craftsmen, the remaining 13,000 adult men were basically warriors and hunters. This was one of the most important characteristics of a primitive tribe that had hunting attributes.
Even though Zhang Lisheng’s statement sounded to be an understatement, but in fact, it made the tribe transition from militarization to demobilization. If it was not for the fact that he had already possessed an unparalleled level of authority in Tudenan, all of the chief warriors in the tribe would have long burst out into commotion.
However, even so, the seeds of turmoil began to grow ever so slowly.
In this delicate moment, Zhang Lisheng, whose face was fluttering amidst the dancing light and dark, glanced at the surrounding horrified gazes and became silent for a moment before suddenly opening his mouth to ask, “Tumu, you’re the best and bravest warrior among the tribal chief warriors. Tell me, which one has stronger combat strength? 3000 warriors riding on the giant spider, or 13,000 warriors walking on their bare feet?”
“Raider, 3000 warriors who are equipped with partners can fight against trekking warriors ten times their number!” Tumu crouched on the ground and hesitated for a moment before replying with the truth in a slightly trembling voice.
“Tugra, you’re the tribal headsman! Tell me, judging by the current harvest from the fishery, how many fishermen do we need to invest in Tudenan to raise 3,000 giant spiders?” Zhang Lisheng changed the subject and asked.
Tugra became silent for a while and calculated before replying respectfully, “At least 10,000 fishermen, Great Raider!”
“Then, is the method that I mentioned just now the best one to enhance the tribe’s force to two or three times stronger, Tudenan’s chiefs?” Zhang Lisheng swept his eyes at the aborigine chiefs with a calm and composed gaze, before asking for the third time, “Or, do any of you have a smarter method that you can share?”
“Great Raider! You’re Tudenan’s torch guiding our pathway! What you said is naturally the wisest…” Tugra crouched on the ground and became the first one to speak.
Right at this moment, somebody voiced out their disagreement. “Great Raider! If we let the fishermen be in charge of supplying all of the food, then the hunter’s usual hunting would become meaningless! The hunters will naturally become lazy so why don’t we convert nine thousand warriors into fishermen and leave four thousand hunters riding giant spiders. This way, the tribal food will be just enough to feed everybody…”
“Good! This is an even smarter approach!” Zhang Lisheng’s eyes lit up. He looked at the young aborigine, who had a feather on his head, who looked as though he had just recently turned adult as he still had a child-like look, who was looking up to him before laughing out loud. “My believer who is going to have a second feather on your head soon, what’s your name?”
“I’m Honulu, Great Raider! I’m the only son of Tumu, your devout chief tribal warrior.”
“You’re Tumu’s son?” Zhang Lisheng was stunned before shifting his gaze at the chief tribal warrior who was still kneeling on the ground. “Tumu! Looks like you have an intelligent son! In this case, after you become in charge of a thousand tribal warriors who will be riding the giant spider, he will become your adjutant. Tugra, as the tribal headman, you’ll be in charge of a thousand warriors as well. The other remaining two thousand warriors will be commanded by Hoguru and Nunani. From now on, to rank the tribal warriors, the chief of ten people can have one feather on their head. The chief of 100 people can have two feathers on their head while the chief for 1000 people can have three feathers on their head! The chief of 1000 people can have an adjutant. Other than having two feathers on the head, the adjutant can even have one more feather tied on the shoulder.”
Hoguru and Nunani were the chief warriors who had just ascended to the top of the tribe, from two to three feathers. Both of them would side with Tumu on the surface but fawn on Tugra from behind.
However, at the same time, both of them had their own standing as well. Upon hearing the Raider’s appointment, they immediately crouched on the ground excitedly and thanked Zhang Lisheng for his grace.
The demobilization of the Tudenan tribe had come to a final conclusion. However, a process was needed to nurture mature giant spiders and build enough fishing boats that could be used by 10,000 people. The separation of the tribe’s military and civilians would still need two to three months before it could finally complete. However, Zhang Lisheng did not have so much time.
During the three to four months after the new year while he was staying on the Shrimp B1 Island, he would go to Tudenan and stay there for a week or two before returning to the human gathering place hurriedly to spend a few days there obediently.
However, this time, due to the construction of the fishery, he had been staying in the tribe for more than a month. It would be hard for him to explain if he still did not return to the gathering place.
For this reason, after dividing the 4000 Tudenan warrior teams and the 400 chief warriors in a clear manner, he rode on his soon-to-be-transformed wizard gu and started his return journey.
Ghostface swayed at a very fast speed amidst the jungle of the island. It only took him from morning to noon to arrive at the jungle outside the human gathering place.
Zhang Lisheng put away the wizard gu and put on the dirty and smelly clothes that were deliberately ruined. Wriggling his body in an unnatural manner, he randomly picked a slender vine from the tree to tie up his long hair and pretended to tiredly walk out of the jungle. Slowly, he walked through the city entrance and entered the gathering place.
The human gathering place that was built like an ancient city seemed to be more prosperous than when he left. The vehicles, the flow of people and the foreign world’s aborigines running here and there filled the streets and gave off a deranged period of time.
After having eaten the foreign world’s barbecue that was only salty for one whole month, Zhang Lisheng missed the taste of Earth’s food very much. Instead of going back to the bunker first, he ran directly towards the shop opened by the LS Group in the gathering place. As a result, in the shop where customers had begun to pour in and was renovated to have an Earth pasture-style atmosphere, he saw three absolutely unexpected figures.
It was apparent that some of the few workers in the LS meat shop could not even recognize this unkempt beggar-like fellow who had a pungent smell and strange long hair that was actually their own big boss.
“Sir, this is a shop selling Earth’s meat. Those who are unkempt are not allowed to enter.”
“I’m Zhang Lisheng, can’t you recognize me?” Zhang Lisheng did not even glance at the tall worker blocking in front of him. Waving his hand, he stared straight at the three girls sitting on the sofa made from vines by the wall under the french casement window, who were eating their steaks while excitedly looking at the strange scenes outside the window, and shouted, “Tina! Trish! Sheila! Why are the three of you here?”
Upon hearing this familiar voice, the girls were taken aback and looked in the direction of the sound. After being stunned for a second, Tina shouted and ran up towards him. Not giving a damn about how dirty the young man was, she directly hugged and kissed him. “You’re back, Lisheng! I can finally see you now! This is really great!”
After releasing her excited emotions, she frowned and released her boyfriend. “Erm, baby. You’re really dirty! What is this smell? You don’t look like a scientist, but instead, you look like a diligent odd-job intern who has just started to learn to pass through the sewer. Look at your clothes…”
“My dear, Tina! You’re wrong! Even the odd-job intern cleaning the sewer pipe is not as disgusting as Lisheng. He seems to have fallen into a toilet that was not flushed,” Sheila, who was by the side, interrupted her best friend. “Oh hey, good afternoon Lisheng! Looks like your scientific research on the Shrimp B1 Island is really ‘tasteful’!”
“I’m sure those who blame him would certainly forgive and understand this mad genius when they see that he actually has such a ‘tasteful’ life ever so often.” The moment the girl’s voice resonated, a series of clicking and flashing sounds reverberated by his side. Then, he heard Trish saying, “Good afternoon Lisheng! I’ll find a way to share these photos out so that more people from Los Angeles can understand you, understand your ruthlessness.”
