Chapter 35: The Lifesaving Water Vat Has Arrived

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: The Lifesaving Water Vat Has Arrived

"Fei Luo, what brings you here?" Ophelia asked.

"Princess Ophelia, I’ve finished making the clay vats you requested. It’s just that I can’t move them all by myself..." Fei Luo only found out today that the young female who traded rice at the market was actually the Princess of the Golden Dragon Clan. He felt extremely apprehensive, his face flushed with shame.

Ophelia instantly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were done, it was fine. She knew full well that a single male couldn’t transport one hundred water vats on his own anyway.

"Also, I... I made two hundred of them."

Ophelia was surprised. "Two... two hundred? That’s so many."

Fei Luo scratched his black hair, which was streaked with a bit of white, looking somewhat embarrassed. "So, about these clay vats..."

"I’ll have the males from our tribe go with you to help fetch them. It’s no big deal," Ophelia said. "But how did you manage to make two hundred in such a short time?"

More than the logistics of moving them, she was curious about how a middle-aged male with an injured leg could double the production of water vats in such a brief period. In just three or four days, no matter how skilled he was, it should have been impossible to make that many without modern tools. For a moment, she grew concerned about the quality of the vats.

Fei Luo noticed Ophelia’s worry and quickly explained. "Rest assured, young female, the quality of these ceramics is exactly the same as the previous ones. If there are any problems, just come to me. I will accept any punishment.

"There are many middle-aged and elderly males in the Leopard Clan who, like me, have lost their ability to hunt. Once they become a burden, most of them are abandoned by their mates and sons, so I asked them to help me complete the order.

"I just didn’t expect to make so many once we got started." A gleam flashed in Fei Luo’s eyes. He seemed to genuinely enjoy making pottery. He was also happy to be able to help his tribal companions. With the two hundred prey animals they would receive, they could all survive the winter if they lived frugally.

Hearing his words and seeing his earnest expression, Ophelia felt reassured.

"I’ll take all one hundred of the extra water vats as well. I’ll have someone go with you to fetch them right away. However, I’ll pay you three hundred prey animals first, and I’ll settle the remaining hundred with Crystal Stones."

She did a rough calculation; three hundred prey animals would be enough for Fei Luo and his companions to make it through the rainy season. Food was already difficult to store during this time. Rather than leaving leftovers to rot and mold, it was better to exchange them for Crystal Stones, which could be traded for fresh prey at any time.

"Alright, whatever works for you," Fei Luo readily agreed.

The fact that Ophelia was willing to take the extra hundred clay vats was already an unexpected pleasant surprise. As for the compensation, he was naturally fine with whatever she suggested, not to mention that getting paid in Crystal Stones was not a loss for him anyway.

"I’ll take them to the Leopard Clan right now," Fei Luo offered.

Ophelia turned to Laxus. "Laxus, dispatch fifty males to follow Fei Luo to the Leopard Clan to fetch the water vats."

Laxus nodded and turned to assemble the young, strong males of the tribe.

"I need fifty men to go to the Leopard Clan to fetch water vats. Those who want to go, voluntarily raise your hands," Laxus’s resonant voice rang out from the front, projecting all the way to the back rows.

Ophelia frequently asked the males of the tribe to do work, but she never made them do it for free. The males were always very willing to work for her, so they signed up immediately without any hesitation.

Laxus selected fifty of the taller, stronger males to go with Fei Luo.

"Hold them steady. If you break a vat, you’ll be held responsible."

"Yes, sir."

The fifty males followed behind Fei Luo and brought back two hundred water vats from the Leopard Clan. Meanwhile, Ophelia went back to clear out a space large enough to hold them.

Laxus followed to help, but he was full of doubts. "Ophelia, why do you suddenly need so much pottery?"

"It’s for storing water and food." Ophelia explained while looking for suitable spots. "The rainy season is going to be quite heavy this time. I’m worried that drowned animals will contaminate the river.

"Contaminated water will be too dirty to drink. Drinking it will make everyone sick, so we need to stockpile plenty of clean water now to prevent any potential disasters."

Ophelia had been reborn, and she clearly remembered that this upcoming rainy season would bring torrential downpours. To say that corpses of the starved would litter the ground wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

In her past life, everyone had treated this rainy season like any other. But they never expected the torrential storm that washed all the muddy water down from the high mountains. Both the water in the forest and the water sources near the various tribes were thoroughly polluted.

Even sturdy, strong males fell ill after drinking the contaminated water, let alone the constitutionally weak young females, who suffered heavy casualties. Coupled with the heavy moisture in the air, a lot of food became difficult to preserve. The males hadn’t stored enough prey before the rains hit, which led to them being forced to scavenge drowned animals for food later on, nearly triggering a plague.

The rainy season in her previous life had taken a massive toll on even the Golden Dragon Clan, leaving them with no time or energy to check on her life in the Snow Wolf Clan later on.

To prevent history from repeating itself, she was going to make preparations in advance this time, just in case.

A major reason she chose clay vats was that they could be sealed, providing much better storage conditions than other containers.

"Laxus, have the males wash and scald the vats with boiling water, then leave them out to bake under the sun. Once the moisture has completely evaporated, we’ll start storing water tonight." Without any better sterilization methods, she could only resort to the most primitive high-temperature disinfection.

Although Laxus felt his sister was exaggerating the severity of the situation, it only required a bit of extra effort, so he naturally supported her.

He proceeded to gather the clansmen to begin preparations. "Males, the rainy season will be here soon. Starting now, every household needs to begin stockpiling water to ensure we have a sufficient and safe supply to get through this season."

"Young Clan Leader, why do we need to store water?"

"Yeah, we’ve lived through so many rainy seasons before, and we’ve never heard of needing to hoard water," a typically lazy male asked in dissatisfaction.

Hearing this, the other clansmen also began to murmur among themselves.

"Quiet." Laxus maintained order before continuing. "The tribal elders who read the celestial signs say that this year’s rainy season will be slightly different from previous ones. For safety’s sake, we should stockpile some water to guarantee healthy drinking water during the rains."

Laxus’s words made sense, and the clansmen understood he was doing this for their own good, so they didn’t raise any more objections. Instead, they obediently returned to stockpile water, utilizing every possible container in their homes.

At this time, Fei Luo also arrived with his men, transporting the remaining one hundred water vats.

"Fei Luo, you’ve worked hard today. But since the rainy season is approaching, you should also remember to stockpile plenty of water and food. This rainy season will likely bring massive torrential storms."

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing at all. This is what I ought to do."

"Here are three hundred prey animals, along with seventy-five Red Crystal Stones and three Orange Crystal Stones. Keep them safe. The twenty prey animals I paid you in advance can serve as compensation for your hard work; consider them an extra bonus."

Fei Luo expressed his gratitude over and over again.

That night, Ophelia had the fifty males who had moved the vats fill one hundred and fifty of them with water.

The remaining fifty were placed by Ophelia in her own stone house for storage.