Chapter 93: It’s Already the 10th Day

Chapter 93: Chapter 93: It’s Already the 10th Day

In the pigpen, two pink, tender piglets leisurely rooted around in the dirt, letting out a couple of disgruntled OINKS when their play got a bit too rough.

"These two happen to be a male and a female. As long as you raise them to maturity, they can reproduce.

"By then, there will be more and more piglets, and you won’t have to risk your lives hunting anymore."

Pigs were highly prolific animals. A single litter usually had at least seven or eight piglets, and those produced by her Farm Space would have at least ten. Of course, the pigs in the farm store were categorized as well. Some were raised strictly for meat and grew exceptionally fast, while others were breeders meant solely for reproduction. It was similar to the distinction between broilers, layers, and three-yellow chickens.

Lam was somewhat tempted. He crouched down to examine the two piglets closely. The little creatures were perfectly healthy, their bodies firm and meaty. Displeased by his touch, they twisted their barrel-like waists and trotted away.

"If it can really be like you said, we won’t have to risk trekking through the forest every day," Lam said.

Although they were traveling merchants who traded goods far and wide instead of toiling over hunts, navigating the forest still posed significant dangers. The mere thought of a life where everyone could raise pigs right at their doorstep without needing to venture out to hunt felt incredibly blissful.

Sail was filled with curiosity. "Ophelia, you’re amazing! I can’t believe you know how to raise pigs, and the chickens you raise even lay eggs."

Faced with Sail’s straightforward praise, Ophelia inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt.

Lam stood up, his expression solemn and his tone earnest. "Ophelia, I want to join your tribe. May I?"

Ophelia smiled. "Of course you can. The Fu Clan welcomes you.

"Any male who joins the Fu Clan right now can receive a shop for free. The shops will be built by the main gate of the tribe, and you can conduct your trading there from now on."

"A shop?" Lam and Sail both looked doubtful.

Ophelia knew Lam possessed a mind for business, so she explained her plan to open a supermarket.

"You want to monopolize all the trading markets in the vicinity?" Lam asked, astonished. "So that in the future, anyone who wants anything will have to come to the Fu Clan to trade for it!"

"I wouldn’t put it in such absolute terms," Ophelia replied. "Not everyone will want to set up stalls at the Fu Clan, and people still have the right to choose where they go."

Her original intention in creating a supermarket was simply to avoid having to lug her goods out to sell them, allowing those in need to come to her instead. After starting her animal husbandry efforts, she wanted to create a channel to sell the livestock. The best method for this was bartering, which was how the supermarket idea came to be.

"But since I’m just one person, building a stone house might be..." Lam voiced his concern.

Ophelia smiled upon hearing his concern. "You can leave the construction of your stone house to the older males. They have abundant experience building houses. All you need to do is pay them five prey animals a day as compensation, and it should be finished in about ten days."

Stone houses in the Beast World were currently very simple. They were essentially just rocks piled together and reinforced by filling the gaps with yellow mud. With five males, each costing one prey animal a day, it could be built in roughly that timeframe. Since hers was a three-story stone house that utilized limestone, it required extra time for the mortar to set. Even so, hers would be finished in another five or six days.

"Five prey animals a day? But I can’t hunt that many in a single day." Lam began to have second thoughts.

"It doesn’t matter if you don’t have prey. You can exchange Crystal Stones for them," Ophelia said, thinking, "I can just ask the males of the Golden Dragon Clan to help hunt some."

There were plenty of pigs in her Farm Space, and she had been worrying about where to sell them. This was the perfect excuse to clear out her inventory, especially since the current batch of sixty animals would soon be fully grown. Furthermore, the stone houses for the ten or so members of the Fu Clan were already completed, freeing up their labor force.

That evening, Ophelia gathered the clan members to make an announcement.

"Our living quarters have been built. Next, I plan to construct a defensive wall around the tribe’s residential area to ward off external enemies.

"This wall can also serve as storefronts, allowing us to trade for the supplies we need—whether that’s fruit, rice, or anything else.

"This way, you won’t have to lug goods to the trading markets anymore. You can just step outside your door and trade for whatever you want." Ophelia spoke with resounding conviction, and her words made the clan members’ blood boil with excitement.

"I need each family to provide one male every day to help build the wall. Of course, I won’t make you work for free. The compensation will be half a prey animal per day. You can also save up your earnings and trade with me later."

As soon as her voice faded, the clan members broke into a flurry of discussion. While the compensation of half a prey animal wasn’t much, both the defensive wall and the shops would be highly beneficial to everyone. Only when the tribe was well-constructed would the young females be safe, allowing the males to hunt with peace of mind. Besides, they already had to leave one person at home every day to protect their mates; rather than idling about, it was better to help build the wall and the shops.

"I’m willing!" a young male was the first to raise his hand.

"I’m willing too! Only when the tribe thrives can we all thrive."

All the males expressed their willingness to join, and they quickly gathered the ten males needed for the construction work the next day.

"We begin construction tomorrow. No one is allowed to slack off, otherwise..." Ophelia’s usually kind and gentle expression suddenly turned imposing.

The clan members remembered that they owed their very lives to the medicine Ophelia had bestowed upon them. Moreover, while Ophelia stood alone, she had the backing of the entire Golden Dragon Clan. Any male who had harbored thoughts of slacking off immediately shuddered in fear.

Zerev sat in his room, staring blankly out the window.

Meanwhile, Moye was listening to a subordinate’s report and handling official affairs when hurried footsteps echoed outside his door.

"City Lord, I have a matter to report." A male stood at the entrance, a frantic look on his face.

Moye recognized him as the servant he had assigned specifically to attend to Zerev. He waved his hand, dismissing everyone else in the hall. Once they had gone far enough away, he finally spoke. "What is it?"

"City Lord, Mr. Zerev didn’t go to the Fu Clan at all yesterday. He stayed in his room all day and hasn’t come out."

"He hasn’t left his room all day?" Moye sighed. It seemed Mr. Zerev had truly fallen hard for Ophelia. "I’ll go check on him. Go prepare some rice porridge and bring it over."

Moye arrived at Zerev’s room. He knocked gently on the door, his attitude deferential. "Mr. Zerev, it’s me, Moye."

The room was completely silent. After a long while, Zerev’s deep, hoarse voice finally rang out.

"Come in."

Moye pushed the door open and walked in, finding Zerev sitting by the window. The dark circles under his eyes made it painfully obvious that he hadn’t slept a wink all night.

"Mr. Zerev, you look terrible. Are you ill? I’ll go fetch the clan doctor right away."

This man was from the Holy Capital, his absolute superior. If anything were to happen to him in the Ten Thousand Beasts City, Moye’s own head would roll.

Zerev raised a hand. "I’m fine."

Moye scrutinized him carefully and breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that he didn’t appear physically ill. "Sir, why didn’t you visit the Fu Clan today?"

At the mention of Ophelia’s name, Zerev’s eyes darkened slightly. He lowered his head, his voice laced with suppressed emotion. "Yesterday was already the tenth day."

Moye was completely baffled. "The tenth day? What tenth day?"