We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 52 The Joining of the Power Tribe
Sitting by the stone stove, more than a hundred people stared at each other, wide-eyed.

Xia Minghao had finally figured out what was going on, and he looked at Wamu with some surprise.

I told you to just confide your own people over, but you exceeded expectations and confided the entire Li tribe over?

This made Xia Minghao look at the bald-headed leader of the Li tribe with new respect.

Tribal integration is not easy, especially since human relationships today are based on blood ties.

It's no wonder that Liba was able to lead the Li tribe to gradually grow stronger, given that he was able to make such a decision.

This incident also shows that in this primitive era, Liba was indeed a "wise" leader.

Without Xia Minghao's appearance, perhaps a hundred years later, the Li tribe would have gradually absorbed more tribes, thus developing into a force with the potential to become a civilization.

At the same time, Xia Minghao also began to rethink his previous analysis of the main contradictions in primitive society.

That is the contradiction between the most basic survival needs of primitive people and their extremely low productivity.

Survival—it is precisely by grasping these two words that the necessary conditions for the Li Tribe to join today were created.

It was the sudden downpour that created a survival crisis, and the combination of three accidental factors—Wam, and Liba, the special leader—that led to the current situation where the Li tribe brought their families to join them.

It was only at this moment that Xia Minghao realized once again that the relationships between people and between different groups in this primitive society were actually much simpler than he had thought.

But of course, we won't really let our guard down; adding this extra layer of protection is always a good idea.

Our side, including the Wu tribe, only has about fifty adults, while the opposing side also has about fifty adults, both men and women.

This has slightly exceeded the previously established policy of absorbing and integrating new members in small, frequent batches.

But we can't just send the Li tribe back and tell them that the spots are full and they should come back in a few days...

Moreover, now is the time when manpower is needed. If we want to build ships quickly, the more male laborers we need to collect timber, the better.

Looking at the thick black smoke rising from the not-so-dry branches of the bonfire under the stone stove.

Xia Minghao stroked his chin and quickly came up with a solution.

That is to "divide and divide" the Li tribe.

"Lipa, your name is Lipa, right? You are another leader of the Li tribe. Tomorrow you will lead the men to take charge of the other tree."

"Liba, tomorrow you'll take another man and be in charge of the other trees."

As soon as Xia Minghao finished speaking, the men of the Li tribe nodded without even thinking.

Seeing the reaction of the Li tribe, the heaviness in my heart instantly eased a lot.

Suddenly I realized that perhaps the most precious thing about this primitive era was this simple and pure way of getting along.

How wonderful it would be if interpersonal relationships in the modern society I once lived in could have been as simple as those in primitive societies.

The men of the Li tribe naturally had no objections. Now that they had joined the Xi tribe, they would naturally follow Xia Minghao's arrangements.

Just like the arrangements made by Tingliba before.

They will only oppose something if it touches on their core interests, such as the previous plan to exchange blood relatives for fish with the Xi tribe.

Now, everyone is looking at the five large earthenware pots filled with black carp.

The Li tribe, who had always been hungry and unsure of where their next meal would come from, had never seen anything like this before.

So many blackfish, so many earthenware pots!
Besides blackfish, there were also many white mushrooms and various wild vegetables, all of which the Wu tribe had collected today.

Fish soup is already delicious, but with the addition of white mushrooms, it's even more incredibly flavorful.

As the steam rises, the savory aroma fills the nose, and everyone would exclaim, "It tastes amazing!"
Although they hadn't tasted it yet, everyone had already completely agreed with Chief Liba's decision and thought that joining the Xi tribe was indeed a good idea!
This was arguably the longest meal of all. As a newcomer, it was essential to ensure he had a full meal.

The earthenware pot was used to cook the food three times before everyone was finally fed.

Fortunately, the rain today greatly reduced the difficulty of fishing and increased efficiency. In addition, Xia Minghao even had someone temporarily make fish traps.

The fish they caught finally gave the Li tribe, who were like reincarnations of starving ghosts, a full meal.

I was worried that the fish in the big earthenware jar would die before they could eat, but now there's only one left all alone.

"Chief, could you tell me about what you said about Nuwa today?"

"Nuwa?"

Upon hearing Ye Zi's question, Xia Minghao quickly recalled the story of Nuwa patching up the sky that he had casually told Ye Zi when he saw the rainbow earlier that day.

I never expected that she would still remember it.

Seeing the curiosity on everyone's faces after Ye Zi's words, Xia Minghao decided to grant their wish and treat it as a rare form of entertainment in this primitive era.

After eating and drinking their fill, people naturally have the energy to fantasize.

Hearing that the sky had a huge hole and started leaking water, everyone thought of the heavy rains of the past two days.

And this was rain falling from a hole in the sky; how heavy must that rain have been!
Upon realizing this, everyone's faces showed shock and fear.

When they heard that Nuwa had actually flown up and used colorful stones to block up the sky, everyone racked their brains and used their meager imaginations to conjure up this astonishing scene.

While feeling reverence, I also felt a rare sense of security, a security that came from my imagination, but which ultimately manifested in Xia Minghao.

After hearing about the story of Nuwa, the newly joined Li tribe began searching everywhere for people to learn more about her.

The women of the Wa tribe were now free. Having suffered greatly at the hands of the Li tribe, they naturally stopped paying them any attention. In the end, it was the women of the Xi tribe who recounted the story of Pangu creating the world and Nuwa creating humans.

Just a few simple words left the people of the Li tribe completely stunned.

After listening, they began to digest such a massive amount of information and the astonishing scene of creating the world and man.

Gradually, just like the Xi tribe yesterday, they alleviated their fear of the "unknown" and gained a sense of cognitive security.

Lipa's face was filled with fascination as he repeatedly went over the image in his mind, when he suddenly noticed a blind spot.

He looked at the chief, then at the others and himself, and finally, looked at the chief again.

After hesitating for a long time, I finally voiced my doubts.

"Chief, Nuwa created humans by first shaping them and then flinging them. Chief, your skin and eyes are different from ours. Were you shaped, while we were flung out?"

This sentence seemed to awaken everyone, and they finally thought of the problem, and a trace of "inferiority" gradually appeared on their faces.

This feeling, which originally arose when women compared who had more feminine characteristics and when men compared who had more masculine characteristics, now arose spontaneously in everyone's hearts.

However, it is no longer tied to the "value of reproduction," but to a completely new concept: identity.

"Forehead……"

Seeing the disappointment on everyone's faces, Xia Minghao was speechless.

I should never have told the whole myth of Nuwa creating humans.

If this kind of thinking persists, it would be terrible if we encountered people of other skin colors while exploring the world and experienced racial discrimination.

I'm afraid that these primitive people will raise their right hands at a 45-degree angle and shout "West Sea!"
"Of course not, we are the same."

Xia Minghao immediately gave a negative answer.

"Were we molded or flung out?"

Lipa thought for a moment and asked again.

"Um... it was sculpted, I guess..."

Xia Minghao then answered again.

Upon hearing this, the gloom on everyone's faces dissipated, replaced by joy, or more precisely, a sense of superiority born from their newfound identity.

With twice as many people, the cave became much more crowded and lively.

Especially for toddlers, having so many new friends naturally makes them more mischievous.

But as the campfire gradually dimmed, the cave returned to calm.

The old day is about to end, and the new sun will rise again.

……

……

……

Stepping out of the tent, Xia Minghao saw that the new members had already begun to do what he had instructed them to do the night before.

The women of the Li tribe are all weaving hemp ropes.

Xia Minghao was still somewhat dazed as he looked at the scene before him.

Unexpectedly, the labor shortage that had been troubling him for so long was alleviated overnight.

This greatly increased the speed at which ships could be built for migration!

But with a large population, the original plan seems to no longer be applicable...

Xia Minghao originally planned to transport people in small batches, but this would take a lot of time.

The non-linear distance by land is about three or four days' walk, while Xia Minghao estimates that the waterway will take at most one day and one night.

What really takes time is transporting people and goods back and forth.

It depends on the difficulty of obtaining wood, and Xia Minghao originally planned to focus on exploration first.

Therefore, the boat was designed to carry no more than ten adults.

However, if there are so many people, the time wasted in transporting them back and forth would be too much.

According to Hima's experience, there are usually intervals of more than ten days between each rain before the actual rainy season arrives.

With so many people, if it rains heavily halfway through the journey, that would be really bad...

Sitting on a rock in front of the cave, Xia Minghao pondered as he watched the busy men and women.

Are we just going to wait? At a rate of two large trees a day, are we going to wait to build even more ships?
The fear is that there still won't be enough time, and we might even encounter the actual rainy season.

In a moment of distraction, Xia Minghao suddenly saw that the man with Lipa, who was originally trying to break the tree using the same method, suddenly started pulling on the tree, as if he wanted to pull it down directly.

"Hey, with such a huge and intricate root system, how could it be... Holy crap, it's fallen!"

Just as I was about to go up and say something to Lipa, I was surprised to see that the big tree right in front of me had been pushed down by the men of the Li tribe!

(End of this chapter)