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

Chapter 54: Remaining in Touch
"Chief, the Great Mother of the Wu tribe wants to join."

join in?

Xia Minghao looked at the women from the Wu tribe, who seemed unwilling, and realized they actually wanted to join the Xi tribe.

"Did you persuade them to join?"

"No, it was them who contacted me and said they wanted to join."

Usa immediately shook his head in response.

After hearing this, Xia Minghao looked at the old women of the Wu tribe and immediately realized something.

This is what I heard from the eight women who voluntarily came to the Xi tribe these past few days...

The matriarch of the Wu tribe awaited Xia Minghao's response, feeling a sense of helplessness.

She didn't want the U tribe to join the Xi tribe because she didn't know what would happen if the U tribe joined.

This caused her and several other elderly women to feel worried, even fearful.

However, the other women in the Wu tribe had already developed an understanding of a better life and a strong desire to change their current situation.

Under duress and the chance to see his tribesmen gathering resources, he sought out Usa.

Xia Minghao recalled what he had heard about the Wu tribe before and immediately made a decision.

The Xi tribe is not short of people for the time being. If the number of people increases further, it may lead to excessive redundancy.

But that's not the most important thing. The important thing is that Xia Minghao felt that if he included this group of people in the tribe, he would be finding a bunch of "pig-like teammates".

The path to a better life is right in front of them, yet they give up on changing their existing way of life and stepping out of the "comfort zone" that belongs to this primitive group of people because of fear.

If they don't even have this much courage, how could they possibly follow me to "conquer the world"?

Even if they recruit this group now, they probably won't even dare to board the ship later.

What's the use of collecting them?

Now, as a tribe, having over a hundred people is enough for us to develop for a while.

When the next shortage of people arrives, Xia Minghao is no longer prepared to indiscriminately recruit people into the Xi tribe; at least, such people are not allowed to be included.

Moreover, allowing this group to remain here and maintain a close connection with the Xi tribe would be even more helpful.

The fact that this group of people is here is equivalent to them controlling the resources of this area.

When the waterways are open, the Xi tribe can come here to exchange goods, which is not much different from directly controlling this area.

“We are not prepared to accept you, but I can give you food; you can give me something else.”

When Xia Minghao said those words, the expressions of the three women did not change.

But upon hearing the rest, his worries vanished instantly.

This means that no changes need to be made, just like when Usa brought people in exchange for meat and pottery.

"What do you want? Berries, tubers, seeds?"

Hearing this, Xia Minghao thought to himself, "Now that more than twenty women from the Wu tribe have joined, do we still need you for these things?"

However, if we're talking about what's needed, there really is.

Of course, it's not what the Great Mother of the Wu tribe is talking about now, but rather the kind of stuff they used to apply to their bodies like lingerie.

To this day, it's still unclear whether that stuff is natural lacquer or resin, but according to Usa's description, it does indeed have anti-corrosion, waterproof, and insect-repellent properties.

Xia Minghao wanted this not to apply it to pottery.

This thing is not for drawing pictures; it's too sinister.

Xia Minghao had never heard of anything that could make a person only give birth to girls and not boys.

The speculation is that there are some chemicals in the sap of this tree that can affect the Y chromosome.

But the specific reasons are unknown, and it's unclear when the conditions for research will be available to discover them.

However, it's perfectly fine to use on a ship. Not only does it have a waterproof coating, but its adhesive properties also allow it to be mixed with other materials to fill the gaps in the ship.

"I want the water from your trees."

"Tree water?!"

Upon hearing what Xia Minghao wanted, the group hesitated again.

In their view, the water from this tree is a treasure of their tribe, and they naturally don't want to give it away to others easily.

Anticipating this reaction, Xia Minghao pointed directly to the two large earthenware jars behind him.

“Use the earthenware jar that Usa brought you, fill it with fish, and on the first day, I will give you three blackfish; on the third day, I will give you a whole earthenware jar.”

The ship's carrying capacity was limited, and the earthenware jars were not originally intended to be taken with them.

Once they arrive at the location, they can mass-produce pottery. With the leaves on hand, the process is very fast.

It's a good time to make use of this waste.

After hearing what Xia Minghao would offer in exchange, the women discussed it briefly before immediately nodding in agreement.

For them, this was a very satisfactory price, especially the earthenware jar, which made the three women's eyes light up.

After seeing off the women from the Wu tribe, Xia Minghao looked at the three people who were watching the departing figure, with a complex expression on his face.

"Usa, do any of your people have women who can walk very far along the river?"

"Is it a long walk along the river?"

Usa looked at Xia Minghao with a hint of doubt. "Well, I need you to walk to the river where the Wa tribe is located, and then come back and tell me about the river."

"This is difficult. Are you willing to do it?"

After he finished speaking, Xia Minghao added another sentence, as if asking for their thoughts.

After all, it is indeed extremely difficult. Although the Wu tribe said that they had walked for a day and a night, walking along the river would probably take more than a day and a night.

There's also the possibility of encountering wild animals by the river, so you'd have to walk back.

This is undoubtedly an extremely difficult task.

Unexpectedly, Usa immediately agreed with a smile, nodding vigorously and quickly.

"We can."

Xia Minghao was puzzled by Usa's somewhat unexpected reaction.

Naturally, they couldn't know that the women of the Wu tribe, as those who were taken in, always felt they hadn't done enough.

In particular, Usa was struck by the sight of the men from the Li tribe knocking down so many large trees, and the women from the Xi tribe bringing back so many baskets of fish that filled the earthenware jars.

That feeling of guilt just welled up inside me.

They longed to do something meaningful, to be able to enjoy a hearty meal from the Xi tribe with a clear conscience.

"Alright, you can arrange everything, how many people, and who they are."

Usa nodded vigorously again.

The exploration experts for the Wu tribe are ready; now all they need is a "guide."

Xia Minghao found Wamu and told him about the scouting mission.

Wamu immediately said he could, but Xia Minghao felt it wasn't quite right.

Firstly, Wamu is the core of this group of women in the Wa tribe, and secondly, she is considered old among primitive people.

Without responding to Wamu, Xia Minghao looked at the other women of the Wa tribe, but they all avoided his gaze.

At that moment, a girl next to Wam suddenly stood up.

"Chief, I can go, let me go!"

Xia Minghao knew that the girl was Wamu's daughter, and her name seemed to be Washa.

When Wamu saw that her daughter had offered to go, she wanted to say something, but she didn't say anything.

While Xia Minghao was still hesitating about whether to agree, he heard Washa say something.

"Chief, I'm going. May I throw spears like the women of the Xi tribe?"

Spear javelin?

Since Washa has such courage, it's certainly acceptable to let her join the hunting team.

But Xia Minghao was still puzzled as to why, so he directly asked Washa for the reason.

But then Washa angrily looked at Liba, who was resting on the ground not far away.

Good heavens, so he wanted to get revenge on Riba.

No wonder this scene looks so familiar. I remember when Wamu first arrived at the Xi tribe, he also said he wanted to learn how to throw spears.

They truly are a mother and son; both possess an indomitable spirit.

"Throwing spears is acceptable, but you must not harm others. We are all from the same tribe now."

Upon hearing Xia Minghao's words, the sharpness in Washa's eyes softened considerably. After a moment's thought, he nodded to Xia Minghao.

Sitting around the cave, it was dinner again. But as the day of departure drew closer, the opportunities to eat dinner in front of this small, cramped cave in the Xi tribe naturally became fewer and fewer.

In the following days, Xia Minghao was the busiest person.

There was only one survival knife and one entrenching tool, and only Xia Minghao understood mortise and tenon joints, so it could only be completed by one person alone.

Naturally, I was quite tired, and the long-term lack of salt intake led to hyponatremia, which sometimes caused me to feel dizzy and weak.

These are typical symptoms of mild hyponatremia.

However, it cannot be allowed to progress further to the moderate stage.

Over these past few days, all six wooden boats—five without sails but with oars, and one with both oars and sails—have been completed.

Once we reach the salt springs, will we still lack salt?
The tribe members all watched the six wooden boats they had never seen before with great curiosity.

The men of the Li tribe recalled what Xia Minghao had said earlier and felt somewhat worried.

Under the golden glow of the setting sun, the group set up earthenware pots and began to cook meat over a fire.

Sitting around the pot, everyone couldn't help but cast curious glances at the six wooden boats.

Just as we were about to start, we suddenly heard shouts coming from afar.

Everyone turned to look, and Usa and Wam stood up excitedly.

Having only recently learned to count, Usa began to count the number of people. All eleven women from the Usa tribe had returned safely.

Wamu was completely relieved after seeing that his daughter had returned safely.

Xia Minghao also looked at the people returning from afar, but he paid more attention to the expressions on their faces.

Something seems off. Could it be bad news?

(End of this chapter)