Chapter 3: The Saltwater Crocodile

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Chapter 3: The Saltwater Crocodiles

"System, check in!"

"Ding! Congratulations, you have received a Lord's Trial Land Grand Gift Pack:

One set of seeds: rice, millet, corn, soybeans, potatoes.

One set of basic profession manuals (permanent): Basic Farmer Manual, Basic Fisherman Manual, Basic Carpenter Manual, Basic Blacksmith Manual, Basic Tanner Manual, Basic Apothecary Manual, Basic Hunter Manual, Basic Village Guard Manual.

One set of universal language skills (permanent—based on the lord's common tongue)."

Seeing the generous gift pack, Li Hongshen let out a low whistle.

“Wuhu, let’s go!”

These five staple grains could serve as the tribe's main food source. Terraced fields could be carved out on the mountains to grow them. With the addition of wild phoenix chickens, which could be kept in pens or allowed to roam free, both staple and meat supplies would be secured. And if necessary, they could venture out to sea to fish.

The system's ‘manuals’ were essentially skill books. As long as someone slapped the skill book onto their head, knowledge would be instantly infused into their mind, along with a certain amount of experience, allowing them to quickly learn and apply the skills.

Though the school had taught similar content before, and Li Hongshen and his fellow students had even practiced some of it, these skill books saved him a great deal of effort, making it easier for him to understand and get started with the various professions.

Moreover, he no longer needed to teach his people step by step. As long as he guided them in the right direction, they would be able to carry out the tasks themselves, allowing him to focus more on building up his domain.

As the tribespeople returned, bonfires rose one after another in the area Li Hongshen had designated. The earth, baked dry by the flames, drove away insects and ants lurking beneath the surface.

The warriors brought back a few wild chickens and a rudimentary map; the women returned with fruits and mushrooms. After Li Hongshen carefully sorted out the inedible ones, the rest were used to make a hearty wild chicken and mushroom stew in the stone cauldrons the tribe had carved out, which was then shared among everyone.

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The soil from the edible mushrooms, mixed with wood shavings, was placed in a newly-dug cave. The shavings were made from decayed phoenix wood by the creek, in hopes of cultivating mushrooms in the future.

All one hundred members of the tribe couldn't help but smile with happiness—this was hope for rebuilding their home after disaster.

The first night passed with the warriors standing guard in turns.

The next morning, Li Hongshen took the skill books he had received and pressed them to the heads of his subjects, especially the Farmer and Universal Language manuals, ensuring everyone received them. The other manuals were assigned to specific people, whom he mentally tagged as fishermen, hunters, blacksmiths, carpenters, and so on.

He then led the tribe in felling trees with stone axes to build houses, while a few warriors took a group south along the stream to the beach to cut palm trees—excellent material for roofing.

The houses were built near the northern part of the valley, where the land was higher and less prone to flooding. Following Li Hongshen's instructions, all the houses were raised at least a meter above the ground.

Over the course of two days, Li Hongshen and his people built ten houses—just enough to accommodate everyone, so they no longer had to fear the night dew.

Afterward, Li Hongshen led the tribe in crafting stone spears, rafts, and fishing nets, teaching the fishermen how to go out to sea and designating specific fishing zones.

He also established terraced fields and chicken coops on the northern slope of Phoenix Rest Valley, where the five kinds of grain seeds were already sown. Women were assigned to watch over the crops, while the men were responsible for finding food for the camp until the harvest, which meant daily expeditions to explore the island and forage.

By the sixth day of the Lord's Trial, the camp was taking shape. Li Hongshen led all twenty warriors of the tribe westward along the stream to explore.

These were all the tribe’s warriors, armed with the machetes and hunting bows Li Hongshen had obtained, and carrying stone spears and arrows crafted by the tribe.

Besides weapons, they brought a dozen phoenix chickens and a large basket of fish—both as bait and as poison.

As the saying goes, "One does not tolerate others snoring beside one's bed."

Whether to secure the iron mine, ensure the tribe’s safety, or face the challenges of the Trial Land, the saltwater crocodiles had to be wiped out.

According to research from the Lord's Trial Institute, every lord's territory in the trial faces threats from one or two groups of fierce beasts. If not dealt with, these beasts could eventually organize into a wave and attack the camp.

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Most lords only deal with these beast packs in the middle phase of the trial, once their camp is well established.

But for someone like Li Hongshen, to challenge the beasts so soon after arriving in the trial land, you either had to be reckless or exceptionally bold.

Li Hongshen, however, was a confident warrior. Saltwater crocodiles, also known as estuarine crocodiles, are the largest of the ordinary crocodilian species and are capable of crossing the open sea.

Normally, a group of estuarine crocodiles is led by a single male and several females. But during the breeding season, a prime territory becomes a place where many crocodiles gather, mate, and compete for dominance.

Here, all manner of primal dramas would unfold. The bay formed by the southwestern waterfall, which led directly to the ocean, was a natural habitat for these crocodiles.

To wipe them out in one go, Li Hongshen led his people through the northern forest, climbed up the western hill, and reached the cliff above the crocodile lair.

Looking down from the top of the waterfall, he saw a medium-to-large lake formed by the cascading waters, with many crocodiles lurking just beneath the surface.

There was also a small lake within Phoenix Rest Valley itself—more of a shallow pond, some distance from the sea, but even there, traces of crocodile habitation could be found.

That was why, once he had stabilized the camp, Li Hongshen immediately led the warriors to hunt crocodiles—he feared that after the breeding season, defeated males would return to Phoenix Rest Valley, posing a grave threat to the settlement.

In the lake beneath the waterfall, numerous male crocodiles clashed violently. A few with mangled jaws lingered on the edge—failures doomed to die.

On the shore, a saltwater crocodile over seven meters long was pinning a female beneath its massive body, its forelimbs gripping her tightly, tail coiled around her hindquarters—clearly in the midst of mating.

Li Hongshen gave instructions to his people to cut open the chickens and fish they had brought, stuffing the prepared poisonous mushrooms and toxic herbs found on the island into the bellies of the bait, and then one by one, they pushed these lures over the edge of the waterfall.

(End of chapter)