The next morning, when the sundial indicated it was nine o’clock, Sane and Kaelen finally finished arranging everything for their two little ones. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

In addition to the advancement support array, Kaelen also set up an extra layer of high-level protective array. This array almost consumed all of Kaelen’s Magical Energy. He tiredly reminded Sane of a few things to note, then lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.

Sane lovingly kissed Kaelen’s forehead, helping Kaelen pull up the blanket. He then sat down at the table in the tent, working while guarding his mate and children.

At this moment, the first group of hired workers from other tribes arrived. This group consisted of thirty healthy young beastmen, seven young Sub-Beasts, three middle-aged Sub-Beasts, and ten middle-aged beastmen. This number came from the two tribes of Veridia and Solace.

The two leading beastmen of the two tribes nervously presented the recommendation letters bearing the Crimson merchant caravan’s unique mark to the Crimson guard warriors for inspection; their clansmen were quietly huddling together. The guard beastman finished reading the recommendation letters, looked up to confirm once over, and then nodded, saying:

"You all line up and head to that watchtower over there to register your personal information, then someone will arrange work for you."

The group of hired workers hurriedly lined up according to the instructions, the young giving way to the elderly, absolutely without any cutting in line or fighting for spots. This point alone already made the Crimson people satisfied.

After finishing their information registration, this group was taken to a waiting area, waiting for the people from various teams to come pick them up. A young Sub-Beast couldn’t hold back, leaning into the ear of a middle-aged beastman and whispering: "Daddy, they look so scary."

The middle-aged beastman glared at the young Sub-Beast, saying: "What do you know? These are warrior beastmen; just one of them could completely level our tribe."

The young Sub-Beast fearfully shrank his neck, snuggling into his Papa’s embrace.

As for the thirty young beastmen, they were extremely admiring; how great it would be if they could also be that strong.

Not letting this group wait long, the team leaders and deputy team leaders of the various teams arrived to select people. The young beastmen went into the mining and transport teams one after another, while the older beastmen worked in the land reclamation and livestock breeding areas. As for the Sub-Beasts, the dexterous ones were chosen to work in the weaving and basketry team, while those who weren’t very handy were assigned to the planting team.

After finishing taking in their people, the team leaders distributed a temporary token to the members of their respective teams. Whenever they came to work, they would bring the token to log their attendance.

Naturally, this group of people was not allowed to enter the residential and workshop areas in the new valley; their workplaces were all in the old valley. In the old valley, Sane had ordered the construction of a two-story dormitory area consisting of three U-shaped blocks, with ten rooms in each block.

The group of hired workers was, of course, utterly stupefied. They held onto each other’s arms in disbelief, timidly looking around at the unfamiliar architecture before their eyes as they walked. Everyone whispered to one another:

"Oh, what is this? A cave? It doesn’t look much like one."

"Are we going to live here? I feel a bit scared..."

The guard Morrow walked in front, hearing all the group’s discussions, but he didn’t want to explain too much. Reaching the middle of the dormitory courtyard, Morrow cleared his throat:

"Everyone, quiet down, and listen clearly to what I have to say.

"First is the living arrangement. Four people to a room; Sub-Beasts in the left block, beastmen in the right block. Families are in the central block. Right now, the first-floor rooms are all empty, so please stay on the first floor. Divide the rooms among yourselves; after you finish dividing, come out here to receive your personal items.

"Today, just rest first, learn carefully how to use the supplies and the general rules of the dormitory as well as of the Crimson tribe. We will start working tomorrow.

"Second, the dormitory area has a kitchen, but it is only used for boiling bathwater; there is no dedicated person for cooking. You will eat your meals at the tribe’s communal cafeteria; meal times will depend on the department you work in. Today is the first day, so the tribe will dispatch someone to deliver the food. Alright, you are free to choose your rooms, then come over to my place to register and receive your personal items."

The group of people from the two tribes groggily led each other to choose their living quarters. Most of them chose rooms near each other. Upon entering the rooms, everyone’s eyes lit up; they couldn’t help but drop their belongings and run everywhere to look at this and touch that.

"Oh my, how is the room so clean and airy? Is this floor paved with stone? It doesn’t look like it, it doesn’t look like stone at all!

"Each side has a large bed. Oh, there’s another bed on top of this bed! A room for four people, meaning each of us will have a bed, right?"

"Wow, I love this! I want to sleep on the top bed!"

"What is in here? What is this?"

"Everyone, what is this? Is this a window? But what is this transparent thing???"

Everyone was curious about one thing after another; there were many things they didn’t even know the use of, and they didn’t dare to touch them for fear of breaking them.

If the collective dormitories were already like that, the family dormitories were even better. The family dormitories were built in the style of two-bedroom mini-apartments. In this hired group, there were three families, among which one family had both a beastman and a Sub-Beast. The young beastman gave the room to his older Sub-Beast brother, while he himself ran over to the dormitory designated for beastmen.

After everyone had finished arranging their belongings, the personal items for them were also brought over. Morrow had people place a long row of tables in the middle of the courtyard, serving as both supply tables and temporary dining tables for them on their first day. He cleared his throat and said loudly:

"Has everyone finished arranging? Hurry out and gather to receive your supplies!"

Only then did the group reluctantly leave the spacious and tidy rooms.

In charge of distributing the supplies was a middle-aged Sub-Beast of the Crimson tribe. He told everyone to line up. After each person stepped forward to report their name and the location of their chosen room, he distributed a personal item package to each of them.

The supplies included a bamboo mat, a bamboo pillow, a thin fabric blanket, a bar of soap, a jar of lice-treatment shampoo, a wooden toothbrush cup and a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a wooden drinking cup, and a stack of toilet paper. Additionally, each room had two shared bathing tubs, and each person received a fabric face towel along with a washbasin.

The people of the two tribes received their personal items with trembling hands. They didn’t know the value of the other things, but the fabric and the paper... Dear Beast God, such good paper in Crimson was actually used to wipe bottoms! Fabric that only the Priests of large tribes were allowed to use was used to make blankets and face towels for the clansmen!

Having just stepped into Crimson, and not having even started working yet, this crowd suddenly didn’t want to return to their tribes anymore...

After the supplies were completely distributed, the middle-aged Sub-Beast began to instruct everyone on how to use them.

Among the young Sub-Beasts, three belonged to families, and the remaining ones were just enough to fill one room, so the middle-aged Sub-Beast didn’t spend too much time instructing them on how to use the items. He taught the young Sub-Beasts how to use them, then let this group of young Sub-Beasts teach their own clansmen in turn. He only stood by to observe.

After finishing all the tasks, lunchtime had also arrived. The kitchen pushed the food and utensils over. The middle-aged Sub-Beast urged everyone to wash their hands and feet clean before sitting at the tables. The crowd from the two tribes couldn’t wait to run back to their rooms, slipping into the place called the bathroom, scooping water, and using the thing called soap to wash their hands.

Washing the first layer, the soap suds were pitch black; the second layer, they were slightly dark; it wasn’t until the third layer that they became pure white, just like when the middle-aged Sub-Beast demonstrated earlier.

A young Sub-Beast couldn’t hold back and exclaimed: "It smells so good, even more fragrant than the herbal bath water I usually use."

"Yeah, not only does it smell good, but it’s also so clean. I can’t hold back; I want to go take a bath right now."

"No rush, wait until a bit after we finish eating, then we’ll boil bathwater."

Time did not permit them to chat for too long. Everyone sped up the process of washing their hands, feet, and faces, then quickly walked over to the dining tables out in the courtyard. Outside, the food trays had been arranged neatly on carts. A young Sub-Beast of the Crimson tribe saw them come out and said with a smile:

"Everyone, come over to my spot to receive your wooden trays and spoons, then head over to that red-haired beastman over there to receive your rice and food."

The middle-aged Sub-Beast instructed everyone on the procedure to get food. First was lining up to receive rice and a spoon, then carrying the tray to the rice-serving station. Today the tribe was eating sorghum rice with braised meat and chicken eggs, stir-fried cabbage with dried shrimp, and stir-fried chicken with mushrooms. For soup, there was purple yam soup stewed with marrow bones.

Each person was allocated a set portion of food and rice; if they ran out of rice, they could go get more. The reason they didn’t place a communal rice tub was out of fear that those with bigger appetites would sweep clean the portions of the slower eaters.

After receiving their rice and soup, everyone found a seat for themselves at the long tables. The group from the two tribes couldn’t wait any longer; they immediately used their spoons to scoop a piece of meat and stuffed it into their mouths.

The rich flavor of the braised meat completely filled their mouths. Adding a spoonful of rice, a spoonful of vegetables, and a gulp of soup, the whole group could now only bury their heads in eating, unable to utter a single sound.

The tray-distributing Sub-Beast, seeing them eating with such relish, subconsciously rubbed his belly and said to the red-haired beastman:

"I already ate during the first shift, but for some reason, watching them eat makes me feel hungry again."

The beastman giggled, saying: "Me too. I saved two braised eggs; I will share one with you when we get back later."

At the dedicated advancement site, Sane received the report about the hired workers group from Morrow’s hands and read it thoroughly once over. Kaelen leaned his head in to look, muttering:

"Only forty people? That’s too few."

Sane was speechless: "Over at Obsidian, there are still nearly several thousand of Cipher’s people, yet you still feel it’s too few?"

Kaelen pouted: "Several thousand people sounds like a lot, but in reality, it’s not much at all. Wait until Asher and Aaron bring back the planning maps, we still have to build roads. Just a few thousand people is truly nowhere near enough."

Sane tapped the table, feeling that Kaelen was right. The people captured from Cipher, although they seemed to have submitted, could not be trusted yet. It would take at least a few years to completely turn them into their own people.

Sane said: "It’s true that it’s not enough. But let’s just keep it like this for now; there is still a lot of time, we shouldn’t be impatient."

Kaelen naturally knew this; he was only worried that before they had time to grow strong, the Temple would strike a vicious blow against them. At that time, with only over six hundred core warriors, the Crimson tribe would truly be an ant standing before an elephant.

Sane naturally knew what his mate was worrying about. He rubbed Kaelen’s head and said:

"The Temple’s teleportation array can only teleport a few people each time. Moreover, the pact that the two halves of the continent must not engage in war is not just for show. The laws of the world will not allow them to do that.

"As for the Intermediate-level tribes on the other side of the magical beast forest, wanting to assemble an army strong enough to conquer Crimson will also take quite a long time. That much is enough for us to prepare."

Kaelen let out a sigh, continuing to pick up the report to examine. Remembering something, he said again:

"Calculating the days, Asher’s group should be returning soon, right?"

Sane shook his head: "Trips always have unexpected occurrences; you cannot mandate that they must return in three months and expect them to be on time. Kaelen, I know you are worried, but we cannot impose our own anxieties onto the clansmen."

He hugged Kaelen, patting Kaelen’s back: "Trust me, our child can protect himself. Besides, we still have the two little ones here. They are triplets; if something happened to Edward, then Finnick and Oliver would definitely sense it. For the two of them to be so calm, it’s certain that Edward is still safe."

Kaelen leaned his head helplessly against Sane’s shoulder, saying softly: "I understand, I am just too worried."

If he and Sane were just ordinary clansmen of the tribe, they would be willing to throw everything away to go find their son. But for the two of them, one being the Chief and the other being the Priest, the responsibilities on their shoulders far exceeded familial affection.

No matter how much they missed their son, they could only swallow it back down inside.