Kaelen called Theron over under the guise of teaching Theron how to control Divine Energy, but in reality, he used Theron’s lightning-element ability to... create an electric arc furnace.

He put finely ground quartz sand, clean wood ash, and river snail shells mixed in a 6:2:1 ratio into a thick clay pot. Afterward, he wedged two charcoal sticks into both sides of the pot’s rim so that the two ends faced each other but did not touch (separated by about a finger’s width) right above the sand mixture.

Next, Kaelen told Theron to grasp the outer ends of the charcoal sticks and slowly channel the lightning-element ability into them. A powerful electric current from Theron’s hands transmitted through the two charcoal sticks. Upon reaching the gap in the middle, the current was forced to "jump" through the air to connect, creating a continuous, blindingly bright spark of lightning that emitted a crackling sizzle. This was exactly an electric arc.

The heat radiating from this small lightning spark reached several thousand degrees Celsius. The sand and ash mixture below was roasted at extremely high temperatures, gradually glowing red, bubbling, and melting into a luminescent liquid resembling magma.

Theron now had to squint due to the blinding light. His hands trembled as they tensed to maintain the electric current, and sweat poured down like a bath because of the terrible heat from the clay pot. Meanwhile, Kaelen wore a pair of "sunglasses" made from animal skin with small holes punched in them, standing with crossed arms and watching in excitement.

When the sand had completely melted into a smooth, viscous liquid, Kaelen told Theron to stop.

He wrapped animal skin around the pot’s rim, poured the solution inside onto two smooth stone slabs, and used a wet wooden stick to roll it thin. Then, he told Theron to carry the two stone slabs and place them inside the still-warm wall of the pottery kiln, allowing the liquid to cool down slowly.

Success or failure would only be known after tonight.

[It’s done, you can go back first. Come over again tomorrow morning.]

Theron nodded and staggered home. Mie, who was sewing wedding clothes in the tent, saw her mate looking as if he was about to run out of breath, so she hurriedly stood up to support Theron and lay him on the bed.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Theron waved his hand and said, "Just overtrained. I will be fine after resting for a bit."

Mie breathed a sigh of relief, scooped warm water from the stove into a basin, then wet a towel and carefully wiped Theron’s body. The gaze Theron directed at Mie was filled with passionate love. It was truly fortunate that Mie finally thought things through and accepted becoming his mate. There were only two days left until he and Mie would hold their mating ceremony alongside two other couples, Elian and Silas, and Cael and Zale.

"It’s getting late. Don’t sew anymore or you’ll ruin your eyes. After all, there are still two days left."

Mie nodded shyly and said, "I waited for you for too long, so I just took it out to do a little bit. I will put it away right now."

On the other side, Kaelen returned from the experimental tent, only to see Sane waiting at the tent entrance with a darkly clouded face. He rubbed his nose and smiled in embarrassment. How awkward, he had forgotten to eat dinner again. Just as he was in a dilemma over how to gloss over this matter, Walter walked over and said to Sane:

"He has made a move. I shot down his messenger bird; it is currently placed at the Priests’ place."

The person Walter mentioned was Caleb. Their tribe had been accepting people from the steppe to work as hired labor for a few days, mainly for weaving cloth, dyeing fabric, cooking, and mining coal. Caleb was assigned to the weaving group.

This usually lazy Sub-Beast showed unexpected diligence. He tried doing almost every step of the weaving process once; according to his own words, it was to choose the job he felt most suitable doing. Randy had already received a message from Sane beforehand, so he remained amicable, letting Caleb choose freely.

After learning each step, upon returning, Caleb carefully took notes. After all, before infiltrating Crimson’s hunting group, he had studied under one of the priest’s disciples, so knowing how to read and write was a given. Having gathered all the weaving steps, Caleb took advantage of the night when everyone was exhausted and sound asleep, using a bone whistle hidden in his belt to blow a long note.

Not long after, a falcon flew over from afar and landed on a nearby tree. Caleb looked around vigilantly, then tied a hollow wooden tube to the bird’s leg, fed it a piece of meat, and patted the bird to make it fly away.

Waiting for the bird to fly out of sight, Caleb tiptoed back to his tent and lay down to sleep peacefully.

What Caleb did not know was that right after he turned his back, the bird was pierced by a sharp arrow, and then snatched up by a large Hawk and brought back to Crimson.

Sane nodded, hoisted Kaelen up right in front of Walter’s eyes, placed Kaelen in front of the dining table, and said sternly:

"If you still haven’t finished eating all of this by the time I return, you will stay home and rest for the pregnancy from now on."

Kaelen didn’t dare to make a peep. He hurriedly picked up the warm bowl of golden grain porridge and nodded repeatedly. Walter smiled softly, teasing Kaelen, and then followed behind Sane to the central tent.

Just arriving at the tent entrance, they heard Jaxon’s highly imposing voice: "Do you see clearly now? This is the harm brought about by pity. You have me as a prior example, yet your eyes still haven’t been opened."

Walter’s footsteps paused for a moment, then he nonchalantly stepped into the tent, walking over to stand behind Priest Nyx. Inside the tent, Anthony was standing in front of Chief Jaxon; his head was bowed low, his face pale. Sane glanced at Anthony, not saying a word, only picking up the stack of paper-thin sheets on the table. It was unknown what material they were made of, but they were much thinner and lighter than the refined bark paper their tribe was currently using.

The first thing Sane thought of when holding the paper was to bring it back for Kaelen to see later; surely Kaelen would be very interested in the paper’s material. Only then did he look at the content on the paper, raising his eyebrow:

"Oh, he managed to dig up more information than I thought. He even found out the number of beastmen guarding and patrolling, as well as the shift change times. He’s dug up quite a few shortcuts to the tribe too, hasn’t he?"

With Sane’s comment, Anthony’s head lowered another fraction. So everyone could see that Caleb was problematic; Anthony was the only one who was blind. At this moment, Walter spoke up:

"I have clearly traced that bird’s flight path. It did not fly toward the magical beast forest but instead flew south. Perhaps Cipher’s people crossed the magical beast forest at the same time Caleb appeared. His infiltration into the hunting team’s ranks was nothing but a plan that arose midway."

Anthony’s hands clenched tightly. At this moment, he truly had no face left to look at Walter, even feeling a bit of hesitation. He struggled for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence:

"I apologize, it is my fault for causing the tribe to be targeted."

Sane shook his head and said, "It’s not entirely your fault. At that time, those Cipher guys were probably hiding on the side observing the situation. If you hadn’t saved that Sub-Beast, they would have saved him, and then slaughtered all of you."

Sane did not analyze the pros and cons in this for Anthony to understand; he left this task for the Daddy, Jaxon, to do himself. He turned back and said to Walter: "I have dispatched Quinlan and Andre to the old settlement of the Obsidian tribe; they will probably bring back news tomorrow. At that time, you should carefully observe the characteristics of this bird, so Andre can tame another one with similar traits."

"Asher, you belong to the White Rabbit clan, your body scent is quite similar to Caleb’s. You are responsible for imitating Caleb’s handwriting. Practice carefully. Wait until we get similar paper from him, then write a fake secret letter to misdirect Cipher. He definitely has more than just this little bit of paper on him."

"Anthony, wait until tomorrow when Quinlan and Andre bring back news, then deal with that Sub-Beast with your own hands. The person was brought back by you; you decide for yourself how to dispose of him."

Sane gave Anthony another chance. If Anthony could ruthlessly kill that Sub-Beast with malicious intentions, Sane would allow Anthony to join Crimson’s inner circle. If Anthony remained as soft-hearted as before, then in the future, Anthony would only be an outsider just like anyone else.

Caleb’s matter was not a big deal. Sane only gave a few more instructions, then took one of the secret letters and brought it back for Kaelen.

His Sub-Beast was very obedient. Kaelen had eaten all the food Sane prepared and was pacing back and forth in front of the tent to digest. Seeing that Sane had returned, Kaelen hurriedly stepped forward, smiling to curry favor:

[I have eaten everything, completely finished without leaving a single bite.]

Sane pinched Kaelen’s nose dotingly: "Very good. I have this for you."

He pulled Kaelen into the tent, then handed that paper-thin sheet to Kaelen. Kaelen pinched it curiously, then held it up to the firelight, using the light to observe it meticulously. He placed the paper down on the tabletop, then said to Sane:

[This is not paper, this is cloth.]

Exactly speaking, it was silk cloth, but it seemed it was not made from silkworm silk or perhaps it wasn’t woven properly, so it wasn’t as soft as silk but slightly stiff like paper. However, it was much better than the coarse grass-fiber cloth the tribe was currently weaving. Sane took back this thing that he thought was paper but was actually cloth, saying thoughtfully:

"This thing is definitely not from Cipher; otherwise, Caleb wouldn’t have bothered stealing our weaving methods."

Kaelen agreed with Sane’s assessment. If they knew it was cloth, they definitely wouldn’t waste it to make message paper.

Perhaps this Caleb’s status within Cipher was not low, but also not high enough. If it were too low, he wouldn’t receive this high-grade paper; if it were too high, Cipher wouldn’t let him risk infiltrating another tribe as a spy. Perhaps his status was similar to Sane’s Papa or Moharm.

[This person cannot be kept alive.]

"I know, so waiting until tomorrow when Quinlan and Andre bring back news, I will let Anthony deal with him personally, as well as give Anthony one last chance. Right, I still haven’t told you, I sent Quinlan and Andre through the mountain cave in the valley to go to Obsidian to scout for news."

Kaelen felt a bit surprised by Sane’s sharpness. He had only had a slight premonition and hadn’t planned anything, yet Sane had already acted on his behalf. Kaelen opened his arms to hug Sane, rubbing his head against Sane’s chest. Then he remembered Cassian’s matter and relayed it to Sane. Sane thought for a moment and then said:

"We’ll wait and see his actions before deciding. In any case, your method is nearing perfection; perhaps the tribe might gain more beastman warriors."

Sane’s implication was that if Anthony did not perform well, then they might as well let Anthony become a full-time craftsman.

Kaelen burst out laughing, poking at Sane’s firm pectoral muscles, making a resolution in his heart:

[Transform into your beast form.] 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Sane’s body stiffened, immediately refusing: "No!"

Kaelen pouted and said: [I have already used Divine Energy to protect the baby. You have to let me gradually get used to it. If in the future I keep fainting whenever I see my own child, where will I put my face!]

Sane adamantly disagreed, pressing Kaelen into his chest, and said coldly:

"Sleep!"