Chapter 1073: Chapter 261: Starting with a Wooden Stick

"Report! Comrade Zhuang Xiao attempted to form a tribe, but failed because the unruly people led by Merlin refused to respond to the Warlord’s call!"

"Report! Comrade Zhuang Xiao decided to try her luck outside!"

"Report! Comrade Zhuang Xiao has decided to start with ordinary residents from the First Special District. She has prepared many wooden sticks to distribute to the civilians who respond to the call. These are weapons personally given by the Warlord. Once the tribe takes shape, these residents who first received the sticks will become the core members of the clan!"

"Report! Zhuang Xiao is attempting contact with the cleaning robot!"

"Report!"

"Stop reporting!"

Lindong slammed the table and stood up, her face turning red with anger. She admitted she was somewhat unreasonable this time. After all, she had actively asked Ethan for continuous reports. She was very interested in the "My Power of Thought" that Ethan had brought. Since there was nothing going on, she decided to start researching it.

But why was the report content always about Zhuang Xiao?

Since earlier, Ethan had already shouted Zhuang Xiao’s name to her four times, and the tone was clearly full of expectation for her.

"Uh, the cleaning robot refused the Warlord’s call."

Ethan was also fully invested in observing Zhuang Xiao because, strictly speaking, she was his first chosen one. The "My Power of Thought" had evidently had a significant impact on Zhuang Xiao, and her personality had changed. After being rejected by Merlin and others, the Warlord decided to distance herself from these former comrades.

The main reason was that Merlin and others were too negative, not at all positive.

They gathered all day to sigh and spread negative energy without taking any action. How can a strong tribe be built with people like this?

Zhuang Xiao was positive and optimistic, her heart full of positive energy.

She knew the situation in the First Special District was very dire. Sincaro’s minions had invaded this world, and after the Lord of the Holy City disappeared, the First Special District had become a hunting ground for demons. She also knew that the leader of the demons had the characteristic of red eyes. He was Sincaro’s chosen one and held the title of Prince Demon.

But precisely because of this, she needed to quickly gather a strong tribe to contend against the demons!

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!

No matter how many troops the demons had or how powerful the red eyes were, Zhuang Xiao would distribute these wooden sticks today. Given this, wasting unnecessary time spreading negative energy and lamenting how dire the situation was held no meaning. When leaving home, Zhuang Xiao set a small goal for herself: today, she must recruit at least ten clan members.

Her thoughts coincided with Ethan’s.

In contrast, Ethan’s way of expressing it was more succinct— We need to regroup the troops!

The residents of the Holy City are all potential recruits.

"Stop reporting, I’ll monitor her myself." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Lindong impatiently waved her hand. The repeated, affectionate calls of "Comrade Zhuang Xiao" were driving her crazy, making even her favorite scientific research lose its charm.

She gave Ethan an order, "I want some midnight snacks. Fry some French fries for me, then bring a mocha coffee with strawberry sundae!"

Recently, her diet consisted of a combination of strawberry sundaes and various junk foods.

As Ethan accepted the order and headed to the kitchen, an electric arc pierced through Zhuang Xiao’s mind. After a few setbacks, she realized a serious problem — randomly stopping passersby on the street to distribute wooden sticks might be a bit abrupt. It’s just like looking for a job; you wouldn’t want to join a dubious company recruiting on the street through flyers, would you? What if those people intended to sell you to the Edge World for illegal labor?

Zhuang Xiao furrowed her brows in distress.

The positively optimistic Warlord began to ponder; as the tribe leader, she had to understand how to enhance the clan’s cohesion. The answer to this issue was obvious. For a tribe, besides combat, the most crucial element was food.

With good food, tribe members would work harder, allowing the tribe to grow and thrive.

Thus, the solution became apparent.

Zhuang Xiao glanced around and locked her eyes on a tree, her face lighting up with a delighted smile. She grabbed a wooden stick and struck the tree trunk, causing it to shake vigorously. A few branches lightly fell at Zhuang Xiao’s feet. She picked them up and quickly tied them together with nimble hands. Then, she pulled a few strings from a gray-robed priest’s long robe she’d "borrowed," wrapping them around the branches several times. She then smiled with satisfaction.

A basket capable of holding food was thus formed.

Watching all this, Lindong stood up from her chair in shock. Her eyes widened, wishing she could rewind time back by a minute. But reality offered no such option, leaving her brain invaded by endless confusion.

If Ethan were still there, he would certainly see many big question marks above Lindong’s small head.

The esteemed First Lady finally faced a problem she couldn’t figure out no matter how hard she tried — how could a bundle of branches plus a few strings turn into a basket?

But her surprise didn’t end there. After completing the basket, Zhuang Xiao once again looked at the tree that had contributed its branches to her. Although she wasn’t skilled in botany and couldn’t identify the tree species, didn’t most trees generally bear fruit?