Chapter 148: The Drowning Dwarves

Mysterious Forest, east bank of the Wen River.

By now, the four lizardfolk tribes—Sinking Sand, Bloodfang, Claw, and Witch wood—had successfully formed the Green Lizard Alliance.

The highest authority of the Green Lizard Alliance was a council composed of the four tribal leaders. They governed their respective territories through a system of discussion and consensus.

When one party proposed an issue, all four would deliberate together and arrive at a solution that could serve as the “greatest common denominator” acceptable to everyone, and then return to implement it.

This system avoided the winner-takes-all problem of voting, where the minority could otherwise have their interests harmed.

Of course, even-numbered councils were never ideal for simple voting anyway.

After the alliance was established, the four tribes sent members to dig fish ponds and attempt to set up aquaculture operations.

Because the other three tribes still harbored caution toward humans, it was primarily the Sinking Sand Tribe that maintained contact with humans, providing the alliance with expertise in aquaculture and the necessary tools.

In return, the other three tribes sent more laborers to help with the work.

In fact, the first group of Sinking Sand lizardmen who returned had not only brought tools but also included several members who had studied fish farming in Bianshu Town.

However, the lizardmen had recently endured tribal wars, and their population had been heavily reduced.

Thus, the alliance was not currently short on food; the fish in the Wen River were sufficient to feed all the lizardmen.

The purpose of fish farming was to prepare for the future and prevent another tribal war due to food shortages.

Besides fish farming, the alliance also organized people to gather white latex from the White Milk Forest—natural latex produced by rubber trees.

The idea was to sell this latex to Bianshu Town in exchange for human currency, which could then be used to buy necessary daily supplies.

This improved the lizardmen’s standard of living, and the alliance naturally supported it. Again, the Sinking Sand Tribe was in charge of this operation.

As for when the Bloodfang, Claw, and Witch wood tribes would change their view of Bianshu Town, that would take time and careful adjustment.

Sinking Sand Tribe Village

Outside, the sky was still pitch black. Even though Xilong had no patrol duties that morning, he had gotten up early.

Today he had been assigned to the fishing team, and he was one of the leaders, responsible for guiding his fellow tribe members to a lake connected to the Wen Shui River to catch fish.

Fish were a primary food source for the lizardmen, so he hoped for a good catch today.

After getting up, Xilong picked up a set of lightweight clothes and dressed.

Since spending the winter in Bianshu Town, the Sinking Sand Tribe had grown accustomed to wearing human-made clothes, no longer wanting to rely on simple animal skins.

To other lizardmen tribes, this made the Sinking Sand appear somewhat unusual.

However, as exchanges between the Green Lizard Alliance and Bianshu Town increased, it was expected that more lizardmen would adopt human clothing over rough animal skins.

After all, the comfort difference was enormous.

Leaving his dwelling, Xilong stretched and jogged through the village, exercising while familiarizing himself with the Sinking Sand Tribe’s new home.

He passed patrolling tribe members, who waved greetings.

“Good morning, Captain Xilong.”

“Good morning.”

Xilong usually responded with a nod.

Under Kerman’s management, the village was peaceful, with no bloodshed occurring.

This was largely because the Sinking Sand Tribe had spent time living alongside humans in Bianshu Town and had learned to accept different races and coexist harmoniously.

It was true that the Blackwind Tribe had once massacred the Sinking Sand.

But under Kerman and Lusha’s guidance, the tribe’s anger was directed mainly at the Blackwind leadership—the elders and chiefs—not at ordinary people.

As a result, the Blackwind Tribe was treated equally, and the defeated members gradually integrated into the Sinking Sand community without harboring resentment.

By the time Xilong finished his run, dawn was just beginning to break.

Next, he went to wash his face and rinse his mouth, then went to have breakfast.

After breakfast, Xilong held a piece of dried fish in his mouth as he walked to the village gate, the gathering point for the fishing team.

The gate, which had previously been blown open by cannon fire, had long since been repaired.

Many people had gathered at the gate, the vast majority of them from the Blackwind Tribe.

Several wooden carts carried barrels for storing fish, as well as various fishing tools.

Honestly, after the Blackwind Tribe had conquered all the other tribes, they had stopped fishing entirely, relying on the food provided by the lower-class members of other tribes. Life had been quite comfortable for them.

Now that they had to return to their original work, they were initially a little unaccustomed, but gradually they regained their former rhythm.

After a headcount confirmed everyone was present, Xilong raised his hand and shouted, “Let’s go!”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

The fishing team immediately pulled the wooden carts and set off toward the fishing location.

When they arrived at a lake near the village, Xilong ordered everyone to set aside the barrels for the fish and start preparing and laying out the fishing nets. He himself removed his clothes, ready to go into the water with a few tribe members skilled in swimming to drive the fish.

The lizardmen fishing process generally worked like this:

First, they prepared the nets and laid them out in a chosen area of the lake. A few cooperative lizardmen would then dive into the water to drive the fish toward the nets. Once the fish were within range, the other lizardmen would lift the nets sharply to capture a large number of fish at once.

This was the traditional fishing method passed down among the lizardmen.

Of course, they also had other methods to catch additional fish.

With everything prepared and the nets in place, Xilong exchanged a glance with the other swimmers, nodded, took a deep breath, and prepared to dive into the water.

“Captain Xilong!”

At that moment, a Blackwind tribesman ran hurriedly to the shore, pointing in a direction and shouting.

“I just found a strange human drowning over there!”

A human? Why would a human appear deep in the Mysterious Forest? Perhaps a hunter from Bianshu Town had encountered danger while hunting and had no choice but to jump into the river to survive?

“Wait here, I’ll go check it out.”

Saving the person was urgent, so Xilong paused the fishing operation and hurried to the shore.

“Where’s the human? Take me there quickly.”

“Over there, please follow me.”

Guided by the Blackwind tribesman, Xilong followed the lakeshore to the location where the drowning person had been spotted. Another tribesman was already standing nearby, apparently having provided some emergency assistance.

“Captain Xilong! This strange human is still alive.”

Xilong leaned closer and saw that the person lying on the muddy ground was short, rugged in appearance, and had a large reddish-brown beard.

“This isn’t a human—it’s a dwarf.”

At the sight of the drowning individual, Xilong immediately recognized this non-human race.

“Eh?! So he’s a dwarf?” 

The Blackwind tribesman looked surprised.

But why would a dwarf be drowning? And why would he be here?

Xilong thought for a moment, then turned to the two tribesmen and ordered. 

“Whatever the case, take him back to the village first. Be sure to report this to Acting Chief Kerman.”

“Yes!” 

The two tribesmen nodded in agreement.

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