During the labor process, Eric noticed that the attitude of the new beastmen gradually became more proactive, especially the small beastmen who arrived earlier. Now, they had smiles on their faces every day and worked very enthusiastically.
The stubborn Galvin, after being beaten up, had become much more obedient. The other Snow Wolf beastmen from the Kon tribe and the Queen tribe didn’t cause trouble either; they were quite obedient and worked hard.
This was mainly due to the Hadu tribe’s policy of "winning over with benefits." Ordinary beastmen found it hard to resist, especially since both Chief Karin and Chief Queen had tacitly agreed to join. All of this proceeded very smoothly.
He heard that the other day Galvin was beaten up by Chief Queen again. For several days afterward, his eye sockets were black, looking like a Bear beastman...
These things were told to Eric by Kevin, who loved to gossip, describing them vividly with evident schadenfreude.
After finishing these stories, Kevin squatted next to a thick magic beast leg bone and asked in a low voice:
"Eric, do you know what’s wrong with Sam lately? I see him dazing off recently, not knowing what he’s thinking about. Iris said he accidentally dipped his hand into the oil pan several times..."
Dipped his hand into the oil pan... Eric’s forehead twitched a few times, and he said speechlessly: "I... how would I know."
Seeing Kevin still looking suspicious, he continued: "I advise you not to ask him. Be careful, he might get angry at you. Ah, he’ll definitely be fine in a few days."
Absolutely don’t ask. Sam had been secretly watching him these past few days. Did he think Eric hadn’t noticed? Eric didn’t want another supervisor.
Kevin scratched his head in confusion: "Is that so? Alright then."
Very quickly, he threw this matter to the back of his mind. Kevin looked around, then lowered his voice again:
"That Galvin from the Queen tribe, he’s always rushing to the front when hunting these past few days. I even heard he wants to challenge Arthur again."
"Well, if he wants a beating, let him go. Being beaten like that last time didn’t teach him a lesson; maybe he was born lacking discipline."
Eric was also resigned. Snow Wolf people truly had thick skin. Getting beaten twice in just a few short days, with the bruises on his eyes not yet faded, and he wanted to seek a beating again? He wouldn’t bother stopping him.
If he sought someone else, Eric might worry a bit, but seeking Arthur was purely asking for a beating unless he could also condense a magic core during battle.
Kevin said with lingering fear:
"What exactly is that Arthur’s background? Just a human, yet so formidable. A warrior at his level would definitely have a high status in the human world. There’s no reason for him to come to the Illusionary Continent. Tsk tsk, humans are truly troublesome."
Along with the growth of Arthur’s strength, the tribesmen had suspected his identity more than once or twice. It was just that Arthur didn’t even have his memory, so prying wouldn’t yield anything.
At first, when Arthur faced Grass, he could only get beaten, though his recovery ability was slightly stronger. The result was that not many months later, his strength had skyrocketed.
Just like Evan, who later became even more formidable than Snow Wolf warriors. Actually, the tribesmen had long suspected the identities of these two people.
It was just that Evan alone had disappeared without a trace. Occasionally, when tribesmen asked about his whereabouts, Eric would gloss over it, so everyone tacitly stopped mentioning it later.
As for Arthur, although powerful, his personality was silly. Every day he only knew how to eat and follow Eric, listening to Eric even more than his own tribesmen. He didn’t slack off in his work, so over time, everyone wasn’t too wary anymore.
This guy didn’t remember anything. Worrying about it could wait until his memory returned.
"Haha, maybe his enemies are even more powerful," Eric laughed, glossing over it once again.
But Kevin took it seriously: "To be able to beat Arthur into that state, wouldn’t that be a God-tier among human warriors, or another person at the Great Swordsman level? People with this strength are too rare and must be very famous. Should we ask the people in the merchant group next time?"
Eric almost choked on his own saliva and hurriedly waved his hands:
"Don’t. If there’s some secret, don’t let it implicate us. We can’t fight against Great Swordsman or God-tier warriors. It’s as easy as turning a hand for them to come to the Illusionary Continent. I’m afraid the Golden Kingdom and the Elf tribe wouldn’t be able to detect them either."
Warriors and Archmages at this level were already at the top of the pyramid, and God-tier ones were even more formidable, moving freely wherever they pleased. Eric was just speaking randomly to cover up the truth; he had no interest in these mysterious powerful figures.
Kevin had to agree.
"Eric!"
Amidst the clanging sounds of the construction site, a call suddenly came from afar. Eric hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound.
Thomas was smiling and waving at him, calling out happily: "Quick, follow me! The merchant group you’ve been waiting for has arrived!"
In an instant, Eric beamed with joy and stood up in surprise: "Really?! They’re finally here; I’ve been waiting for months!"
Happily speaking, Eric shouted to the busy tribesmen around him:
"Everyone work well! Sam will make delicious food to bring over this noon. I’m going to attend to business first!"
The small beastmen and the newly arrived Snow Wolves seemed a bit unnatural, while the Dwarves grinned and waved at him, signaling him to go quickly.
Following Thomas, he ran all the way to where the merchant group was camped. Just like last year, they were several kilometers away from the tribe, keeping a safe distance.
"As soon as they entered the territory, they sent someone to greet our warriors. I rushed over to call you. Look, over there must be the herd of cows you wanted."
This year, most of the area surrounding the tribe had been reclaimed into farmland. Aside from roads dedicated to travel, there were plots of land reserved for building factories.
The Halun Merchant Group chose a campsite near a water source, which happened to be the location reserved for building the slaughterhouse.
Getting closer to the riverbank would be unsafe, and the floodplain wouldn’t do. Building factories also required maintaining a certain distance, otherwise, heavy rain could easily cause flooding.
Although there didn’t seem to be signs of heavy rain these days, to ensure safety, the Halun Merchant Group’s campsite wasn’t too close to the riverbank; they chose the slaughterhouse site.
Familiar horned horses and earth dragons pulling carts stopped there.
This time, there were also several tall and strong winged horses in the team. Their bodies were snow-white, and two pairs of equally snow-white wings grew on their backs, looking both divine and full of power.
Last time, he only saw them once and didn’t talk. The leader of the mercenary group jumped off his horse, affectionately stroking the winged horse’s head before tying them to the side.
The chains and armor on these winged horses also looked more expensive compared to the other horses. The shiny silver color was particularly dazzling under the sunlight. Who knew what material it was, but it definitely wasn’t cheap.
The leading horse was also the mount of the mercenary leader. Its armor even had several large gemstones on it.
The number of people arriving this time seemed to be greater.
They were busy unloading goods from the backs of horned horses and earth dragons. There were also some people herding cows, only the cowherds were dressed in rags, and their demeanor was extremely servile.