Chapter 697 - Manpower (1/2)

This time Shao Xuan and Duo Kang brought along two hundred people. They couldn’t bring along any more.

There was also a Drumming tribe member in their group, Qing Yi. Back then, he was just a totemic warrior of middle ranking, but now he was already an advanced totemic warrior. Qing Yi had been leading teams out to trade, and he was very experienced compared to everyone else in the Drumming tribe. Plus, Qing Yi’s eyes were brown in colour. In the Drumming tribe, people with brown eyes were comparatively calmer and wouldn’t get irritated or act reckless so easily.

This time, Qing Yi was the one who took the initiative to ask Shao Xuan if he could follow. He had led many teams to the Pu tribe to trade, but those couldn’t be considered expedition trips. That distance was a joke if compared to the distance required to travel to the other tribes. That was why Qing Yi requested to follow along on this trip with the Flaming Horns. He wanted to gain some experience.

If nothing unexpected happens, Qing Yi would become the next chief of the Drumming tribe. When Fan Mu steps down, Qing Yi would take on his position as chief. A to-be-chief had to gain enough experience to lead the tribe. The Drumming tribe rarely travelled to other places, and they only learned more after going to the Flaming River Trading Point. However, these were often just based on rumours. That was why Qing Yi wanted to take this opportunity to go take a look for himself and see what an expedition trip was really like.

Who would’ve thought, the Flaming Horn’s expedition trip was travelling a lot farther compared to other tribes’ expedition trips. Regardless, Qing Yi did not give up. Instead, he became more expectant. The Flaming Horn tribe had a type of stone known as the Water Sun Stone which they obtained from the other side of the sea. Qing Yi also wanted to see what other things were there if he had a chance.

Shao Xuan did not reject him because he knew that Qing Yi could control his temper and wouldn’t act recklessly. He wouldn’t spill on anything that should be kept secret.

When Shao Xuan’s group arrived at the Longboat tribe, a long segment of the river had been sealed. Expedition teams rarely travelled in that direction anyways. Shao Xuan didn’t see any ships there either.

When Mu Fa, the chief of the Longboat tribe, received news of the Flaming Horns arriving, he quickly walked out from his tribe.

“You guys finally arrived!” He received the Flaming Horn’s letter very early, and had already made the necessary preparations. He even sealed away the upstream segment to protect their ships.

They had promised the Flaming Horns before they merged their fire seed. Since the Flaming Horns wanted to go out by sea this time, the Longboat tribe were also happy to help.

They had been waiting for this day for a very long time.

All the preparations were done and they had already waited several days. Now, the Flaming Horn’s ships were finally here.

“You guys are too slow!” Mu Fa complained. “When are we departing? We can leave anytime!”

Shao Xuan looked at the river. Back then when he came to the Longboat tribe, there were still many ships on dock. Now, most of the ships had disappeared. Only fifteen remained.

Ten large ships and five smaller ships. Of course, the five smaller ships were the same size as the two ships the Longboat tribe gifted the Flaming Horns. They were probably made around the same time.

Shao Xuan already had doubts back then when the Longboat tribe gifted them these ships. He felt that the Longboat tribe probably had greater ambition. They were probably planning something even bigger that no one knew about. Now, he finally saw it.

These ten ships were at least twice as big as the ones they were on. Judging by the looks, they were built quite recently and had never been used.

After the Longboat tribe merged their fireseed, their ambition seemed to have grown too, like the flame within them.

If the Flaming Horn tribe didn’t mention going out to sea, the Longboat tribe probably wouldn’t have revealed these ten ships this early.

“What, are you shocked?” Mu Fa saw a row of Flaming Horn warriors look at the ships with impressed and shocked looks. He was overjoyed. “How many ships did you think we were planning to use?”

“What? You think we would bring small ships? You kidding? You sure we’re going on an expedition trip, not to adventure? You think we would only prepare ten ships? What? Are you looking down on the Longboat tribe? When have we ever traveled with just ten ships?!”

As Mu Fa chatted with Duo Kang and the others, Shao Xuan boarded the ship to take a look around. The inner structures of these ships were similar to the ones the Longboat tribe gifted them. All of these ships used watertight compartments and their mast and sails were also improved. These could endure the impact of the stronger winds and waves at sea.

No one would’ve thought a tribe that was so far inland had been planning to set out to sea.

They were all excited to set out into the sea, so this time, their chief, Mu Fa, was personally leading the team.

Without the ancient fire seed, they could leave their tribe for a longer time. They didn’t need to worry if their strength was weakened. This time, there were around three hundred Longboat tribespeople who were following on this trip. On an average, each ship only needed around twenty people. With a mere twenty, they could already control the ship well.

Were they using manpower to row the ships? If they needed more people, weren’t the Flaming Horns here too?

The cabins on the ships were already stocked with supplies enough to keep them alive on sea for a very long time. The Longboat tribe didn’t have as much fearsome beast meat jerky, but they had other alternatives like some special grains that they never traded with outsiders. They had kept these grains to themselves all this time and only brought some out on expedition trips. This time, because they didn’t have enough time to prepare, they also bought some other food with longer shelf lives from other tribes.