The twilight gradually descended.
Everyone was called back by Grace; work stopped for the day.
In front of the forging table, Jasmine had already learned the [Stone Arrow] crafting recipe.
She was currently crafting them at a rate of one per minute.
"[Stone Arrow] crafting complete." This was the 50th one crafted, as they only had 50 units of hemp rope.
"Through everyone’s joint efforts, our Eden Garden Tribe has developed to where it is today." Grace gave a passionate speech in front of the crowd!
"Every single one of you has contributed to this! Whether you possess D-rank Talent or S-rank Talent, you are all working for our shared Tribe. I hope you understand: Success does not require me to be present, but success will certainly involve me!"
"Great!"
"Tribe Leader is the best!"
"I love you, Tribe Leader."
"..."
Grace waved her hand, signaling everyone to quiet down, as she intended to continue speaking.
"Elena, come here," Grace called Elena to her side. "Elena is our Tribe’s diviner and prophet, and also our strategist. From now on, her words are equivalent to mine."
Quite a few girls cast envious glances.
Being beautiful combined with heaven-defying Talent, that’s truly unbeatable.
All the girls had no complaints about Elena; they were self-aware.
As long as it was for the Tribe’s development, they supported it.
"This humble girl pays respects to the Tribe Prophet~"
"Tribe Leader and Tribe Prophet, 99~"
"Tribe Leader and Tribe Prophet, double SS, terrifyingly strong."
Grace, seeing that, felt satisfied, but then she felt someone poke her.
She turned down and saw Ethan poking her. "What happened?" she asked a little angrily.
While cursing Ethan as a pervert, if not for his talent and ability, she wouldn’t let him touch a single girl except his girlfriend.
But she knew, for his talent, she needed to sacrifice the girls’ purity, and even she also needed to do so.
No, no, she would never let this pervert climb on her, never ever.
Quickly, she controlled her thoughts.
"Tribe Leader, you said I am the tribe strategist, then why did you make Elena?" Ethan asked her.
"Did I say something like that?" Grace asked, looking at Ethan, and then at Emily.
Emily quickly replied in the same tone, "Yes, Tribe Leader, we also didn’t hear it."
"You both liars," Ethan looked at both of them while gritting his teeth. How efficiently they both were lying.
He decided that if he got the chance, he would punish both of them.
Seeing his aggrieved look, they both were pleased, while Grace rubbed his hair. "Well, don’t worry, you should just stay as my attendant obediently."
Looking at the girls, Grace announced, "Also, if I am absent, you can follow the orders of our single man, Ethan."
Hearing this, the other girls nodded. They already knew Ethan was the most important person in the tribe. He was the only single male.
"Next, I want to discuss this afternoon’s divination."
Grace spent a few minutes explaining the 2-star divination event and its fortune or misfortune to everyone.
Many girls showed expressions of worry and fear.
"What do we do? Are we going to fight monsters again?"
"I... I don’t dare..."
"Tribe Leader, can you first cripple the monster, and then I’ll chop it with my axe...?"
Hearing this, Grace calmed everyone and said they had already planned everything.
Ethan arranged for three girls near the extinguished bonfire to practice rubbing sticks together to make fire.
The wood beneath, heated by Ethan to 100 degrees, allowed the girls to produce sparks with little effort.
Relying on the dry grass brought back by the Scavenging Team, they successfully started the bonfire.
Wood material was added to the fire, unit by unit, without any hesitation.
They still had 778 units of wood material!
The bonfire was lit, dispelling the surrounding cold and darkness.
Ethan also distributed the remaining 8 whole wheat breads acquired today, one red berry per person, and half a bottle of water per person to prevent dehydration.
Jasmine used [Heating] to warm the water for everyone, so they could all drink hot water, of course, on Ethan’s order.
Ethan placed the [Black-Maned Wolf Meat ×2] dropped by the Black-Maned Wolf onto the bonfire to roast.
Although they had no seasoning, the rich aroma of the roasting meat tantalized everyone’s taste buds.
Especially Jessica, who was starving to the point of dizziness in the distance, was drooling uncontrollably.
"It was said that meat would be distributed based on merit, but everyone’s merit is high today, so everyone gets meat!" Grace used the bronze dagger to carve the meat for everyone, piece by piece.
Some girls burst into tears upon receiving the roasted meat.
They clearly had D-rank Talent, yet Grace hadn’t abandoned them and was even giving them meat to eat.
"At night, arrange for two people to stand watch, with the Logging Team and Scavenging Team taking turns. You must ensure the main bonfire burns brightly. Whoever lets the main bonfire go out must voluntarily leave the Tribe."
Grace used both carrot-and-stick diplomacy as she began announcing the next tasks.
"There are two quilts for you. Choose two rooms, leave two empty, and squeeze together at night. Build a small fire inside your rooms using stone material for warmth."
"After eating, everyone goes to build their own nests and must remain inside the rooms without making any noise."
All the students listened attentively to Grace’s words.
"Tonight, for the Goblin Squad incident, it will be me, Ethan, Sister Emily, and Sophie as the main force. We also have one wooden bow and six axes; the axes can also be used as melee weapons. Who wants to join the fight?"
As Grace’s voice fell, all the girls froze in place.
Join the fight? What if they died?
They could only blame their weak Talents, unlike Emily, who could slaughter enemies with just a bow and arrow.
But even among the weak, there are always brave souls who fear no death and dare to step forward!
One beautiful-looking girl raised her hand. "I’ll join."
"Very good, Olivia. Do you want an axe or a bow?"
"The axe... I’m used to it."
Ethan handed her a brand-new axe.
Another person stood up.
"I also want to fight to protect our Tribe! I want the bow."
This was a beautiful girl named Hannah. She was over 1.7 meters tall with a slim, athletic figure and often did heavy labor, so her physical fitness was decent, but unfortunately, her Talent was poor, only D-rank Mining.
"Very good." Grace was very gratified. Among the ordinary people in the Tribe, there were actually such courageous individuals!
They dared to step up and challenge the [Medium] event predicted by the divination.
"Six people are enough. Any more and it won’t be very helpful. Olivia, Hannah, strive to survive tonight. Starting tomorrow, you two will be the captains of the Logging Team and the Scavenging Team."
"Thank you, Tribe Leader!"
The other girls didn’t feel envious. Although the captains would certainly receive some preferential treatment, they had earned it themselves.
Everyone was devouring the meat when several girls suddenly cried out.
"I feel my Talent moving!"
"This meat can upgrade Talents!"
"Heavens, can my D-rank Talent even be upgraded?"
Ethan also ate some meat, feeling very confused. Why didn’t he feel it as strongly?
If those girls hadn’t shouted, he wouldn’t have known the meat could boost Talents. Feeling carefully, there was a tiny, slight improvement, perhaps.
He looked toward Elena and Grace.
Elena nodded, "There’s a little bit, very subtle, almost imperceptible."
Grace also agreed, "I can feel a slight improvement; it is indeed very minor."
"It should be related to Talent quality. The higher the quality of the Talent, the more energy it needs to upgrade. Man, I have SSS-rank Talent... I’m losing out big time."
Hearing this, both Grace and Emily laughed at him.
The surroundings grew darker. In another two hours, the area would be completely enveloped in darkness.
Jessica’s group finally managed to start a fire after two hours of drilling wood.
At this moment, she was sitting by the fire, eating whole wheat bread stuffed with red berries while sipping mineral water.
They had only eight people left, with the eight once again merged into Grace’s team.
Ethan didn’t know how she had gotten the bread and water.
Jessica and Ethan locked eyes across the distance for the first time since they had parted ways.
Jessica’s eyes were full of provocation, while Ethan wanted to know what her Talent was.
As he looked at her more closely, he found that Jessica was also beautiful. She would be a good candidate for his Talent, More Wife More Blessing.
While Jessica thought of Ethan as an enemy, she didn’t know that the same person was seeing her as wife material.
Just then, rustling sounds came from the eastern woods. A squad of green-skinned, humanoid Goblins, less than 1.3 meters tall, emerged, chanting strange slogans.
Each Goblin held a club. The four Goblins in the middle were carrying a silver treasure chest, a box full of fruit, and a large leg of beef!
Seeing so many beautiful women in the area, all the Goblins’ eyes widened. They dropped the cargo they were carrying and became excited.