One hour later.
The two miners had been working continuously for two hours.
During this time, the two miners couldn’t help but joke that their Mining Talents had finally become useful. While they dug tirelessly, Elena focused on using her Divination Talent to locate the hidden treasure.
Relying on their Mining Talents, they quickly hollowed out the base of the large tree.
Revealing a network of lush roots.
One of the miners suddenly felt her pickaxe strike something unusually hard beneath the roots.
The two of them quickly cleared away the surrounding soil, exposing the main root. Wrapped tightly around it was a golden object.
The main root was far too thick for the miners to cut with their pickaxes without damaging whatever was inside.
"Emily," Ethan called.
Emily stepped forward, drew her bow, and fired an explosive arrow. The thick root snapped apart, and the object entangled within it fell to the ground.
It was actually a Gold Treasure Chest!!
"A Gold Treasure Chest!"
Everyone’s eyes widened in excitement. The exhaustion from digging for two hours disappeared in an instant. Their hard work had finally paid off.
Ethan carefully picked up the treasure chest and smiled.
"This chest can be made into a Gold Storage Chest. Let’s return to the Tribe before opening it. We’ve already been out long enough, and we still need time to travel back."
Two hours later.
Ethan and the others returned to the Tribe and saw a huge pile of wood.
At his request, the classmates had worked exceptionally hard cutting trees today.
Emma had returned to the camp a long time ago, while Grace and the others had gone off to busy themselves with other tasks.
Having nothing else to do, she was making honey water for the classmates.
Seeing Ethan return, she ran up to him excitedly like a little girl.
"Great! You’re back safely!"
Ethan opened his arms, ready for a bear hug, but unexpectedly, Emma ran straight past him and hugged Elena instead.
"Sister Elena, your divination was amazing! We found incredible treasures today!"
Seeing Ethan’s surprised yet amused expression, Emma laughed, revealing her little canine teeth, and gave him a quick hug as well.
"Did you have any gains?" Elena asked her.
"Yes, big gains," Emma replied. She took out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Elena. "Try drinking this."
Elena naturally wasn’t worried that Emma would harm her. She opened the cap, and a sweet fragrance wafted out of the bottle.
Gulp, gulp.
Elena took two big gulps.
"Mmm, it’s delicious. Very pure honey water."
"You, Emma, won’t give any to me, right?" Ethan had been thirsty for a long time. After Elena finished drinking, he took the bottle and finished the rest in two gulps.
So refreshing!
"Why are you drinking Sister Elena’s water? I prepared one separately for you."
Emma’s lips curved upward, and she clapped her hands.
A buzzing sound came from all around.
A group of slightly larger Black Honeybees flew in front of Ethan, carrying a bottle of water.
There was even a water delivery ceremony!
Ethan was naturally shocked.
"What is this?"
"The Honey Blossom Swarm. I contracted the Honey Blossom Queen with my Myriad Spirits Contract. Now this swarm of bees is our Tribe’s little pet."
Ethan took the water bottle, and two Black Honeybees even helped him open the cap.
He finished the water in shock.
"Amazing," Ethan said, rubbing Emma’s head. "Can Daisy and the others fly throughout the entire forest?"
Emma nodded. "As long as they’re not too far from the hive, they can search a huge area."
Ethan’s eyes lit up.
"Then they’re perfect. Their small size lets them fly almost anywhere unnoticed. They’ll become our Tribe’s intelligence network. If anything happens in the forest, we’ll know immediately."
"Right? That’s exactly what I thought at the time, which is why I told Teacher Grace not to kill the Bee Queen," Emma said proudly. "We have such great chemistry! I also made an outstanding contribution to the Tribe!"
Ethan smiled and gently pinched Emma’s cheek.
"You really surprised me today."
Emma proudly puffed out her chest, "Of course! I made a huge contribution!"
Ethan chuckled before leaning closer and whispering into her ear, "Baby, you’re amazing. Since we have such great chemistry, I’ll spoil you properly tonight."
Hearing Ethan’s words, Emma shivered and shook her head.
"Can I refuse? I want to be a small transparent figure in the Tribe."
After all, if she could avoid it, she would.
She had never considered doing those things with someone she had only met for one day.
What was the difference between that and a one-night stand?
"Refuse me? No way," Ethan rejected her suggestion instantly and whispered in her ear, "Last night, you were the one who hugged me the tightest. Yet you still refuse to sleep with me."
After saying that, Ethan returned to the Clan Leader’s cabin. After becoming Grace’s mate, he had quietly moved into the cabin with her, without ever asking if she agreed.
Although Emma blushed at what he had said, she still followed him.
Elena followed them as well.
If she didn’t follow them, she wouldn’t know what to do in the Tribe. All the other classmates were cutting trees. If she went to talk to them, they would be jealous that she wasn’t working.
"So tired." Elena flopped onto the quilt as soon as she entered the room.
Emma did the same, snuggling close to Sister Elena.
Ethan was the first to pick up the deed and check the regional channel. Most Tribes there had already reached Level 2.
The conditions for upgrading were still quite simple.
Some Tribes couldn’t upgrade on the first day simply because they were born in resource-scarce areas, or because the Tribe lacked unity.
Take the Eden Garden Tribe’s Logging Team, for example. They had four axes taking turns cutting trees non-stop, yet they only managed to gather a few hundred units of wood material in the entire afternoon. Not to mention stone material, and then there was hemp rope, an item whose source was still unknown.
After the first day’s familiarization period, everyone understood the survival rules and started finding ways to obtain the materials needed to upgrade their Tribes.
However, there were still some Tribes in the regional channel stuck at Level 1, asking where to get wood material, stone material, and hemp rope.
Ethan opened the Tribe information panel.
[Tribe Name: Eden Garden]
[Tribe Level: Level 2 Log Cabin]
[Tribe Population: 21 / 100]
[Tribe Rating: 2566]
[Upgrade Requirements: Wood Material 5000, Stone Material 3000, Hemp Rope 1500, Iron Ore 500]
His gaze slowly swept down the list.
The moment he saw the required materials for the next upgrade, his eyes widened.
"Holy crap!" Ethan exclaimed. "Is this upgrade gap a joke? They gave everyone a little hope first, then directly threw us into hell."
Elena also looked at the list of materials.
Even she fell silent for a moment before patting Ethan’s back gently.
"It won’t be easy," she said softly. "But we’ll work hard together. We’ll definitely upgrade."
She stood up with a faint smile.
"You’ve been busy all day. There’s nothing we can do about the upgrade tonight anyway. Let me give you a massage first. Don’t think too much."
Hearing the offer, Ethan naturally couldn’t refuse. He took off his shirt so Elena could properly massage his back, then lay down on his stomach.
"Massage for half an hour. We have another mission tonight."
"Another mission?" Emma’s eyes widened. "What mission?"
"As expected of the world’s eighth-ranked Tribe," Ethan said with a helpless smile. "The work never ends."
Elena didn’t ask further. Instead, she said calmly, "We’ll talk about it after you’ve had some rest."
Emma quietly stood up.
They were boyfriend and girlfriend. They probably wanted some private time together, so staying here would only make her a third wheel.
"Where are you going?" Elena asked.
"Oh... I won’t disturb you two."
"Come back." Elena smiled. "Four hands are better than two. Help me massage Ethan’s head."
Emma blinked.
Refusing Sister Elena was much harder than refusing Ethan.
She obediently walked back, sat cross-legged beside Ethan, and gently rested his head on her fair, tender lap.
Ethan’s nose was pressed against Emma’s leg, and he could smell a fragrance unique to her.
Everyone’s scent was different. Elena had a different kind of fragrance.
"Ethan is like a local emperor," Emma muttered under her breath, but her hands remained obedient, constantly and gently kneading the pressure points on Ethan’s head.
Elena, who was massaging his back, let out a soft chuckle but said nothing.
Ethan suddenly sat up from Emma’s lap, a playful yet dominant smile on his face.
"Of course I am the local emperor," he said, looking between the two girls. "And now it’s time for both of you to serve me properly."
Emma’s face flushed deep red. Elena raised an eyebrow, though a faint smile still lingered on her lips.