CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 42: NEW FOOD SOURCES

Farming agriculture, livestock husbandry, and the metallurgy industry are the three major plans Austin intends to initiate in the new year.

The first two plans speak for themselves. No matter which one is completed, it will provide a continuous supply of food for the Dragon Nest Tribe, freeing them from hunger once and for all.

The final metallurgy industry will significantly enhance the military strength of the Dragon Nest Tribe and accelerate the development of productivity.

If the Dragon Nest is taken as the center, with a radius of over ten miles forming a Dragon Nest Territory, then with the current population of over a hundred in the Dragon Nest Tribe, relying solely on hunting and gathering for food from the forest is insufficient to support such a large Beastman population. What’s more, with smoke columns continuously rising from the mountains, a constant stream of wandering Beastmen are being attracted to join the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Therefore, the initiation of agriculture is imperative, and Austin made considerable preparations for this last year’s cold winter. Not only did he clear land near a river by cutting down trees during the cold winter, but he also manufactured a large number of simple farming tools, ready to get to work once the cold winter passed.

Of course, there will be quite a bit of time to transition before the rice crops yield results.

However, this does not pose a problem for Austin.

In Austin’s view, there is a reason why the Beastman Tribes living in the Kawa Great Forest have remained in a primitive state of civilization for thousands of years.

They can’t even get enough to eat, so how could they think about anything else?

Yet, in reality, the forest contains many things that are edible.

Every year, a significant number of the Beastman population die of starvation largely because they don’t know what to eat.

Their diet, the Beastmen living in the Kawa Great Forest, mainly consists of gathered fruits, wild grass seeds, rice, starchy roots, tree roots dug up when there’s no food, and occasionally, the meat they manage to hunt.

Other than this, there’s nothing else.

In fact, the proportion of edible things in the forest that are included in the Beastmen’s diet is less than one-tenth.

In Austin’s previous life, he grew up in a place where anything in the sky, on the ground, or in the water could be made into a gourmet dish to be presented on the table.

If a chef from his past life came here, he could probably find more than a thousand edible things just within the Dragon Nest Territory.

Of course, Austin wasn’t a chef in his previous life, but he did inherit a bit of the foodie gene from that food-loving Empire and could comment on certain foods.

For example, bamboo shoots, the young shoots of ferns, mushrooms, and so on, which are things the Beastmen don’t eat.

Bamboo shoots, when eaten raw, have a rather unpleasant and astringent taste, and the young shoots of ferns are similar; they feel slippery and slimy like slugs when eaten raw, which is why the Beastmen overlook these foods.

However, if you rinse these things in boiling water first to remove the bitterness and strange flavors, both bamboo shoots and fern shoots become really delicious.

In his past life, Austin also lived in rural areas, so he was quite familiar with these dishes that could be prepared in the countryside at any time.

It is precisely the lack of this pre-processing step of boiling in water that caused the Beastmen to overlook these hidden foods right by their side.

And mushrooms are even simpler.

Those Beastmen who dared to try mushrooms would just pick the prettiest, most vibrant one and eat it. How could that not go wrong?

Over time, rumors spread that mushrooms were toxic and couldn’t be eaten, but Austin knew that the more colorful the mushroom, the more poisonous it was. Although some inconspicuous mushrooms aren’t necessarily non-toxic, this can be determined with a little testing.

The nutritional content of bamboo shoots and fern shoots is very high, and since these plants can regenerate from cuttings, they provide a steady source of food. What’s more, there’s a large bamboo forest near the Dragon Nest Territory, and ferns cover the hills extensively, so there is no shortage of them.

As for mushrooms, find a suitable damp place, scatter enough mushroom spores, and in the hot and humid climate of the Kawa Great Forest, there should be no issues.

Just these three alone can significantly alleviate the food problem in the Dragon Nest Territory for the Beastmen.

Although these three foods can only be considered as "vegetables," they greatly ease the grain pressure on the Dragon Nest Tribe, combined with the recent large hunts yielding enough prey to sustain the Beastmen in the Dragon Nest Territory for a long time.

Food is always the foundation of a community’s survival. With no worries about food, the Dragon Nest Tribe would naturally not sit idle but rather start large-scale construction under Austin’s guidance.

At this point, the Dragon Nest Tribe was no longer the primitive village built in the trees with just a single simple grass hut.

Below the Dragon Nest Cliff, a group of Beastmen cleared an area around the cliffs and built several different wood houses using newly sourced timber, totaling nine houses. The central one is an altar, dedicated to the Blue Young Dragon Austin, and assists in managing tribal affairs, representing the power center of the Dragon Nest Tribe.

From either side of the altar, two rows of houses extend outward, with a massive square corridor as their opposing center where the tribe gathers for morning assemblies and routine running.

In a remote corner of the village, a peculiar house stands alone, slightly out of place, which is the latrine Austin specifically ordered to be built.

On the empty ground beside the latrine, rows of earthen pits have been dug, reportedly prepared for planting the seeds brought back from the Blood Wolf Lair as instructed by the Blue Dragon Lord.

Along the perimeter, large wooden stakes are hacked and stood upright, with their tops sharpened and tightly bound with vines, with their bases buried underground to form a rudimentary fence that offers protection to the village.

These wooden stakes were sourced from the cleared plain meant for burning after felling the trees once the cold winter passed.

However, seeing the expansion of the village requiring abundant timber, and with the trees from the cleared plain ready, they were immediately utilized.

Tall fences and properly arranged houses, though simple and rugged with a primitive charm, resemble the village prototype in Austin’s memory.

Eventually, expansion would be necessary. For these houses, Austin mostly favored a brick-and-tile structure to build a true village.

Unfortunately, the work schedules for these Beastmen are fully packed currently, and his three major plans are just beginning, so brick-making and pottery can only be postponed.

But in a year, Austin has developed the Dragon Nest Village from one grass hut with seven Kobolds to its current form, resembling a true village with a population of over a hundred Beastmen.

The whole village, though small like a sparrow, possesses all the vital organs.