CHAPTER 448: CHAPTER 003: MARKET FORMATION

As the Dragon Nest Tribe enters the stage of solidifying its foundation and developing its infrastructure, the main focus of the Dragon Nest Legion has been on railway construction and eradicating monsters within the territory.

Wars of external expansion have basically ceased.

The Beastman Tribes near the Dragon Nest Territory, unless they dare to provoke the might of the Dragon Nest Tribe, generally do not have a threat to survival.

In fact, the Beastman Tribes living on the border of the Dragon Nest Territory are acutely aware of this behemoth. Without any word from the Dragon Nest Tribe, they dare not engage in conflicts to avoid angering this slumbering giant nearby.

As a result, with the deterrence of the Dragon Nest Tribe’s powerful strength, this area near the border is remarkably peaceful amidst the chaos of the Kawa Great Forest.

Some tribes did consider migrating and escaping the threat of the Dragon Nest Tribe.

However, they are reluctant to leave this relatively safe environment.

Due to the purging efforts of the Dragon Nest Legion, in the vicinity of the Dragon Nest Territory, the powerful Giant Beasts, Magic Beasts, monsters, and the like have been thoroughly cleared by the Dragon Nest army, with most large dangerous species almost entirely eradicated.

Compared to the perilous outside world, living near the border is evidently much safer.

Moreover,

Due to the deterrence of the Dragon Nest Tribe, this place, unlike the chaotic turmoil outside, is a land of peace.

After the chaos ensuing from war in the Kawa Great Forest, now ravaged by war, with prolonged battles between rout soldiers and Beastman Tribes, where else can one find a place of peace and stability?

Even those wanting to escape the massive shadow of the Dragon Nest Tribe have no choice but to pinch their noses and settle nearby for survival.

They can only take it one day at a time, like a monk striking a bell.

These wild Beastman Tribes on the fringes of the Dragon Nest Tribe’s territory are actually considered part of the Dragon Nest Tribe’s population reserve.

Despite the development plans preventing further external expansion by the Dragon Nest Legion, many wild beastmen outside cannot help but cross the border to seek refuge in the nearest Stronghold City, joining the Dragon Nest Tribe.

The abundance of resources in the Dragon Nest Tribe has become well-known.

Some smaller Beastman Tribes nearby, owing to their weak power and inability to hunt and gather enough in the forest at times, have learned from the Dragon Nest Tribe to clear and cultivate land around their tribe, mimicking their farming practices.

Of course, compared to the professionalism of the Dragon Nest Tribe, these beastmen’s farming appears much cruder.

They simply chop down surrounding trees, set a fire to clear the weeds, dig a pit, directly plant seeds, and hardly tend to the crops, waiting for them to mature before harvesting. It’s purely an archaic form of slash-and-burn agriculture.

This primitive method of planting is naturally far inferior to the large-scale, standardized operations of the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Due to the seeds, cultivation methods, care levels, and so forth, the yield from these wild Beastman Tribes’ vaguely cultivated fields is less than one-fifth of the yield from an equivalent area of land by the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Nevertheless, for these wild Beastman Tribes, this is quite a decent result.

Spending merely two or three days of effort to harvest nearly ten days’ worth of food is highly beneficial for these small wild Beastman Tribes struggling to survive under harsh conditions.

Meanwhile, these Beastman Tribes living on the border of the Dragon Nest Tribe have also intuitively learned to trade with the Dragon Nest Beastmen.

When exactly this started is untraceable.

Regardless, as time passed, some grassroots trades began spontaneously and continued to expand in scale.

For instance, some of the wild Beastmen go deep into the mountains to hunt and gather unknown magic plants, seeds of new food crops, and ores extracted from desolate mountains...

Although the Dragon Nest Tribe is vast, some mineral resources and magic plant resources are distributed across the broad forest lands and not very concentrated, making mobilizing extensive collection efforts impractical.

These raw materials are what the Dragon Nest Tribe needs, yet it can’t afford to exhaust significant resources to gather them.

As wild Beastman Tribes venture out to hunt, they inevitably encounter some nameless ores and magic plants, naturally leading to trade, gradually forming a marketplace.

After years of accumulation, the Dragon Nest Tribe now has abundant food resources, using grain as a currency for trade, which is immensely tempting to those wild Beastmen struggling on the brink of such sustenance.

To facilitate trade, the Dragon Nest Tribe’s Stronghold City by the border even established a simple location to conduct official purchases.

Afterward, nearby Beastman Tribes often head to the trading market in the Stronghold City to trade with the Dragon Nest Beastmen, exchanging the unknown ores and magic plants they gather for food, which they then take back to their tribes.

With the continuation and development of trade, as more Beastmen come to trade with the Dragon Nest Tribe, some wild tribes even trade among themselves for what they need, forming a simple market in the official purchasing areas.

A marketplace for conducting trades.

Trade occurs not only between the wild Beastmen but also with some residents from Pioneer City exchanging rare fruits or other articles from the forest.

Although the Dragon Nest Tribe is still primarily governed by the military and political systems, it has gradually relaxed some control over civilian affairs as the tribe develops.

Especially with the significant surplus of food resources in the Dragon Nest Tribe, as long as one is not too lazy, there is generally enough food available.

In this part of the Kawa Great Forest, food is an extremely hard currency.

The formation of the trading market is not hindered by the Dragon Nest Tribe’s officialdom; rather, a few Dragon Nest Beastmen are dispatched to patrol and manage the market to prevent unexpected incidents.

The formation of the trading market has brought prosperity to the border of the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Through the trading market, the Dragon Nest Tribe has collected numerous valuable ores and magic plants in a straightforward manner, playing a crucial role in the alchemy industry and the expansion of the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Simultaneously, thanks to the trading market, the wild Beastman Tribes obtained substantial amounts of food from the Dragon Nest Tribe.

With this unexpected bounty of food, the arrival of the harsh winter won’t be as difficult.

During periods of drought, scarcity of game, and scarcity of fruits, some Beastman Tribes even make special trips into the mountains to mine ores, transporting them to the Dragon Nest Tribe’s Stronghold City to exchange for food and get through tough times.

Undeniably, the existence of the trading market is also a major reason why the wild Beastman Tribes living on the border near the Dragon Nest Tribe are reluctant to relocate.