Chapter 84: Chapter 82 Beastman Empire (2nd Release, Seeking Recommendations)
"Beastman Empire?"
Quik was startled. Although he didn’t know where Austin had heard this name, he didn’t doubt it. So, he revealed the information he happened to have heard:
"Rumor has it that many years ago, there once stood a vast empire established by the beastmen on the Civilized Land. From east to west, it spanned almost the entire continent. Some even say that the whole Kawa Great Forest was a part of that vast empire."
"It’s said that at that time, the beastmen dominated the entire continent. Elves, dwarves, and even humans all lived under the shadow of that massive empire, surviving at the mercy of the beastmen. But later, the entire empire collapsed overnight for unknown reasons, leaving no trace behind."
"Afterward, with the collapse of the Beastman Empire, various races went to war. Eventually, humans emerged victorious, forming the current human-dominated landscape on the continent, while the beastmen originally scattered throughout the continent were driven to the Kawa Great Forest, this Barbaric Land."
"Actually, Your Highness, the legend of the Beastman Empire is simply a mythical tale passed down by word of mouth among the upper echelons of large tribes within Kawa Great Forest. It shouldn’t be taken seriously."
Quik, the Fox-faced Man, looked at the Blue Young Dragon, carefully advising.
In his mind, these legends were merely the delusional fantasies of the beastmen struggling to survive in the Kawa Great Forest, dreaming of a better life. When a beastman enduring a tough life tells a story of that fanciful empire to a companion, it gets passed around by word of mouth, eventually becoming the tale of the Beastman Empire among the beastmen of Kawa Great Forest.
Austin didn’t take a stand on Quik’s opinion.
Even without that Beast Skin Notes, Austin wouldn’t think these legends were baseless.
However, if what the Beast Skin Notes described were true, that the remnants of the Beastman Empire, those pure-blooded beastmen, ended up in Kawa Great Forest, it might cause considerable trouble for Austin’s plans in the future.
"Then what about the pure-blooded beastmen? Have you ever heard of this name?"
From the information in that notebook, it wasn’t hard to deduce that the so-called pure-blooded beastmen should be the remnants of the upper echelons of that Beastman Empire. According to the mage’s classification, Austin’s clan underlings should be half-beastmen.
Pure-blooded beastmen, could they be those green-skins? Where did they go, and why has he never seen those green-skins?
"Pure-blooded beastmen, what are they?" Quik showed a look of confusion.
This was somewhat unexpected for Austin. Even Quik didn’t know anything about the pure-blooded beastmen, indicating there likely weren’t any rumors about pure-blooded beastmen among the beastman tribes within Kawa Great Forest, or else that mage would have had no success after searching this land for three years.
"Forget it, anyway, Kawa Great Forest is so vast, comparable to a Russia in the previous life. Even if they really are in some corner, for now, the chances of encountering them are slim to none."
Very quickly, Austin put the matters of the Beastman Empire and pure-blooded beastmen behind him.
However, this incident served as a reminder to Austin that this world is vast and dangerous. To live well, one must strive to grow stronger.
Anyway, Austin had long decided that until he himself is strong enough or his clan of underlings has grown in power, he must lay low and cannot carelessly venture out.
Although there is some desire to see the outside world, it’s still safer to stay nestled in the home base.
...
As time slowly passed, the entire Dragon Nest Tribe entered a period of peaceful development, beginning to digest and absorb the results of recent conquests.
In fact, before this, the continuous wars and annexation of nearby small tribes had already left the beastmen somewhat weary. To ensure the absorption of a large number of captives and the production of enough food, the entire Dragon Nest Tribe was virtually operating at full capacity.
After breaking through the Centaur Tribe, where over two hundred centaurs were captured, the number of captives the entire Dragon Nest Tribe could accommodate had reached its limit. Thus, the cessation of warfare was only natural.
Next, there was a period of adjustment and consolidation to undertake.
While Austin continued to use electric current stimulation to train and grow his dragon body, he also began clearing up the gradually bloated internal affairs.
The first issue was food cultivation. Several battles had increased the Dragon Nest Tribe’s population to a frightening number of over fourteen hundred, with daily food consumption at astronomical figures.
Logically, with the Dragon Nest Tribe’s current territory covering only a mere twenty to thirty kilometers radius, it would by no means be able to support the consumption of over fourteen hundred people.
Around the Dragon Nest, there are neither plentiful orchards nor bountiful fishing grounds, nor does it border any human frontier from which food can be seized.
Yet, the entire Dragon Nest Tribe had achieved food self-sufficiency for everyone, something that all Dragon Nest Tribe beastmen, including Quik the Fox-faced Man and Vini the Kobold, knew was entirely due to the great and noble His Highness the Blue Dragon.
Leading the beastmen to open up farming, he spearheaded the age of agricultural cultivation. The high-yielding kudzu root solved the food scarcity encountered due to the rapid expansion of the Dragon Nest Tribe, ensuring that as long as steady development continued, the tribe would be free from starvation worries forever.
Now in the eyes of the beastmen across the tribe, Austin held a status akin to a saint descending to the earth in ancient times from Austin’s previous life.
However, although the tribe formed an intense worship of the dragon, Austin didn’t let it go to his head.
Though the situation for Dragon Nest Tribe seemed exceptionally promising, problems still existed.
Looking at the most basic food supply, although the kudzu root yield was decent enough to solve the hunger problem for Dragon Nest beastmen, depending on a single food crop was too risky. Relying the survival of over fourteen hundred people on the success of kudzu root harvest was very dangerous.
If the kudzu root were to suffer from any pest or disease, Austin, unfamiliar with pesticide manufacturing, would face crop failure, and the entire Dragon Nest Tribe would be at risk of a famine crisis.
Because of this, as Dragon Nest Tribe moved into a smooth development period, Austin began reforming the types of grain being cultivated.
The first step was to diversify the food types in the reclaimed farmland,
Upon harvesting kudzu root, Austin had the beastmen cease planting kudzu vines, only growing them in the latest reclaimed fields, while in the harvested arable plots, they transplanted various edible plants from Kawa Great Forest. This not only ensured sufficient kudzu vine yield to meet the consumption demands of Dragon Nest Beastman Tribe but also sought to achieve diversity in food crops.
Beastmen were omnivorous, capable of eating many things, much like goblins who could even digest tree bark, so there was a large variety of grains in several fields, a hodgepodge.
Among these, the most widely cultivated and slightly less yielded than wild rice were thorn fruits and a plant called earth rice.
Austin gave it the name earth rice; this plant had abundant scythe-like grass leaves with a developed root system that bulged section by section to a size comparable to grains, which, when cleaned, were translucent with notable starch content. Unfortunately, its yield was even less than thorn fruit, and the harvest was rather inconvenient, not even close to kudzu vines in convenience, but now there were no better options.
At the same time, Austin also began having the beastmen open up paddy fields, preparing to plant small quantities of wild rice.
Though wild rice was yet to be domesticated and far inferior to the hybrid rice from Austin’s previous life, given the current circumstances, it was at least ranked the second most cost-effective grain crop within Dragon Nest Tribe.