Poor Tribe

"My lord, be careful, that water is hot..."

Seeing Lu Chen thrust his hand straight into the boiling water, Xiao Wei tried to stop him. But in the next moment, she saw that his palm had not changed in the slightest.

The panic on Xiao Wei's face turned into shock.

Lu Chen ignored her. After taking out the chunk of meat, he opened his mouth wide and tore into it.

His tremendous strength let Lu Chen tear through the meat quickly.

A huge piece of wild boar meat, nearly twenty pounds, was gnawed down by Lu Chen in five minutes until only a little remained.

Casually handing the remaining piece to Xiao Wei, Lu Chen left the room.

"Clean up the room. I'm leaving first."

As he walked outside, Lu Chen sighed.

"Though I was mentally prepared, boiled plain meat really is awful. From the memories of Chen, the Barbarian youth, I heard that merchant caravans from the Central Plains come to the Wild Wasteland. Maybe I can trade with them for some seasonings."

With that in mind, Lu Chen followed his old memories and hurried toward the Village Guard.

Lu Chen arrived at just the right time. When he reached the place, he found that most of the people had already gathered.

At the same time, those who had patrolled during the day had also come to the guard station to clock out.

"A'Chen, you're here."

The moment Lu Chen arrived and looked around, someone called out to him.

From his memories, Lu Chen quickly identified the person before him.

"Uncle Ya, you came too."

"I just switched to the night shift, of course I came. You little brat are really lucky. I heard Witch Doctor Master say that not only did you awaken your bloodline, you even reached the level of a Barbarian Blood Warrior today. You've truly soared to the heavens in a single step!"

"How is that soaring to the heavens? A Barbarian Blood Warrior is merely a beginning."

"That's true. Still, in our village, a Barbarian Blood Warrior already counts as a strong expert."

As he spoke, Ya pulled Lu Chen toward a raised platform beside the Village Guard.

After pulling Lu Chen onto the platform, Ya clapped his hands and said directly, "Stop what you're doing. Come recognize the new squad leader of the Village Guard. This is A'Chen. If you encounter danger while patrolling in the future, you can ask him for help."

He had joined the Night Patrol Team only to become a squad leader immediately, and at such a young age. Yet the young and middle-aged Barbarians below voiced little objection.

All that could be said was that although Barbarians were savage, they were also "simple and honest."

Strength was justice—this belief had sunk deep into the hearts of those Barbarians.

A Barbarian's status had always been seized through strength, never through age. The strength Lu Chen had displayed today made the other Barbarians acknowledge him, and they felt that he was qualified to become a squad leader.

Thus, Lu Chen's rise to the position came as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

The others agreed, but Lu Chen himself had a bit of a headache.

"Uncle Ya, isn't this inappropriate? I just joined the Night Patrol Team and don't yet understand the night patrol's taboos. Becoming a squad leader like this makes me feel that something will go wrong."

What the Night Patrol Team guarded against had never been Barbarian Beasts, but anomalies.

Moreover, the methods of anomalies were exceedingly strange. Therefore, dealing with anomalies often did not simply require great strength; one had to understand their rules.

But Lu Chen currently possessed only strength and knew nothing of the nighttime taboos. Asking someone like him to lead others made Lu Chen afraid that an accident would happen.

At this, the burly man named Ya smiled.

"Don't worry. Witch Doctor Master foresaw this long ago. He told me that for the next week, you only need to manage two or three people. Rest assured, they're all veterans. Learn from them first, and after a week, you'll truly take on the duties of a squad leader."

"I see. Thank you, Uncle Ya."

"Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Witch Doctor Master. He's the one who told me to do this."

"Witch Doctor Master..."

Thinking of the witch doctor, Lu Chen also recalled how well the old man had treated him these past few days.

"These are all debts of kindness. But I can't repay them yet. I need to grow stronger. Witch Doctor Master's wish is probably for the village to live in peace, and only strength can make that happen."

Though such thoughts ran through his heart, Lu Chen's expression did not change.

Barbarians did not care for excessive formalities. Even though Lu Chen had become a squad leader, it was enough merely to inform the others.

After that, they entered the armory to collect their weapons.

"Now that you've become a squad leader, you can receive one beast-hide garment and one weapon. Pick them out, then come register them. Remember, you'll be using your weapon for the rest of your life, so choose carefully."

This was not Lu Chen's first time entering the armory. He had come here once before when he became a patrol member.

However, back then he had entered the storeroom for ordinary warriors. This time, he entered the storeroom for Barbarian Blood Warriors. The two were somewhat different.

"I hope I can find a decent longsword."

With that thought, Lu Chen entered the Barbarian Blood Warrior armory. But three minutes later, his expression had turned rather ugly.

"As expected of Barbarians—so poor. There are far too few steel weapons here."

Yes, poor. Only after entering the storeroom did Lu Chen realize that the Barbarian Tribe was truly impoverished.

In the storeroom that served as an armory, many weapons were made of bone or stone. Weapons made of steel were scarce.

And those were only weapons. As for armor, the situation was even more miserable. Here, leather clothing sewn with a few iron plates was already the best protective gear. Full suits of steel armor simply did not exist.

"Later, I'll see if I can find a batch of weapons. The things here are far too shabby."

Though they were shabby, Lu Chen still began selecting carefully for the sake of nighttime battles.

After a while, Lu Chen stared at a black weapon in surprise.

"This is actually an iron sword!"

It was no wonder Lu Chen was surprised. The iron sword before him had truly exceeded his expectations.

Swords followed the path of lightness and technique.

At the same time, swords relied on sharpness to kill. Yet the black iron sword before him was clearly rather unexpected.

From the shape of the iron sword, one could tell that its maker had intended to forge it into an iron sword.

Unfortunately, perhaps the fire had not been hot enough, or perhaps the smith lacked skill. In any case, the iron sword before him had ultimately become something like an Iron Rod. The edges on both sides were a full five centimeters thick, without the slightest hint of sharpness.

Yet in the end, Lu Chen still chose this weapon.

He had no choice. Most of the weapons in the storeroom were like this; there were no finely made weapons at all.

"Notched, made of stone, or wrapped in iron sheets—there isn't a single good weapon here. This one at least has decent material and enough weight. I can use it as an Iron Rod."

Yes, left with no alternative, Lu Chen was already prepared to use this weapon as an Iron Rod.

Thus, wearing clothing made of beast hide sewn with several iron plates and carrying an "iron sword" around 1.8 meters long, Lu Chen walked out of the storeroom and registered it.

Seeing Lu Chen dressed like this, especially the weapon in his hand, the burly man managing the storeroom asked in surprise, "Why did you take that sword? Other than being heavy, it's completely useless."

Lu Chen was somewhat helpless at that.

"I wanted a good weapon too, but everything inside is too shabby."

"This one is at least heavy enough to smash people with. I'm strong, so a heavy weapon suits me."