It Seemed Like It Might Work After All

Don't forget, it was spring now, and the weather was gradually warming up. Judging by the rough estimate, daytime temperatures had probably already reached around twenty degrees. All things were coming back to life, and it was once again the season when animals mated.

Quite a few of the wild rabbits they had caught were probably already capable of mating.

It was even possible that some of the wild rabbits they had caught were already pregnant.

With that thought in mind, Zhou Xu examined the wild rabbits in the cage.

Just then, the nest of wild rabbits suddenly erupted into a commotion. Looking closely, he saw that one rabbit had abruptly attacked another rabbit that had come near it.

It had happened very quickly. If not for the passive boost from the Eye of Insight, he might not have noticed it in time.

"This rabbit..."

The attacked wild rabbit fled to the side in a somewhat sorry state, while the rabbit that had launched the attack was now huddled in the corner of the cage, with quite a bit of hay piled up around its body.

"Could it be pregnant?"

[Generally, after a female animal becomes pregnant, its aggression will increase in order to protect the offspring in its belly...]

Thinking of this, Zhou Xu immediately gestured to the tribe member beside him.

"Move the rabbit huddled in the corner to the cage beside it."

To provide pregnant rabbits with a more stable and safer environment, after making the first rabbit cage, they had prepared a cage specifically for pregnant rabbits beside it, making it easier to care for them.

The people responsible for looking after the rabbits were members of the tribe's Agriculture Department.

Although their tribe still had not found any crops and entered the Agricultural Era, raising livestock was itself a part of agriculture.

Therefore, the fishermen catching fish on the lake, as well as the people responsible for raising rabbits here, all belonged to the Agriculture Department.

Aside from them, they naturally had actual agricultural workers as well. There was only one...

After all, there were no crops to cultivate yet, and no one knew when they would find any. With the tribe already short-handed, assigning too many people to farming would simply be a waste of labor.

Under these circumstances, the reason they had assigned one agricultural worker was naturally because there was work for him to do.

They had no crops, but they still had to begin the preliminary preparations.

For example, loosening the soil and stockpiling fertilizer.

Those things took time too. They couldn't wait until the crops had already been delivered to their doorstep before starting to deal with them, could they? That would make the efficiency far too low.

All those preparations had to be completed ahead of time.

Then, as soon as the crops arrived, they could plant them immediately.

The land currently designated for agriculture lay on the outskirts of Black Moon Camp. Zhou Xu had provisionally reserved plenty of space for the camp's future expansion.

Centered around Black Moon Camp, he had already roughly planned out the future layout of this entire surrounding area. Now, all that remained was to implement it step by step.

"Chief, we've brought back all the trees we need."

He had only just finished arranging matters for the pregnant rabbit when the members of the logging team came running over.

As the tribe developed, their demand for timber continued to grow.

Therefore, Zhou Xu had specially formed a logging squad. For now, the entire team consisted of five relatively suitable tribe members.

By this point, the trees they had felled were already piled up beside the lake.

According to his previous arrangements, these trees were to be used to make rafts.

The former members of the Black Moon Tribe had accumulated a certain amount of experience making rafts. Zhou Xu, on the other hand, had no practical experience with it at all.

But that did not matter. Put simply, what he had to do was upgrade the way the rafts were bound on the existing foundation, making them sturdier.

Although it sounded simple, moving the trees was tiring work in itself, and securing and binding them together was even more exhausting. Unexpectedly, it turned into a major undertaking.

Working together and lending each other a hand, several people spent almost the entire afternoon before finally tying the two rafts together.

"Phew—"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Zhou Xu let out a long breath. It took him quite a while to recover.

When they only ate one meal a day, this kind of physical labor placed a heavy burden on their bodies. After one round, it was enough to leave them exhausted and dizzy.

This situation would undoubtedly affect their work efficiency as well.

By now, Zhou Xu had already begun considering increasing their meals and changing their daily ration to two meals a day.

In fact, he had always had this plan.

According to his original plan, however, this arrangement was supposed to happen only after they had successfully raised and bred the wild rabbits.

After all, once rabbit breeding reached a certain scale, eating two meals a day would no longer be a problem.

But at their current pace, Zhou Xu estimated that it would take at least two or three months to reach any meaningful scale.

As for changing to two meals a day now...

It seems like it might work after all.

As this thought flashed through his mind, Zhou Xu's gaze fell upon the rafts before him, which were ready to officially enter the water.

Feeling the tribe members' gazes upon him, Zhou Xu recovered his breath and forced himself to perk up. He stepped forward and placed one foot on the edge of the raft.

Then, with a burst of strength, he kicked the raft straight toward the lake!

At the same time, he seized the opportunity to jump onto the raft and drifted toward the lake with it. Amid the cheers of the crowd, the raft's launching ceremony was completed.

Unlike the two rafts they already possessed, the changed binding method made the new rafts tighter and sturdier, granting them much better stability.

The sweat they had shed throughout the afternoon had shown them the results and rewards they deserved in the most direct way. The feeling was fulfilling and exhilarating.

The tribe members who had helped make the rafts were all visibly excited. At the same time, the fishermen who were catching fish on the lake also turned their gazes toward them, making them the center of attention on that stretch of water.

That's right. Changing to two meals a day now might work after all. In another two days, the number of rafts in use by the tribe will have increased to four. At the same time, the fishing nets from the Equipment Department should be almost finished. By then, our fishing efficiency will be able to double directly!

At that thought, Zhou Xu immediately came alive.

As they returned to shore, the fishermen also happened to finish their work for the day and were preparing to spread out the fishing nets on the racks beside the lake to dry.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhou Xu called the fishermen over and began giving them instructions.

"Starting tomorrow, use the two newly made rafts for fishing. The two old rafts need to be reinforced again."

Clearly, in Zhou Xu's eyes, the two old rafts were somewhat dangerous. For the sake of safety, he also needed to set aside time to reinforce them again.

Once the reinforcement was complete, all four rafts could be used at the same time!