Hidden Talent

The first thing Zhou Xu taught the tribe members was how to twist tree-bark rope.

It was not difficult. As long as they learned with a little seriousness, they could master it quickly.

However, judging by how quickly they learned, he could roughly tell which of them were more skilled at this kind of handiwork.

"All right, you few, go help gather branches and strip bark."

Through this observation, Zhou Xu directly replaced the tribe members who were not very good at the task.

After all, aside from handicrafts, there were still quite a few things to do within the tribe.

Keeping watch, gathering branches, stripping bark, tending the fire, and so on.

Keeping watch and tending the fire aside for now.

At present, they still had a great demand for branches.

Not merely for stripping bark. More importantly, if they wanted to obtain a more plentiful supply of freshwater and keep the fire pit burning, they had to continually add wood as fuel.

With that in mind, the temperature here would surely drop after nightfall.

In fact, he could already feel a hint of cold by now.

And there were nearly thirty of them. One fire pit was nowhere near enough; they needed at least two.

Now that they had successfully made fire, this was only a minor issue.

After roughly teaching them how to twist tree-bark rope, Zhou Xu found a spare moment and used the stones they had brought back to build another stone stove on the other side of the tribe. He lit a fire in it for the tribe members to keep warm.

Unfortunately, they currently had only one Gourd Pot, and they could not find any suitable bone plates either. Otherwise, Zhou Xu would not have minded making another 'Freshwater Extraction Device.' That way, their efficiency at obtaining freshwater would be even higher.

At the same time, this matter made him realize another problem.

[With so many mouths in the entire tribe, they can't rely on boiling water on the spot every time they want freshwater, can they?]

[If I can't make two sets of equipment to increase the extraction speed, then I can only store more during normal times. In other words, I need containers.]

Thinking of this, Zhou Xu's gaze swept over those few gourd bowls once more.

Their number and capacity were both limited. Considering what came later, they were nowhere near enough.

[I have to think of something. As for containers... I wonder if I can use that bone dagger to hollow out a wooden bowl. But before that, I need to find wood with enough thickness and width.]

As Zhou Xu thought, he glanced at the distant Black Forest.

The trees in the Black Forest were certainly thick enough. The problem now was that if he wanted to do this, he first had to chop down a large tree and obtain its trunk wood. After that, he would even have to consider how to split the wood.

To accomplish these things, they inevitably needed a tool—an axe!

Bone was unsuitable for making an axe.

For one thing, they could not find bones of a suitable shape. One look at the weapons in the tribe members' hands was enough: they were basically daggers and Bone Spears. There was no sign of an axe at all.

For another, the bones they currently possessed were probably not as strong as the more common stones. If they forcibly used one as an axe, the bone would most likely shatter during the chopping.

Compared with stones, which were easier to find, that would be an entirely unnecessary loss.

[A stone axe is definitely necessary. But even if I make one and chop down a tree, hollowing out a wooden bowl still sounds incredibly difficult.]

Clearly, after thinking it through, Zhou Xu had realized that under the current circumstances, making a wooden bowl would be far more troublesome than he had imagined.

But was there anything else that could replace it...

[Pottery?]

When he had played this type of game in the past, one of the important signs of entering the Stone Age was researching pottery-making.

Unfortunately, he could not accomplish that by clicking a mouse twice and tapping a keyboard twice.

Zhou Xu had never studied pottery-making at all, but! When he was little, he had played with mud by the river.

Pottery was fired from clay. He still knew this practically common-knowledge fact. As for where to find clay...

Based on the shallow experience he had accumulated from playing with mud by the river as a child, the answer was the riverbank and the river itself.

The mud in the river had been soaked in river water for a long time and scoured by the current, giving it a fine, sticky texture that made it easy to shape.

Of course, he did not have the time to deal with this for now. Making traps and solving the tribe's food and clothing problems was clearly more important.

Once the tree-bark rope was nearly finished, he began teaching the tribe members how to weave baskets from tree bark.

There was no need to say more. He intended to make the relatively simple basket-cover trap. When he was little, he and his playmates had mainly used this to catch birds.

He had also considered making snare traps, but he was not familiar with those. He was more at ease weaving baskets; at least, nothing would go wrong.

In this current environment, he had little room for error. All he wanted was stability.

As for what to use as bait beneath the cover?

He had already planned that out as well: the insect heads and innards they pinched off and did not eat. That would count as making full use of everything.

For the sake of efficiency, the baskets could be woven with gaps instead of being too tightly packed. Their targets were rats, after all. As long as the rats could not crawl out, it would be fine. This would not only save some effort but also conserve tree bark.

The thing itself was not very complicated. Besides, the people weaving baskets alongside him had all been selected after he screened them repeatedly; they could be considered some of the more Nimble Hands members of the tribe.

After he taught them a few times, they more or less understood. At most, he would only need to give them a little guidance when necessary.

Unlike the other tasks before this, once Zhou Xu got into the rhythm of this handiwork, he did not even need to look at his hands for their movements to remain unaffected. It was truly a case of practice making perfect.

This finally gave Zhou Xu some free time, allowing him to turn his attention to that system that appeared from time to time.

[If I really have a system, can I open some kind of panel?]

Almost as soon as this thought flashed through his mind, Zhou Xu's vision blurred, and a virtual interface popped directly into existence before him.

Name: Zhou Xu

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Race: Human

Status: Hungry

True Word: Eye of Insight

Talent: Evolutionary Leader: Survival of the Fittest, Survival of the Fittest, is the unchanging law of this world since time immemorial. Only through constant evolution can one stand tall amid the mighty current of civilization! Lead your people and complete a great evolution!

Might: ★★☆

Intelligence: ★★☆☆

Spirit: ★★★☆☆

Endurance: ★★☆☆

Command: ★☆☆☆☆

Subjects: 31 people

Territory: Salt Lake Tribe

Looking at this attribute panel of his, Zhou Xu was a modern man who had played quite a few games, so he could basically understand the star ratings.

If his judgment was correct, the solid stars represented the current strength of his various attributes, while the stars that remained empty represented his future growth limit.

There was no need to discuss the other attributes for now. He still had some idea of his own abilities, but that Command attribute with a maximum of five stars truly left even him astonished.

[I didn't know I had this hidden talent!]