"This is Riddle? What a magnificent city!"
As Riddle came into view, the exhausted Cat-men broke into astonished cheers.
They had thought Riddle was just a village, but it far exceeded their expectations.
Construction in Riddle had never stopped while the Spirit Cat Tribe was migrating.
The walls around District No. 4, directly north of District No. 2, were now five meters high. District No. 5 to the south was beginning to take shape, with its wall foundations laid and the walls already a meter tall.
Each Nine-Grid District covered ten square kilometers. The area protected by walls now covered fifty square kilometers, and there was still plenty of farmland beyond them.
Riddle was no smaller than Spirit Cat Hill. The overcrowding and sleeping rough in the Wilderness that they had imagined did not exist.
"It's quite a bit more than I expected."
As the Cat-men entered the city, Medivh stood atop the wall in District No. 1's East Reservoir District and looked down at them.
Suixiang and Suixin didn't know exactly how many Cat-men were in the Spirit Cat Tribe, and Medivh hadn't asked. He had figured there were several thousand, perhaps close to ten thousand, but fewer than that.
In fact, the tribe's population far exceeded his expectations. A quick glance told him that tens of thousands of Cat-men stood below the walls.
Suixiang was startled too. She hadn't realized there were so many Cat-men when they were usually scattered around Spirit Cat Hill.
"Lord Medivh, Cat-men are very easy to feed. We can survive on just a little food!"
Thinking Medivh disliked having so many Cat-men, Suixiang hurriedly pleaded with him in a low voice.
She explained that Cat-men were good at rationing food and didn't consume much.
They weren't gluttonous ornaments; they could gather and hunt in the Wilderness, and make all sorts of everyday goods for Riddle.
"It's fine. I can support this many people."
Medivh was merely surprised by the Cat-men's numbers. He didn't mind the amount of food they would consume.
Riddle's skeletons didn't need food, while Medivh and Audrey couldn't eat very much.
Riddle's warehouses were well stocked with potatoes, wheat, smoked fish, and smoked meat. Feeding this group of Cat-men wouldn't be a problem.
The second crop of potatoes, planted earliest, would soon be ready for a bountiful harvest.
The potatoes planted later would be ready in succession over the next one to three months.
Riddle was producing grain nonstop, and its farmland kept expanding. Its food reserves would continue to grow.
"Send some of the Cat-men to District No. 4."
There were too many Cat-men to fit comfortably in District No. 3.
Medivh gave an order from afar, telling the skeletons to open District No. 4's south gate and guide some of the Cat-men across to the district.
The Cat-men had traveled for half a month and were exhausted. After drinking the meat porridge brought by the Skeleton Chefs, they crawled into the Fort Towers in the Residential District and fell asleep.
Once the Cat-men had rested, they would be assigned homes and given their daily tasks.
While the tribespeople rested, Riddle, the middle-aged chieftain, and the other leaders of the Spirit Cat Tribe followed the Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlock to the High Tower Castle in District No. 1 to pay their respects to Medivh.
From then on, the Spirit Cat Tribe would be under Medivh's authority. They would listen to their leader's ideas and instructions.
Medivh made few demands of the Cat-men; he only needed them to follow orders.
The Spirit Cat Tribe had lost much of its inheritance, but it hadn't been completely severed.
After comparing Riddle's Inheritance Spirit Rune with the one in Riddle, they filled in some missing details and made the rune more complete.
The Spirit Cat Tribe had preserved many Cat Clan Combat Techniques, adding six to Riddle's collection. Riddle now had fifteen Cat Clan Combat Techniques.
Riddle had inherited a wealth of knowledge about Spirit Cat Warlocks. Combined with over two hundred and fifty years of experience and accumulated knowledge, this brought a qualitative leap to Riddle's Warlock Inheritance.
Riddle's two Spirit Cat Skeleton Warlocks both said they could learn a great deal of knowledge and magic from this junior. This greatly strengthened their foundations and abilities.
The Spirit Cat Tribe's arrival brought not only a wealth of supernatural knowledge to Riddle, but also a population boom.
Medivh specifically had the skeletons count them. A total of 85,328 Cat-men had moved into Riddle.
It was an astonishing number. Riddle had fewer than ten thousand skeletons in total.
With such a vast population, the Spirit Cat Tribe had plenty of promising Spirit Cat Warriors and Spirit Cat Warlocks. Training them would greatly increase Riddle's overall fighting strength.
Ordinary Cat-men who hadn't inherited any supernatural abilities could do odd jobs in Riddle's workshops. They would make a fine workforce.
After paying their respects to Medivh and learning about his policies toward the Spirit Cat Tribe, Riddle, the middle-aged chieftain, and the other Cat-men returned to District No. 4 to rest.
Suixiang and the others had wanted to stay and thank Medivh, but he sent them away with a smile.
Their exhaustion from the long journey was obvious; there was no need to tease them at a time like this.
At four thirty the next morning, before dawn, the General Kitchens in every district of Riddle were already bustling.
The Skeleton Chefs cooked fresh fish stewed with potatoes in a row of huge pots. Medivh had arranged the welcoming feast to celebrate the Spirit Cat Tribe's move to Riddle.
"Grrr!"
"That smells so good!"
As the aroma of the fish stew drifted through the air, the sleeping Cat-men's stomachs began to rumble.
They sniffed deeply, rubbed their sleepy eyes, and walked out of the Fort Towers in search of the delicious smell.
"Go get cleaned up. It'll be time to eat soon!"
Suixiang, Suixin, and the other Cat-girls moved through the Residential District, smiling as they told the drooling little Cat-men to wash up. The feast would be ready soon.
At six thirty in the morning, flatbed food carts loaded with enormous iron pots rolled out of the General Kitchens. Skeletons pulled the carts to Districts No. 2 and No. 4.
At the elders' calls, the Cat-men lined up in front of the carts to wait for their food.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Once the Cat-men were in line, a Skeleton Chef tapped an enormous iron pot and lifted the lid.
Steam billowed up, carrying the mouthwatering aroma of food.
The Cat-men stared wide-eyed and sniffed eagerly, imagining what delicacies might be inside the pots.
"It's fish!"
When the Skeleton Chef ladled out the food, the sharp-eyed Cat-men couldn't help cheering.
Cat-men loved fish, but there were few streams on Spirit Cat Hill, so they rarely got to eat this delicacy.
"I know what that is! Humans call it bread!"
After serving the Cat-man at the front of the line a small basin of fish stew with potatoes, the Skeleton Chef handed him a large piece of bread.
The fish stew was a dish, and the bread was the staple. For Cat-men who often went hungry, this was a very luxurious meal.
Cat-men didn't grow wheat, so the more knowledgeable ones explained this human food to the others.
"What's this? It's so good!"
The Cat-men who had received their meals gathered in groups of three or five to share the feast.
A little Cat-man tasted a soft, floury piece of stewed potato and curiously asked his older brother and parents about it.
"Humans call this a potato. I've eaten one before. I thought it was poisonous and tasted awful. I didn't know you could cook it like this!"
The little Cat-man's father was an experienced Warrior. When he was young, he had once stolen food from Drifter Stronghold.
He and his companions had dug up quite a few potatoes, thinking they'd have a filling meal. But after one bite, they hadn't said another word.
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