CHAPTER 518: CHAPTER 509: THE GREAT CHIEF 27

"If we catch enough of them, we can even make the cave as bright as day. By placing these Bright Light Seeds inside the cave, they can keep it illuminated for an entire cold season. When they stop glowing, we return them to the lake, and next year we can harvest many more of these shiny seeds again."

Tie’s face showed a look of nostalgia, "Back when my dad was young, the tribe’s Hunting Team went out twice to catch Bright Light Seeds to illuminate the cave. The cave was so beautiful back then. With the light, it didn’t feel so cold anymore, and people in the tribe passed the cold season much more comfortably since we had an abundance of prey. It was one of the rare times our Power Tribe didn’t lose anyone during that cold season."

At this point, Tie couldn’t help but sigh, his expression turning a bit gloomy, "Unfortunately, later on, the Power Tribe’s population dwindled, and so did our number of warriors. We couldn’t even feed ourselves properly, so who had the mind to catch Bright Light Seeds for lighting?"

Yan Shuangshuang felt a pang of sorrow in her heart as well. She still remembered that in her past life, when the Power Tribe’s cave was breached by wild beasts, there were fewer than twenty people left in the Power Tribe. In fact, the smaller the population, the harder it was to hunt for prey.

The reason humans could become top predators in this world was not due to individual strength, but because of their collective combat ability. In her past life, the Power Tribe’s Hunting Team dwindled to just five people at the end, and even the most powerful fighter, Leader Ben, died during the hunt.

With the loss of one warrior and nearly half the regular members, the Power Tribe’s Hunting Team was no longer a top predator. Beasts that used to flee at the sight of the Hunting Team started daring to attack when they saw their dwindling numbers.

The dwindling Hunting Team was exhausted just dealing with beast attacks, making it even harder to catch food. Not getting enough to eat, and lacking salt, made their physical strength and immunity decline rapidly.

Decreased physical strength meant weaker combat ability. Without combat ability, they dropped from being predators to being prey. So, the fall of the Power Tribe was actually in line with the rules of natural selection; in this primitive world, it was just a normal phenomenon.

Ben, observing Yan Shuangshuang and Tie’s gloomy moods, quickly walked over and slapped Tie hard on the shoulder, exclaiming loudly, "Hey, why think about the past? Think ahead. Our tribe now has Shuangshuang, the Divine Favored. Look at how good things have been for us lately because of her."

Ben counted on his fingers, "Look, we found the salt fruit, so we have an endless supply of salt. We also found the White Stone Fruit Forest, ensuring we won’t starve again. We’ve learned how to catch the Biting Fish and found Fire Stone. In the future, we’ll have ample meat. Now we’re even considering catching Bright Light Seeds. Our Power Tribe is only going to get better, and we won’t face starvation again. Why waste time thinking about the past? Believe that our Power Tribe will move forward and won’t regress."

Tie, interrupted by Ben, couldn’t help but smile, "Oh yes, indeed, good days lie ahead, so why dwell on unhappy things? With Shuangshuang and the favor of the God, our Power Tribe’s life will only keep improving."

Yan Shuangshuang, watching Tie and Ben engaged in eagerly catching the Bright Light Seeds, couldn’t help but flash a big smile. She stopped worrying and squatted down, bowing her head to help scoop up the Bright Light Seeds. Having lived long enough in dark caves during the cold season, she naturally hoped for a brightly lit cave.

Everyone spent an entire night harvesting Bright Light Seeds, filling all their backpacks to the brim before heading back to the cave.

The round trip cost the Hunting Team nearly ten days, yielding nothing edible, which explained why the Power Tribe wasn’t keen on spending so much time fetching Bright Light Seeds in the past.

Darkness was uncomfortable, but compared to starving, it wasn’t that unbearable. Now that the Power Tribe no longer faced scarcity of food and drink, they began to consider enhancing their living environment’s comfort.

Upon returning to the cave, everyone waiting inside erupted in cheers, rushing over to unload the Hunting Team’s backpacks. They divided the Bright Light Seeds and started looking for places to install them.

Installing them was quite simple; they just carved small holes in the stone walls of the cave and placed the glowing Bright Light Seeds inside. That spot would then light up like it had a wall lamp.

These wall lamps didn’t have switches and stayed on continuously, but the tribe members didn’t have the luxury to be bothered by lights being too bright to sleep, so their constant glow didn’t affect their lives.

Some people, too lazy to carve new holes, found old ones previously used by the Power Tribe for placing Bright Light Seeds, cleaned them out, and reused them. Once all the Bright Light Seeds were in place, the entire cave, including parts never used by people, became illuminated.

In both her past and present lives, Yan Shuangshuang had never experienced a time when the Power Tribe had Bright Light Seeds. It was her first chance to see the true appearance of the cave where the Power Tribe lived.

The top of the cave was very high, and the walls were polished to a smooth finish by the ancestors of the Power Tribe. Some walls bore simple drawings, mostly of the Power Tribe warriors hunting. Despite their rough simplicity, they possessed a distinctive rustic beauty.

Yan Shuangshuang also unexpectedly found a staircase-like place in the cave, clearly carved out by human hands, which shocked her. She had lived here for so many years, yet she never knew of such a place!

Seeing Yan Shuangshuang’s surprise, Yu explained, "Above here is another cave, even more spacious than the one below. When the Power Tribe had a large population and safety wasn’t a concern, there were many elders and children. The lower cave was for those with mobility issues - the elderly and children. The upper cave was for the young. As our numbers decreased and times became tough, even lacking time to fetch Bright Light Seeds, this place became inconvenient to reach in the dark. With fewer people, we all settled in the lower cave, leaving this place empty."

Yu, looking somewhat wistful and longing, gazed at the dark, cave entrance, untouched by the Bright Light Seeds. Sighing softly, "It’s said that when the Power Tribe had its highest population, this place was full of people."