Published: March 12, 2025
CHAPTER 265: Entering Minotaur Tribe Territory
Wells and the others were not advancing quickly; they were still within the territory of the pighead tribe. Although there was no animosity between the minotaurs and the pighead tribe, it was still not appropriate to wander around in someone else's territory. Therefore, Wells and his group were being very cautious. Whenever they encountered smaller pig tribes, they would greet them first, as failing to do so might lead to misunderstandings.
Orcs operated this way. If you did not harbor any malice towards them, you had to take the initiative to greet them when meeting. If you did not greet them, it could only mean two things: either you had malicious intent or you looked down on them. Either case was sufficient to provoke hostility.
Orcs loved to entertain friends. If you arrived at their home, you were expected to feast; otherwise, they would see it as a sign of disrespect. Not only would they not treat you as a friend, but they might also view you as an enemy.
There was no animosity between the pighead tribe and the minotaurs, and Wells and his group were merely passing through. However, whenever they encountered smaller pig tribes, they would still visit and stay overnight. Zhao Hai would also conduct some trade with them, generally swapping food for magical beasts.
However, most of the tribes they interacted with were small, so they did not manage to acquire any particularly strong magical beasts. Instead, most trades involved mountain goats, and unique magical beasts from certain tribes were not available for exchange with Zhao Hai.
The orc tribes placed great importance on their unique magical beasts, which typically served as their mounts and were considered their beast kin. If it weren't for Zhao Hai's good rapport with Spill and the large amount of food he provided, Spill wouldn't have gifted the spraying pig to Zhao Hai, as it was equivalent to a beast kin for the big-bellied pig tribe.
Zhao Hai was quite satisfied; he had acquired several mountain goats and a large quantity of wool products. It was worth noting that these small orc tribes were quite generous, as they rarely encountered human merchants throughout the year. Now that there was a human merchant willing to trade with them, they were obviously very pleased.
Due to these unexpected developments, Laura and the others could not follow their original plan to meet Atai. However, Laura still sent a Blood Eagle to deliver a message to Atai, instructing him to scout out the situation at Beast God City first.
Zhao Hai was somewhat curious about the mysterious Atai, the only subordinate Laura had in the Orc Prairie, which spoke volumes about her trust in him.
Zhao Hai also learned from Laura that, over the years, Atai had earned quite a bit of money for her in the Orc Prairie, enough to account for about a third of her total assets, which was a significant number.
Everyone knew that doing business in the Orc Prairie was very lucrative; however, most large merchants dealt with war tribes, while small merchants primarily worked with ethnic tribes. The profits for these smaller merchants were indeed limited, and they often faced robbery from orcs, so the money they earned was less than people typically imagined.
In this context, Atai's ability to earn such a substantial amount for Laura highlighted his competence, piquing Zhao Hai's curiosity about him.
Currently, Zhao Hai had few capable individuals under his command; Atai was one, Xu Wanying was another, Ser was also among them, and Oroja was the last.
Zhao Hai had yet to meet Atai, but Laura trusted him greatly. Xu Wanying was currently assisting Galen at Iron Mountain Fortress, and Ser was in the same situation. Although Oroja was an undead being, his capability to manage operations under Carlo's command was significant, and he was now responsible for overseeing the oil mill and rice fields at Iron Mountain Fortress, managing tasks effectively.
On the other hand, Mu Tou and Shi Tou were somewhat lacking in this area as both preferred training. They had now reached the level of sixth-tier warriors. While this might not seem high, considering their age, they were considered geniuses on the continent.