novelraw Chapter 496 - 33: Native Prisoners_2
Chapter 496 - 33: Native Prisoners_2
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On Saturday, no one else is allowed to beat or scold the Native Tribe without permission, so this task seems particularly tedious for all those responsible for watching over them.
They can only hold their weapons, squat at the door, and quietly wait for the Leader to wake up and issue the next orders.
But this is also good, at least they don’t have to work, just treat it as a holiday.
Moreover, the cabins are not far apart, and although the guards cannot communicate with the Native Tribe, they can talk to each other, which is a way to pass the time.
...
While the guards were shouting outside, talking back and forth, a different scene unfolded inside the cabin.
Captured inexplicably and brought to this Big Island inexplicably, then locked up inexplicably, each native captive was filled with trepidation.
They huddled in the dark corners of the room, listening to conversations in an unfamiliar language, and couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.
Someone said that the people outside were discussing how to eat them.
This notion fits well with the primitive tribe’s usual understanding, causing great panic among them.
Others said that the people outside did not look like they were going hungry, so they probably wouldn’t eat them, but those people were all apostles of the Demon and might sacrifice them to the Demon.
For the superstitious and ignorant natives, this notion was even more terrifying, deepening the fear in their hearts upon hearing it.
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As time gradually passed, whether it was eating raw or being sacrificed, both were defeated by hunger.
The voices outside went from continuous to intermittent, and the natives still couldn’t understand what they were saying, only finding it hypnotic.
But the ropes on their hands and feet only loosened a little, and they couldn’t move their bodies at all, feeling uncomfortable lying on the ground. Coupled with the fear in their hearts and the hunger in their stomachs, they couldn’t sleep at all.
The dark cabin couldn’t show the rise and fall of the sun, making the passage of time extremely slow in this environment.
The native captives lost the strength to communicate until someone pushed open the door and fed them some water, one by one.
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The cabin housing the third group of captives.
The moment the door was pulled open, the long-awaited light shone in, followed by the sound of leather boots stepping on the ground.
The natives curled up on the ground instinctively raised their heads, and in the golden light of the setting sun, they clearly saw the face of the person entering the room, finding it somewhat familiar.
"Why does this person look so much like the warrior who used to follow the Leader?"
The native captive on the ground widened his eyes.
When the zebra walked up to him, prying open his mouth to pour water into it, he could clearly see the zebra’s appearance, causing the native to start shouting loudly.
He called out the name the zebra had in the tribe, but got no response, instead making the zebra somewhat annoyed.
Calling out while drinking water caused the water to go down the captive’s windpipe, making him cough and curl up painfully on the ground like a suffering shrimp.
According to Saturday’s instructions, each native captive must drink at least half a bowl of water to ensure their survival.
But this native captive angered the zebra, who was extremely reluctant to face the days spent in the primitive tribe, as it was an indelible stain for him.
In his anger, he only gave the shouting native captive a sip of water, then poured the remaining water on the ground before continuing to feed the other three.
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After the zebra left, the door was tightly closed again.
The native captive who had only drunk a sip of water finally stopped coughing, asking his companions whether they recognized the person who had just fed them water.
Within the entire Native Tribe, the zebra’s height and build made him stand out, and for this reason, he was highly valued by the Leader, often seen around the tribe.
This native captive recognized him, and naturally, the other three did as well. However, seeing the consequence of the one who shouted, they wisely kept quiet.
Only after confirming it was safe did they start speaking softly.
A year ago, when the old Priest disappeared, the Leader sent a group of warriors to Big Island to search for the old Priest’s whereabouts, which everyone in the room knew well.
Later, that elite team vanished on the sea, and the old Priest wasn’t found, with the ensuing impact well known to those in the room.
Now, seeing the missing person in this unfamiliar place again, they all had almost the same guess in their hearts—
The old Priest and those sent to find him were all bewitched by the Demon, turning the warriors who once believed in the Celestial God into the Demon’s minions.
And this act of giving them water was possibly not a gesture of goodwill, but a prelude to something more frightening.
Looking at the dark room, listening to the wind outside, and thinking about the unknown outcome, they felt more and more terrified.
...
Fortunately, Chen Zhou was concerned about dealing with the captives, not letting the natives remain tense for too long.
After sleeping for about six hours, he got up with a groggy head from the bed.
By this time, Saturday could no longer hold out and returned to his room to sleep.
In Chen Zhou’s bedroom, only Little Dragon Cat and a few other cats were resting.
Lai Fu, who had originally been lying by the bed, had somehow moved to the doorway, curled up in a ball, leaning against the door like a guard, watching over his master.
The sun had already set, and the unlit bedroom was pitch black.
When someone sleeps during the day and wakes at dusk, the empty house often creates a strong sense of loneliness, as if disconnected from the entire world.
Chen Zhou was no exception, but upon seeing the few cats on the cat tree and Lai Fu, his mood lifted significantly.
...
Stepping out, Chen Zhou checked the situation with Sunday, who had taken over from Saturday in managing the native captives, and after learning that the captives’ emotions were relatively stable, he felt slightly relieved.
When he first formulated the plan to capture the natives, he set the target at 12 people.
The reason for capturing 12 people was because Chen Zhou thought that apart from himself, Sunday, Saturday, and the Native Tribe people, there were only six people capable of overseeing the captives, helping them adapt to the new life, and monitoring them.
These six people could each manage two captives, which basically wouldn’t cause any issues.
But Sunday exceeded expectations this time, capturing a total of 15 people, leaving the handling of the three extras as a problem.
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While interacting with Sunday and eating some still warm food, Chen Zhou ultimately decided to select three people for personal guidance—
On the island, only having Saturday and Sunday as trustworthy and capable confidants was inadequate.
These captives were all young, with the potential to become the next Saturday or Sunday, so Chen Zhou wanted to give them a chance.
...
But determining how to select "high-quality" natives remained a question.
Chen Zhou didn’t rush to inspect the conditions of the captives, as it had been less than 24 hours since they were captured on the island, and no matter how fragile they were, they wouldn’t starve to death.
He found some "basic phonetic teaching boards" and "basic arithmetic boards" from Saturday’s room, intending to use these to test the captives’ memory and logical thinking abilities.
In the stipulated time, the natives who could memorize the most phonetic pronunciations and understand addition and subtraction logic would be his preferred candidates.
Besides these two tests, Sunday proposed a new suggestion—physical fitness testing.
However, considering all the natives had been hungry for a whole day and were malnourished in the tribe, they couldn’t truly express their physical potential.
Han Yu once said,
"A thousand-mile horse, when fed, might consume a stone of grain.
The horse’s feeder does not understand its potential to travel a thousand miles. Even if the horse has the potential to travel a thousand miles, if it isn’t well-fed, its strength is insufficient, and its talent cannot be displayed."
Even if the native were a character like Bolt, if they had never had enough to eat in over ten years, they probably couldn’t outrun any athlete in the town’s school sports team.
Chen Zhou felt it was better to assess the physical fitness test in a few months.
Moreover, he didn’t value the natives’ physical fitness that much, emphasizing more on their character and learning ability.
Of course, as a combat personnel, Sunday valued combat prowess more, which was understandable.
After observing for a while, he would select a few loyal and physically excellent candidates for Sunday to manage and train.
And next time they captured natives on the island, he would avoid sending Kosu and Kulu.
Especially Kulu.
If there were other capable people available, he would never let this not-so-clever guy participate in such a critical task.