In the not-so-bright firelight, the originally red eyes of this fish appeared somewhat eerie and shadowy. Its gaping mouth opened and closed with the movement of Henry Clark's hand, and the children gathered around could see the countless sharp teeth lining the inside of its mouth. After the dust was wiped off the fish's scales, they reflected a cold light, all of which added a touch of chill to the already cool night.

The few children who had just snorted at Henry Clark and were standing closest couldn't help but take several steps back, their eyes filled with deep wariness. At the same time, the way they looked at Henry Clark shifted from initial provocation and hostility to a more cautious gaze.

The tribe revered the strong. Powerful warriors in the tribe would be worshipped by everyone, and often, when solving problems, they preferred simpler and more direct methods—like violence. But aside from direct combat, one could also judge the strength gap between two sides by the prey they caught; whoever brought back better prey proved themselves stronger.

But now, everyone in the cave were children who had not yet awakened their totem power, not yet become totem warriors, and thus could not go out hunting or obtain prey—unless they stole it. Let alone catching such a fierce-looking creature.

Just one look and you could tell it wasn't easy to deal with. Look at those teeth—one swipe and who knows how much flesh would be torn off.

"You can hunt? Can you catch prey like this? Or get any other food?! You? You? You? Or you?! Which one of you can do it?!"

The children singled out by Henry Clark shrank back and shook their heads.

"You can't! Since you can't, then swallow all your dissatisfaction, all your emotions, and keep them to yourselves!"

After a stick, comes a sweet date; after harsh words, of course, comes some comfort.

Henry Clark lifted up the fish.

"This is my gift to everyone on my first day in charge!"

After Henry Clark finished speaking, the cave fell silent for a moment. After a while, a child timidly asked, "'Gift'—what is that?"

Another, a bit older, followed up, "Can we eat it?"

Henry Clark was momentarily speechless: "...Yes." So exhausting.

Whoosh—

The atmosphere in the cave instantly became lively.

All the dissatisfaction, all the caution, all the resentment—vanished into thin air.

"Eat" was probably the most beautiful and wonderful word in the world to them.

Chapter 9: As Long As It's Good Words, We'll Believe Whatever You Say

Right now, Henry Clark was at best a little cave leader, and the cave was still full of unruly little brats.

The fish he brought, Henry Clark cleaned out the innards and gills just like those two warriors had done before. There was a designated place in the cave for throwing out trash, so Henry Clark tossed it there. All sorts of leftovers were piled up there, and every few days the tribe would send someone to clean it out.

Except for the parts too tough to chew, every bit of the fish was eaten, leaving only a dismantled skeleton and that mouthful of sharp teeth.

After the children in the cave had shared the fish, they all went to sleep. Henry Clark kept a torch, put out the fire, and then took the torch to look deeper into the cave. Originally, he had planned to trade for some food and animal skins before winter came, but now that he had taken over the cave and discovered a way to fish, he was considering whether to take some people to catch more fish tomorrow. With more food stockpiled, winter would be more secure, since the tribe didn't provide much.

Everyone in the tribe was now stockpiling food before winter, and every day you could see people making jerky and preserving food. If he could get more fish, not only would the situation in the cave improve, but he could also trade fish with others in the tribe for warm furs. Henry Clark definitely didn't want to freeze in winter.

Walking through the cave with a torch, by the not-so-bright firelight, Henry Clark took a general look around. The last time he came here was not long after he had arrived in this world, and on a whim he had taken a walk around. After that, he hadn't looked deeper inside.

As the saying goes, a new official sets three fires—my turf, my rules. The fire must be lit, and the territory must be reorganized.

In the early days, when the tribe was small and there were few people, everyone lived here. The cave had been arranged with places carved out for food, firewood, furs, tools, weapons, and even a toilet. But later, as people moved out to build houses and the cave was used to house orphaned children, it became messy and a lot of space was left unused. The twenty or so children all clustered near the cave entrance, leaving plenty of unused space.

There were also ventilation shafts deeper in the cave, but since no one had gone in for a long time, they were blocked off. Even during the day, it was dark inside.

After a rough inspection, Henry Clark returned to the area near the cave entrance, spread out the dried grass that had been sun-dried during the day, put out the fire, and got ready to sleep. But for some reason, he just couldn't fall asleep tonight. The matters in the cave, the fish in the river, and the vision he saw while fishing during the day all kept running through his mind.

The more he thought about it, the more Henry Clark felt as if a pair of eyes was watching him, but he couldn't tell who it was.

The fire was out, and the cave was very dark. Outside, the moonlight shone in through the ventilation shaft, tinged with the dark blue of the night.

All the children in the cave were asleep, and the sound of snoring rose and fell. The entrance was long since blocked by a thick grass curtain, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary there.

Next to Henry Clark, Julius Caesar was quietly lying there asleep. It hadn't heard any unusual sounds, which meant there probably wasn't any danger.

Could it be that some child in the cave wasn't asleep, and was staring in this direction?