The color of copper ore comes in many varieties: yellow, gold, blue, green, and several others.
What left the deepest impression on Austin, however, was this green copper ore before his eyes, because in his past life, he had seen a remarkable person on video handcraft various tools and refine copper and iron in the wild.
His admiration for the video creator was so profound that Austin remembered the steps and refining methods very vividly.
At that time, he had also fantasized that if one day he were to traverse back to the primitive world, possessing this skillset might help primitive people enter the iron age ahead of time and dominate the primitive world.
He hadn't expected life's unpredictability, finding himself truly in a situation where this knowledge could be utilized, although he didn't actually travel back to the primitive world.
"I didn't expect there to be copper ore here, and from the looks of it, quite a substantial amount too."
Austin stared at the copper ore before him, his eyes flickering as thoughts rapidly churned in his mind.
In this barbaric zone far from the civilized continent, items like copper and iron were exceptionally precious, with many large tribes of over a thousand people still stuck in the stone and bone tool stage. The few iron weapons they had were defective goods traded from the civilized continent.
Conveniently, Austin recalled the steps from that past-life genius who refined copper and iron by hand in the wild.
If he could seize this place and start a large-scale copper and iron refining industry, then arming his clan with copper weapons and clad in copper armor, combined with a well-trained army, wouldn't they sweep through the entire Kawa Great Forest?
"In that case, this place cannot be easily abandoned."
Initially, Austin had planned to wait until his forces were stronger before waging war against and annexing the Jackal Wolfman Tribe, but now it seemed imperative to make them an imminent target.
"I will return!"
The Blue Young Dragon took a deep look at the distant Jackal Wolfman Tribe, spread its wings, ascended into the sky, and disappeared beyond the horizon, while the jackal wolf men, reveling in their victory, remained blissfully unaware...
....
In the Dragon Nest Territory.
"His Highness Austin, thanks to you, the invading enemies have been defeated and captured. Whether to kill or keep these captives, we await your decision."
Kobold Vini stood before Austin, reporting everything that had transpired in the territory to Austin, quietly awaiting his response.
Looking at the respectful Kobold Vini beside him, Austin felt quite speechless.
He had gone to great lengths to search for new clan members, but returned empty-handed. Although he unexpectedly discovered copper ore, it was only after braving the cold and traveling dozens of kilometers.
Yet these kobolds seemed to have captives delivered to their door while they feasted at home.
Such is the hardship of the dragon's life; truly full of unpredictability!
"We shall transform them first, then incorporate these beastmen."
A heavily wounded Lizardman Rodney lay dormant, alongside a Fox-faced Man, two sturdy Lizardmen, seven chaotic kobolds, and ten goblins, forming a total of 21 beastmen. If he could annex and absorb them, Austin's clan strength would triple!
Once these beastmen were integrated into the kobold ranks, Austin would be able to organize a nearly thirty-strong beastman army, providing him with confidence against nearby Blood Wolf packs and even the nearby Jackal Wolfman Tribe.
"Transform?"
The Blue Young Dragon's thoughts were, of course, beyond Vini's hearing, rendering him somewhat puzzled by the term.
Based on past experience, defeated captives were either killed by their conquerors or enslaved as tribe members, so what did transformation mean?
"Yes, transform them."
For Austin, manpower was an incredibly valuable resource, not to be wantonly discarded. As for enslaving, that would result in extremely low production efficiency, which Austin could not accept.
Incorporating them post-transformation into the current Kobold military system was the approach most beneficial to Austin.
As such, on orders from the Blue Young Dragon, a rigorous transformation process began for these captives.
In the early days, these captives were divided into three groups according to race, fed only half-full each day, and tasked with heavy labor dawn to dusk. Exhausted, they would collapse into sleep upon returning to their shacks.
The various tasks of tree-felling, hut-building, and wooden spear crafting became ordeals too agonizing for the captives to bear.
Especially after one day, when Austin noticed the new captives had littered the nearby forest with waste, he immediately ordered Kobold leader Vini to build a latrine at a distance, provoking much discontent among the captives.
In Austin's plan, his clan's population had surpassed thirty, within his manageable territory of a kilometer radius. Continuing with the old nomadic gathering methods was unsustainable.
This meant that raising the beastmen's civilization level from gathering to agricultural civilization was imperative.
In the bountiful Kawa Great Forest, wild rice and wheat were not uncommon and were primarily used by Kobolds for winter storage.
Given the climate within the Kawa Great Forest, if they could collect and plant rice seeds collectively, supplemented by communal livestock breeding, it would yield enough to sustain the clan's survival under Austin.
After the cold winter season, Austin planned to teach this clan the slash-and-burn method of farming to support the growing population.
This latrine under construction wasn't just for hygiene but was also a critical component in post-winter land cultivation.
The world had yet to develop a fertilizer industry, and dung was the best fertilizer in these times.
But during this cold winter, the frozen earth was as hard as steel. Attempts to dig with wooden sticks only resulted in lost sticks and mere pot-sized depressions.
Fortunately, Lizardman Rodney's leader had an iron axe, promptly claimed by the kobolds as spoils of war, which enabled the creation of more wooden tools, sparing the captives from digging with stones or bare hands.
Even so, each day's labor left the captives utterly fatigued.
This coincided with Austin's goal of wearing out these captives' energy to the fullest extent, ensuring they never had a moment of idleness.
Following several days of high-intensity toil, these beastmen had been worn out of all vigor and resistance. As the village beneath the Dragon's Nest finally began to take shape, most of the work was complete.
The next step initiated the second phase of transformation.