After training was over, it was time for breakfast.
Each Beastman held a wooden bowl, neatly lining up to orderly approach the stove for breakfast.
Those who got their meal first did not start eating immediately.
It wasn't because they weren't hungry or for any other reason, but because of the collective consciousness that Vini mentioned. They are a collective, so they eat together.
Once everyone had taken their share, they all sat on two long logs. Only after the last companion sat down did the Beastmen start devouring their food.
That breakfast was exceptionally delicious.
"Burp!"
Goblin Gulu burped, a white mist emerging from his mouth.
For him, since birth, he'd never known the feeling of being full; his memory was always of a hungry belly.
But during these days of captivity and transformation, Goblin Gulu finally tasted the sensation of a full meal.
Although this life of captivity wasn't particularly pleasant, with aimless toiling each day until exhaustion, compared to his previous days, Goblin Gulu clearly preferred the period of his captive life.
He even thought that if these days could last forever, it would be wonderful.
A person who's used to hunger will never want to return to those starving days after experiencing the taste of a full meal.
"His Highness Blue Dragon is truly benevolent!"
Recollecting the political lessons, the Kobold leader told them:
All our happiness stems from His Highness Austin; only His Highness Austin can save us; it is thanks to the benevolence of His Highness Austin that we can have a happy and wonderful life...
and so on and so forth. Goblin Gulu found himself deeply agreeing with these words.
However, Goblin Gulu didn't know that with continuous brainwashing, both he and the other Beastmen, even the Kobold leader Vini, developed a wholehearted worship towards the Blue Young Dragon.
And as time went on, this worship would one day evolve into an unparalleled fanaticism for Austin.
...
Just as Goblin Gulu reminisced about past hardships and present circumstances, the Kobold leader Vini approached Austin with a troubling issue.
"His Highness Austin, if things continue like this, we won't have enough food. Should we halve the food portions for the captives? Otherwise, we won't make it through this harsh winter."
Vini's face looked rather conflicted, carefully considering his words as he reported to the Blue Young Dragon.
Before the cold winter season, the Kobolds had actually prepared enough food to get through it, but who knew twenty or so Beastmen, having lost their tribes and escaped, would join later. Austin decided to transform and incorporate them into the Kobold army system.
This caused a direct increase nearly threefold in population, significantly increasing food consumption.
Although they gained a large amount of meat when they besieged the Ghost-headed Crocodile, and the Kobolds had prepared well before the cold winter,
originally only needing food for seven and a half people, suddenly an additional twenty-one required consumption four times the initial calculation. Yet, the Blue Young Dragon was unwilling to reduce the captives' food.
Thus, a food crisis loomed over the Kobold tribe.
"A food crisis..."
Upon hearing Vini's detailed report, the Blue Young Dragon pondered silently.
Honestly, he hadn't noticed this situation either.
But solving it wasn't that difficult.
"There's no need to reduce the food portions for those captive Beastmen. As for food shortages, wasn't there a lake reservoir filled with fish from when we exterminated the Ghost-headed Crocodile? After daily training, spare some time for them to fish there for food."
Back then, when clearing the Ghost-headed Crocodile, the Blue Young Dragon had already planned to utilize fishing in this lake as a food source during the scarce winter.
He also planned, after the cold winter, to see if he could start a fishing industry in that lake.
"Fishing? But the lake has already frozen over with thick ice! Even if we break a hole, no one would dare to jump into the water in this weather."
Vini thought about the scene: in the icy world, a group of Beastmen, armed with stones and sticks, breaking a hole in the ice, then selecting a Beastman to jump into the water to fish. The result was that, just after one dive, the chilling water would freeze the person stiff, and after laboriously climbing back up, they'd already become a "popsicle."
Vini quickly shook his head, dismissing such a terrifying thought from his mind.
"His Highness Austin, that method really won't work!"
Thinking about how each dive into the water to catch fish would freeze a Beastman to death, the voice of Kobold leader Vini trembled slightly.
The Blue Young Dragon glanced sideways at Vini, who barely counted as a competent lackey standing in front of him, his eyes looking as if he was gazing at an idiot.
"You don't need to jump in, just heat up a hole on the ice with fire, and the fish under the water will float up. You can also pour hot water down that hole to gather the fish faster, and then you just catch them from above."
The cold winter's chill had sealed the entire lake surface with ice, and the air in the water below was constantly being consumed. During the whole freezing season, the fish under the water were in a state of hypoxia.
By opening a hole in the ice layer, those oxygen-starved fish would naturally flock over.
As for pouring hot water, that's because the fish can't withstand the frigid temperatures, and boiling water contains more oxygen than the water under the frozen lake surface.
The warm currents and oxygen rapidly spread to the surroundings beneath the lake, hastening fish gathering.
Catching fish by opening holes in winter was a technique Austin had seen on TV in his past life.
"That'll do?"
Vini said, his tone cautious, his voice a bit hesitant.
Would fish really gather just because a hole was opened? Were they really that dumb?
"Just do as I say. If it doesn't work, come back to me."
Austin shook his head, not bothering to explain further.
No wonder the numerous Beastman races in the Kawa Great Forest lived in hunger; many things were yet undeveloped, living in ignorance, their lifestyle resembling the ancient ape-man civilization of Austin's previous world.
"Didn't you have plenty of vines left from your previous gathering? Use those vines to weave a basket, and then you can catch fish from above the hole using the basket."
After thinking a bit, Austin continued:
"After you're finished fishing, don't forget to reseal the hole with ice before you leave, otherwise, the next time you make a hole, you won't catch any fish."
Sealing the hole was to ensure the fish beneath the lake become hypoxic again, facilitating fish gathering for future fishing sessions.
"Also, you need to speed up your training; time is running out. This time, the enemy you're dealing with is not as easy to kill as the previous Ghost-headed Crocodile. Carelessness could lead to death."
The cold winter had already lasted more than a month, while the Blood Wolf pack Austin planned to eradicate still roamed freely around their territory.