Along with Ian’s joining, the tribe also began getting busy preparing for their first journey.

On the second day after Ian agreed to lead the way, Sane quickly gathered a squad of twelve beastmen from the Feline clan, Snow Leopard clan, and Avian clan to set off in search of the new food crop. This was a long journey; Collins had taught Kaelen how to carve an identification pattern for each team member to prevent them from being mistaken for wandering beastmen and captured as slaves.

Kaelen looked at the wooden tag engraved with complex patterns in his hand, feeling a vast wave of energy inside, and looked very surprised. Collins pointed at the intricate arc pattern on the top of the wooden tag and said:

"This is the Temple’s totem. Every tribe must have a seal with this totem bestowed by the Temple to be considered a standard, legitimate tribe." He pointed at the star shape on the edge: "The number of stars on the tag corresponds to the tribe’s rank; it must be approved by the Temple before it can be engraved at will. We haven’t applied for a tribe upgrade yet, so currently, our tribe is still a primary-level tribe with one star."

Kaelen sighed in admiration: "Why not engrave one for everyone in the tribe, acting as an ID card too."

"An ID card?"

"It’s an identity verification card. Everyone receives one when they first shape-shift, and they use it for the rest of their lives."

Collins was slightly stunned for a moment, then shook his head:

"It sounds good but it’s not feasible. Firstly, the verification energy within the tag only lasts for a year at most. Secondly, the tag doesn’t recognize its owner; if a clansman accidentally drops it and someone with malicious intentions picks it up, it will bring harm to the tribe."

Thinking it over, Kaelen felt that was also correct. He remembered that modern ID cards usually had an accompanying photo on the front along with identifying features and fingerprints on the back. But this was just a wooden tag; anyone could be its owner. He then thought of the Magician certification card, feeling the urge to study the array on the tag for the first time. The Magician card only needed to be bound with the owner’s spiritual energy and blood; then, only the owner could use it.

When arriving in another city or needing to be inspected, a Magician only needed to use their own spiritual energy to activate it, and the card would immediately light up.

"First, engrave these eleven tags for Ian’s group to carry. Later, wait for the teams to report their specific numbers before we engrave the required amount. Once the Temple’s totem is engraved, the tag immediately takes effect, so we shouldn’t engrave them too early." Collins took out a ready-made blank tag and meticulously engraved it.

Kaelen exclaimed: "It really is complex. The seal and texts of the Obsidian tribe were lost twenty years ago, which is why I am only seeing this thing now."

Collins nodded: "Who knows how the Temple did it. Without the seal, it’s impossible to remember the totem, meaning you can’t create a new seal yourself. You can only apply for a reissue, but that is also quite dangerous. If the tribe is still strong, the Temple will issue a new one; if it is too small and weak, then just wait to be annexed."

Kaelen narrowed his eyes, looked at the lion-head seal in his hand, and said: "It’s exactly like the Beastman Warrior Training book. Losing the book is equivalent to cutting off the inheritance." He helped Collins finish engraving the eleven tags, then picked up the seal and said:

"I will borrow this seal to show Sane. If he could break the Temple’s restriction on the training method, who knows, he might be able to break the restriction on the seal too."

Collins nodded and said: "You are the Priest of the tribe now; it’s better for you to keep this seal."

"Alright, then I’ll take my leave first." Kaelen nimbly took the seal and headed to Sane’s place, only to be informed that Sane had gone to the military camp. He didn’t ask anyone to go call Sane; he just sat down at his desk and tried to explore it himself.

The moment his spiritual energy touched the surface of the totem, it was immediately blocked on the outside. Obviously, breaking the slave mark had been so easy, yet he couldn’t penetrate the internal structure of the seal. This proved that either the person who engraved this array was more brilliant than him, or the array itself was inherently superior.

If he couldn’t explore it, so be it; he wouldn’t force it. Carefully storing the seal in the stone cabinet, he stood up and carried his pregnant belly to take a tour around the administrative area. Because of his determination to become a domineering CEO, Sane had told Mossi to rebuild the workspace for the tribe’s leaders, naming it the Crimson Tribe Administrative Area. The layout of the Administrative Area was no different from a modern company; it was also a long row of buildings where each department had its own office, connected by a wide, brightly lit corridor.

Looking inside through the glass doors, Kaelen saw everyone sitting at their seats, busy taking notes or drawing. Or, like the Agriculture and Forestry Department headed by Alden and the Textile Department headed by Randy, people would often gather together in one spot to discuss work.

The Military Department in charge by Nordhal and Barton was always deserted. Everyone worked at the military camp and was rarely in the office. As for Aaron’s Intelligence Department, it didn’t have glass walls. Furthermore, it was always tightly sealed; anyone wanting to enter had to get approval from the Chief and the Priest.

Kaelen sighed emotionally. If there was a chance, he definitely had to figure out a way to let Sane enter his sea of consciousness again. Who knows, Sane might learn even more things.

Taking a walk around, when Kaelen was heading back, he bumped right into Susan, who was about to bring documents to report. Susan immediately dragged him into the Textile Department’s office.

"Kaelen, you’re here. Thank goodness, it saves me the trouble of looking for you. We’ve just come up with a few modification methods to optimize the leather armor. Come in and help us review them."

Kaelen nodded and pulled up a chair to sit down. The Sub-Beasts in charge of the design immediately gathered around him. Randy, who was drawing on animal skin, popped his head out upon seeing this and scolded:

"What are you all swarming around for? You’re blocking all the Priest’s light. Get back to your seats."

The group immediately scattered.

Kaelen smiled to himself, spread all the design blueprints out on the table, and began reviewing them. He called Randy:

"Uncle Randy, please come here for a moment!"

Randy immediately put down his felt pen and quickly walked over. Kaelen pointed at blueprint number two and number six, saying:

"Can you see if we can combine these two into a new blueprint? The other blueprints only focus on appearance and lightness, ignoring durability and damage resistance. I see that each of these two has its own unique advantage; if they could be combined, it would be much more perfect."

Randy looked at the two drawings and asked: "How should we combine them exactly?"

Kaelen used a red felt pen to mark the excellent points of both drawings: "The chest area of number two, the arm guards of number six..."

Kaelen stayed in the Textile Department until late afternoon. At this time, Sane had also returned from the military camp. Seeing Sane, Kaelen immediately stood up, stretched to relieve his stiffness, and walked over to Sane. Sane stared fixedly at Kaelen’s belly as he stretched, then on the way back, he hesitantly said:

"It seems... your belly is even bigger than it was a few days ago?"

Kaelen immediately looked down at his belly, feeling that it really seemed to be true. Sub-Beasts only carried a pregnancy for a few months, and the cubs were very small—at most, just over a kilogram. There was no way his belly could be as huge as an eight-month pregnant woman’s like this. The two of them looked at the massive, protruding belly, then looked at each other, seeing the confusion and worry in the other’s eyes.

The couple led each other to Nyx’s place.

Nyx was also extremely baffled; in his entire life, he had never encountered a case like this. Kaelen closed his eyes, using his spiritual energy to communicate with the baby; there were responsive fluctuations, but that was all. Nyx had no choice but to say:

"There are only about twenty days left until the delivery. Why don’t you just stay in the clinic for observation?"

Kaelen didn’t want to sit still in one place at all, but Sane firmly forced him to stay: "Kaelen, the situation is too abnormal, I can’t feel at ease. Just stay at Uncle Nyx’s place. I can handle everything myself."

Under the persuasion of Nyx and Sane, Kaelen finally agreed to be ’hospitalized’. He also didn’t forget to tell Sane about the seal in the stone cabinet, and Sane nodded to show he understood.

In the following days, Sane was buried in work regarding the merchant caravan, but he still made time to visit Kaelen. He even moved his bed directly to the clinic. Sane’s mental state was extremely tense; just a slight toss and turn from Kaelen was enough to jolt him awake.

In just a few days, Sane looked visibly haggard. Kaelen felt a deep ache in his heart and sternly shooed Sane out to work, so he wouldn’t have to overthink things so much.

Finally, the day for the caravan to depart arrived. Kaelen had to plead relentlessly before Sane allowed him to go out and see everyone off. Collins performed the blessing ritual in Kaelen’s place. Sane gave a short speech and instructions; then, the entire tribe stood in place, keeping their eyes on the direction the caravan left. Only when everyone’s silhouettes had completely faded from view did they wipe the corners of their eyes and head back.

"AH!!"

Kaelen suddenly clutched his belly and cried out loudly, his face deathly pale. Sane hurriedly caught him, completely losing his usual composure.

"Kaelen! Kaelen, what’s wrong?!"

"Belly... hurts... my belly..."

A stream of reddish-brown fluid flowed down along Kaelen’s legs, dripping onto the ground. The moment Collins saw it, his expression changed, and he shouted:

"He’s about to give birth! Quick, hurry and take him to Nyx’s place!"

In an instant, the whole tribe was thrown into chaos...