Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: From Primitive Era Chieftain to Space Era Emperor
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Both tribes' members had surrounded us.
The Whirlwind Tribe was one thing, but the warriors of the enemy tribe were visibly excited even before the fight began.
The chieftain himself stepping up to fight.
It was truly an era overflowing with romance.
We faced each other.
"What's your name?"
"Stone Fist."
A physique rivaling Black Bear's.
His entire body was wrapped in muscle, and his fists looked massive and rock-hard.
Having some skill in fisticuffs from his youth must be why he earned that name.
"Hope you're as strong as the name suggests."
Now we opened the distance.
About 10 meters.
A range where we could rush each other in an instant.
I prepared to charge.
I had to demonstrate overwhelming power right here.
Killing the enemy chieftain wouldn't be a problem, but with that build, he'd make for excellent service under Black Bear—so I'd decided against it.
Black Stone took a step forward between us and raised his hand.
"Begin!"
The moment he shouted, I exploded forward.
Blood surged to my heart before flooding my muscles, the overly compressed fibers absorbing oxygen and snapping out at tremendous speed.
Power boiled up through my entire body.
Having gone all-in on physical stats from the start meant there was no way I'd be outmatched in raw bodily condition.
Pabababak!
My toes shoved the dirt aside.
The world blurred into a white haze, leaving only my opponent in view.
Even my vision seemed to narrow.
Stone Fist's pupils shook wildly.
Fast!
He didn't voice it, but his expression said it all.
His guard came up.
He figured he could block the first strike that way—but he couldn't have been more wrong.
Kwang!
The instant my powerful blow landed, his guard shattered.
A direct hit to the front would have pulverized his arm, so I adjusted the angle for something like three weeks' recovery time.
My fist slammed straight into Stone Fist's cheekbone.
A heavy impact reverberated through me.
His face crumpled sideways, his feet briefly lifting off the ground.
I'd seen the UFC's ranking of the cruelest KOs once, and Stone Fist's face looked just like one of them.
That massive frame spun several times through the air before crashing into the dirt.
"……."
A moment of silence.
Everyone's mouths hung open.
The Whirlwind Tribe warriors snapped out of it first and let out a roar.
"Woooah!"
The rest of the tribe cheered too, their voices laced with awe.
On the Black Tribe's side, meanwhile, legs buckled one after another.
A couple even collapsed outright onto the ground.
But the warriors recovered quickly.
The macho men of this era stared blankly at what had just happened for a moment before erupting into shouts.
"Incredible!"
"First time seeing a fist stronger than Stone Fist's!"
At this point, I started to worry a little.
Was Stone Fist dead instantly or something?
"Wake him up. I didn't hit him hard enough to kill."
That was what I figured, anyway—but if he was dead, oh well.
Black Stone directed a tribesman to fetch water.
They doused Stone Fist's face with it like idiots, and he woke with a sputtering puha.
He shot to his feet, only to stagger and plop back down.
And then came the shout.
"It's a tiger!"
"……!"
"Our new chieftain's a tiger!"
"Woooah!"
Only now did the Black Tribe start hollering too.
With their own chieftain acknowledging it, the formal procedure—whatever it was—had been followed, and they were effectively absorbed into the tribe.
Stone Fist nodded.
"As promised, we'll submit."
"Welcome to the Whirlwind Tribe."
I turned away, but I couldn't stop the grin tugging at my lips.
Looking at those Black Tribe physiques—beautiful labor power had just joined us in droves.
The Black Tribe folk were swept up in massive culture shock, just like the Upstream Tribe had been.
No—even worse.
Our village was now mass-producing bricks, putting it on the level of Iron Age civilization.
Brick houses going up everywhere, perfectly straight paved roads.
With its sharp right angles, the settlement was developing into a planned city—what must they have been thinking?
No doubt it hit them like Earthlings encountering an alien civilization.
"They laid stones on the ground!"
"How is this even possible?!"
"Houses made of stone!"
"The smoke's rising straight to the sky!"
Murmurs rippled through them.
Unable to even comprehend the scale, some trembled.
This convinced the Black Tribe that we'd achieved tremendous progress not just in combat, but across all aspects of life.
They toured the village.
Meanwhile, our tribesfolk watched them with eyes reserved for primitives—a frog never remembers its tadpole days, indeed.
Stone Fist was the first to show some drive.
"What do we do?"
"Rest for now. You all suffered getting here."
"Thanks!"
No need to thank me.
They'd be thrown into labor the moment they recovered.
For now, we fed the new arrivals.
They'd brought some scraps they called food, but after trying our smoked dishes, they opted to toss the spoiled meat.
Compared to Whirlwind Tribe fare, what they'd carried was little more than garbage.
After the meal, we treated the wounded.
Whatever that blackened mammoth had done, there were several with severe injuries.
Typically you'd just leave them behind, but dragging them all the way here showed these folks had a humane side.
While the midwives and healers tended to them, I called over Black Stone.
"Take a census?"
"Right."
Black Stone was getting used to my methods by now.
Appointing people based on ability.
Even with the tribe around 400 strong now, progress demanded we pick out the standouts.
The results: one healer, two with sharp eyes, and two who could support Red Rock's shieldbearers.
Unfortunately, despite their physiques, no exceptional minds turned up—Stone Fist was the only noble candidate.
The mammoth hunt began.
A hill overlooking the forest.
Rangers were luring the mammoth, and just in case, we'd fully armed all trained warriors except the Black Tribe and positioned them behind the trap.
Kung! Koong!
-Guooooh!
"……."
The mammoth bellowed as it rampaged through the forest, smashing everything.
Trees and all got obliterated by that colossal frame—was this really an elephant ancestor, or just a monster?
The rangers dashed ahead of the blackened mammoth.
Two on lure duty, two on rotation.
They had no choice but to relay the lure from behind cover: one team jabbed the hind thigh muscle with an obsidian tip to enrage it, while the other shook a leather scrap laced with salt and fat to draw it by scent.
At that point, it seemed less like scent-luring and more like pure pissed-off rampaging—a reasonable suspicion.
The mammoth wasn't all that fast given its size.
The problem was its stride length.
The rangers were struggling.
Black Stone, watching from beside me, spoke up.
"On flat ground, they'd be dead."
"I'll handle it."
I grabbed a spear and charged out.
The one in my hands had been specially modified for mammoth hunting.
We'd taken sturdy water ash wood, hollowed out the front shallowly to shift the balance forward, and packed it with stone powder and resin to weight the tip.
Tech limits meant we'd only hollowed the front roughly to adjust the center of gravity.
Obsidian spearhead.
One-shot deal—if it didn't pierce the skull, we'd be in trouble.
The forest's edge.
The moment the two rangers emerged, they split to the sides.
Seconds later, the massive beast burst out.
Impressive from afar, utterly overwhelming up close.
Elephant-shaped but covered in long fur, with grotesquely elongated tusks.
Its eyes burned an unnatural blood-red—less beast, more monster.
The aggro snapped straight to me.
No need for scent-luring.
It radiated pure intent to kill any human on sight.
I ran for all I was worth, sweating through my soles.
One wrong move and those tusks would gore me—who knew what'd happen then.
Immortal body or not, if it shredded and digested me, what then? No clue.
It had been ages since I'd felt real fear.
The mammoth's excited breath panted hot on my heels.
Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!
The earth itself seemed to shake.
Pebbles jittered all around, visible proof.
Finally.
The shield wall of warriors came into view.
The trap's starting line.
I accelerated explosively and kicked off the ground.
My body floated.
The plan's crux: leap the pit.
10 meters across—world long-jump record's under 9, superhuman territory.
Having sacrificed intelligence for physical prowess made this possible.
Though once I got here, my smarts seemed boosted to modern levels.
The instant I landed, a roar erupted behind me.
The mammoth, unable to overcome its momentum, plunged into the pit and thrashed like mad.
It twisted every which way, slamming tusks into the walls in a desperate bid to escape.
"Net!"
Charruk!
The shield wall parted as warriors surged forward, spreading the net wide.
The mammoth's attempts to climb out ground to a halt.
My turn.
Hard to aim with all its flailing.
Target: between the eye and behind the ear—the thin temporal bone spot.
"Hup!"
My muscles swelled in an instant.
Finally.
Kkwa-jik!
-Kkieeek!
Its long wail cut off abruptly.
The beast shuddered all over before going still, dead.
A thrill raced up my spine.
I raised my fist high.
"Woooah!"
"Woooaaah!"
After so long in primitive life, I'd apparently gotten hooked on their cheers without realizing it.