Chapter 51: Another Bonfire

I accelerated the gameplay until the last afternoon before Manu and Kat arrived at the Redtooth Tribe the next day. My two colonists are preparing for the night.

Not that I purposely stopped fast-forward. The feature stops itself, a sign that another event will occur.

Just as Kat pulled a few jerky out of her bag, Rox barked at a large tree some distance from my colonists.

Kat stood up. "Who's there?"

Manu, who was trying to burn the branches for the bonfire, turned to where Kat was looking. "Your dog senses someone, Kat?"

"I don't want to make a fuss." Lifting both hands, a man with a headband and spiky hair came out from behind the tree. "I just wanted to join you guys in that bonfire. I brought my own food."

The man's body looks well built, with slightly prominent muscles. He wore pants and a shirt like Manu, but with neater stitches.

"Woof! Woof!!!" Rox barked more and more intensely. Kat snapped her fingers, and the pet went straight back to its master.

[???? (Exiled Tribe Member)]

STATS:

Ranged Attack: 7/100

Melee Attack: 77/100

His melee stat is pretty good. Maybe he can be a great addition to my colony. I immediately asked Manu to ask the man a few things.

"What's your name and where are you from?" Manu advances a bit.

"My name is Jia, I come from…. You could say I come from a tribe far away." The man replied with a faint smile. "So, do you guys mind? Just one night, really. Tomorrow we will part away. With more people, things will get better, right? There's an extra person to take turns on guard."

Kat and Manu exchanged glances.

"Ah, I will take the middle shift. You can sleep early or late, so that your sleep is not disturbed in the middle." The man named Jia added.

[Jia, 32 years old (Exiled Tribe Member)]

STATS:

Ranged Attack: 7/100

Melee Attack: 77/100

Crafting: 16/100

Cooks: 72/100*

Plants: 1/100

Mining: 22/100

Animals: 1/100

Medic: 34/100

TRAITS:

Brawler – Jia likes close combat and hates using ranged weapons. His melee attack accuracy is outstanding.

INCAPABLE OF:

-

HEALTH ISSUES:

A scar on the right hand (Working speed -18%).

Not bad. He could replace Seb for cooking duty. Seb can focus on his plants, so he doesn't get too tired. Well, I know Seb's highest interest is in cooking. However, it would be better if the cook was the one with the highest stats, right? Maybe once in a while, I'll ask Seb to help him.

And so, I gave Manu some more orders. Kat certainly couldn't be counted on to recruit this person.

"Alright, please join us." Manu finally answers. However, the man did not return Jia's smile.

"Thanks very much. Appreciate it." Jia nodded, then looked Kat up and down, and smiled again. But of course, Kat didn't smile back.

Finally, the man sat down in front of my two colonists' bonfires. Manu made small talk to start this recruitment. Well, hopefully, this guy can do it. There is no Seb here who, in my opinion, has the highest communication skills.

"I feel it's very unfair." Manu says while chewing his jerky. "You don't know that meat is contaminated, do you? It's not your fault because you were only assigned to cook it. You don't deserve to be exiled."

"Well, they I told you that the deer is not edible. The internal organs smell unusually offensive, and the blood looks dark." Jia said as he continued to roast his sweet potato. "However, the hunters at our place forced me to keep cooking it. And in the end, they blamed me."

"We once ate mushrooms which made us hallucinate and go crazy." Suddenly Kat said. "But, no one is blaming anyone."

Manu stops eating. Maybe because he was so surprised that Kat suddenly joined in the chat.

"That's amazing. I envy you guys." Jia smiles again. "And it was nice of you to let me warm myself with you. It shows your tribe is really good. The people in my tribe wouldn't act like this, they're so selfish."

"Now is the time, Manu." I said to my bearded colonist excitedly. "Invite him to join our colony."

After Leva met with that old woman, I was able to come to a conclusion. Those who do not have a home must be very desperate to join another settlement. So, this will definitely be very easy.

"Then how about you just join us?" Manu finally makes an offer. "You could say, we are short of people. Right now, there are only five of us…. Six if that boy named Rox counts."

Rox, who was sitting next to Kat, was just staring at Manu.

Jia opened his mouth for a moment, then bowed his head in respect. "Thank you very much. Honestly, walking alone in the wilderness was really hard. You don't have friends to get your back."

"We are happy to have a new member." Manu smiles while extending his hand.

"Once again, thank you. After arriving at your tribe, I will cook something delicious. Well, it also depends on the ingredients you have, anyway." Jia shakes Manu's hand. "So, what's the name of your tribe?"

Manu blinked his eyes, then looked at Kat, who was silent.

"Well, we haven't named our settlement yet." Manu shrugged. "Maybe we're too busy preparing things, so haven't thought about it yet."

To be precise, I haven't thought about it because I'm too engrossed with this game. Alright, I'll give our colony a name later, Manu.

[New Colonist Acquired]

The conversation resumes between Manu and Jia only, of course. Jia tried to chat with Kat several times. But, as the girl only kept giving short answers, the newest member of my colony finally gave up.

With time you will get used to it, Jia.

Since their chat wasn't that important anymore, I activated fast forward again.

Manu stands guard first before being replaced by Jia. The man with spiky hair seemed to be looking for something around the trees in the forest when Manu was asleep. And in no time, because everything was going so fast, he picked up a big rock near one of the tree roots.

What is he doing?

He comes to Manu and lifts the stone high. Auto-pause is triggered immediately.

Shit.