In the early morning, the sky was dim.
In an open space near the town hall, ten Apache warriors and twenty black policemen lined up in a neat row, all standing with their chests puffed out and their eyes straight ahead.
"Run—go!"
Following Ma Shao's command, thirty people started running at the same time, circling the town hall again and again, shouting slogans from time to time.
The commands and slogans were all in Apache. After several months of adaptation, the black police officers had more or less mastered some Apache, at least they knew the routine commands and slogans during training.
After jogging for about three kilometers, Ma Shao led the soldiers and police officers to conduct some simple queue exercises and then took a short rest.
This is followed by further physical training, mainly including push-ups, frog jumps, sit-ups and military boxing.
Of course, this military boxing is not a real military boxing.
Ma Shao had also learned some military boxing when he was in school in his previous life - taught by the military training instructors and physical education teachers, but he had basically forgotten all of these things before his rebirth.
Now, of the so-called military boxing he taught to the soldiers and policemen, only a small part was the one he remembered, and most of the rest was created by him.
Fortunately, unlike his previous life, Ma Shao in this life is an outstanding warrior and has some experience in close combat, so the set of military boxing that he mostly created by himself has some practical value. More importantly, the movements are domineering and help boost morale.
As always, Ma Shao will accompany all training sessions and even double up on himself.
For example, with his current strength level, normal push-ups are no longer something he can do, so he does more one-arm push-ups.
Thanks to his mighty physique and powerful strength, Ma Shao has a natural deterrent effect, which allows him to achieve twice the result with half the effort when training soldiers.
After the early morning training, Henry Thomas approached Ma Shao and said, "I want to go see my son."
"Okay, I'm also preparing to return to the clan, you come with me." Ma Shao nodded.
After breakfast, Ma Shao took a few Apache warriors and several white parents, including Thomas, who wanted to visit their children, and rode to the clan.
By the time we arrived at the clan, it was already evening.
A journey of dozens of kilometers takes ten hours, and every time the horse whistle is heard, it feels a little uncomfortable. In the past life, this distance only took the time to watch an episode of a TV series, but now it takes almost a whole day to ride on horseback.
But there was nothing we could do. Although railways existed, they were far from being popular. As for cars, they were still a long way from being invented.
"This..." Looking at the scene of the Sleeping Bear Clan, Mayor Thomas couldn't help but show a bit of surprise in his eyes.
In fact, this was his first time to come to the Sleeping Bear Clan. After all, not long after little Thomas was taken away, he was sent to apply for a patent and was away for several months.
Therefore he knew nothing of the sight of the Sleeping Bear Clan until he arrived there in person.
This Indian clan was completely different from what he had imagined. First of all, it was huge, with more than a thousand people. In the Midwest at that time, such a settlement was a rare scale for both whites and Indians.
There are tents here, but there are also many wooden houses, which is also very novel - in Thomas's impression, Indians in the Midwest all live in tents.
"There are changes every time we come." said a white man who was traveling with us. It was obvious that he had come to the Sleeping Bear Clan to visit the children more than once.
"It's good news. With these houses, our children can live better." The white man sighed.
Thomas said nothing and followed Ma Shao into the Sleeping Bear Clan. The Indians were no longer surprised by this.
"I, I have 'Resurrection', revive a dead character card!"
"...I want to summon Deathwing!"
"defeat him!"
"Just use 'Burn the Boats', don't be timid!"
A young child's voice came from not far away, speaking both Apache and English. Thomas vaguely heard his son's voice and couldn't help but quicken his pace.
Soon, the white parents saw their children.
A group of about a dozen children, big and small, white and Indian, were gathered together shouting and yelling.
"Dad!" Little Thomas, who was among the onlookers, noticed his father and ran over in surprise.
Thomas also smiled and hugged his son: "Are you okay, my child."
Although he believed that Ma Shao would not harm his son, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that his son was indeed safe and sound.
"What are you doing?"
"Duel." Thomas said this in Apache.
Thomas was puzzled: "What?"
Thomas: "It means duel, a game, similar to poker, but much more fun than poker."
"Oh, really?" Thomas also leaned over to take a look with some curiosity. There were children everywhere, so he didn't need to squeeze into the crowd. He just had to bend down and look down.
He did see the duel card, but unfortunately, since the card was written in Apache script, he had no idea what was written on it.
"Burn the boats, burn the boats!" Little Thomas was held by his father and had a good view. He shouted from a high position, naturally in Apache language.
Thomas frowned slightly: "What does this mean?"
Thomas waved his fist excitedly: "'Last Chance' is the most popular card. I don't quite know what it means. But once it is used, the winner will be revealed, so people like it! I like it too!"
"burn one's boats!"
"Don't listen to them. These guys who can't even recognize all the words just shout 'burn the boats'!"
"Burn your boats, burn your boats!"
What followed was still the children's carnival until the battle ended.
Thomas could certainly see that his children, living in the Sleeping Bear Clan, were not only not harmed, but were living happily - seemingly happier than before.
He was naturally pleased about this.
But at the same time, this also caused a hint of uneasiness in his heart...
Today happened to be an important festival for the Apache people, so in the evening, people held a celebration ceremony.
Over a period of several months, Ma Shao and his people built many wooden houses in the tribe. The chief's hall and school had been replaced with proper wooden houses.
In addition, there is a square located in front of the chief's hall. Of course, it is called a square, but it is actually a flat and clean open space with a stone platform for standing and speaking, and some wooden chairs for the elderly.
The square is not big, but it is compact enough to accommodate a thousand people.
Normally, any gatherings or ceremonies would be held in the square, and soldiers would sometimes train here as well.
On occasions like holiday parties, Ma Shao would often change his serious attitude and transform himself into a host, telling jokes from time to time.