Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

The whales took longer to process than Lin Hao had imagined; by the next morning, half of them were still not processed.

But no one showed any sign of stopping.

Actually, Lin Hao wanted everyone to take a break, but everyone was too enthusiastic. They could eat meat until they were stuffed just by putting in a little work. Where else could you find such a good deal?

Although everyone was stuffed by the end, they still insisted on helping. The people are simple and honest; they know very well who treats them well, so they all wanted to help the Lin family get things settled as soon as possible.

They could hold on, so Lin Hao didn't bother to persuade them any further. He could only instruct Uncle Fu to arrange the logistics for everyone before going back to his room to sleep. He was only 18, a time when he was growing, and he couldn't afford to stay up late and hinder his development.

Besides, there are many more days ahead where we'll be working through the night, so we can't start wasting our energy on just one whale.

"Good morning, Uncle Fu. Didn't you sleep all night? You should go and get some rest." Lin Hao got up and went to the beach, where he found Uncle Fu still directing everyone to butcher the whale.

"Hehe, young master, I'm getting old and don't need much sleep anyway. This little bit of time won't take up any of my time. You should rest." Uncle Fu said with a smile.

"Uncle Fu is truly vigorous for his age." Lin Hao gave him a thumbs up. Although Lin Hao called him Uncle Fu, the man was actually at least fifty years old, much older than Lin Hao's father. To be so energetic after working all night in this era and at this age, his physical condition was truly strong.

"Uncle Fu, now you don't have to worry about not having enough food on the island, right? Everyone can eat as much meat as they want without any problem," Lin Hao said with a smile.

"Sigh, young master is too amazing. If there had been someone like you in my hometown back then, so many people would not have starved to death." As he spoke, Uncle Fu suddenly became emotional. He recalled the scene of fleeing famine when he was young. His parents and brother died in that famine. Now, there is so much meat on Dongluo Island that they are worried about what to do with it.

"Uncle Fu, don't be sad, things will get better." Lin Hao comforted him, but didn't say anything more. Instead, they began to direct the whale's division.

The enormous whale was not completely decomposed until the afternoon of that day.

It took nearly a day and a night, with hundreds of people working tirelessly to complete the task.

The enormous whale was now reduced to a massive skeleton on the beach. Some villagers were still collecting the bones, still containing fat and meat, intending to take them home to make soup.

For these villagers at the bottom of society, they will not let go of any edible part.

The Lin family no longer cared about these things. At this moment, the warehouse was filled with mountains of whale oil and whale meat, as well as whale skin, whale baleen, and even the liver, which Lin Hao had collected. The whale liver was rich in vitamins, which his subordinates could eat later to prevent night blindness.

Basically, apart from the whale bones, the entire whale was fully utilized.

In fact, Lin Hao didn't plan to throw away even the whale bones. Whale bones are rich in phosphorus and potassium, making them excellent natural fertilizers. Collecting them for use as fertilization in the future would be a good option.

After all, no matter which direction Lin Hao plans to develop in, he will eventually have to farm, because only farming can be the most solid foundation of a regime.

However, Lin Hao didn't have time to worry about that right now. He was currently reading a booklet carefully, with Lin Yi beside him occasionally offering explanations.

This booklet is a summary of Lin Yi's tests on everyone yesterday. The reason for the careful review is that although the test is ostensibly for physical fitness, it is actually for demeanor and posture. According to Qi Jiguang's military strategy, one should try to choose honest people from the countryside and prefer to use dull people rather than clever and slick ones.

"Young master, these villagers are all hardworking and resilient people, and they basically meet the selection requirements of the military manual. According to your requirements, the 20 most suitable people have been selected."

"Yes, that's right. Lin Yi, you've put in a lot of effort." Lin Hao kept flipping through the record book. More than sixty people signed up yesterday, but only 20 were ultimately selected. Those who were screened out were either not physically fit or not honest enough.

This booklet records the test performance and family information of all the selected participants.

"Hmm? This Wang Xiaoyi, I seem to remember him being the second one to come out. Was he not selected?" Lin Hao asked curiously. Wang Xiaoyi's physical fitness was qualified, but he was marked as cheating.

"Young Master, this person used all sorts of tricks to slack off during the test, but he was most enthusiastic when eating. He's too slippery and not a qualified recruit."

Lin Hao was taken aback upon hearing this. "How did he resort to such tricks?"

"People who run behind others to block the wind, lift only the barely passable weight when weightlifting, or deliberately adjust the position of the carrying pole to save themselves effort when carrying stones in a team-building exercise are not suitable for military service."

"I see. That's indeed inappropriate, but none of them violated any rules." Lin Hao smiled and was about to put down the booklet, but then suddenly stopped, reopened it, and circled 10 people on it with a pen, among whom was Wang Xiaoyi.

"Young Master, what's going on?" Lin Yi looked at Lin Hao strangely, since Lin Hao had just chosen those clever and slick people.

"I suddenly remembered that my second uncle will be running the Lin family business in the future, and he probably won't have all of his original people. It's a good opportunity to bring in some more people for him. These clever ones are just right."

Lin Hao handed the booklet to Lin Yi, "Let's have these thirty people. Twenty of them will be incorporated into the previous batch for training, and the other ten will be given to Second Uncle to assist him."

In fact, Lin Hao really wanted to take them all, because he really didn't have enough manpower right now.

Originally there were two ships, and two more were captured, bringing the total to four ships. The crew alone would need nearly 40 men, and each ship would require at least 30 to maintain combat capability. Lin Hao even envisioned a full complement of 50 men on the largest ship, the Fuzhou. This would require a total of 180 men. Adding the need for assistants and guards on the island, Lin Hao would need at least two hundred men to form a complete fighting force.

However, Lin Hao currently only has seventeen guards, half of whom are still injured, sixteen sailors, and forty newly recruited men. Only seventeen guards and fifteen sailors are truly capable of fighting. He is still far from achieving his goal.

As for the thirty-six teenagers, the youngest is only fifteen years old. They can be used in emergencies but cannot be considered as regular combat forces.

Moreover, Lin Hao will split these teenagers into different groups and distribute them to various departments of the Four Seas Gang. At most, a dozen or so will actually be deployed to the battlefield.

So, on the surface, the Lin family's strength seems to be expanding rapidly, but in reality, there are many hidden dangers. If the government troops act quickly at this time, they will immediately send two or more large ships with several hundred people to attack Dongluo Island. The Lin family may not be able to withstand it.

"I hope the official efficiency remains stable as always, so I still have some time to train those newbies," Lin Hao sighed slightly.

Only after training these people will Lin Hao be able to recruit suitable people from the pirate prisoners into his team. Once these 60 pirates are fully integrated, the team will be close to achieving its goal of 200 combat personnel.