Never Betray

Around midnight, the Garlic Tribe was hit by a second attack from the Barbarian Tribe.

A total of twenty-five barbarian warriors draped in beast hides charged out from the western forest, stone axes in hand.

This time, the Garlic Tribe's hunters had pulled their lines back early, bows and arrows at the ready. Under the command of the two heroes, the Pig-Fish Brothers, they loosed arrows at the barbarian warriors from a distance.

In the baptism of ranged fire, the charging barbarians were riddled with arrows. They seemed to have no experience fighting against archers, relying entirely on their beast hides and raw flesh to endure. By the time they reached the hunters, only six or seven remained. The rest had fallen to the ground.

With an absolute numerical advantage and the support of bows, the barbarian warriors were completely wiped out this time. Aside from those killed by arrows or who fled, the Garlic Tribe captured four barbarian warriors.

The Prophet interrogated each of them separately.

"Where is your tribe located?"

"Never betray!"

"What demon do you worship?"

"Glory belongs to the great God! You heretics must all die!"

"How many of you are there in total?"

"Never betray!"

"If you speak honestly, we'll let you go."

"Never betray!"

These four refused to reveal a single word.

The experienced Shaman chose a different approach.

"Your bravery and loyalty have earned our recognition. To show our respect, I now invite you to join our tribe."

"You lost the battle. If you go back, you'll only face punishment from the demon and your tribe."

"Here, there's wheat to fill your stomachs, bows to give you strength, delicious garlic, dried meat, and salt."

"If you become members of the Garlic Tribe, it's not betrayal—because you will worship the great God Yao. With a god's protection, no demon can harm you."

The four warriors fell silent for a moment, then exclamation marks appeared above their heads.

"Join the Garlic Tribe!"

"Join the Garlic Tribe!"

They shouted in unison.

Lu Yao sighed in admiration—the Shaman really knew how to read people.

Then, these four barbarians spilled everything.

"The tribe is in the northwest of the mountains, next to a huge cave. There are eighty-two people total. Excluding the Prophet and the elderly and weak, there are forty usable warriors."

"Beside the cave is a statue of a god draped in beast fur, called God Jack."

"God Jack demands we offer live sacrifices and strip the fur from beasts. All the animals we hunt are given to Him, so the tribe has to plunder for food."

"The tribe received God Jack's blessing, and two Beast-Form Heroes were born. Both can transform into beast forms—they're the tribe's strongest warriors. Everyone wants to become a hero."

"One hero went missing while attacking the Forest Tribe; he's probably dead."

"The other hero stays in the tribe."

"Barbarian Tribe, enemy! Demon, enemy!"

"Never betray the Garlic Tribe!"

They shouted the same slogans as before, their faction switch seamless.

The four barbarians joined the tribe. They shed their old beast hides, put on leather vests like the tribe's uniform, took up bows and arrows, and quickly blended in.

What surprised Lu Yao was that Demon Jack had no idea how to run a tribe—or had never thought about developing it step by step. He just kept driving the barbarians to hunt and plunder everywhere to harvest faith.

With the Garlic Tribe equipped with bows, the Barbarian Tribe's threat was greatly reduced. Lu Yao's top priority now was still to further increase Faith Points—this kind of strategic reserve was better in abundance.

After repelling the second attack from the Barbarian Tribe, the Garlic Tribe entered another period of stability.

Pixelated Villagers from the Salt Pool Tribe kept arriving, buying garlic and bows from the Garlic Tribe, then selling salt, medicinal herbs, and farm tools that were scarce locally.

Later, the Salt Pool Tribe even built a wooden house here as a long-term trading shop between the two tribes.

As exchanges and trade between tribes increased, the hunters armed with bows expanded their range of movement, and the Garlic Tribe attracted more outside immigrants.

The population in the upper right corner became 247, and Faith Points rose to 448.

Within a single day, Faith Points surged continuously, stirring up a thought Lu Yao had previously suppressed.

The [Apostle] conversion in the Temple required 500 Faith Points.

He was only 52 short now.

If he held out a bit longer, relying on the two items [Energy Staff] and [Cactus Follower] for a total of 2 Faith Points per hour, plus a few more immigrants, it might just work.

That said, by the time Lu Yao left for work at 8:30 in the morning, Faith Points were still stuck at 459.

Lu Yao was distracted today.

Tomorrow was the weekend, and all he wanted was to rush home and stare at the simulator.

Though the [Energy Staff] could replenish his energy in the middle of the night, keeping him from feeling tired, once he set it down, the muscle aches and fatigue still clung to him like shadows—the physical toll was very real.

The staff was more like a potent stimulant, temporarily sustaining his energy without changing the limits of his body. Sleep was still indispensable.

Aside from figuring out the staff's mechanics, Lu Yao had also been mulling over the Old God Apostle in the Temple.

Was she worth such a heavy investment from him?

At the very least, she was a capable subordinate of the Forest God. Even Little Fire, a mere odd-job worker guarding the Temple, had proven useful. An Apostle couldn't possibly be that disappointing.

The key point was that Lu Yao hadn't found any other way to create Apostles. For now, it seemed the only path was to convert this Old God Apostle.

No matter how you looked at it, an Apostle was a high-tier unit above Heroes and Prophets, right?

His heart was a mix of anticipation and anxiety, making him fidget restlessly in his chair.

He barely made it through the workday, only for his boss to suddenly assign him an impromptu task: deliver concert tickets for some singer to a big shot's house twenty kilometers from the office.

By the time Lu Yao finished and got home, it was already eight in the evening.

He dropped his backpack and, ignoring the sweat on his forehead, immediately leaned toward the computer.

The Faith Points in the top-right corner of the screen had become 489. Since he was mostly relying on magical items to generate faith, population growth had slowed to a crawl.

So Lu Yao went to take a shower first, washing off the stench of sweat.

Then he walked to the window, letting the night breeze hit him as he looked at the streetlamp in the alley.

No one was hanging there today.

That was only natural. If someone were strung up there every few days, that Demon player would be openly challenging the entire police system.

Lu Yao returned to the computer.

Faith now read 501.

He opened the Temple interface and clicked on the sarcophagus icon labeled [Apostle].

--To revive and convert her into your Temple's Apostle requires a large amount of Power of Faith. Do you wish to spend 500 Faith Points to convert the Apostle?

[Yes] [No]

Lu Yao hovered his mouse over [Yes] but didn't click immediately.

He asked the Cactus beside him, "Little Fire, does it really cost this much Faith to revive an Apostle?"

"An Apostle is the most important arm of any God—it's entirely worth it. However..."

"However what?"

"This Apostle of the Forest God in the sarcophagus, your humble servant does not know her. I don't know what abilities she has."

"You know all the Forest God's Apostles?"

"Uh... I remember Chief Apostle Forrest. He is very powerful and can summon the Forest Soul. I haven't met the others—they've been walking the world on behalf of the Forest God."

Lu Yao looked at the Cactus with a less-than-friendly expression.

So you only know one.

Little Fire seemed to sense the pressure and spoke nervously, "Great God, I'm only saying... I truly don't know this Apostle. Different Apostles have different abilities—some excel in combat, others in reconnaissance..."

"But an Apostle is absolutely worth it. You also need an Apostle to walk for you."

Lu Yao turned his gaze back to the computer screen.

Screw it!

He clicked [Yes].

Faith Points instantly drained to just 1.

A notification popped up in the Pixel World.

--The sleeping Apostle has heard your call. Your Power of Faith has repaired her broken shell and dried-up soul. She is rapidly awakening from the Sea of Lingering Souls.

--[Apostle] Forest Sword, obeys your will, executes your divine decrees, and fights for your Flame of Faith.