Beggar-Style Raid

Having finished the tedious preparations, Lu Yao was finally able to return to God Simulator.

The upper-right corner of the game screen showed: Population 254, Faith 21.

The Garlic Tribe's population growth was much slower than Lu Yao had expected. It wasn't that the Pixelated Villagers lacked enthusiasm for making babies—they had given birth to some infants—but most of them died young, and few survived to adulthood.

Still, things had improved compared to before.

In the early days, the chance of a baby growing up safely was less than one in ten. Now, by Lu Yao's rough estimate, it was around three in ten.

Besides infrastructure problems the tribe could not solve in the short term, another major reason for the high infant mortality rate was the lack of doctors or pharmacists.

The Garlic Tribe's only doctor was the Shaman. He alone had to meet the entire tribe's medical needs.

[Shaman Lv2] Hunter

Attack 0 Defense 0 Knowledge 1 Mana 1 Luck 0 Morale 1

[Abilities]

Healing Lv2: Can treat all kinds of illnesses and injuries. Healing effectiveness is related to ability level, Knowledge, and Mana.

New lives were born, and old lives faded away.

Untreated injuries and death from old age were the main causes of population loss in the tribe. The dead Pixelated Villagers were buried in the forest by the others, returned to the earth and nature.

This had once been a custom of the Forest Tribe, and the new Garlic Tribe continued it.

After winter ended, an especially scorching summer soon arrived.

The entire game screen was filled with a faint yellow glow. Large stretches of grass had dried up and turned yellow, while the river to the East had receded, exposing more of its banks.

Smoke rose from above every tribesperson's head as they fell into the plight of extreme heat. They usually hid inside their huts, only going out to farm and hunt in the cooler mornings and evenings.

The blazing sun and drought continued without end, causing the villagers to gather around the Temple and pray once more.

"Lord Yao, please grant us rain!"

"It's unbearably hot. If this keeps up, the Wheat and garlic will all dry up and die, and everyone will die."

"Merciful Lord Yao, great Lord Yao, save us!"

Lu Yao was not stingy. He directly spent 10 Faith and activated the Miracle [Rainfall].

Long-awaited rain fell upon the parched land, and the tribe's Pixelated Villagers cheered loudly, praising their god.

However, the Prophet and Shaman were talking at this time.

"The god has sent rain and eased the heat. But we cannot keep asking the god without end. As servants of the god, we have received too much and done too little."

"Hot weather may return. Without water, the land's Wheat and garlic will struggle to grow. While the god's rain is here, we must find a lasting and reliable solution."

The two wise men of the tribe thought long and hard, but came up with nothing.

So Lu Yao guided them to the riverbank.

The Shaman paced back and forth by the river. Suddenly, a light bulb lit up over his head.

"I understand! We can dig a ditch in the ground and divert river water here, making it easier to fetch water. And when it rains, we can store the rainwater too."

The two immediately rallied the entire Garlic Tribe, gathering the whole tribe's manpower to dig waterways.

The Pixelated Villagers rose before dawn and worked until dark, digging ditches bit by bit to divert river water to the edge of the Farmland. They dug a small pond, then connected it back to the river from the other side, turning the water in the ditches into flowing water.

New notifications kept appearing on the game screen.

[The Garlic Tribe has learned Ditches and recognized Irrigation and drainage.]

[The Garlic Tribe has learned Irrigation. Farmland yields have increased.]

[The Garlic Tribe has gained Reputation among other tribes by mastering new technology.]

The drought continued.

After completing the rudimentary ditches, the Garlic Tribe was still troubled by the scorching heat, but its basic drinking water and Irrigation were secured. The Pixelated Villagers' emotions stabilized as well.

In the midst of this prolonged drought, the Barbarian Tribe returned for a third time.

A total of thirty-two barbarians took part in the raid. Excluding the old, weak, sick, and disabled in their tribe, it could be called a robbery launched with their entire clan's strength.

"Hand over the water and food, you damned heretics!"

"Take their water and food!"

"No resistance allowed!"

"Hungry, hungry! Thirsty, thirsty!"

The Barbarian Tribe looked imposing, but their slogans made Lu Yao laugh.

They could barely feed themselves, yet they were still calling others heretics?

They didn't even know how to beg properly. They needed to kneel first if they wanted a chance.

The current Garlic Tribe had no fear of an attack on this scale. The Hunters held Bow and Arrow, easily shooting down the Barbarian Tribe's Warriors.

Twelve barbarians died in this battle, and the remaining twenty were all captured.

It seemed they had completely lost their minds, driven to despair by the drought.

The Barbarian Tribe was more like a nomadic people of the mountains, skilled at hunting and raiding. During this prolonged drought, they had completely lost their food supply, and water had become desperately scarce.

So they could only return to their old trade, come down from the mountains to rob others, and seek a way to survive.

After the Shaman gave them a little persuasion, the barbarians immediately surrendered, willing to join the Garlic Tribe as they shouted that they would never betray them.

This gave Lu Yao reason to suspect that they might have planned all along to defect to the Garlic Tribe.

It was just that the simple-minded barbarians did not know how to make the Garlic Tribe accept them... Of course, it was also possible that the barbarians had the pride of warriors to uphold. Surrendering after a fight seemed more convincing.

The barbarians spoke of the tribe's current situation.

"It was too hot. A lot of people in the tribe died."

"The tribe has no food left. Everyone is hungry, and there's no water either. We're thirsty, but Lord Demon still needs sacrificial offerings."

"The hero was eaten by the demon as a sacrificial offering."

"We robbed everywhere, but we couldn't win. Many people died."

"In the end, we came here."

What they said also indirectly confirmed Lu Yao's suspicions.

Demon Jack was not the type of player who focused on building and managing. To him, the Barbarian Tribe was more like a tool. How the barbarians lived was not something he cared about at all. He only forced them to search everywhere for prey to sacrifice, not even sparing the Barbarian Hero.

The Barbarian Tribe was practically gone in all but name.

Lu Yao had originally planned to wait until this dry season was over before finding a chance to wipe out the Barbarian Tribe completely. He had not expected that they would be unable to endure the extreme climate on their own. Under nature's indiscriminate force, what determined the fate of human groups was simply who could adapt better to the environment.

At least one lingering threat had been dealt with.

Lu Yao rolled his neck and stretched lazily.

Isabelle suddenly looked out the window beside him, her voice grave. "My lord, the aura of a demon."

"A demon?"

Lu Yao walked over to the window and looked outside.

The alley and street were completely deserted. Night had already fallen, and with reports of a pervert lurking around the neighborhood, the only thing on the street was a white wild dog wandering about.

"Where?"

Isabelle pointed toward a corner of the street.

A middle-aged man lay there. He seemed drunk, slumped against the curb with a puddle of vomit beside him.

The wild dog walked over to the man and sniffed him.

Then it did something Lu Yao had not expected.

The wild dog clamped its teeth onto the man's clothes and began dragging him, little by little, toward the parking alley.

"My lord, please order me to hunt the demon," Isabelle said.

Lu Yao asked, "If you go deal with the demon, how will I contact you?"

"Through my eye."

Isabelle reached into her left eye socket, dug out her left eye with her fingers, and handed it to Lu Yao.

It was a white eyeball with a green pupil, cold and gem-like in texture, with a crystalline sheen, like some ancient artwork.

"My lord. Everything I see through the Power of Faith will be shown to you through this eye. You may also use it to give me new orders."

Lu Yao carefully held the eyeball in his hand and reminded her, "Be careful. Don't let anyone else discover your identity."

"Yes, my lord."

Isabelle's body was enveloped in a cloud of black mist. The mist swiftly condensed into a black robe, and her eyes were once more covered by black cloth, returning her to her original appearance.

A men's shirt, sunglasses, and jeans flew out from beneath the black robe, scattering across the bed.

Isabelle leaped down from the windowsill and vanished into the night.