History of the Demise of the Barbarian Tribe

"My lord, these are the sacrificial offerings presented by the Demon."

Isabelle spread her hands, presenting three items.

Lu Yao first picked up a pitch-black statue.

The statue was about the size of a seal and looked like a lump of soft black mud, with a texture somewhere between rubber and clay. Many eyes grew from the black mud, all a gloomy dark red that gave off an eerie air.

[Statue of the Flayer LV3]: Faith +3/hour, Attack +2. Can initiate the Beast Transformation Ritual to gain Power of Faith.

A treasure crafted by the Flayer. Can initiate the Beast Transformation Ritual, using its gaze to seize the sanity, cognition, and memories of living sacrificial offerings, reducing them to powerful flayed beasts in exchange for Power of Faith granted by the Flayer.

Lu Yao thought, Well, damn.

No wonder Lisa had said she earned extra income by farming faith.

She sold players to the mysterious Flayer in exchange for faith—basically trafficking people.

The [Statue of the Flayer] was somewhat like Medusa's gaze from myth, a special kind of conceptual attack. When the previous two players were attacked, they would never have imagined that the real threat was neither the Fur-Skin Man nor the Blood Curse, but this inconspicuous little statue.

Furthermore, this treasure actually had a level indicator.

It seemed capable of continuously increasing in rank and possessed growth potential, a trait none of the other items had displayed before. That alone showed how valuable it was.

Lu Yao set down the statue and picked up another item.

It was a whistle made from some unknown kind of bone. Its surface had yellowed with age, and it looked quite old.

[Evil Bone Whistle]: Faith +2/hour.

A treasure crafted by the Whistleblower. By blowing the whistle, one can control monsters and beasts that have lost their sanity.

The bone whistle's ability was straightforward: it was an item with a specific function.

The [Statue of the Flayer] combined with the [Evil Bone Whistle] was a classic case of one plus one being greater than two, both in terms of ability synergy and compatibility.

Together, they formed a simple combo.

The [Statue of the Flayer] turned people or certain creatures into beasts, while the [Evil Bone Whistle] further tamed those transformed individuals for one's own use.

No wonder Lisa had told him before to be her dog.

She had not been joking. She had merely stated a fact.

Lu Yao looked at the final sacrificial offering.

It was a letter. It was sealed with wax, but it opened with a gentle tear.

Inside were two yellowed sheets of letter paper.

[Drifting Letter]: Faith +1/hour. Usable letter paper: 2/5.

Write on the letter paper, and through a Blessing, the letter can be delivered to a specific individual in the lower realm. The recipient will definitely be able to understand the information in the letter.

The letter that had dropped from the Black Bear's corpse when it attacked the tribe had been the effect of this item.

The barbarians of the Barbarian Tribe were all muscular, but their intelligence left much to be desired.

The Barbarian Hero transformed by the [Statue of the Flayer] had an even stronger body, but he was also closer to a beast without Wisdom.

So even though he could recognize the letter, he still ended up attacking the wrong place.

Lu Yao considered it.

The beast transformation ritual created by the [Statue of the Flayer] ran completely counter to his own development strategy. This thing might generate faith quickly, but at its core, it meant working for that Flayer, making enemies everywhere and earning nothing but universal resentment. It was best used as an accessory; at least it added two points of strength.

"Isabelle, you use this. Avoid using the Beast Transformation Ritual whenever possible. Just wear it as an accessory." Lu Yao directly assigned it to his Apostle.

"Yes, my lord." Isabelle accepted the statue with both hands.

As for the [Evil Bone Whistle], it could control beasts and monsters...

"You can have this too."

Lu Yao equipped Isabelle with everything. The bone whistle and statue were originally a set, and combining them made them more powerful. This was also the carefully matched skill set Lisa had prepared.

"Yes, my lord." Isabelle accepted the bone whistle once more.

Lu Yao asked her, "By the way, is there another way to deal with items we have no use for?"

"My lord, Gods can also exchange certain treasures with one another. But if an item is truly useless, or if its inherent traits would instead bring negative effects... it can be thrown directly into the Temple bonfire, the Flame of Faith, and burned to obtain a certain amount of faith."

"I see."

Of the three spoils, Lu Yao kept only the [Drifting Letter].

It had been a worthless item in Lisa's hands, because the Barbarian Tribe had no wise people and did not pursue civilization. But in his hands, it was a useful consumable item.

The Garlic Tribe's two wise men, the prophet and the shaman, had originally been reachable only through indirect guidance, allowing them to grasp Lu Yao's intentions on their own.

With [Drifting Letter], that counted as a supplement.

Lu Yao was in a good mood.

First, he had uncovered Lisa, the demon lurking in the shadows, and watched the police take her away, eliminating the safety hazard that had worried him most.

Even if she pulled some trick and escaped again, he now knew Lisa's true identity, while she knew nothing of his.

Before, the enemy had been hidden while he was exposed. Now, the enemy was exposed while he remained hidden. Their roles had switched, and the advantage was on Lu Yao's side.

Then he had obtained three highly valuable spoils.

Just their fixed income of +6 Faith Points per hour every day was enough to make Lu Yao laugh out loud.

Adding the [Cactus Follower] and [Energy Staff], that came to 8 Faith Points per hour. Over twenty-four hours, that was 192 points!

In the past, Faith Point reserves had been tight. He had to think and calculate again and again before using a Miracle. Now he could be much more at ease—make it rain when it was time to rain, zap whoever needed zapping.

However, before returning to God Simulator, Lu Yao still had one crucial question.

"Isabelle, why didn't you use your abilities at all?"

"My lord, using Lingering Prayer consumes mana. Mana is precious, and enemies that weak aren't worth it."

"What about the Sword of the Forest?"

"Because the opponent was too weak, the Sword of the Forest's effect could not be triggered."

A little regretful, Lu Yao returned the eye to Isabelle.

Isabelle took the eyeball and skillfully tucked it back into her eye socket beneath her sunglasses.

Lu Yao turned his attention back to the simulator.

While Lu Yao could not bring himself to kill a human player like Lisa, he had no such hesitation when it came to being ruthless toward Lisa's Barbarian Tribe. In fact, he was more than willing.

Lisa was probably still having tea at the police station right now, unable to operate the simulator.

Lu Yao directly opened [Miracle] and selected [Earthquake].

Earthquake required 40 Faith Points.

There were only 20 Faith Points in the upper-right corner at the moment, so he could not use it.

In war, speed was everything. He could not delay.

Lu Yao pulled out a ballpoint pen and wrote a passage on [Drifting Letter].

"The demon worshipped by the Barbarian Tribe has been defeated. Do not miss this opportunity. Conquer and assimilate the Barbarian Tribe immediately, eliminating the threat."

Then he placed the letter on the mouse.

--Would you like to bestow [Drifting Letter] upon your followers?

[Yes]

Unlike before, the little tribespeople did not realize that a divine Blessing had arrived.

After entering the Pixel Game world, [Drifting Letter] drifted through the air.

Lu Yao tried clicking it and found that he could indeed drag it.

He dragged the letter directly onto the prophet.

An exclamation mark appeared above the prophet's head.

"Divine revelation!"

"The Barbarian Tribe's demon has been defeated... An opportunity, a fine opportunity!"

The prophet and the shaman immediately took action.

The Garlic Tribe dispatched thirty elite hunters, led by the Pig-Fish Brothers, charging all the way into the Mountains.

They quickly found the Barbarian Tribe's location.

"Barbarian Tribe spotted!"

"Attack, attack!"

A small tribe appeared amid the Mountains. Only a little over twenty people remained there, living outside a large cave. But the barbarians were all lying on the ground, delirious, gray ghost-like figures floating above their heads.

They looked extremely weak. Even if the Garlic Tribe had not attacked, they would not have lasted more than a few days on their own.

The Pig-Fish Brothers easily captured all the barbarians.

Beside the tribe's cave stood a statue, very similar to the Statue of the Flayer. Without hesitation, they chose to destroy it.

Under Lu Yao's control, the divine statue collapsed into a pile of fragments, leaving no trace of its former appearance.

[The Garlic Tribe and the Barbarian Tribe have completed their assimilation. Faith has increased.]

Assimilating the Barbarian Tribe increased Faith by a total of 51 points, bringing the total to 71 Faith Points.

Lu Yao looked toward the cave beside the Barbarian Tribe's former site.

This cave was highly suspicious, but he had no intention of letting the Pixelated Villagers venture inside.

Lu Yao clicked [Miracle], selected [Earthquake], and directly targeted the cave entrance and its surroundings.

As 40 points of Faith were consumed, the selected area began to crumble and split apart.

Boulders tumbled down without end, and the cave entrance swiftly collapsed. Amid the billowing dust, countless rocks quickly buried the entire area.

This way, if anything unusual happened within the collapsed cave, Lu Yao would notice it immediately and respond.

A prompt appeared on the screen.

[God Jack's Faith has completely vanished from the area. His followers will begin searching for a new god.]