God Does Not Play Dice

The words "sacrificial offering" instantly perked Lu Yao up.

He clicked on the Temple, and sure enough, there was a glittering golden item in the [Sacrificial Offering] slot.

[Golden Dice]: Costs 2 Faith Points per roll. Roll a 6 to obtain a Sacrificial Offering.

Its origin was unknown.

Seeing that description, Lu Yao's excitement vanished at once.

The Salt Pool Tribe had offered a gambling tool as a sacrificial offering.

Lu Yao had become extremely sensitive to Faith Points. The moment he saw the Golden Dice's description, a phrase popped into his mind.

They came with ill intent.

The essence of gambling was fraud.

Each roll cost 2 Faith Points. Where did those Faith Points go?

Thinking of the Salt Pool Tribe's merchant-like ways, as well as their claim to worship three gods, Lu Yao suspected that one of those gods was behind the Golden Dice, using the Salt Pool Tribe to run scams everywhere.

From another angle, using the Golden Dice to swindle other gods out of their Faith Point savings was far cleverer than Lisa's laborious method of robbery.

As for rolling a 6 to obtain a sacrificial offering—

The probability of this thing was completely uncontrolled. It could claim a roll hit whenever it wanted, or say it had missed whenever it wanted. It was blatant rigging.

Einstein had said it well: God did not play dice.

Still, since the Salt Pool Tribe had sent him something, there was no reason not to accept it.

Isabelle had once said that unwanted sacrificial offerings could be tossed directly into the Flame of Faith as fuel, converting them into Faith Points.

Lu Yao tossed the [Golden Dice] straight into the bonfire in the Temple. It vanished in an instant.

Faith +10.

Sure enough, it was worthless.

Lu Yao examined the Garlic Tribe's current geographical surroundings.

The basin plain was the Garlic Tribe's main base, and plenty of land there remained undeveloped. Space would not be a problem anytime soon.

The forest stretched endlessly northward, while a river blocked the east. Mountains lay to the west, and the desert to the south.

Although the world map continued to expand as the Pixelated Villagers explored, there were no other settled populations nearby.

To develop quickly, the best way was to trade, interact, and even merge with other tribes.

At present, the Garlic Tribe's only safe route to the outside world was through the mountains—or, more precisely, the Salt Pool Tribe beyond them. The Salt Pool Tribe firmly controlled both imports and exports.

Another potential route was the Oasis of the Bedou Tribe to the south, though Isabelle would need time to open it up.

Unlike the Barbarian Tribe's forceful policy of conquest, the Salt Pool Tribe's approach to civilization was flexible. It was actively trading with the Garlic Tribe, and for the time being, the two sides had no conflict of interest.

The situation was fairly stable.

After the Garlic Tribe invented its own writing, several new resource categories appeared on the game interface. There was also one notable change: the Pixelated Villagers had all learned to think in simple ways. Question marks above their heads were no longer the exclusive privilege of the Prophet and Shaman.

Lu Yao clicked on the question marks above different Pixelated Villagers and read their thoughts.

"When I got up today, I felt hungry. After I ate my fill, I wasn't hungry anymore, but the next day I got hungry again. If I'm always going to be hungry, then is there any point in eating?"

"The weeds in the Wheat Field grow faster than the Wheat. No matter how much I pull, I can't get rid of them all. If Wheat could grow on its own like weeds and we could never finish eating it, that would be wonderful."

"Meat is delicious, Wheat is delicious, and Garlic is delicious, but they taste best when eaten together. I'm probably the only one who knows this secret. Hehe."

"The Prophet is old, and the Shaman is old too. Should I succeed the Prophet or the Shaman? What a headache."

Among the many thought bubbles produced by the tribe members, one farmer's thoughts caught Lu Yao's attention.

"There are especially many weeds and insects this year, and there's been a drought too. The Wheat harvest will probably be poor. Everyone in the tribe depends on Wheat. If we can't have a good harvest this year, we'll go hungry in winter."

It was not just this one farmer. Several other farmers showed the same concern.

They were professionals who tended the Farmland, so they were especially sensitive to the environment and food supplies.

Lu Yao searched online. After filtering and verifying the results, he settled on the next item for remotely supporting the tribe.

He walked into the kitchen, took out a large Potato, and placed it on the mouse.

--Would you like to bestow [Potato] upon your believers?

[Yes]

As the Potato entered the Pixel World through the Temple, exclamations popped up above the heads of countless tribe members.

"The god has bestowed another Blessing!"

"Potato, Potato!"

"Potatoes that grow when buried in the soil! Drought-resistant Potatoes!"

"Potatoes with higher yields than Wheat!"

"A brand-new food!"

The Farmers in the fields especially had smiling faces appear above their heads.

"Wonderful! The god truly watches over us!"

"God Yao knows this year's harvest will be poor, so he bestowed Potatoes upon us!"

"No one will go hungry this winter! No one will starve to death!"

"Praise God Yao!"

The Farmers quickly planted the Potatoes in newly reclaimed Farmland and began another round of planting and tending crops.

As the Pixelated Villagers busied themselves, the dry season gradually passed. The land regained some vitality, and several rains fell from the sky.

However, autumn did not last long before snow began drifting down from the sky. Winter had arrived again.

Just as the Farmers had expected, the Wheat harvest was very poor this year. On the food list, Wheat fell from its previous 80 percent share to 40 percent. Potatoes accounted for 30 percent, meat another 20 percent, and the overall food reserves showed a yellow warning.

Fortunately, the Potatoes had arrived in time. Otherwise, there would have been a huge food shortage that winter, perhaps even leading to population losses.

This was also one of the advantages brought by civilization's progress.

People learned to think, to worry, and to observe, creating more opportunities for communication and experimentation.

As the god behind the scenes, Lu Yao could also see the Pixel World's subtle changes through the Pixelated Villagers' doubts, allowing him to make targeted adjustments and responses.

During that not particularly long winter, two things happened in the Garlic Tribe.

The first was that the Salt Pool Tribe came to purchase part of the food supply at high prices.

According to the Salt Pool Tribe's people, the drought had lasted too long. Most of the tribes they had encountered that year had fallen into food shortages. The Garlic Tribe was already considered a relatively food-rich region.

The second was that a group of twenty-two immigrants arrived from the Salt Pool Tribe.

Among them were two Carpenters, two Pharmacists, and one salt worker.

For the first time in its history, the Garlic Tribe attracted a group of professionals.

They had migrated voluntarily. On one hand, they had previously lived in the Salt Pool Tribe and knew something about the Garlic Tribe and the faith of God Yao. On the other hand, they had been driven by that year's drought and food shortage.

There was nowhere better than the food-producing Garlic Tribe for having a chance to eat one's fill.

The Carpenters possessed the skills and experience to fell Trees. During winter, they entered the forest and began cutting wood, then processing it into crude lumber. The Garlic Tribe's first wooden house was built by the two Carpenters.

The arrival of the Pharmacists filled the gap of having only the Shaman possess healing skills in the tribe. The two Pharmacists usually entered the forest to gather herbs, treated the sick, and saved many lives.

The salt worker specialized in making salt. He found some rock salt in the western mountains. Though the yield was not high, it gave the Garlic Tribe another way to obtain salt.

Lu Yao poured himself a glass of Ice Cola and tore open a bag of Cucumber Flavored Potato Chips.

Delicious.

Looking down at the tribe members working busily, Lu Yao felt as though he had become one with them. His body seemed to grow stronger as well.

This guy did not play dice.

This guy only wanted steady happiness.