Stepping Foot in the River

The [Sacrificial Offering] slot in the temple welcomed a new item once again.

[Magic Harpoon]: Faith +1/hour, 1/3 uses (recharging)

One hundred percent chance to spear a fish.

Lu Yao looked at the new sacrificial offering in his hand.

The harpoon was about one and a half meters long, with an iron three-pronged fork mounted on top of a wooden stick. It looked like a crudely handmade fishing tool.

Holding the [Magic Harpoon], Lu Yao felt that if he had a cigarette, he could perfectly recreate the little fish-man Yuan Hua.

This offering couldn't be said to be completely useless.

If a fishing enthusiast went out fishing and couldn't catch a single fish, as long as no one was watching, he could pull out the harpoon, grab a few fish, and toss them into his creel. This would guarantee he didn't go home empty-handed, saving him from being mocked by other anglers.

But for Lu Yao, the special ability of the [Magic Harpoon] was useless; it could only serve as a mascot.

Fortunately, it could provide 1 point of faith per hour, which was still more useful than the [Golden Dice] thrown into the bonfire.

Lu Yao accepted this offering, which also put the East River Tribe in the Pixel World at ease.

"The god has accepted the offering."

"What we offered is the tribe's most important treasure. This should appease the god's anger."

"May the Local God bless us."

[The East River Tribe's attitude has changed to friendly.]

With that, the relationship between the East River Tribe and the Garlic Tribe further eased. With the support of the tribal leaders, the two sides began formal trade.

The Garlic Tribe's wheat, potatoes, garlic, and meat were exchanged for the East River Tribe's fish, shrimp, crab, and shells. Since they bypassed the middleman Salt Pool Tribe, both tribes could trade for more goods.

Taking advantage of this peaceful time, Lu Yao put on his shoes and went out.

Following his memory, he walked along the street, turned a corner, and found a small fishing tackle shop.

"Handsome, what are you looking for?" the middle-aged owner asked, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"A fishing net."

"I only have pull nets right now. How long do you want? I have 2x5 meters, 2x10 meters, and 2x20 meters. All are 12-strand thick, sturdy, and easy to use."

"The 2x5 meter one."

"68 for one."

Lu Yao paid, took the fishing net in its plastic bag, and quickly walked home.

After the bow and arrow had fully integrated into the world, he had been thinking these past few days about what to give the Garlic Tribe next. After dealing with the East River Tribe issue, he made his decision.

A fishing net.

The East River connected to the East Sea, and the river and sea were rich in resources. They needed to be utilized early. Developing shipbuilding and navigation were all based on the foundation of fishing.

Lu Yao observed and found that the East River Tribe didn't have fishing nets either. They relied on sea monsters and harpoons to catch fish.

Perhaps because fishing was too easy for them, there was no need to further develop their tools. So whether it was dugout canoes or harpoons, they remained at a relatively primitive stage.

In the Garlic Tribe, the hunters made traps and leather clothes. They had long since learned to make rope, and with rope came the material for fishing nets.

Lu Yao placed the fishing net on the mouse.

A prompt appeared on the screen.

--Would you like to grant the [Fishing Net] to your followers?

[Yes]

As the fishing net was dropped into the Garlic Tribe, the Pixelated Villagers grew excited.

"Fishing net! Catch fish, catch fish!"

"With a fishing net, we can catch fish by the river!"

"Make fishing nets, make lots of fishing nets."

"No fish can escape the net. The whole river is full of food!"

The Pixelated Villagers wove fishing nets, and some took the nets to the river to catch fish.

The appearance of the fishing net also caught the attention of the East River Tribe.

"That fishing net looks so clumsy."

"Not useful at all. The harpoon is the best—one stab, one fish."

"Fish aren't stupid. Why would they swim into a net?"

"Stupid land dwellers have no idea how agile fish are in the water."

Before long, their smiling faces turned into exclamation marks, and then into puzzled question marks.

At first, the Garlic Tribe was clumsy with the fishing net. The villagers kept scooping back and forth in the water, like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket, exhausting themselves without catching a single fish.

The shaman and hunters adjusted their fishing method, waiting until the fish swam within range of the net before beginning to haul it in. From then on, they started catching scattered fish.

Later, the Garlic Tribe further refined their approach, learning to tie stones around the edges of the net before casting it down.

Because the weighted edges sank quickly, the fish in the middle had no time to swim out before being trapped beneath the net. When the rope was pulled tight, the net's edges cinched into a pocket, and a single draw could catch many fish.

The sight of hauling in dozens of fish with one net shocked the Donghai Clan.

Many small folk from the East River Tribe gathered around the net, chattering and changing expressions at lightning speed.

"As expected of a divine blessing, this is truly an extraordinary thing."

"Why do the fish keep diving in? There's no bait inside—it's really strange."

"A treasure, a treasure! And a treasure that can be made!"

While some small folk were still marveling, others had already sprung into action.

[Grandmother] arrived again by boat, visiting the Prophet and the Shaman.

The two tribes discussed matters briefly and soon reached a result.

[The Garlic Tribe teaches the method of making and using the Fishing Net. The East River Tribe's attitude becomes Intimate.]

[The East River Tribe teaches the Garlic Tribe the method of making and using the Dugout Canoe.]

Lu Yao rubbed his shoulders.

This was exactly what he wanted.

Technical exchange.

For the Garlic Tribe to develop quickly, working behind closed doors wouldn't do. They had to increase exchanges and learning with other tribes to gain more techniques and culture.

In this regard, the Salt Pool Tribe was quite sly.

As the Garlic Tribe's partner, the Salt Pool Tribe's attitude toward them was also Intimate, but the techniques they possessed had never flowed here.

From start to finish, the Salt Pool Tribe saw the Garlic Tribe as a source of goods, a link in their trade network to be harvested.

They had neither opened roads nor revealed their tribe's true location, firmly controlling the routes out and the maps, secretly stifling the Garlic Tribe's development.

Even the sacrificial offering to Lu Yao as a god, the [Golden Dice], was utterly insincere, a complete perfunctory gesture.

The reason Lu Yao was actively seeking a passage to the outside world was to break free from the Salt Pool Tribe's stranglehold and find another corridor leading outward.

[Grandmother] knelt on the ground outside the Temple, prostrating herself.

Yet a question mark appeared above her head.

Lu Yao clicked on it.

"Great God Yao, please forgive our rudeness. Our East River Tribe are followers of Prayer God, and we should seek his shelter and aid. But we are merely a small, weak tribe with few people—our voices cannot reach that god..."

"Your wisdom and majesty, the East River Tribe dares not offend or doubt."

"The Prophet and the Shaman say that you always shelter those who believe in you. Now, we humble outsiders beg you, beseech your mercy."

"The East River Tribe bears the mission of raising Sea Monsters; they are also our most important property. But since last year, the Sea Monsters have fallen ill, gravely ill. Three have died, and only seven remain."

"If the women of the tribe can no longer give birth to Sea Monsters to provide the Temple with their shed skins, then our tribe will be utterly abandoned by the Donghai Clan, and the entire tribe will be unable to survive here."

"We must birth more Sea Monsters to fill the vacancy."

Lu Yao fell silent at what he read.

Sea Monsters were born from the women of the East River Tribe.

Wasn't that a bit...

Thanks to Jin Jin for the 100 starting point coins.