The Tribes' Joys and Sorrows Were Not Shared

Lu Yao repeatedly reread [Grandmother]'s plea, making sure he had understood correctly.

The Sea Monsters really were children born to women of the East River Tribe.

[Grandmother] had also explained why.

Among the East River Tribe's newborns, baby girls would grow up healthy. But if a baby boy was born, he would quickly grow scales and a tail, his body becoming hunched as he gradually turned into a lizard-like aquatic monster.

Sea Monsters possessed immense strength, and their scaled hides were impervious to harm. Their bodies kept growing, shedding layer after layer of skin until their brief lives came to an end.

Their weakness was that they could not stray far from water.

As for why this happened, the East River Tribe did not know either. They only said it was a Blessing from Prayer God, allowing them to rule the entire body of water by giving birth to Sea Monsters.

Not long ago, the Sea Monsters as a group had fallen ill with an unprecedented disease.

The East River Tribe could not cure them and could only watch as the once mighty and imposing Sea Monsters lay listlessly in the water. Aside from the three that had died, some had already floated belly-up on the surface, frothing at the mouth. They did not look like they had long to live.

This left Lu Yao feeling somewhat wistful.

The Sea Monsters on stage: powerful bodies, thick hides, intimidating appearances, domineering rulers of the waters.

The Sea Monsters behind the scenes: tragic origins, painful fates, weak and sluggish bodies, ravaged by disease.

The seemingly invincible Sea Monsters were not only the result of mutated baby boys, but also faced the difficulty of finding medical treatment.

In her despair, [Grandmother] could only come and seek help from the Local God.

That was Lu Yao.

Lu Yao was rather helpless about this request too.

Unfortunately, I'm not a medicine god.

Among the Miracles, there were only those that created various natural phenomena and disasters. There was nothing like a great healing spell.

Among the more than three hundred members of the Garlic Tribe, there were only three Pharmacists, including the Shaman. They were already in desperately short supply treating people, let alone Sea Monsters.

[Grandmother] merely prayed silently outside the Temple and confessed everything to God. She had not told the Prophet or the Shaman this secret concerning the tribe's survival.

Lu Yao pondered it.

There could be far too many reasons for Sea Monsters to fall ill. The water might be too cold or too hot, there might be too much aquatic vegetation, climate changes might have affected them... it could even have been the emergence of an infectious disease unique to Sea Monsters.

For now, all he could say was that he was unable to help.

The East River Tribe's civilization was not developing well, but the Garlic Tribe had welcomed another landmark event.

[Writing gradually spread through the Garlic Tribe. The Garlic Tribe had learned to use names.]

With this notification, Lu Yao noticed that names had begun appearing above the Garlic Tribe's villagers.

The [Prophet] was called Nong Lai.

The [Shaman] was called Lie Cang.

The Pig-Fish Brothers had finally gained names of their own as well.

The [Hero] who loved Wild Boars was Lie Tou, while the [Hero] who liked fish was Yu Zou.

The Garlic Tribe had two major surnames. Farmers all had the surname Nong, while Hunters all had the surname Lie.

In addition, the small number of Fishermen who had emerged because of Fishing Nets had the surname Yu. The two Carpenters had the surname Mu, Pharmacists had the surname Yao, and salt workers had the surname Yan.

In short, every Garlic Tribe member's name came from their own occupation.

This also showed that although the [Prophet] and [Shaman] were the tribe's leaders, being a leader was not a specialized full-time position. Their actual professions were farmer and Hunter respectively, and they still performed related work as usual.

The use of writing turned specific names into unique markers for every Pixelated Villager. The birth of names also gave the Pixelated Villagers more complex self-reflection and closer communication.

Lu Yao noticed two villagers discussing their ideas.

One was called Nong Yu, while the other was called Yu Huan.

Nong Yu asked, "The crops in Farmland, Wheat and Potatoes, can both be planted in spring and harvested in winter. Is it the same for fish in the water?"

Yu Huan said, "fish in the water grow by themselves, just like Wheat."

"Then if we plant fish in the soil during spring, will they grow even more by summer?"

"Of course not. Fish can only live in water."

An exclamation mark suddenly appeared over Yu Huan's head. "That actually makes sense. Fish cannot grow in soil, but if we make a patch of 'water farmland' beside the river, we can raise fish in it. Then, just like harvesting Wheat, we can catch lots of fish directly when autumn comes."

"We need to spread fertilizer."

Nong Yu said, "fish eat insects, and there are lots of insects in Farmland. We can feed those insects to the fish, and they'll grow bigger and multiply."

"That's right!"

The two villagers immediately became excited and ran to the riverbank together to start experimenting.

Lu Yao then shifted his attention to a villager named Mu Hao.

Mu Hao was one of the tribe's two Carpenters, and he was currently logging in the forest.

The Garlic Tribe's tools were still mainly made of wood and stone, so the Carpenters used Stone Axes. Cutting down Trees took a great deal of effort. Yet Mu Hao was strolling about leisurely by himself, with helpers doing the work for him.

After a period of exploration, he had found a good method.

Mu Hao had found a small animal called a [Beaver] beside the river. Beavers chewed down Trees to build nests. So he raised Beavers with Wheat, bringing the little animals out only when he went out to cut Trees each day.

This route was somewhat like investing points into the wrong skill tree, yet it was remarkably effective in the short term.

There were quite a few other cases like this.

At this point, Lu Yao could feel that the Garlic Tribe had finally emerged from its muddled primitive state. Everyone had begun thinking about how to live better and work more efficiently.

Just as Lu Yao observed the many facets of life, Isabelle, who had been silent for a long time, finally sent back a message.

She had found the Bedou Tribe in the southern desert.

But contrary to the rumors, the Bedou Tribe now had only thirty-two people left. The Oasis where they had lived for generations had also been occupied by a group of desert monsters. The Bedou Tribe had practically fled all the way in the Garlic Tribe's direction.

Having lost their Oasis, their population had plummeted to less than a tenth of its peak. Because they had fled in such haste, the Bedou Tribe had not taken much property with them. They had merely ridden their Camels and galloped away.

When Isabelle encountered them, the Bedou Tribe was being confronted by a group of Desert Bandits.

She described them: "Those bandits wore crude black clothes, but underneath were Flax garments. They carried cloth bags. They were from the Salt Pool Tribe."

The Apostle Isabelle intervened, killing half the bandits and capturing the rest before bringing them all back. There were eleven in total.

The Salt Pool Tribe villagers disguised as bandits were strung together by rope like candied hawthorns, hanging their heads dejectedly as they walked behind Isabelle.

[Because of Apostle Isabelle's persuasion, the Bedou Tribe joined the Garlic Tribe.]

[The Garlic Tribe and the Bedou Tribe merged, and Faith Points increased slightly.]

The population rose to 347.

Faith Points increased by 120, restoring total Faith Points to 160. The Miracle reserve was ample once more.

Lu Yao fixed his gaze on the two kinds of livestock brought by the Bedou Tribe.

Camels and sheep.

Animal Husbandry finally showed some promise.