The East River Tribe's leader, Grandmother, came to offer thanks outside the Temple.
She also tactfully expressed the tribe's wishes: they were a branch of the Donghai Clan, and although they were in dire straits, they could not betray their clan's faith in Prayer God.
Winter came especially early, and it was colder than ever before. Even the vast East River had frozen over.
This had no effect on the Garlic Tribe.
The tribe now had ample, balanced food supplies, including this year's bumper harvest of wheat, potatoes, and garlic, as well as fish and meat preserved with salt.
Moreover, as the houses had gradually been converted into wooden homes, their ability to keep out wind and rain had greatly improved, and they were warmer than before.
The Garlic Tribe's most important work in winter was logging—going into the forest to find wood for heating and stockpiling.
Several consecutive days of heavy snow covered the entire tribe in a thick layer of white, and the ditches froze over as well. It was so cold that even some birds and rabbits ran into the tribe, trying to dig up something to eat.
That day, people from the East River Tribe came walking over the ice with packs on their backs.
The bitter winter had forced them to dismantle their ships for firewood, while fishing had become dangerous and difficult. The ice kept them from breaking through to reach warmer waters.
The last Sea Monster had also died beneath the water, yet they had not produced any new Sea Monsters.
Beset by hunger and cold, more than a dozen people in the East River Tribe had frozen or fallen ill to death. They had no choice but to abandon tradition and come ashore in search of a way to survive.
Grandmother led several Female Captains to kneel outside the Temple, praying for God to forgive their previous disrespect.
Lu Yao did not make things difficult for them again. He had Isabelle help them as he had promised before.
Circumstances were stronger than people. They had to eat, after all.
Besides, the enemy of an enemy was a friend.
Lu Yao needed the East River Tribe. They could provide water routes and help keep the Salt Pool Tribe in check.
As the Garlic Tribe's de facto leader, the Prophet received the East River Tribe very warmly. Since winter days were too short and it was already too late to build new houses, the Garlic Tribe cleared out some homes for them to live in.
After aiding the East River Tribe, something happened in the Garlic Tribe that Lu Yao had never expected.
That winter, the East River Tribe suddenly gave birth to many babies.
Lu Yao smacked his forehead when he saw it.
I was careless!
The East River Tribe had set their sights on the Garlic Tribe's strong young men!
In the tribal era, there was no concept of marriage, much less monogamy. Everyone was open-minded and free-spirited. Today I went to your house, tomorrow you went to hers, and any children born were raised together by everyone.
That was more or less how it worked.
Among the East River Tribe's new babies were both boys and girls, but not a single one had become a Sea Monster. They were all perfectly normal infants.
Grandmother was utterly terrified.
"Prayer God, great Prayer God, are you still unwilling to forgive the tribe? We have never forgotten your Blessing. We have always worked hard to produce Sea Monsters and offer you leather."
"Why have you abandoned us... Prayer God, please, bless your people in this foreign land just once more!"
Of course, these prayers did nothing.
The women of the East River Tribe still did not give birth to a single Sea Monster.
After conducting a detailed investigation, Isabelle reached a conclusion: the East River Tribe women giving birth to Sea Monsters was not due to any abnormality in their bodies, but because of the Qi God Totem.
The Qi God Totem possessed a special Faith Spark that transformed newborn boys. The Faith Spark entered the bodies of these Sea Monster boys, using their lives and sanity as fuel. After burning, it condensed into the thick layer of leather covering the Sea Monsters' bodies. Through a special Sacrifice, this leather could then be transformed back into Power of Faith.
Simply put, Sea Monsters were living faith crops.
The Totem planted Faith Sparks inside infants, turning them into Sea Monsters. They were raised by the Donghai Clan, and their hides were eventually sent back to the Donghai Clan in exchange for the protection of the Qi God Totem.
Lu Yao was not particularly surprised by this outcome.
As he became more familiar with the Simulator, he had come to understand that every God in this Pixel World did all sorts of things for the sake of gaining more faith.
The amount of faith directly determined the strength of a God's power.
Faith was a God's primary productive force.
Because they were Gods, nothing was forbidden to them.
Any action taken by a God would be glorified, blindly followed, and understood by believers. At least during the tribal civilization stage, no one questioned a God's greatness or righteousness.
So-called Demons were merely what Gods called heretics.
After losing their Totem, Sea Monsters, and ships, the East River Tribe was an extremely weak group on land.
As leaders, Grandmother and the Female Captains were deeply worried and frightened.
Yet the vast majority of East River Tribe women were immersed in the simple joy of being well-fed and warmly clothed. After becoming neighbors with the Garlic Tribe, they wore winter clothes woven from wool, ate wheat and potatoes, and no longer had to worry about lacking firewood at night.
Especially after giving birth, they spent most of their time caring for these tiny lives of the next generation.
Since the children belonged to both tribes, the Garlic Tribe also spared no effort in providing food and supplies, allowing the East River Tribe women to get through the winter with ease.
As winter was about to end, Grandmother led the East River Tribe away, returning to Ship Island on the East River.
They left behind the vast majority of the babies. The Garlic Tribe was undoubtedly wealthier and more stable, making it better suited to raising young children than the East River Tribe.
Thus, the Garlic Tribe welcomed its first baby boom.
Lu Yao specifically counted them.
A total of thirty-four babies had been added that winter, accounting for nearly one-tenth of the Garlic Tribe's total population.
He grinned from ear to ear as he counted.
Make sure to come again next winter.
Just as everything was heading in a positive direction, the Salt Pool Tribe raised some discordant objections.
The Salt Pool Tribe sent a group of people to hold stern negotiations with the Prophet.
"The Garlic Tribe has always been our partner. The salt we supply has always been sold to the Garlic Tribe at the most favorable price."
"But the Garlic Tribe has bypassed us to trade with the dangerous East River Tribe. This is unwise, severely disrupts the trading market, and harms the interests of the entire Salt Pool Tribe. Therefore, you must stop this behavior and compensate us accordingly."
"Another matter is that salt prices outside are constantly rising. Every tribe lacks salt, so we need to raise our prices."
"Of course, if the Garlic Tribe is willing to trade large amounts of wool, we can make some concessions as appropriate."
They had still put on a false show of politeness in the past, but now they had finally shown their hand.
The Salt Pool Tribe relied on its monopoly over salt, as well as its route to the outside world.
This time, the Prophet answered firmly as well. "None of this is acceptable to the Garlic Tribe. There is no room for negotiation. We welcome any friend willing to cooperate, but we will never accept threats."
"Stupid savages!"
"You will regret this!"
"The Salt Pool Tribe no longer considers you friends!"
The Salt Pool Tribe people stormed off and disappeared into the mountains to the west.
Lu Yao selected Earthquake from [Miracle], targeting the mountains west of the Garlic Tribe that bordered the Salt Pool Tribe. As the Miracle descended, the earth shook and the mountains swayed, while massive rocks tumbled down the slopes.
[Earthquake]!
[Earthquake]!
[Earthquake]!
After four Earthquake strikes in total, a vast stretch of mountains collapsed. The edge of the mountains was left littered with rubble, and the passage between the Garlic Tribe and Salt Pool Tribe was completely severed.
The Salt Pool Tribe pixel people in the mountains fell into panic.
"We're finished! The passage has been cut off!"
"This trade route is broken. We'll never be able to transport goods through here again."
"The losses are too great!"
"My wool! My garlic!"
Lu Yao clenched his fist.
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