That's fine then

Isabelle's Lingering Prayer went smoothly.

The answer she gave, however, was slightly different from what Lu Yao had expected.

According to the deceased Cave Dweller, this was how things stood.

This branch of Cave Dwellers lived deep in a cave within the mountains, twenty-eight in total. They were a resource-starved population—unable to farm or trade, and of rather low intelligence. Most of the time, they hid underground eating bugs.

But competition underground was fierce, and bugs weren't enough to go around, so this branch of Cave Dwellers took the risk of coming to the surface to hunt.

Unfortunately, years of drought and long winters had left the surrounding area both waterless and cold. Many of the animals that once lived in the mountains had dwindled, and the survivors had fled into the forest.

In such dire times, the Cave Dweller chieftain—the Mutated Cave Dweller—made a bold decision: go farther down the mountain to find food!

During this process, the Cave Dwellers made contact with a new group, the Salt Pool Tribe.

The Salt Pool Tribe outside the mountains struck a deal with them. They would provide the meat, wheat, and salt the Cave Dwellers needed. In return, the Cave Dwellers had to work for them.

Even Cave Dwellers had to eat.

So they agreed.

The Cave Dwellers began hauling goods for the Salt Pool Tribe, digging tunnels through the mountains, mining underground, and chopping wood outside the mountains... In short, all kinds of grueling labor. Just to fill their bellies, the Cave Dwellers had to work themselves to the bone.

Stealing from the Salt Pool Tribe was out of the question.

Because the Salt Pool Tribe was under the protection of the Corruptor.

Compared to the Cave Dwellers, the Corruptor was far more fearless and far more powerful. Even if its body was hacked into seven or eight pieces, as long as they could be reassembled, it would slowly revive.

Under the Corruptor's intimidation, the Cave Dwellers had no choice but to work honestly, earning a pittance of food.

After day after day of effort, the Cave Dwellers finally fulfilled the Salt Pool Tribe's demands, reopening the passage from the mountains to the East, and receiving some long-overdue grain.

And right then, while they were hauling rocks, they ran into the Pig-Fish Brothers of the Garlic Tribe.

The moment the Pig-Fish Brothers saw them, they got extremely excited, shouting "For the tribe!" and charged in to attack.

They struck first.

At the time, there were only two Cave Dwellers. The Pig-Fish Brothers, along with the Hunters, beat them so badly they fled with their heads down, all the way back into the mountains. The Pig-Fish Brothers gave relentless chase.

By the time the Cave Dwellers' reinforcements arrived, the tide began to turn.

In the end, Hero Hunter-Head and four Hunters were killed, and only Hero Fisher-Walk escaped with his life.

Lu Yao repeatedly confirmed the truth of the dead soul's account.

"Low-level deceased cannot lie under the pressure of the Sea of Lingering Souls."

Isabelle said it was credible.

After hearing all this, Lu Yao pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyelids twitching.

This human instinct for courting death and overreaching was already stirring even in the tribal era.

If you don't court death, you won't die.

Though many people understood this principle, they still showed an attitude of "I know, but I want to try anyway."

On the bright side, the Pig-Fish Brothers' proactive attack had at least exposed the hidden threat of the Cave Dwellers early.

The Salt Pool Tribe had effectively taken control of this monster group, like a sword hanging over the Garlic Tribe's head. Dealing with it sooner rather than later was also a way to prevent trouble before it started.

What Lu Yao remained wary of was the Salt Pool Tribe behind it all.

These little people had already developed the ability to enslave monsters and drive them to work. Their threat level in Lu Yao's mind had been raised another notch.

Since they'd already run into each other, he might as well strike at this greatest threat directly.

Lu Yao gave Isabelle his latest order: investigate the mountains and find the Salt Pool Tribe's settlement.

With the order given, Isabelle began searching through the mountains.

Aside from the normal residents of the Garlic Tribe, there were also a few ghost residents from the Ghost City of Sanilo. Of course, ordinary people didn't know about them and couldn't see them.

Among these few, the leader was a ghost named Scott. In terms of his role, he was something like the Garlic Tribe's resident Death God.

They roamed everywhere searching for wandering ghosts, using persuasion and guidance to bring those who volunteered back to Sanilo.

Scott arrived at the place where Hunter-Head had fallen. The bodies had already been moved by the Garlic Tribe to the forest for burial.

He called out: "Companions sleeping and wandering here, please come out and meet me."

Slowly, five ghosts emerged from the ground.

Hunter-Head and the others had bodies that were semi-transparent, completely different from normal Pixelated Villagers.

"Beyond the Southern Desert, there is a city of the dead called Sanilo... It also believes in the great God Yao. The divine power of the God created that place..."

Before Scott could say much, Hunter-Head said: "I'm willing to go to Sanilo!"

The other four Hunters all agreed to go as well.

Unlike ordinary villagers, ghosts had much higher Movement Speed. They ignored many geographical obstacles, so they traveled entirely in a straight line, crossing mountains and deserts.

Since Isabelle had killed the Sand Worms until they dared not surface, the desert was currently very safe.

Upon entering Sanilo, Lie Tou and his group also gained the exclusive abilities of the Ghosts.

[Hero Lv2] Lie Tou

Attack 3 Defense 2 Knowledge 0 Mana 0 Luck 0 Morale 0

[Abilities]

Tracking Lv1: Can identify traces left by various people and animals.

Evasion Lv1: Can evade damage from some attacks. This probability is higher against weaker lifeforms.

The only thing that left Lu Yao regretful was that Lie Tou and Yu Zou, the original Garlic Tribe Duo, had very mediocre talents. They were still stuck at Lv2.

This was also partly because Lu Yao hadn't focused on training them.

After all, it was still the tribal civilization era, and population attrition was simply unsustainable. Most of the time was spent on development and management. Plus, with Isabelle as a strategic nuclear weapon, the Pig-Fish Brothers really weren't needed.

When the Ghosts entered Sanilo, the Garlic Tribe was holding a funeral ceremony for the hero, mourning and remembering everything Lie Tou had done for the tribe.

"He was one of the two heroes born in the tribe. He bravely fought against the Demon Cultists, risking his life to save others."

"He was a believer praised by the gods, an embodiment of strength and courage, a symbol of unyielding spirit."

"He was our pride, our pioneer, and the proof of our existence."

The Prophet and the Shaman each delivered their praises for Lie Tou.

A wave of sorrow permeated the entire Garlic Tribe, and sad expressions appeared above the little people's heads.

A lightbulb suddenly lit up above the Prophet's head: "We should build a Monument!"

"To commemorate these heroes who dedicated themselves to the tribe, and also to warn future generations not to forget this glorious and winding history!"

The other little people of the tribe agreed one after another.

"Monument!"

"Monument! The tribe's monument!"

"Record the heroes! Record the tribe!"

So, guided by the Prophet and the Shaman, the many little people piled stones to build a square stone tower, which looked like a large tombstone.

A message appeared on the game screen.

[The Garlic Tribe has invented the Monument. Everyone's intelligence has slightly increased.]

[Discoverable Wonder prototype: Monument.]

[Faith required for first Wonder construction reduced.]

Lu Yao was stunned.

So this kind of thing could happen too.

He clicked open the Miracle tab and scrolled to the very end, to [Wonder].

Sure enough, the [Wonder] cost had been reduced from the previous 5000 Faith to 4500 points, exactly a ten percent discount.

Lu Yao pondered for a moment and understood the reasoning.

The Simulator was encouraging players acting as Novice Gods to build Wonders early, enter the Pantheon, and move from the Safe Zone into the Crawling Zone, starting the next phase as soon as possible.

But Lu Yao had no such plans for now.

His goal was to first achieve the small objective of dominating the Novice Village.

Thanks to Qi Sui Ye for supporting 100 Qidian coins.