Nothing to Worry About

Isabelle's Lingering Prayer went smoothly.

The answer she received, however, differed slightly from what Lu Yao had expected.

According to the dead Cave Dwellers, this was what had happened.

This group of Cave Dwellers lived in deep mountain caves. There were twenty-eight of them in total. They were a resource-starved species that could neither farm nor trade, and their intelligence was rather low. Most of the time, they hid underground and ate insects.

Competition underground was too fierce, and there were not enough bugs to eat, so this group of Cave Dwellers risked coming to the surface to hunt.

Unfortunately, years of drought and long winters had left the surrounding area cold and short of water. There were far fewer animals in the mountains than before, and some of those that remained had fled into the forest.

At this difficult time, the Cave Dwellers' leader—the Mutated Cave Dweller—made a bold decision: find food farther down the mountain!

During this process, the Cave Dwellers encountered a new group, the Salt Pool Tribe.

The Salt Pool Tribe outside the mountains made a deal with them. They were willing to provide the meat, Wheat, and salt the Cave Dwellers needed, while the Cave Dwellers would work for them in return.

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 logging outside the mountains... In short, they did all kinds of grueling labor. To fill their bellies, the Cave Dwellers had no choice but to work themselves to the bone.

Stealing from the Salt Pool Tribe was impossible.

Because the Salt Pool Tribe was protected by Corruptors.

Compared to Cave Dwellers, Corruptors were more fearless and much stronger. Even if their bodies were chopped into seven or eight pieces, as long as the pieces could be put back together, they would slowly revive.

Under the Corruptors' Deterrence, the Cave Dwellers could only work obediently in exchange for a tiny amount of food.

After working day after day, the Cave Dwellers finally fulfilled the Salt Pool Tribe's demands. They reopened the passage through the mountains to the east and received some long-overdue provisions.

Then, while carrying stones, they encountered the Pig-Fish Brothers of the Garlic Tribe.

The Pig-Fish Brothers became extremely excited the moment they saw them. Shouting "For the tribe!" they charged in to attack.

They had struck first.

At the time, there were only two Cave Dwellers. The Pig-Fish Brothers and the Hunter beat them until they fled in panic, all the way back into the mountains. The Pig-Fish Brothers still pursued them relentlessly.

Once the Cave Dwellers' reinforcements arrived, the situation began to turn around.

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

Lu Yao repeatedly confirmed whether the dead soul's account was truthful.

"Low-level dead cannot lie under the Deterrence of the Sea of Lingering Souls."

Isabelle said it was credible.

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

That human gene for courting death and getting cocky was stirring even in the tribal era.

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

Although many people knew that principle, they still had the attitude of, "I know, but I just want to try."

Looking on the bright side, the Pig-Fish Brothers' proactive attack had exposed the Cave Dwellers' hidden danger ahead of time.

The Salt Pool Tribe had indirectly brought this monster group under its control, making it like a sword hanging over the Garlic Tribe's head. Dealing with it sooner could be considered preventing trouble before it started.

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

These little people had actually gained the ability to enslave monsters and make them work for them. Their threat level rose another notch in Lu Yao's mind.

Since they had already crossed paths, he might as well start with this greatest threat.

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

After receiving the order, Isabelle began searching through the mountains.

Besides its ordinary residents, the Garlic Tribe also had several Ghost residents from Sanilo, the Ghost City. Of course, ordinary people neither knew of nor could see them.

The leader of these people was a Ghost named Scott. In terms of work, he was somewhat like the Garlic Tribe's resident Death God.

They searched everywhere for wandering Ghosts. Through persuasion and guidance, they led those willing to go back to Sanilo.

Scott arrived at the place where Hunter-Head had died. The Garlic Tribe had already moved the bodies into the forest for burial.

He called out, "Sleeping brethren wandering here, please come forth and meet me."

Five Ghosts slowly emerged from the ground.

Hunter-Head and the others were all translucent, completely different from ordinary Pixelated Villagers.

"Beyond the Southern Desert lies a city of the dead called Sanilo... It also worships the great God Yao. The God's mighty power created that place..."

Scott had only spoken a few sentences when Hunter-Head said, "I'm willing to go to Sanilo!"

The other four Hunters were also willing to go with him.

Unlike ordinary Pixelated Villagers, Ghosts had much higher Movement Speed. They ignored many geographical obstacles, so they could travel in straight lines, crossing mountains and deserts.

Since Isabelle had killed so many Sand Worms that they no longer dared emerge from the ground, the desert was currently very safe as well.

After entering Sanilo, Hunter-Head and his group also gained abilities exclusive to Ghosts.

[Hero Lv2] Hunter-Head

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

[Abilities]

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

Evasion Lv1: Can evade damage from certain attacks. This chance is higher against lifeforms weaker than itself.

The only thing Lu Yao regretted was that Hunter-Head and Yu Zou, the Garlic Tribe Duo of the first generation, both had very ordinary talents. Even now, they were still stuck at Lv2.

This was also because Lu Yao had not focused on training them.

After all, this was still the tribal civilization era, and it truly could not withstand population losses. Most of the time was spent developing and managing the tribe. With Isabelle as a strategic nuclear weapon, there really had been no need for the Pig-Fish Brothers.

While the Ghosts entered Sanilo, the Garlic Tribe was holding a funeral for its Hero, mourning and commemorating everything Hunter-Head had done for the tribe.

"He was one of the two Heroes born within the tribe. He once fought Demon Cultists bravely, disregarding his own life to save others."

"He was a believer praised by the God, the embodiment of strength and courage, and a symbol of never surrendering."

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

The Prophet and the Shaman each offered their praise for Hunter-Head.

A sorrowful mood filled the entire Garlic Tribe, and sad expressions appeared above the little people's heads.

A light bulb suddenly lit up above the Prophet's head. "We should build a Monument!"

"It will commemorate those Heroes who gave themselves for the tribe, and warn future generations never to forget this glorious and winding history!"

The other little people of the tribe all agreed.

"Monument!"

"Monument! The tribe's Monument!"

"Record the Heroes! Record the tribe!"

Thus, under the guidance of the Prophet and Shaman, the many little people used stones to build a square stone tower. It 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.]

[Usable Wonder prototype discovered: Monument.]

[Faith required to construct a Wonder for the first time has been reduced.]

Lu Yao froze.

That was possible too?

He opened the Miracles tab and scrolled to the final entry, [Wonder].

Sure enough, the cost of [Wonder] had dropped from 5,000 Faith to 4,500, exactly a ten percent discount.

After thinking it over, Lu Yao understood the reasoning behind it.

The Simulator encouraged players acting as Novice Gods to build Wonders early, enter the Pantheon, leave the Safe Zone for the Crawling Zone, and begin the next stage as soon as possible.

But Lu Yao had no such plans for now.

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

Thanks to Qisuye for supporting with 100 Qidian Coins.