Prophet

In many ancient cultures, a prophet is one who receives divine revelation and conveys the will of the gods. By this definition, the Pixelated Villager who found the [Energy Staff] undoubtedly fit the bill.

In the world of the Pixel Game, Lu Yao also needed someone who could understand his intentions—even if only a small part, it was far better than letting a group of villagers fumble around in confusion. He certainly didn't want any more infants appearing in the [Sacrificial Offering] slot.

Lu Yao clicked [Yes].

The screen displayed:

[The Garlic Tribe has gained its first Prophet. Under the Prophet's leadership and influence, everyone's intelligence has slightly increased.]

With Lu Yao's operation, a white light shone on the villager, and the question mark above his head transformed into a glowing lightbulb.

The words [Prophet] appeared above the Pixelated Villager's head.

The Prophet knelt before the idol and worshipped, then walked out of the Temple.

As soon as he appeared, all the Pixelated Villagers surrounded him, as if they already knew he had received the God's Blessing.

The Prophet said, "The Sacrificial Offering the God needs are mysterious items we cannot understand or grasp. Everyone, keep an eye out—if you see anything similar, offer it to the God, and you will receive the God's Blessing."

"The Prophet is right!"

"Listen to the Prophet!"

"Mysterious items! Go find mysterious items!"

"A mysterious wild boar! I know one—a white, mysterious wild boar that no one has ever caught!"

"I've seen a mysterious fish in the water. It devours all flesh and bones—very mysterious. The great God will surely love it!"

Lu Yao looked speechlessly at the last two Pixelated Villagers who had spoken.

They were indeed both wearing leather vests. Even without any markings or names, Lu Yao recognized them at once—it had to be the Pig-Fish Brothers.

These two were fixated on pigs and fish, like Fireflies in the night—impossible to miss.

Although the Prophet had told the others the characteristics of the Sacrificial Offering, in the three hours that followed, no Pixelated Villager made any similar discovery. Most of the Pixelated Villagers returned to their normal lives—planting garlic and berries, then eating them.

Not long after, two new infants were born in the tribe. The Pixelated Villagers began assigning people to care for the two newborns.

The only one Lu Yao could directly control and guide was the Prophet. But even then, he could only move the Prophet to a designated spot—whether the Prophet understood or what he discovered was entirely up to his own insight.

After watching and operating for a while, it was already 6:30 PM, and Lu Yao's stomach growled.

He went downstairs to a small restaurant, ordered a Green Pepper Shredded Pork Fried Rice, wolfed it down, and hurried back.

On the computer screen, the Garlic Tribe had undergone a new change.

A Black Bear, from who knows where, had broken into the tribe. It had destroyed two farm plots and one house, and the bodies of two Pixelated Villagers lay on the ground.

Most of the villagers were hiding behind the Temple, trembling in fear. The Prophet stood at the edge of the Temple, holding the tribe's two infants in his arms.

The Black Bear was two or three times the size of a Pixelated Villager—a giant monster to them. It was now tearing at the bodies of the fallen Pixelated Villagers on the ground.

Lu Yao watched, furious.

"Brother, I finally got two newborns, counting on population growth to boost faith, and you come and reduce my numbers by two. You want to die, don't you?"

"Eat my Justice from Above!"

Just as he was about to summon a Lightning strike, he noticed something unusual.

Two Pixelated Villagers were confronting the Black Bear. They wore leather vests and held wooden sticks, one in front and one behind, circling the bear and repeatedly whacking its head and rear.

As they moved, they shouted:

"Strength of the Pig!"

"I am as Agile as a Fish!"

That speech—clearly the Pig-Fish Brothers.

Lu Yao hesitated.

If he used Lightning now, the two villagers might be turned to ash, just like that Bull Horn Helmet leader before. He needed them to create some distance. The tribe's population couldn't afford any more losses.

Lu Yao decided to wait and see.

The two Pixelated Villagers were very agile. They coordinated front and back, hitting a stick and then fleeing, while the other pressed the attack, keeping the Black Bear caught between two sides.

Though the wooden sticks didn't deal much damage, they annoyed the bear, and a rage icon appeared above its head. It abandoned the corpses on the ground and furiously chased the two villagers. This time, instead of kiting, they both fled toward the forest.

Lu Yao understood.

The two villagers were trying to lure the Black Bear away to prevent further harm to the others.

The Pig-Fish Brothers usually seemed a bit unreliable, but when something big happened, they stepped up.

Lu Yao immediately selected the miracle [Lightning], pre-judging the direction the bear would run toward the forest, and tried to keep the blast as far from the Pig-Fish Brothers as possible.

A silver Lightning bolt struck down from above!

The Falling Thunder hit the Black Bear square in the head, killing it instantly. Its charred body smoked.

Under the Lightning air strike, the Pig-Fish Brothers also fell to the ground. But after a few seconds, they got back up, seemingly still alive.

Lu Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing the Black Bear killed by Lightning, all the Pixelated Villagers raised their arms and cheered, with smiley face icons appearing above their heads.

Only the Prophet had a question mark floating above his head.

Lu Yao tapped the question mark.

The Prophet pondered: "How could a bear come out of the Deep Mountain? A bear this big—I've never seen one around here before. Where did it come from, and why did it suddenly attack the Garlic Tribe?"

He handed the child in his arms to a nearby villager and walked over to the black bear's charred corpse.

Then an exclamation mark lit up above the Prophet's head.

"It's not a bear!"

The charred bear corpse turned into a dead Pixelated Villager. The tribe's villagers immediately panicked.

"It's a Demon Cultist!"

"A Demon Cultist turned into a bear and attacked the tribe. He wanted to destroy the Temple and attack us!"

"A man-eating demon, so terrifying!"

"Demon, a horrible demon! There's a demon here! I'm leaving!"

Three of the Pixelated Villagers immediately fled in different directions.

The population count in the upper right corner dropped to 25.

Faith value also fell by 3 points. Counting the 20 points of faith consumed earlier for using [Lightning], plus the replenishment from the [Energy Staff], the Temple now had only 7 points of faith left.

Lu Yao scratched his head.

After a whole day of hard work, he was back to square one.

Being a god wasn't easy either.

What bothered him more was the newly appeared Demon Element.

From the sound of it, demons seemed to be on the opposing side to gods. His tribe hadn't been established long, and already a Demon Cultist had attacked. He couldn't tell if it was a random incident or if they'd been targeted.

What was certain was that in the days ahead, dealing with demons would be unavoidable.

The Prophet found a letter in the Demon Cultist's corpse.

"The letter says: Target is the Forest Tribe. While the Forest Tribe's hunters are away, kill as many as possible."

The question mark above the Prophet's head turned into a glowing lightbulb.

"I understand. This Demon Cultist, who turned into a Black Bear, got the wrong place. He mistook our tribe for the Forest Tribe and attacked us. Their target is the Forest Tribe. We're still safe."

The other frightened villagers finally calmed down.

Then the Pixelated Villagers began repairing the destroyed houses and farmland, all busying themselves.

Lu Yao opened the Temple interface and saw that the [Garlic] in the [Blessing] slot hadn't disappeared yet, meaning he still couldn't provide them with long-distance aid.

The [Sacrificial Offering] slot below was empty, and the tribe's villagers hadn't sent any new offerings.

What surprised him was that two more Pixelated Villagers had entered the Temple.

--Great God, two believers have performed feats far beyond their peers. Would you like to convert them into Heroes?

[Yes] [No]