Inam / Technological Barbarians

If the minerals haven't been mined, there's no need to interact with the local natives. The Augury Device can directly probe for mineral deposits beneath the surface, making it somewhat more convenient than Bai Ye's abilities.

Especially in geological exploration.

"Hmm... I think I sense something..."

The Specter sniffed.

She seemed to smell something again.

Before Bai Ye could even take out the Augury Device, she started walking steadily in one direction.

"Wait for me..."

Bai Ye had no idea what was wrong with this guy. Had he lost his mind again? That shouldn't be the case—

"Something might have triggered her. Let's follow her."

Bai Ye followed the Specter as it rampaged through the rainforest.

The nun at the front had no intention of walking properly; instead, she practically forced her way through the rainforest.

She crushed or chopped the thorns and bushes, and kicked away the logs lying on the ground.

Wasn't it said that... the paths in the rainforest are difficult to traverse?

I don't understand Hane 2.

Based on the "common sense" inherent in his database, it is indeed impossible to understand the peculiarity of Abyssal Hunter.

Finally, after a chaotic rampage reminiscent of "a buffalo entering a china shop," the two, along with a bewildered robot chasing after them, entered an open space.

Oh, by the way, the original version of the Thor Existent™ Plus six-wheeled work platform wasn't very fast, with a top speed of only 23 km/h. However, Bai Ye modified the base of Hane 2 to give it a suspension system, and with the help of the thrusters, it was able to keep up with Bai Ye and Specter's speed.

"This is... a primitive... primitive... primitive tribe in the rainforest?!"

On his way into this place with Specter, Bai Ye had already noticed various sounds, but he was stunned when he saw the scene in front of him.

In front of a rainforest-style pyramid-shaped temple, there is a huge platform where several "girls" are holding a concert.

Behind them was something called a "sound system".

Power supplies are nothing to Terra, which possesses Originium Technology.

"AUS?!" Bai Ye was stunned.

Yes, these "girls" were acquaintances of Bai Ye. He and two Abyssal Hunter had seen them on the beach in Siesta City.

AUS stands for "Sunset Fleeting," and their music style is mainly heavy metal rock. Of course, only Bai Ye and others know that this group's identity is not simple.

They were new gods born from the deep sea after the four the Firstborn. However, they abhorred the deformed flesh and blood of their kind. Therefore, they created incarnations, left the sea, and attempted to find their own life and helpers.

Bai Ye had met these guys once before, but he never expected that they would show up here.

"The scent that the Specter smelled must be theirs..."

Bai Ye looked at his arm.

Ever since he last saw Luna in person, his right arm has been unusually well-behaved, remaining completely still and silent. If it weren't for the fact that the enhancement and powers were still intact, Bai Ye would have even thought that the Firstborn had already left...

It seems that AUS, which is very popular outside, is also quite popular in this rainforest. The sudden appearance of Bai Ye and Specter did not attract the attention of others.

They were all listening intently to the music and getting into a state of revelry.

Besides Adaklis, the other races present were Fedi and Liberi, and the three races were mixed together in a surprisingly harmonious way.

"It's them... No wonder they looked so familiar, I almost thought there were Abyssal Hunter here too..."

Since the AUS members are incarnations of the sea god and are filled with a strong aura of the ocean, they are indeed easily mistaken for Abyssal Hunter.

The Specter's sensory organs have become dulled due to the damage caused by the Originium, making it prone to errors.

"It's nothing... Thanks to you, we've found a new place... We can ask about it later."

Bai Ye comforted her.

He never expected to meet AUS again in this primeval rainforest, not long after they had parted ways.

It's truly a cruel twist of fate.

Chapter Thirty-One Inam

(I'm going to update harder! I want to buy Azure Lane skins! They're so cool!)

"Boring..." Specter sighed and slung the circular saw back onto its back.

Although they were also gods born from the deep sea, she knew that this group was not their enemy.

The initial hostility had dissipated, and Specter looked somewhat deflated, as if he had thrown a punch but hit a cotton ball.

"But I never expected that Shark, your nose would be so good..."

Bai Ye's perception is indeed very strong, but it's not entirely sensory. Due to his outstanding mental attributes, coupled with the experience gained from long-term combat, Bai Ye's perception is more like intuition, like a "Peter Parker's jolt." Furthermore, the wind carries information from afar, so Bai Ye's five senses aren't particularly exceptional. His sense of smell, in particular, is only quite ordinary.

More often than not, he can smell scents from a great distance, carried to his nose by the wind.

But Specter is different; the nun's senses are real.

It is indeed somewhat surprising.

"Hmph, so what? I can still smell your scent on Skadi every day... Ah—"

Perhaps because of Bai Ye's praise, Specter became a little smug, and the girl accidentally let slip what she had said.

Laurentina had been completely at ease, suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes darting around.

'Oh no, I blurted it out...'

Laurentina blinked.

Sometimes, it's better not to say anything.

"Ahem..." Bai Ye was also somewhat embarrassed.

Or rather, he only realized now that Specter might have known about his and Skadi's substantial progress a long time ago.

"..."

Bai Ye didn't know what to say.

For a moment, both of them fell silent.

The lively concert and the clamor of the primitive tribes enveloped the two, yet they felt as if they were in another world.

——

"I never expected AUS from the magazine to come here... Wow, new, live out-of-towners!"

Just then, a voice broke the awkward and unpleasant atmosphere between the two.

Bai Ye and Laurentina breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and turned their heads together, their bright eyes fixed on the person who had just spoken to them.

"Waaah—I... I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"

Bai Ye looked closely and saw that the speaker was a white-haired Liberi girl with a healthy dark brown complexion, giving her a somewhat rainforest-like appearance.

Perhaps because Bai Ye and Specter's actions were rather strange, the child was startled when they suddenly turned around.

"Hmm, this intonation and language family— Sargon —finally, I've found someone I can understand!"

This time, the language translation module that comes with the Bai Ye System started working normally. Although it is not the universal language, Sargon is also a commonly used language in this world, just like Flame Cavity and Ursus.

"You're definitely from out of town, hello there. This summer has been really interesting. We never see out-of-towners here normally, but suddenly a bunch of them have appeared. Besides the sudden appearance of AUS, there have been some strange people around here before. Well, although we don't speak the language, we surprisingly get along well with the locals."

The girl spoke to herself, then smiled at the two of them and said, "My name is Inam. As for my status, well, I should be considered the chief of a large tribe here, but my official identity is a messenger in this area."

"There are messengers here?" Bai Ye was taken aback, then shook hands with Inam. "So, we're in the same line of work. I'm also a messenger, and this is my Catastrophe Messenger Guard."

"You're here for the Originium, right?"

Inam looked like she understood.

Bai Ye nodded. "I am indeed somewhat interested. I only learned about this Originium by chance."

Then, Bai Ye asked with some curiosity, "Could you tell us about the situation here...? It seems to be full of life and everything is thriving here, which is completely different from the primitive tribes I had in mind."

"Haha, indeed, I was quite surprised when I first arrived... Well, actually, the situation here isn't exactly a secret."

Inam was easy to get along with; she led Bai Ye and Specter deeper into the rainforest.

The group left the noisy temple square and came to a quiet place.

"If you've come here for the Originium, you'll likely be disappointed. You're not the first to set your sights on this mining area."

"I'd like to hear the details." Bai Ye nodded.

Specter stood behind Bai Ye, looking every bit the dutiful messenger of Catastrophe Messenger.

With Inam's sudden interruption, the two of them tacitly skipped over the awkward topic from before.

For now, let's just pretend nothing happened.

Inam poured juice for the two of them, then slowly explained, "Several hundred years ago, this place was actually a mine belonging to a settlement in Sargon. But due to Catastrophe, the Mobile City left, and the mine was abandoned. The people who stayed behind and those who returned later basically formed the current population."

"In just a few hundred years, they've degenerated into primitive tribes..." Bai Ye pondered, adding 10 points to his sociology knowledge.

"More than a decade ago, the authorities seemed to have considered bringing the nearest Mobile City over for reuse. So their Mobile City passed through this area once."

"But in the end, I don't know why we gave up. Maybe after surveying the area, we found that it wasn't that valuable. If we were to locate the city in this area, it would be too far from other cities, so in the end, nothing came of it."

Bai Ye nodded.

The messenger girl in front of me seems to have been assimilated by the primitive tribe and only knows a general idea about the outside world, but that doesn't really matter.

"Could you tell me about the situation here? I'm quite interested," Bai Ye asked.

"Hmm, it seems you're still not going to give up. No problem, the situation here is actually quite simple."

Inam was quite easy to talk to and answered almost every question, "We call this place Akahula. In our language, it means 'a place overgrown with forests'."

"Although there are mainly three races here: Liberi, Adaklis, and Fedi, we usually call ourselves 'Tiakau,' which means 'brave and skilled warriors.'"

"There are many tribes here, large and small, but there are only three major tribes. I myself am a chief, then there is the Flint Tribe of Kmar, and the third is probably your destination."

"Zumama, as the leader of the Anaconda Tribe, established her tribe at the other end of the rainforest, near the mines, and controlled most of the metal resources. Her tribe has always liked to make strange gadgets and weapons, and has swallowed up many small tribes in the surrounding area."

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Technological Barbarians

(I finally got the Emperor, but the road to obtaining the blueprints is still very long...)

After introducing the three major tribes here, Inam paused, then said in a somewhat strange tone, "Well... it seems that a fourth tribe is rising now."

"They were originally called 'Will of the Wilderness,' but now they've changed their name to 'Gravel's Will.' Although their numbers aren't large, they're very capable fighters and extremely united..."

Inam muttered to herself.

What was said without malice may have been taken to heart by the listener.

Bai Ye heard a familiar name from the girl's mouth.

Gravel, what a familiar name. He's a doctor in Rhodes Island's Medical Department, and in the Medical Department full of weirdos and people with unique skills, he's quite a famous guy.

Bai Ye didn't actually spend much time on the Rhodes Island main ship, but even so, he still had some impression of this famous "battlefield medic".

Logically speaking, Rhodes Island operators shouldn't have anything to do with this primeval rainforest, but intuition led Bai Ye to connect the two.

"You mean, Gravel... is that how it's pronounced?"

Bai Ye spoke the Rhodes Island operator's name once in both Sargon and Common.

"Yes, that's right... Your pronunciation is quite standard. Um, Gravel is a person... You know her? I heard that guy went out to become a doctor—it's funny, the strongest fighter back then actually went out to become a doctor." Inam replied with a smile.

"..."

Bai Ye fell silent.

"Huh? Why aren't you saying anything?" Inam tilted her head in confusion.

"..."