Ultimately, everyone decided to take Duwa's advice and talk to the Itza People first.
Duwa volunteered to go and invite her, because even before she obtained the Soul of Wind, the savages treated her as a respected guest, so she believed they would not harm her.
Qingmu instructed the Boss Coal to follow her and report back immediately if anything unexpected happened.
During this time, they tested the machine gun. Petru controlled the machine gun, while Boris and Ivan were responsible for driving the gun chain. Although it was very difficult, and the stand was obviously not very stable, with the gun barrel shaking violently, the bullets were still fired successfully.
The 30mm cannon fired shells, not bullets, but rather artillery shells. The M789 high-explosive round were indeed explosive, and their power made them hesitant to fire at any part of this "old" warship that had survived the Spacetime Deep Well, fearing they might damage their only refuge. However, the impact of the shells wasn't apparent in the water, so they decided to try firing them ashore, since they had plenty of ammunition.
Ivan went to the hold and retrieved some materials to reinforce the wheelbarrow. Then, with great difficulty, the crew used the ship's hinges to hoist the several hundred pounds of machine gun and shells from the ship's side into the small boat.
After landing, they pushed the machine gun to a high point and fired two shots at the opposite hillside. With a few loud bangs, the M789 high-explosive round exploded at the target 500 meters away, kicking up a large amount of gravel and dust. Startled birds took flight from the woods, fluttering wildly in the sky.
"Wow! That's powerful enough!" Petru exclaimed. "The rate of fire is probably around a hundred rounds per minute. In this primitive place, that's enough to take down a battalion of Itza People."
Several men cheered on the beach, as if they had won a battle.
After the victory, of course, came the celebration. They hid the machine guns in the bushes, then picked some wild berries, caught some fish, and went back to the deck to barbecue.
The Sun seemed to never set. This made people lose their ability to judge time, and they didn't know if it was lunchtime or not, since their stomachs were already growling.
Hanran lay listlessly on the deck, its tail twitching, its eyes fixed longingly on the roasting fish over the fire. It must have been starving, because as soon as the fish were cooked, it pounced on them, grabbing one with its left paw, another with its right, and one in its mouth, as if afraid it would miss out on food.
Anderson, who was in charge of grilling the fish, laughed and said, "You've got your share!" He tossed a fish over, then leaped high into the Hanran and caught it in his mouth.
"Wow, you look just like Garfield, and you can jump so high!" Boris found it amusing and tossed a fish over, Hanran up and caught it with gusto.
Petru, having witnessed the white cat's prowess, warned, "Don't play with it, you can't afford to mess with this cat!" He then took a fish from the fire and gently placed it in front of the cat, saying, "Eat slowly, you won't be shortchanged."
Hanran meowed at him. For some reason, Petru suddenly felt that this cat was very familiar, as if it were a cat he had raised when he was a child and then lost.
Boris brought out more wine, and everyone shared some. After a hearty meal and drinks, everyone rested on the deck. With three blazing Sun overhead, although they felt physically fine, they mentally felt waves of heat coming their way, making them quite irritable. But everyone was waiting for news from Duwa, and no one wanted to stay in the cabin.
"They're here! They're here!" The Crow flew back, cawing from afar.
Smelling the aroma of grilled fish, it excitedly landed, only to find a mess of scraps and bones. It cried out in anger and grievance, "Quack! You all secretly ate while I wasn't looking! Guagua, quack, you didn't even leave me any!"
Boris slapped his forehead. "Oh dear, I really forgot about you!"
The Crow grew even more aggrieved and frantically scratched Qingmu's head. " Guagua, you blockhead, have you forgotten about me too?"
Qingmu laughed and said, "I don't need to worry about you; someone else is thinking about you!"
The Crow turned its head and saw Hanran standing there wagging its tail at him, meowing softly. Beneath it was a pile of fish, each one intact and untouched.
"Caw!" The Boss Coal jumped over and patted the Hanran's head with his wing. "You're the best! I didn't spoil you for nothing!"
A bird and a cat gathered around a pile of fish and started munching away.
Qingmu walked over quietly, placed a water glass next to them, and then took out some fruit from his pocket and put it on the ground. "Eat slowly, be careful of fish bones!"
Duwa returned, but she was alone.
She said, "They are willing to talk to us, but they don't want to board this ship. They believe this great ship is the lair of demons, and that you were sent by God to save them, but since boarding this ship, you have been bewitched by demons and want to destroy God's altar. They are willing to talk to us in the valley ahead, the place where you fought before, but on the condition that only the three of us are allowed to go."
Situ said, "Alright, let's go over there and talk. The rest of you can stay on the ship."
Petru said, "Can't I go either?"
Boris looked at the half-eaten Soul of Fire in his hand and laughed, jokingly saying, "He obviously thinks your thing is too short, hahaha..."
Alice, disgusted by Boris's foul language, said with some concern, "Could those savages be plotting something?"
Qingmu said, "No, their consciousness can't deceive us."
Anderson said, "It's always better to be prepared. We have machine guns; we'll set them up on the mountain so we can respond to any situation that arises."
Situ nodded and said, "Alright, the four of you stay on the mountain and guard the machine gun. If anything happens, we'll have Mr. Crow contact you. Professor Su, you stay on the ship and protect Madam and Miss Alice."
Everyone nodded in agreement and then went their separate ways.
After they disembarked in a small boat, Qingmu, Situ, and Duwa headed towards the valley where they had fought a few days earlier, while Petru, Anderson, Ivan, and Boris disappeared into the dense forest where machine guns were hidden.
After passing through the former savage camp, we entered the valley.
The priests of three savage tribes were already waiting in the valley. Qingmu recognized two of them, and was most familiar with the eldest, who was Kubota, the leader of the Sangqi Tribe.
Qingmu had mixed feelings about the Kubota and the Sangqi Tribe. The Soul of Wood was given to him by Kubota, and from the day he Soul of Wood, the people of the Sangqi Tribe regarded him as a god. When he extended the tentacles of his consciousness to the entire tribe through the Soul of Wood, he also vaguely accepted the fact that those savages were his people.
However, setting aside the legend of Gaia and Cohen's last words, of the three tribes, only the Sangqi Tribe truly opposed humanity and caused harm. They killed sailors, ate Professor Pardik, and kidnapped Mrs. Larry —all of which happened right under Alice's nose, so it's no wonder she hated them so much.
In contrast, Situ's control of Manti Stone, though tortuous, involved little actual conflict, while Duwa was treated as a VIP by the Huracan People.
If Alice and Mrs. Larry hadn't gone through what happened to them, and if he had obtained the Soul of Wood earlier, the conflict between them and the Itza People might not have been so great.
Qingmu always felt that Ronald Cohen's words could not be entirely trusted, even though it had been confirmed that the Itza People had destroyed the altar and the Earth Mental Power Field, causing most of the Earthlings to lose their ability to Mental Awakening, which was equivalent to reducing their perception ability by one dimension.
But that happened tens of thousands of years ago! Who knows if it was good or bad, and what significance does it have for humanity today?
Of course, Qingmu had no evidence to prove that Ronald Cohen's words were false, and he was willing to believe that activating the altar and starting the Mental Power Field would be beneficial to humanity. At least, he saw hope of returning home.