Chapter 24: Chapter 19: Something’s Off Across the Water
Luh Yao rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn.
Ever since he started playing the simulator, he had practically given up on sleeping in. He always had this nagging worry that if he wasn’t paying close attention, the Garlic Tribe could be wiped out by some sudden disaster.
The little tribespeople were still too fragile.
Winters that were too long, summers that were too hot, not enough food, foreign invasions, infectious diseases... for the Garlic Tribe, any one of these could spell utter annihilation.
Luh Yao poured himself a cup of instant coffee and, coffee in hand, began to look down upon the tribe’s little people.
The tribe’s population had now reached 311, and he had a balance of 270 Faith Value.
After surviving the winter, the Garlic Tribe’s food supply had become plentiful again. The grain reserves went from a warning yellow back to a healthy green.
Furthermore, while wood was still in the yellow, indicating insufficient reserves, its use was slowly becoming widespread thanks to the efforts of two carpenters. The tribe’s thatched huts were gradually being replaced with wooden plank houses.
Spring brought Rebirth to all things, but it also brought a group of uninvited guests.
Five dugout canoes appeared on the river to the east. They moved with great speed, making their way straight for the shore.
The canoes were crewed exclusively by female pixel people. They had darker skin and disheveled hair, and they wore a type of soft leather armor that covered their entire bodies. They also carried bows and arrows on their backs.
The female pixel person in the lead had the title of [Captain] above her head. Unlike those around her, she wore a helmet made of white bone. The bone was covered in sharp teeth, looking like it came from some large beast.
Because the pixel graphics were inherently blurry, Luh Yao couldn’t make out any more details.
The [Captain] spoke from the shore. "You! Hand over your strong men! Otherwise, you will be enemies of the East River Tribe!"
The other little people chanted after their leader.
"Hand over the men!"
"Men! Men!"
"Hurry up and send the strong men onto the boats!"
"Or we’ll turn you all into slaves!"
Luh Yao watched, completely bewildered.
’What’s the deal with these man-hungry tribeswomen?’
The Prophet and the Shaman rushed over. With them were more than thirty Hunters armed with bows and arrows. The two sides faced off at the riverbank.
Just then, two monsters suddenly emerged from the river behind the canoes. Above their heads was the label [Sea Monster LV8].
The Sea Monsters were as large as five people combined and covered in scale armor. They had lizard-like heads and bodies, and their mouths were full of sharp teeth. They looked somewhat like giant, bipedal crocodiles.
The two Sea Monsters lumbered onto the shore, step by step.
The Garlic Tribe’s Hunters fired a volley of arrows, but they seemed to have no effect on the Sea Monsters’ scale armor, failing to injure them at all.
Smiley face symbols appeared above the heads of the East River Tribe’s people.
"The Sea Monsters are invulnerable!"
"You’re too weak!"
The female captain said, "We raise many Sea Monsters. We could destroy your tribe at any time. However, you have many strong men, and the East River Tribe likes that. Hand over the men, and we will protect you."
The other East River tribespeople chimed in.
"Weak tribe, offer up your men! Your strong men!"
"Don’t be foolish!"
"Hurry up, hand over the men! Or we’ll sell you off as slaves!"
Luh Yao took a sip of his coffee.
’This is a tricky situation.’
He could, of course, smite the two Sea Monsters with lightning. But that wouldn’t solve the immediate crisis; on the contrary, it would only make the East River Tribe a confirmed enemy.
The Garlic Tribe lacked the ability and technology to build boats, so they had no way of venturing into the deeper parts of the river. The East River Tribe, on the other hand, could come and go as they pleased.
From a technological standpoint, the East River Tribe could build dugout canoes, had bows and arrows, wore distinctive tribal clothing, and even had the rudimentary beginnings of a slave system. They also knew how to raise Sea Monsters. Their level of civilization was not low.
Luh Yao, however, felt the female captain’s threat was more of a Deterrence.
If the East River Tribe truly had the power to conquer the entire Garlic Tribe, they wouldn’t need to bluff. They would have just attacked directly, enslaved everyone, and carried them off.
The Pixel World of the God Simulator was different from the real world. Here, there were Gods, Apostles, the Fire of Faith, monsters... The pixel people had their own unique evolutionary path and couldn’t be judged by the standards of human history.
Luh Yao decided to wait and see.
He wanted to see how the Garlic Tribe would handle this crisis.
They had to learn to deal with trouble on their own eventually; they couldn’t run to him, their God, for every little thing. If worst came to worst, he could always call Isabel over.
The Prophet and the Shaman conferred for a moment.
"We are willing to give you five men. This is the most we can spare without harming the tribe."
"In return, the East River Tribe must not attack the Garlic Tribe, and you must ensure the safety of the river waters around us."
The female captain agreed readily.
"The East River Tribe will protect you, you weak men."
"Now bring the men over! We want the strong, good-looking ones!"
After some internal discussion, the Prophet proposed selecting the men by drawing lots. In the end, five tribesmen were chosen and sent onto the dugout canoes.
And so, the first contact and conflict between the Garlic Tribe and the East River Tribe ended with the Garlic Tribe sending five of their men away in a political marriage of sorts.
As the East River Tribe departed, the river boundary expanded further to the east. A floating island made of wooden boats appeared on the water’s surface—one of the East River Tribe’s settlements.
Luh Yao locked his camera’s perspective over the East River Tribe and began to observe them closely.
The East River Tribe was a typical matrilineal clan. The vast majority were women, numbering over a hundred by his estimate. Their supreme leader was a female elder called [Grandmother].
Their dialogue revealed that the East River Tribe originated from a larger clan, the "East Sea Clan."
The East Sea Clan lived on the vast East Sea, located even further east, and controlled a large stretch of the ocean.
Some years ago, a branch of the East Sea Clan split off and traveled west until they reached the East River, becoming the East River Tribe. They claimed the wide, flowing East River as their territory, and their diet consisted mostly of fish, shrimp, and aquatic plants from the water. Occasionally, they would also pilot their boats to land and use bows for Hunting beasts and birds.
The East River Tribe possessed a strategic weapon in the form of Sea Monsters. The monsters usually stayed underwater, only surfacing when called upon by the tribe.
What caught Luh Yao’s attention was that he spotted figures from the Salt Pool Tribe among the East River Tribe.
These tribal merchants were also doing business with the East River Tribe.
They arrived in dugout canoes, bringing salt, bows and arrows, and lumber to trade with the East River Tribe for fish.
Luh Yao focused his attention on the five male pixel people that the Garlic Tribe had been forced to give up.
They were assigned to several of the female captains, becoming their consorts. These men from the Garlic Tribe did almost no work, spending their days just wandering around the Ship Island.
Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate.
They did have their own duties to fulfill.
The women of the East River Tribe would drag them into the boat-houses, and after they came out, a Weakness icon would appear above the men’s heads.
The female captains seemed to be completely used to this practice of the tribe sharing its men.
It was one of the East River Tribe’s customs.
Because there were so few men, they were treated as a resource for the entire tribe to use. Ownership of the men, however, remained in the hands of the female captains.
The East River Tribe treasured foreign men but was incredibly cruel to foreign women.
When they went out in their dugout canoes, they would occasionally capture some women and bring them back. The East River Tribe usually forced these female slaves to do hard labor, like cleaning the Ship Island, hauling lumber, and processing fish and other food.
If a female slave got sick or injured, she would be thrown into the water and fed to the Sea Monsters.
