Chapter 29: Chapter 24: I’m Just Going to Seal Off the Country
The leader of the East River Tribe, [Grandmother], came to the Divine Hall to express her thanks.
She also tactfully expressed the tribe’s will: they were a branch of the East Sea Clan, and despite their difficult situation, they could not betray the Prayer God their clan worshiped.
Winter came exceptionally early and was colder than ever before. Even the vast East River had frozen solid.
This had no effect on the Garlic Tribe.
The tribe now had a plentiful and varied food supply, including this year’s bountiful harvest of wheat, potatoes, and garlic, as well as salt-cured fish and meat.
Furthermore, as the houses had been gradually converted into wooden structures, their protection from the wind and rain was greatly improved, and they were also much warmer than before.
The Garlic Tribe’s most important task in winter was logging—going into the forest to gather wood for heating and for their reserves.
Many consecutive days of heavy snow blanketed the entire tribe in a thick layer of white, and the irrigation ditches froze over. It was so cold that even some birds and rabbits ventured into the tribe, trying to scavenge for something to eat.
One day, the people of the East River Tribe came walking across the ice, carrying packs on their backs.
The harsh winter had forced them to break apart their boats for firewood. Fishing had become dangerous and difficult, as the thick ice prevented them from breaking through to the warmer waters below.
Their last Sea Monster had died beneath the water, and they had failed to give birth to a new one.
Wracked by hunger and cold, more than a dozen members of the East River Tribe had already frozen to death or died from illness. They had no choice but to abandon their traditions and come ashore to find a way to live.
[Grandmother], along with a few female ship captains, knelt outside the Divine Hall, begging the God to forgive their previous disrespect.
Luh Yao, for his part, didn’t give them a hard time. He had Isabel help them, just as he had promised.
’Circumstances are a harsh master. A person’s gotta eat, after all.’
’Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
Luh Yao needed the East River Tribe. They could provide access to water routes and help keep the Salt Pool Tribe in check.
As the de facto leader of the Garlic Tribe, the Prophet received the East River Tribe with great kindness. Since the winter days were too short to build new houses, the Garlic Tribe made some of their own homes available for the newcomers to live in.
After they took in the East River Tribe, something happened in the Garlic Tribe that took Luh Yao completely by surprise.
That winter, the women of the East River Tribe suddenly began giving birth to many babies.
Luh Yao could only slap his forehead as he watched.
’What an oversight!’
’The East River Tribe had their eyes on the strapping men of the Garlic Tribe!’
In the tribal era, there was no concept of marriage, let alone monogamy. Everyone was very open-minded. One person might visit another’s home today, and visit someone else’s tomorrow. Any children born from these unions were raised by the community.
That was more or less how it worked.
These new infants born to the East River women were both male and female, but not a single one of them turned into a Sea Monster. They were all perfectly normal babies.
[Grandmother] was extremely panicked.
"Prayer God, oh great Prayer God, will you not forgive our tribe? We have never forgotten your Blessing! We have been trying our hardest to birth Sea Monsters to offer you their hides."
"Why have you forsaken us... Prayer God, I beg you, please bless your children, who are far from home, just one more time!"
Of course, these prayers had no effect.
The women of the East River Tribe still failed to give birth to a single Sea Monster.
After conducting a detailed investigation, Isabel came to a conclusion: the so-called phenomenon of the East River Tribe’s women giving birth to Sea Monsters was not due to any physical abnormality, but because of the Divine Prayer Totem.
The Divine Prayer Totem contained a special Faith Flame that would transform newborn male infants. This Faith Flame entered the bodies of these boys, using their life and sanity as fuel. The process of combustion would then condense into the thick hide on the Sea Monster’s body. Through a special sacrifice, this hide could be converted back into the Power of Faith.
To put it simply, Sea Monsters were a type of living Faith crop.
The Totem sowed the Faith Flame within an infant’s body, turning it into a Sea Monster. It was then raised by the East Sea Tribe, and finally, the Sea Monster’s hide was sent back to the East Sea Clan in exchange for the protection of the Divine Prayer Totem.
Luh Yao wasn’t particularly surprised by this outcome.
As he grew more familiar with the simulator, he had come to understand that every God in this Pixel World did what they did for one reason: to obtain more Faith.
The amount of Faith one possessed was directly correlated with the strength of their Divine Power.
Faith was a god’s primary engine of productivity.
And because they were gods, nothing was off-limits.
Any action a God took would be glorified, blindly followed and rationalized by their Believers. At least, that was how it was at the tribal stage of civilization; no one would question the greatness and righteousness of a God.
The so-called "Demon" was merely what gods called heretics.
...
Having lost their Totem, Sea Monsters, and ships, the East River Tribe was a very weak group on land.
As their leaders, [Grandmother] and the female ship captains were filled with worry and panic.
However, the vast majority of the East River Tribe women were immersed in the simple joy of having warm clothes and full bellies. After becoming neighbors with the Garlic Tribe, they wore winter clothes woven from wool, ate wheat and potatoes, and no longer had to worry about having enough firewood for warmth at night.
Especially after giving birth, they spent most of their time caring for these new little lives.
Since the children were considered to belong to both tribes, the Garlic Tribe spared no effort in providing food and supplies, allowing the women of the East River Tribe to live through the winter with ease.
As winter drew to a close, [Grandmother] led the East River Tribe away, returning to Ship Island on the East River.
They left most of the infants behind. The Garlic Tribe was undoubtedly more prosperous and stable, and thus better suited to raising young children than the East River Tribe.
And so, the Garlic Tribe experienced its first baby boom.
Luh Yao made a point of counting them.
That winter, there were 34 new infants in total, making up nearly one-tenth of the Garlic Tribe’s entire population.
He beamed with delight as he counted.
’They’d better remember to come back again next winter.’
But amidst this backdrop of positive developments, the Salt Pool Tribe struck a dissonant chord.
The Salt Pool Tribe sent a delegation to lodge a formal protest with the Prophet.
"The Garlic Tribe has always been our partner, and we have always given you the most favorable price for the salt we supply."
"But for the Garlic Tribe to bypass us and trade with the dangerous East River Tribe—that is unwise. It severely disrupts the market and harms the interests of the entire Salt Pool Tribe. Therefore, you must cease this activity and provide us with appropriate compensation."
"On another matter, the price of salt on the open market is steadily increasing, and all the tribes are experiencing shortages. Therefore, we need to raise our prices."
"Of course, if the Garlic Tribe is willing to trade large quantities of wool, we can, at our discretion, make some concessions."
In the past, they would have at least offered some false pleasantries, but now their daggers were drawn.
The Salt Pool Tribe’s leverage was its monopoly on salt and its control of the passage to the outside world.
This time, the Prophet’s reply was firm. "The Garlic Tribe cannot possibly accept these terms. There is no room for negotiation. We welcome any friends who wish to cooperate, but we will never accept threats."
"Stupid Barbarians!"
"You will regret this!"
"The Salt Pool Tribe no longer considers you friends!"
The people from the Salt Pool Tribe stormed off, disappearing into the mountains to the west.
Luh Yao selected the Earthquake [Miracle] and targeted the mountains to the west, where they bordered the Garlic Tribe. As the Miracle descended, the earth shook and the mountains swayed, sending giant boulders tumbling down.
[Earthquake]!
[Earthquake]!
[Earthquake]!
After the impact of three earthquakes, a large section of the mountain range collapsed. The mountain’s edge was a chaotic mess of rubble, and the passage between the Garlic Tribe and the Salt Pool Tribe was completely cut off.
The members of the Salt Pool Tribe still in the mountains fell into a panic.
"We’re doomed! The passage has been cut off!"
"This trade route is severed. We can’t transport goods this way anymore."
"The losses are immense!"
"My wool! My garlic!"
Luh Yao clenched his fist.
’Trying to play with economic sanctions?’
’I’m the one who started it.’
’Do you even know what an isolationist policy is?’
