After finishing the tedious preparations, Lu Yao finally returned to operating the “Deity Simulator”.

In the upper right corner of the game interface, it displayed a population of 254 and a faith of 21.

The population growth within the Garlic Tribe was slower than Lu Yao had expected. It wasn’t that the pixelated people lacked the enthusiasm to procreate; they did give birth to some babies. However, most of the babies died, and only a few managed to survive and grow up.

There has been some progress compared to before.

In the early stages, the chances of a baby safely growing up were less than one in ten. Now, Lu Yao estimated that it was around three in ten.

The high infant mortality rate was due to the lack of doctors or pharmacists, aside from the shaman who served as the Garlic Tribe’s sole doctor, covering all the medical needs of the tribe.

…

[Shaman Lv2] Hunter

Attack 0 Defense 0 Knowledge 1 Mana 1 Luck 0 Morale 1

[Abilities]

Healing Lv2: Can heal various diseases and injuries. The healing ability is related to the ability level, knowledge, and mana.

…

New lives were born, while old lives perished.

Injuries that couldn’t be treated and death from old age were the main ways the tribe’s population decreased. The deceased pixelated people were buried in the forest, allowing them to return to the earth and nature.

This was a custom inherited from the past Forest Tribe and continued by the new Garlic Tribe.

After winter ended, an unusually hot summer quickly arrived.

The entire game screen was filled with a faint yellow light. The grass on the ground dried up and turned yellow, and the river to the east had its water level lowered, revealing more riverbanks.

Smoke rose from the heads of all the tribe members, as they were trapped in an extremely hot predicament. They usually stayed in their huts and only went out to farm and hunt when it wasn’t too hot in the morning and evening.

The scorching heat and drought continued, causing the pixelated people to pray fervently around the temple.

“God Yao, please grant us rain!”

“It’s unbearably hot. If it continues like this, the wheat and garlic will wither, and everyone will die.”

“Merciful God Yao, great God Yao, please save us!”

Lu Yao didn’t hesitate and directly spent 10 faith points to activate the miracle [Rainfall].

The long-awaited rain fell on the parched land, causing the pixelated people of the tribe to cheer loudly and praise the deity.

At this time, the prophet and the shaman were having a conversation.

“The deity has brought rain, relieving the heat. But we can’t endlessly rely on the deity. As servants of the deity, we have received too much and done too little.”

“The hot weather may still occur, and if the land loses water, it will be difficult for wheat and garlic to grow. We must come up with a long-term and reliable solution while the deity has brought rain.”

The two wise men of the tribe thought and pondered but couldn’t come up with any ideas.

So, Lu Yao led them to the riverside.

The shaman moved back and forth by the river and suddenly had a bright idea.

“I understand! We can dig a ditch on the ground to divert the river water, making it convenient for us to access water. And once it rains, we can also store the rainwater.”

The two immediately rallied the entire Garlic Tribe, mobilizing all the manpower to dig the ditch.

The pixelated people worked tirelessly, bit by bit, diverting the river water to the edge of the farmland, digging a small pond, and then returning the water to the river from the other side, turning the water in the ditch into flowing water.

New prompts continuously appeared on the game interface.

[Garlic Tribe has learned irrigation and drainage.]

[Garlic Tribe has learned irrigation, increasing crop yield.]

[Garlic Tribe has gained reputation among other tribes due to mastering new technology.]

The drought continued.

After completing the primary ditch, although the Garlic Tribe still suffered from the scorching heat, the basic water supply and irrigation were guaranteed, and the pixelated people’s emotions stabilized.

During this prolonged drought, the Barbarian Tribe launched their third attack.

A total of thirty-two barbarians participated in the raid, making it a robbery that involved the entire tribe, excluding the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.

“Surrender the water and food! Damn heretics!”

“Steal water and food!”

“No resistance allowed!”

“Hungry, hungry! Thirsty, thirsty!”

The Barbarian Tribe seemed fierce, but their slogans made Lu Yao laugh.

They couldn’t even feed themselves, yet they called others heretics?

If you can’t even beg for food, you should kneel first.

The current Garlic Tribe wasn’t afraid of attacks of this scale at all. The hunters easily shot down the warriors of the Barbarian Tribe with their bows and arrows.

In this battle, twelve barbarians died, and the remaining twenty were captured.

It seemed that they had completely lost their minds and were tormented by the drought, leading them to despair.The barbarian tribe, more like nomadic people in the mountains, excelled at hunting and looting. However, in this prolonged drought, they had completely lost their food supply, and water was extremely scarce.

Thus, they had no choice but to resort to their old ways, descending from the mountains to rob and find a way to survive.

With a little persuasion from the shaman, the barbarians immediately surrendered, willing to join the Garlic Tribe, shouting that they would never betray.

This made Lu Yao suspect that they had planned to join the Garlic Tribe long ago.

However, the simple-minded barbarians didn’t know how to make the Garlic Tribe accept them… Of course, it could also be that the barbarians had the burden of being warriors. Surrendering after a fight seemed more convincing.

The barbarians spoke of the current state of their tribe.

“It’s too hot, many people in the tribe have died.”

“The tribe has no food left, everyone is very hungry, there’s no water, we’re thirsty, and the demon lord still needs sacrifices.”

“The hero was eaten by the demon as a sacrifice.”

“We went everywhere to rob, but we couldn’t win, many people died.”

“Finally, we came here.”

Their words indirectly confirmed Lu Yao’s speculation.

Demon Jack was not a player who cared about management, to him, the barbarian tribe was more like a tool. He didn’t care about the barbarians’ living conditions, he just forced them to hunt for sacrifices, not even sparing the barbarian heroes.

The barbarian tribe was essentially extinct.

Lu Yao had planned to wait out this drought, then find a time to completely eliminate the barbarian tribe. He didn’t expect that under the extreme climate, they couldn’t hold on. Under the indiscriminate coverage of nature’s power, it was a competition of who could adapt better to the environment.

At least one worry was resolved.

Lu Yao twisted his neck and stretched.

Isabella, who was beside him, suddenly looked out the window, her voice serious: “My lord, the presence of a demon.”

“A demon?”

Lu Yao walked to the window and looked outside.

The alley and the street were empty. It was already night, and with the news of a psychopath on the loose, the only thing on the street was a white stray dog wandering around.

“Where?”

Isabella pointed to a corner on the street.

There lay a middle-aged man. He seemed to be drunk, leaning against the curb, with a pile of vomit beside him.

The stray dog walked up to the man and sniffed.

Then it did something Lu Yao didn’t expect.

The dog bit the man’s clothes and began to drag him bit by bit into the parking alley.

“My lord, please command me to hunt the demon,” Isabella said.

Lu Yao asked, “How do I contact you when you’re dealing with the demon?”

“Use my eye.”

Isabella reached into her left eye socket and dug out her left eye to give to Lu Yao.

It was a white eyeball with a green pupil, with a gem-like cold texture and crystal clear luster, like some kind of ancient artifact.

“My lord. Everything I see with the power of faith will be displayed to you through this eye. You can also give me new commands through the eye.”

Lu Yao carefully held the eyeball and instructed, “Be careful, don’t let others discover your identity.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Isabella’s body was wrapped in a cloud of black mist, which quickly condensed into a black robe, her eyes once again covered by a black cloth, returning to her original appearance.

A men’s shirt, sunglasses, and jeans flew out of the black robe, scattering on the bed.

Isabella leaped from the window sill and disappeared into the night.