The leader of the Donghe tribe, “Grandmother,” came to the temple to express gratitude. She also expressed the tribe’s intention: they are a branch of the Donghai clan, and although they are in a difficult situation, they cannot violate the clan’s belief in praying to the gods.

Winter came early this year, and it was unusually cold. The vast Donghe River was frozen.

However, this did not affect the Garlic tribe.

The tribe now has an abundant and balanced food supply, including this year’s harvest of wheat, potatoes, garlic, as well as salted fish and meat.

In addition, since the houses have been gradually transformed into wooden houses, their ability to withstand wind and rain has greatly increased, and they are warmer than before.

The most important task for the Garlic tribe in winter is logging, going to the forest to find wood for heating and reserves.

After several consecutive days of heavy snow, the entire tribe was covered in a thick layer of white, and even the ditches were frozen. Because it was too cold, some birds and rabbits even ran to the tribe in search of food.

On this day, people from the Donghe tribe walked on the ice with their bags.

The harsh winter forced them to dismantle their boats for firewood, and fishing became dangerous and difficult. The freezing prevented them from breaking the ice and reaching warmer waters.

The last sea monster also died underwater, but they did not give birth to new sea monsters.

Under the desperate situation, more than ten people from the Donghe tribe died from freezing and illness. They had to give up their traditions and come to the land to find a way to survive.

“Grandmother” knelt outside the temple with several female captains, praying for forgiveness for their previous rudeness.

Lu Yao did not make things difficult for them and asked Isabella to help them as she had promised.

The situation is stronger than people, and they need to eat.

Besides, the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

Lu Yao needs the Donghe tribe as they can provide a water route and also restrain the Salt Lake tribe.

As the leader of the Garlic tribe in practice, the prophet warmly welcomed the Donghe tribe. Since the daylight in winter is too short, it is too late to build houses now, so the Garlic tribe allocated some houses for them to live in.

After helping the Donghe tribe, something completely unexpected happened in the Garlic tribe.

In this winter, the Donghe tribe suddenly gave birth to many babies.

Lu Yao slapped his forehead.

He was careless!

The Donghe tribe was attracted to the strong men of the Garlic tribe!

During the tribal period, there was no concept of marriage, let alone monogamy. Everyone was open-minded. Today, I go to your house, and tomorrow you go to her house. The children born were raised together.

That’s about it.

Among these newborns in the Donghe tribe, there were both boys and girls, but none of them turned into sea monsters. They were all normal infants.

“Grandmother” was extremely panicked.

“Pray to the gods, great gods, won’t you forgive the tribe? We have never forgotten your blessings and have been trying to give birth to sea monsters and offer you leather.”

“Why did you leave us… Pray to the gods, please, bless your people who are far away from you once again!”

Of course, these prayers were in vain.

The women of the Donghe tribe still did not give birth to a sea monster.

After a detailed investigation by Isabella, she came to a conclusion: the so-called sea monsters born to the women of the Donghe tribe were not due to their abnormal physical condition, but because of the totem of praying to the gods.

The totem of praying to the gods had a special belief fire that would transform newborn boys. The belief fire would enter the bodies of these sea monster boys, using their lives and rationality as fuel. After burning, it would condense into the thick leather on the surface of the sea monster’s body. These leathers could be transformed into the power of belief through special sacrifices.

In simple terms, sea monsters were a kind of living belief crop.

The totem planted the seed of belief fire in the baby’s body, turning them into sea monsters, which were then raised by the Donghai tribe. Finally, the sea monster skin was sent back to the Donghai clan in exchange for the protection of the totem of praying to the gods.

This result was not particularly surprising to Lu Yao.

As he became more familiar with the simulator, he realized that every god in this pixel world did various things to gain more belief.

The amount of belief directly affects the strength of the gods.

Belief is the primary productivity of the gods.

Because they are gods, they have no taboos.

Any action taken by the gods would be beautified and blindly followed and understood by the believers. At least in the tribal civilization stage, no one would question the greatness and correctness of the gods.

The so-called demons are just the gods’ term for heretics.

…

After losing their totem, sea monsters, and boats, the Donghe tribe became a weak group on land.

As leaders, “Grandmother” and the female captains were very worried and panicked.

However, the majority of women in the Donghe tribe were immersed in the simple happiness of being well-fed and warmly dressed. After becoming neighbors with the Garlic tribe, they wore winter clothes made of wool, ate wheat and potatoes, and no longer had to worry about heating without firewood at night.

Especially after giving birth to babies, they spent most of their time taking care of these little lives of the next generation.These children belonged to both tribes, and the Garlic Tribe spared no effort in providing food and supplies, making the winter easy for the women of the East River Tribe.

As winter was about to end, the “Grandmother” led the East River Tribe away, returning to their ship island on the East River.

They left behind the majority of the infants. The Garlic Tribe was undoubtedly a more prosperous and stable tribe, more suitable for raising children than the East River Tribe.

Thus, the Garlic Tribe experienced its first baby boom.

Lu Yao took a special count.

This winter, there were 34 more babies, accounting for nearly one-tenth of the total population of the Garlic Tribe.

He counted with a smile on his face.

Next winter, remember to come again.

However, against this positive backdrop, the Salt Pool Tribe made some discordant noises.

The Salt Pool Tribe sent a delegation to have a serious discussion with the Prophet.

“The Garlic Tribe has always been our partner, and the salt we supply has always been offered at the most favorable trade prices.”

“But the Garlic Tribe bypassed us and traded with the dangerous East River Tribe, which is unwise and seriously disrupts the trading market, affecting the interests of the entire Salt Pool Tribe. Therefore, you must stop this behavior and make corresponding compensation to us.”

“Another thing is, the price of salt is rising in the outside world, and all tribes are short of salt, so we need to raise the price.”

“Of course, if the Garlic Tribe is willing to trade with a large amount of wool, we can also make some concessions.”

In the past, they would make some hypocritical pleasantries, but now they have shown their true colors.

The Salt Pool Tribe relies on the monopoly of salt and the passage to the outside world.

The Prophet also responded firmly this time: “These are all unacceptable to the Garlic Tribe, and there is no room for negotiation. We welcome any cooperative friends, but we will never accept threats.”

“Foolish barbarians!”

“You will regret it!”

“The Salt Pool Tribe no longer considers you friends!”

The people of the Salt Pool Tribe left in a huff, disappearing into the mountains to the west.

Lu Yao activated the “Earthquake” in the “Miracle”, targeting the mountains bordering the west and the Garlic Tribe. As the miracle descended, the earth shook and the boulders on the mountain kept rolling down.

“Earthquake!”

“Earthquake!”

“Earthquake!”

After a total of four earthquake shocks, a large area of the mountain collapsed, leaving a mess of rubble at the edge of the mountains. The passage between the Garlic Tribe and the Salt Pool Tribe was completely cut off.

The little people of the Salt Pool Tribe in the mountains were in panic.

“We’re done, the passage is cut off!”

“This trade route is broken, we can no longer transport goods from here.”

“The loss is too great!”

“My wool, my garlic!”

Lu Yao clenched his fist.

Want to play economic sanctions?

I started it first.

Do you understand what it means to close the country?