Chapter 86: A Tale of Two Cities

The Salt Clan is a naturally born new human race with innate levels. However, there are only three children in the entire Salt City, all of them being seven or eight years old.

Compared to true transcendent beings, they are much weaker.

Lu Yao found the child with the highest level among the three and checked his panel.

…

【Salt Clan LV2】Salt Long

HP: 20/20

MP: 5/5

Damage: 1

Defense: 1

Speed: 1

【Longevity】

Has a longer lifespan.

…

Lu Yao always felt that there was something suspicious about these three children with the “Salt Clan” title.

So he traced their tracks.

After careful investigation, Lu Yao found the source of the Salt Clan. The father of these three children was the same person, the “Corrupted Guardian” Salt Ge’er.

This guy and a woman from the Donghai Clan gave birth to these three children and often secretly sent meat and salt to them.

Lu Yao had mixed feelings.

Of course, the good thing was the interracial love that gave birth to the previously unseen “Salt Clan,” which could improve the offspring of the entire tribe. Looking at it in the long run, change was always a good thing.

The worry was that the appearance of the “Salt Clan” symbolized a combination of ordinary people and transcendent powers, and he didn’t know what direction it would lead the small people to.

There was no precedent to follow.

From now on, the pixel people would deviate significantly from human history on Earth, which gave Lu Yao a headache.

It probably wouldn’t be long before there were no more assignments to copy.

Overall, the birth of the “Salt Clan” still made Lu Yao happy.

They possessed the attribute of “Longevity.” Regardless, if this attribute could gradually cover the entire city, it would definitely be a good thing for each small person to have a longer growth period.

Lu Yao decided to observe first.

He was a watcher of the wheat field, as long as these small people didn’t walk off the cliff, he would let them grow wild. Too much interference would only suppress the creativity of the small people and affect the civilization process of the pixel world itself.

…

Salt City did not have the grandeur of a tribal headquarters. They did not have the spectacle of the “Beast Arena” that led the trend, the “Monument” symbolizing history and heritage, or the rich and diverse products. The population here was only two thousand people, less than a quarter of the headquarters.

On the other hand, Salt City did not have any historical burdens.

There were not so many deeply rooted things here, no fanatical worship, no beast-fighting culture, no tradition of praying and worshiping gods at every turn…

Salt City was a brand new city, so it did not resist anything new.

Yulian broke free from various restraints and showed off here.

Tips popped up on the screen.

【Yulian invented the library.】

【The intelligence of all people in Salt City has increased to a certain extent.】

【Shangli invented carrier pigeons.】

【Salt City has mastered the methods of raising and using carrier pigeons.】

Lu Yao was a little surprised.

Shangli actually settled in Salt City too?

He remembered this guy. Shangli had always stayed in the Garlic Tribe headquarters before, managing the Beast Arena with Mu Ke. Now he had changed direction.

Lu Yao swept his gaze over the city and found Shangli following Yulian. It seemed that he had become Yulian’s assistant or partner.

Did he discover a money-making opportunity in Salt City?

Regardless of the purpose, it was a good thing for these two tribal heroes to cooperate.

Yulian was creative and often had imaginative ideas, daring to turn concepts into reality.

Shangli was practical and focused on profit. Essentially, he was a very realistic businessman. His biggest advantage was his sharp insight, always able to find an excellent collaborator.

He had previously set his sights on Mu Ke, and now he had his eye on Yulian.

Lu Yao was interested and watched the conversation between the two small people.

“The library must be charged.”

Shangli said, “Knowledge without cost will not be valued and respected.”

Yulian expressed opposition, “Building a library is to allow more people to read books and gain knowledge. If we charge seashells, many people will not be willing to come to the library.”

“There will always be people who want to learn, and there will always be people who don’t want to learn.”

Shangli said, “This is the same as meat. If we put a piece of meat on the roadside and say it can be taken without any money, what will happen?”

“Of course, someone will take the meat.”

“Wrong.”

Shangli’s head displayed a sweating emoticon, “This is something we merchants have done before.”

“The reality is that many people come to look, but no one picks up the meat because they all think there is something wrong with it. Many people have told us that they won’t be fooled and not to treat them as fools.”

“If there’s nothing wrong, why would good meat be given away for free?”

“In the end, a stray dog ate the meat.”

“…”

Shangli continued, “But if we just slightly lower the price of the meat, it will attract many people to scramble for it. This is also the real experience of us merchants.”

“I know, you want everyone to learn knowledge. I also admire you, otherwise I wouldn’t have left the Beast Arena to come and work with you.”

“Unfortunately, you understand knowledge but not what people want.”

“They don’t need knowledge. Or rather, they don’t really want knowledge, they just want good things.”

“So, good things will definitely not appear for free. You must pay a price to obtain them. This is something hunters and farmers all know.”

Shangli patiently persuaded Yulian, “That’s why I said the library needs to be charged, to tell them that knowledge is precious, it is a good thing. This way, they will cherish it.”

“…”Yu Lian was left speechless.

Finally, he admitted, “You’re right, I oversimplified things. Let’s charge a fee.”

“Yes, Mayor.” A smiley face symbol appeared above Shang Li’s head.

A question mark appeared above Yu Lian’s head. “Let me ask again, why did you come here?”

“My answer remains the same, Mayor. Because I see potential in this city, and in you, Mayor.”

Shang Li said, “The arena is good, but it can’t compare to a burgeoning city.”

“The arena of Yao City represents the past and the present.”

“But this place is the future.”

“Merchants always place their bets on the future.”

……

The library in Salt City was very rudimentary, just a large stone house built in the city center. It looked square, with a flag outside painted with a book pattern.

There was a man at the door shouting, “Library, library. Find the book you need, and someone will read it out for you. Even if you can’t read, you can understand by listening.”

Because of the charging policy, not many people came here. Most people gathered outside, waiting for those inside to come out and ask them about the content they saw – a practice commonly known as freeloading.

Salt City was like a vibrant young man, full of curiosity and energy for everything, stepping forward without hesitation to try all kinds of new things.

……

Lu Yao shifted his perspective.

Over at the headquarters of the Garlic Tribe, it was a different scene.

Some people were indulging in the excitement and thrill brought by the arena and barley wine, reveling in the intoxication and madness of blood and wine.

Some had become fanatics like Puritans. They would praise the gods every day during meals and drinks, citing passages from the “Gospel of the Gods”, praying and worshiping in the temple.

Others yearned for wild adventures. They sailed on paddle boats, charging towards the boundaries of the broken world time and time again, as if to duel with an unseen giant. Many lost their lives to the sea because of this.

……

The abundance of food in a short period of time caused most of the tribe members to lose themselves, making this ancient tribal birthplace gloomy.

This was commonly referred to as overeating.

The death of Wizard Senjian made the situation even worse.

In the temple, Prophet Hamira finally lost her temper.

She began to lead the scholars to preach everywhere, making those indulged in desire repent in front of the temple and the “Gospel”. Then she expelled a group of extreme hedonists, indirectly driving them to Salt City, and created an army for this purpose.

【Hamira has created the Temple Army.】

【The Garlic Tribe has learned to form and use an army.】

【The Garlic Tribe has established a city: Yao City.】

Unlike Salt City, Yao City was filled with a strong atmosphere of god worship. It slowly became a city centered on agriculture and religion.

Lu Yao looked down at the two cities located in the east and west.

They set sail from the same starting point, and finally, a divergence in direction appeared.

The two cities would go further and further along their respective paths, and what would happen in the future, no one knew.

Lu Yao leaned back in his chair, recalling the classic opening of “A Tale of Two Cities”.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was…

He forgot the rest.

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