Zumama carried her huge engine and ran without stopping all the way to the temple in the center of the several large tribes. However, before she even emerged from the jungle, she saw the grand scene of countless people kneeling collectively in front of the temple.
To be honest.
This was the first time Zumama had seen so many people kneeling collectively in front of the temple. In the past, such a scene would only occur during the annual festival, or during the Great Chief challenge ceremony, the [Mawil-sotria], held every few years.
However.
After Gavial left the tribe, the [Mawil-sotria] had been suspended for many years.
Could it be that the Great Chief knows about Lord God revealing himself?
Only this possibility could explain the phenomenon of collective worship.
Zumama didn't rush out of the rainforest. She was naturally aware of her own situation. She certainly wouldn't be allowed to enter the temple carrying such a large chunk of an engine; she might even be accused of the crime of insulting a god.
Originally, Zumama thought this worship ceremony would disperse quickly, but she had indeed underestimated the piety of the tribe's residents towards the statue. They knelt from noon until dark, without even taking a bathroom break in between. Even though some people's legs went numb from kneeling, no one moved an inch.
Among them, the most devout were the elderly of the tribe.
As the most devout believers of the god, they never expected to see the day the god revealed himself as their lives were coming to an end. Even if they were to pass away tomorrow, they would die without regrets.
Of course.
That's what they said.
In reality, their hearts were already piously making wishes for longevity before Lucas Reeve.
Even when it was dark, the crowd showed no signs of dispersing. It wasn't until someone's stomach started growling incessantly that the Great Chief solemnly kowtowed before the statue again, called for everyone to leave, and ordered that from now on, no one was allowed to enter or leave the temple at will, so as not to disturb the god's rest...
There was no such rule before.
After all, even the Great Chief felt that there was probably no god in the temple. But now that the god had revealed himself, this rule was established. He was afraid that too many worshippers would disturb Lord God's peaceful dreams, angering him and bringing down divine punishment. After all, according to the previous Great Chiefs, the reason the entire Tiacau tribe was so blessed with favorable weather was that the temple was located in the center of the entire large tribe, and the god's power was protecting it.
And looking at the surrounding tribes, it did seem to be the case.
Other large tribes in the surrounding areas frequently experienced floods or raids by various wild beasts, while only the Tiacau tribe did not. Although this could be explained by luck, these primitive residents preferred to believe that a god was protecting them from the shadows.
As for whether it had anything to do with the statue.
In fact, Lucas Reeve himself didn't know.
He only knew.
That objects tainted by his divinity did indeed have the function of bringing people slight good luck.
But...
Why does divine taint bring people good luck?
Lucas Reeve himself was also a bit puzzled.
After all, he had already seen two of Terra's gods.
A Black Serpent, and a Flame Demon.
Although these two gods didn't seem very authentic, a god was still a god...
But one of them was only capable of possession and scheming, while the other, besides senselessly wanting to destroy and purify everything with fire, seemed to have no other function.
Especially the Flame Demon, which only behaved like a powerful creature, not a god in the true sense that could shelter, bless, and grant people's wishes...
It was a bit strange.
Could it be...
That on Terra, 'god' is just a vague term.
Just like Feline.
It represents a race.
And the race of 'gods' are higher beings whose life essence and strength far exceed ordinary people, hence the name. And there are also differences in power and abilities among gods, and the gap can be quite large. Just like among humans, there are intellectually disabled people who have to ponder for a long time to calculate 1+1, and there are also top-tier scientists whose cutting-edge inventions that transcend their era benefit the whole world. These can all be called human in terms of physiology, but the gap between them is greater than the gap between a human and a dog.
And perhaps gods are like that too.
The gap between one god and another might be even greater than the gap between a god and a human.
Thinking about it this way...
Perhaps there really is some truth to it.
Finally.
After everyone had dispersed.
Only then did Zumama have the chance to carry her engine and carefully sneak into the temple from behind. She knew that it would be unlikely for her to sneak in in the future. After all, given the current Great Chief's personality, he would definitely send people to guard it strictly.
In the past, although they believed in the god, the god had never shown himself, so the temple was not strictly guarded. Otherwise, Zumama wouldn't have come here to clear her head whenever she was troubled. But now that the god had revealed himself, the Great Chief would definitely arrange many guards around, and perhaps in the future, even ordinary people would have to report in order to worship Lord God.
Upon entering the temple.
Zumama was extremely nervous. She was a little afraid that the god would ignore her, or think she was being too pushy.
However.
Just as she put down the engine.
Lucas Reeve's voice came from the statue.
"You're here?"
This voice sent a jolt through Zumama. Her python-like, smooth, and fair body trembled slightly. Although she had heard it twice before, hearing the god's voice this time still made her tremble uncontrollably.
Because this voice didn't seem to enter from her ears, but was directly transmitted into her brain, like wearing a very expensive pair of in-ear headphones, or someone putting their mouth directly into her ear canal and whispering. It was very easy to be startled.
"Lord God!!"
Zumama quickly stood up straight and said, stammering a little.
"I brought the engine I built according to the book, with my own ideas added!!"
On top of the engine, there were also a few books piled up.
Lucas Reeve swept over them with his spiritual power.
Then, he was slightly surprised.
This is it?
Just these few books?
And she managed to build an engine?
In his previous life, as an ordinary student at a famous key university, a top student in the eyes of his neighbors, and an underachiever in school, even at such a top-tier institution, there weren't many people who could build a real object, especially a complex mechanical structure, based on purely theoretical textbooks.
Even if there were, such people were basically brilliant enough to be recommended for postgraduate studies.
And this young woman named Zumama...
A person who had never attended a single day of school, who was once illiterate, had successfully built a decent-looking engine just by self-studying from these books?!!
It was simply unimaginable, this kind of learning ability...
What a genius...
"Let me see..."
Lucas Reeve's spiritual power swept over the entire engine, and a three-dimensional structure of the engine was immediately imprinted in his mind. This was the advantage of having powerful spiritual power; it could basically achieve the legendary ability that students dream of—photographic memory.
Although he didn't graduate from a related major.
As a legendary 'internet scientist', Lucas Reeve naturally had some understanding of every field. While he wasn't an expert, he could at least talk about the basics. Otherwise, how could he brag online?
Generally speaking, engines in his previous life converted thermal energy into power. By compressing and igniting gasoline, the gas in the cylinder would expand rapidly at high temperatures, pushing the piston in the engine to do work.
But after coming to Terra, Lucas Reeve also liked to learn about things unique to Terra in his spare time.
For example.
On Earth, there are many kinds of energy.
Oil, natural gas, and other pure natural energy sources, or electricity, gunpowder, etc...
But Terra doesn't have these.
Terra has the almost unsolvable and omnipotent Originium.
This energy, Originium, is so versatile that it can replace all the energy sources on Earth. This is why firearms, which are very common on Earth, are rare on Terra. It's not that the structure of firearms is particularly complex; Terra's technology tree may be skewed, but it's not so bad that they can't figure out the principles of firearms. After all... the power armor Raythean Industries built for Patriot is something that Earth definitely couldn't produce.
And there is only one problem that determines all of this.
Energy~
The guns on Earth rely on striking the gunpowder at the bottom of the bullet to obtain kinetic energy, but gunpowder doesn't exist on Terra. In fact, Lucas Reeve doesn't know if this stuff simply doesn't exist, or if it's because the existence of Originium makes other energy sources unnecessary.
Lucas Reeve had studied Jessica's pistol.
The principle of Jessica's pistol is almost the same as that of a gun on Earth, and even the bullets, called Originium Rounds, are similar.
However, guns on Earth use gunpowder, while guns on Terra use Originium dust instead. The design has also changed from striking gunpowder to having a caster control the explosion of Originium dust through Originium Arts. This is why ordinary people on Terra can't use Originium Rounds; after all, without Originium Arts, they can't activate the Originium dust.
And the same applies to other energy sources.
Because Terra has Originium, there is no need for nuclear energy, and thus no nuclear bombs.
Furthermore, due to the scarcity of Originium, firearms and missile-like weapons are rare on Terra. Additionally, due to the constant presence of Originium dust in the sky and natural geographical factors, it is difficult to achieve global signal coverage and launch satellites, making the general level of information technology inferior to that of Earth.
The energy used by car engines on Terra is also uniformly Originium.
Of course, it's impossible to use ultra-high concentration, almost impurity-free energy like pure Originium. Instead, they use Originium liquid processed from ordinary Originium. This Originium liquid is similar to petroleum, and after observing the principles of related engines, Lucas Reeve felt that the principles were also similar to those on Earth.
Lucas Reeve just took a quick glance and probably knew the problem with this engine. After all, what Zumama had built was just a basic engine; it was questionable whether it could even push a small car.
"This engine of yours is missing an exhaust port..."
Zumama was taken aback, then immediately started flipping through the book in her hands. She spread one of the pages open in front of Lucas Reeve's statue's face.
"Lord God, but the book says that Originium doesn't seem to produce waste materials."
Lucas Reeve said slowly: "That's for pure Originium. Ordinary Originium liquid still produces waste. And your structure is also very problematic... Even if you solve the waste problem, you might still have the problem of cylinder explosion."
No man dislikes large machinery, and Lucas Reeve was no exception.
But after seeing Raythean Industries' Raythean armor, Lucas Reeve became very interested in the principles of such armor and was very knowledgeable in some aspects.
"!!!"
Zumama's eyes widened, and her patterned snake tail behind her whipped back and forth incessantly.
So!!
Lord God really does understand these things!!
Zumama was initially skeptical. After all, even if Lord God really existed, he had been living in the statue for so long and had never left the village, so he probably wouldn't know much. But now, seeing Lord God point out her mistakes without even looking!
So strong!!
Zumama's eyes sparkled.
Ever since she saw a huge mobile city as a child, Zumama had only one obsession in her heart.
To build a mobile city. And after reading a mecha novel from Higashi, she had a new obsession: to build the legendary mecha that people could pilot!!
And because of this.
Zumama gradually lost interest in the things and even the people around her.
And she only admired one type of person.
Mechanical experts!!
She never thought Lord God would know so much.
Faith ⬆⬆⬆
And Lucas Reeve didn't know what this young woman was thinking, but he inexplicably received 3000 Prayer Power.
Indeed!
This area is my treasure trove!
There's so much Prayer Power, it's simply paradise!!
"Have you eaten? If not, go back and have a meal. Come here when it gets dark, and I'll guide you in modifying this engine. You're very talented, young lady."
Lucas Reeve never expected to meet a young woman here who shared some of his interests.
Although his dream wasn't to be a mechanic.
He was still very interested in mechanics. After all, what man doesn't like Gundams? He didn't mind teaching this snake lady named Zumama a little of what he understood. And... isn't Jessica's family Raythean Industries? If she's exceptionally talented, Lucas Reeve wouldn't mind recommending Zumama directly to Raythean Industries.
"Really?!!"
Zumama's eyes widened, her beautiful face filled with disbelief. Her fleshy, snow-white thighs actually trembled unconsciously.
Happiness came too suddenly!!
Lord God actually said he would personally guide her!!
"I'm not hungry now!! Let's start now, Lord God!!"
However.
As soon as she said that, a rumbling sound came from Zumama's flat abdomen.
She was stunned for a moment, then a blush flashed across her fair face. This slightly shy look was a bit cute...
"I'll go back and eat first, Lord God. I'll be quick!!"
With that said.
Zumama turned and left directly.
But the engine remained, and Lucas Reeve also noticed the book at the very bottom.
"Mobile Armored Trooper"
Tsk...
Isn't this a mecha novel from Higashi? It was even adapted into a very famous anime.
Interesting...
Lucas Reeve smiled slightly.
He remembered his childhood dream in his previous life, to build a Gundam. But later he found out that this wish was very unrealistic and gave up directly...
Maybe it really is possible...