Lucas Reeve could only say.
This was indeed a primitive tribe where martial prowess was revered. Here, whoever was good at fighting was the boss, regardless of the method used. It was an extreme worship of power.
After the villagers from the major tribes witnessed Big Ugly.
One by one, they excitedly surrounded Big Ugly, forming three circles inside and three circles outside, whispering and discussing.
"This metal thing can actually move, it's a bit magical. Could there be someone moving it from inside this metal shell?"
"Wow!! This big black and thick tube!! What did it just shoot out? It actually blasted such a huge hole in the ground in an instant."
Not just the ordinary villagers, even many of the Chieftains came over.
Only the Great Chief, in order to maintain his authority and solemnity, held back from joining the crowd, despite being incredibly curious.
As for the original Chieftain of the [Eunectes Tribe].
After being tossed aside, no one paid him any mind.
Zumama successfully became the Chieftain. In this primitive tribe, the ceremonies popular in modern civilizations weren't in fashion. They were all about being direct. Let alone becoming a Chieftain, even becoming the Great Chief simply meant the villagers would cheer, and then you were it. There was no ceremony at all. Even marriage was very straightforward.
I like you, let's get married.
Basically.
You meet today, you hit it off tomorrow morning, you get busy in the afternoon, and you're married by evening. That's how fast the efficiency is.
What does it mean to be the Tiacau tribe? *That's* the Tiacau tribe (leans back).
When Zumama had the High Priest drive Big Ugly back to the rear mountain, almost all the villagers of the [Eunectes Tribe] were already lining the path to welcome them. Even some of the villagers who were complaining just yesterday that Zumama was at it again, were now saying.
Chieftain Zumama's tinkering is great! I could tell she had talent from the start!
Some people from other tribes were even thinking, would Zumama also participate in the Great Chief succession ceremony in a year or two? With the power she displayed today, couldn't Zumama also become the Great Chief?
After greeting a wave of villagers, Zumama sat on Big Ugly's shoulder, and the High Priest drove it back to the rear mountain.
Although it performed well overall, it still revealed quite a few problems. Continuous optimization would be needed later on.
After all, Zumama's purpose in creating Big Ugly wasn't to become Chieftain herself. Even without Big Ugly, with her strength, becoming a Chieftain, or even the Great Chief, was almost within her grasp. But that wasn't what she wanted.
Lucas Reeve floated out of Zumama's body, examining Big Ugly from top to bottom, muttering to himself.
"It's time to optimize and improve it. Let's also change its appearance. This look is a bit too ugly. We'll change it to a proper humanoid form."
Seeing Lucas Reeve float out, Zumama was extremely happy.
She continuously drew circles on the ground with her left big toe, her hands behind her back, and her patterned snake tail swinging non-stop, thudding against the ground.
After spending so much time with Lucas Reeve these past few days.
Zumama had gradually grown accustomed to having Lucas Reeve inside her body.
In the beginning.
Zumama would even have trouble sleeping at night. But now, if Lucas Reeve were to leave her body and return to the idol, Zumama would even feel a little unaccustomed to it.
And...
After spending so many days together.
Zumama discovered.
Her previous fear and faith towards the Lord God seemed to have diminished quite a bit.
In her eyes.
Lucas Reeve seemed to have transformed from the Lord God into a knowledgeable and understanding senior. The majesty and mystery of the god she had imagined before had vanished without a trace.
That's why..
Lucas Reeve was reluctant to reveal himself too many times in front of the tribe's villagers.
Faith, to a certain extent, relies on a sense of mystery to exist.
When the mystery disappears, the faith in one's heart will also diminish, more or less, even if the gratitude within remains unchanged.
But so-called gratitude and faith are completely different.
Gratitude is from person to person.
While faith is from person to god.
So...
Zumama was no longer providing much Prayer Power, but that was normal. There's a limit to the amount of Prayer Power a single person can provide. It's like an affection meter. When the affection meter isn't full, giving gifts will make it shoot up. But once it's full, no amount of gifts will make it rise further.
The same goes for Prayer Power.
Once a person completely trusts Lucas Reeve, no matter how much more he helps them, they won't provide much more Prayer Power. This means... they're maxed out. For example, Jessica. Ever since returning from Bolívar, Jessica has been unable to provide even a single point of Prayer Power for Lucas Reeve. This represents Jessica's complete trust, the kind of trust where she would place her life in his hands.
"Thank you... Lord God..."
For the first time, Zumama appeared shy and awkward.
Generally speaking.
The men and women of this primitive tribe were very direct when it came to matters of the heart. If they saw someone they liked, they'd just say it.
I like you, can you be my wife?
But Zumama was acting uncharacteristically shy at this moment.
The High Priest, who had watched Zumama grow up, naturally knew the child's quirks. He flapped his wings and flew off to the side.
"You're welcome. By the way, call me Lucas Reeve next time. Don't call me Lord God. My real name is Lucas Reeve."
Lucas Reeve materialized his right hand and patted Zumama's head.
He had also summarized the feeling of patting each girl's head.
For example, Jessica was like a little kitten. Patting her head was soft and fluffy, very comfortable. Sometimes, if he petted her for too long, Jessica would even make purring sounds in her throat, which was very addicting.
Ceobe, on the other hand, was like a puppy. Her fur was thick and smooth, very sleek to the touch. Ceobe's tail would even wag non-stop, and her big eyes would shine as she looked at him.
Alina felt like a normal person.
He had only patted FrostNova's head twice... so he couldn't summarize it yet.
And Zumama was like a snake, very smooth.
"Lu... Lucas Reeve...."
Zumama held it in for a long time, forcing herself to change how she addressed him. Finally, she let out a breath. The words she had been holding back for so long still didn't come out. She was a little dejected. After all... Lucas Reeve wasn't an ordinary person. Even though the young girl had gradually become familiar with him, she still firmly remembered the fact that he was the Lord God.
Humans and gods, after all...
The difference in level was too great.
If Lucas Reeve were an ordinary person.
With the straightforward nature of a Fidia from a primitive tribe, she probably would have already spoken her mind directly.
"The next areas for improvement..."
After working with Zumama to modify Big Ugly, Lucas Reeve became more and more interested in mechanics. He even got many related professional books from Jessica. With his powerful Spiritual Power, learning was quite easy.
Lucas Reeve materialized his hands and forcibly removed the engine from the back of Big Ugly.
This engine could no longer be used.
It had been forced into service as a makeshift solution to make it in time for the Chieftain selection, but it was no longer needed. Lucas Reeve wasn't even planning to use the inefficient Originium liquid for energy anymore, but instead would use High-Purity Originium directly.
Although the tribe didn't have any.
But with the Inam Merchant Guild's existence, he just needed to ask her to specifically buy some High-Purity Originium when she went to the Mobile Cities for procurement.
As for the remaining various parts, Lucas Reeve wasn't planning on using these patched-up parts either. He needed to use professional alloy materials.
Lucas Reeve was planning to design a weapon.
A very professional weapon of war.
This way, it could be fully applied in the defensive battles of the Reunion Movement. Given the current conflict between the Reunion Movement and Ursus, Lucas Reeve had to help arm them as soon as possible.
"Lu... Lord Lucas Reeve..."
Zumama jogged over to Lucas Reeve's side and said, somewhat stuttering, "Lord Lucas Reeve... will you still be returning to the idol?"
Lucas Reeve scratched his head.
"Not at this stage. I find your body quite comfortable to live in."
"And... our final mech is not yet complete."
"Phew..."
Zumama let out a sigh of relief.
After these days, having thoroughly familiarized herself with Lucas Reeve's presence, Zumama was somewhat reluctant for him to leave her. Even after the duel ended, Zumama was worried that he might feel his mission was accomplished and return directly to the idol.
But...
Why did those words sound so strange...
Nearby, the High Priest, flapping its wings, also breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Zumama had not gone astray.
Humans and gods are ultimately on different paths.
A human's lifespan is but a hundred years... even long-lived species might live for a thousand or two thousand years at most. But for immortals like them, or beings at the level of gods, their lifespans are virtually endless.
In the eyes of a god.
A human's life is but a fleeting moment, gone in the blink of an eye.
In the days that followed.
The entire [Eunectes Tribe], due to the Big Ugly created by Zumama, was swept up in a mechanical craze. Through Big Ugly, the entire tribe officially recognized that these assembled metal lumps could contain such terrifying power.
Villagers who couldn't even read a single word, one by one, bought a few books from the merchant guild in a semblance of effort, trying to learn and build a moving metal contraption like Zumama's.
However...
Not everyone's learning ability was as strong as Zumama's.
In fact.
Even with Zumama's learning ability, it took her so many years of painstaking study to make a tiny bit of progress, let alone ordinary villagers who couldn't even read.
However, this craze only lasted a few days.
Some villagers discovered that these books, filled with densely packed, unrecognizable words, seemed to possess a special magic that could make a person who was wide awake one moment fall into a drowsy state the next.
Many villagers believed that these books were divine texts, and only those recognized by the gods were qualified to read them. Those who were not recognized by the gods would fall asleep, which was a divine punishment.
Mortals must not pry!
*Hiss!!*
And precisely because of this.
The vast majority of villagers in the [Eunectes Tribe] considered Zumama to be a person under the protection of the gods. All the knowledge in her mind was the greatest proof of the gods' approval.
And it was because of these overly abstract assumptions.
That the vast majority of villagers in the [Eunectes Tribe] regarded Zumama as the god's representative in the mortal world, an apostle of the god, who would lead the people of the tribe to glory through such miraculous means.
Their respect for Zumama even surpassed the respect they had for any previous generation of Chieftains.
Some in the tribe even proposed abolishing the chieftain duel rule. After all, Chieftain Zumama was the Chieftain appointed by the Lord God himself. If she were to lose her position as Chieftain due to some accident in the future, wouldn't that be equivalent to angering the god? Wouldn't the entire tribe have to suffer the god's punishment as a result?
Zumama didn't pay much attention to this call at first, thinking it was just a casual joke.
After all, the chieftain duel every three or four years was a tradition that had been maintained for many years. How could it be abolished just like that?
But Zumama had overlooked one problem.
In the past, no one would have cared about such talk, but now things were different.
The god had shown his power!!
And after the god showed his power, Zumama developed this moving metal contraption. It was hard for people not to think in that direction.
Unexpectedly, after a few days.
More and more people agreed.
In the end, the rule of the chieftain duel was temporarily abolished. As long as Chieftain Zumama was in office, unless she herself did not want to be, there would be no way to replace her. And the chieftain who emerged from future duels would be the number two chieftain... specifically to be Zumama's subordinate.
Such an absurd regulation.
Was passed in a very abstract way without Chieftain Zumama's knowledge. Even Zumama herself was completely surprised, speechless beyond shock.
And under Zumama's consideration.
The entire tribe also collectively migrated to the foot of a nearby mountain cliff.
This place was close to an iron mine. In the future, even if they excavated it together and sold it to the merchant guild, they could earn a lot. Moreover, being close to the iron mine was very convenient for forging armor.
And during these days, Lucas Reeve was not idle either.
He continuously read through materials and, relying on his unparalleled talent under his powerful spiritual force, began to design the prototype of a [Humanoid Mecha].
In fact.
Lucas Reeve had many such crazy ideas in his previous life.
However.
There were two difficult points that couldn't be realized on Earth at that time.
One... the energy problem.
Although animations featured nuclear reactors as a power source, developing something like that... would probably take a very, very long time.
As for the other, most difficult part, it was the control.
The rigid control systems made it impossible for machines to be as flexible as humans, essentially turning them into sitting ducks.
But... Terra was different.
In terms of energy, Terra had powerful High-Purity Originium.
In terms of control systems, there was Originium Arts, a metaphysical ability from Earth's perspective. After all, Originium Arts was almost equivalent to wireless brainwaves, enabling remote control via the brain.
The drone casters of Ursus were a typical example.
These two incredibly difficult problems on Earth were solved with great ease on Terra.
It was equivalent to... giant robots being feasible!
The next challenge for Lucas Reeve was the architecture of the internal structural lines, along with other miscellaneous issues. In theory, a robot could be built, but even if it were, it would be clumsy and foolish, nothing more than a giant target, completely unworthy of the title of a war machine. So, what Lucas Reeve needed to overcome now was the flexibility of a large robot.
Even if it couldn't be as good as a human body, it couldn't be too far off.