"Cough, cough, cough." He coughed violently, his eyes red and wet. Player Gu Cheng's carefree days were over; before him stood the unlucky 'Jiang' who needed to maintain his persona.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ren Yifei said, his voice broken and weak.
"Gucheng has disappeared." Saman took a sip of tea, looking at Jiang. "I heard you two had a conflict before."
"No, no, we only met once," Ren Yifei answered timidly, not daring to look Saman in the eye.
"Don't be nervous, I'm just curious. If you really don't want to talk about it, that's fine too. But…" Samantha paused for a few seconds, "but I can't guarantee that something like this won't happen again next time."
Is this a threat? This is a threat, isn't it?
Ren Yifei's face paled slightly. He gritted his teeth and said, "He said that a nobleman wants to kill me."
"Oh?" Saman smiled, as if encouraging him to continue.
"That day…" Ren Yifei was lost in his memories. His gaze shifted for a moment, then returned.
"That man led me to a patch of grass, far from here, where there was a grove of flowering plants and a swamp nearby. I thought he was going to kill me."
"I pushed him into the swamp." His body trembled slightly, and he covered his face with his hands. "I really thought I was going to die."
Saman did not interrupt him, but waited for him to calm down.
"But that man didn't kill me. He climbed out of the pool and just told me to leave. He said," Ren Yifei glanced at Saman carefully and pursed his lips, "that I could go do what I had to do."
"What is it that you need to do?" Saman asked Ren Yifei with a smile, his fingers interlaced.
Ren Yifei shrank back, avoiding his gaze: "He said that nobleman wanted to kill me because he thought I would destroy this place. That's ridiculous. How could I do such a thing? I live here myself."
Ren Yifei's expression changed repeatedly. He tried his best to remain calm, but his clenched hands and the sudden blush on his face revealed his tension and helplessness at that moment.
Samantha was convinced that he had lied partly, not much, mainly the last two sentences.
He emphasized that this was utter nonsense, at which point he stared at Saman as if trying to prove that he was telling the truth and to reinforce the effect of 'truth'.
But the opposite is true. His behavior actually shows that yes, he did indeed have, and even took action, an attempt to destroy this place.
"I believe you. That was just an excuse I made up to cause you trouble," Saman reassured him with a smile.
Ren Yifei nodded, his tense muscles relaxed slightly, and his fists were not so clenched anymore.
"Did he tell you who that nobleman was?"
The seemingly kind Saman coaxed the NPC with a harmless and gentle demeanor, and the NPC did indeed easily reveal important information after relaxing: "I don't know who it is, but I can say that he is a tall, thin, long-haired male nobleman."
"Okay, you can go back now." Saman nodded.
Ren Yifei breathed a sigh of relief, then stole another glance at Saman before slowly standing up.
As he approached the door, Saman behind him suddenly spoke up: "The bows and arrows you made are of good quality. They've been used to kill many nobles; the sharp stone arrows pierced right through their fragile necks."
Ren Yifei was startled; his body stiffened and felt like his heart was about to stop.
"Bang." It was the sound of a cup being placed on the table, very soft, yet seemingly loud. Saman's body was in the shadows, his voice carrying a hint of ambiguous laughter: "I heard you love reading. That's impressive, being able to find out the dates of noble weddings and make such a meticulous plan."
"..." Ren Yifei leaned against the door, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.
The original owner... was a ruthless person.
After a while, Ren Yifei, who was standing by the door, slowly turned his head. His eyes were not those of a pitiful little rabbit, but rather those of an eagle or a wolf.
"Really? I missed something like that. Are all the nobles dead?" His voice no longer trembled weakly; though still soft and slow, it sounded particularly dangerous because of that eerie pleasure.
This sickly-looking, seemingly timid worker revealed for the first time the sharp edge he had been hiding.
"Unfortunately, no." Saman looked at him.
While clearing the Sacred Tree Cave, they discovered the place where Jiang made and hid weapons, and even saw his 'last will and testament' carved on the wall for others.
Because he was doing such a dangerous thing, Jiang seemed to have planned his future long ago.
In his suicide note, he wrote down the time of the nuptial flight, the details of when the flight would land, and even a feasible hunting plan.
Indeed, Jiang's goal was to kill all the nobles, cutting off all possibilities at the source. However, he didn't know that without the queen, the natural birth rate would drop to a level that even the Family Planning Commission was worried about.
"If all nobles, laborers, and soldiers were hunted down, a couple might only have one or two children in their lifetime."
"You know, out of ten children, only one or two will survive to adulthood. Without any external interference, in just one or two generations, we will be gone from this world." Considering the man's lethality, Saman simply stated the role of the nobility.
"The human population will dwindle until the last human dies. Is that what you want?"
Unlike bees, ants die one by one, and the entire colony becomes extinct. If the queen dies unexpectedly, bees will build a queen tower to nurture the princess, but ants will die one by one.
Therefore, this instance is an 'anthill' rather than a 'beehive'.
Therefore, killing all the nobles is unrealistic; the continuation of the race must continue to rely on the Queen. However, it is entirely possible to control the situation artificially.
Ren Yifei fell silent, trying to determine the truthfulness of those words.
"I can overlook what happened before, but from now on, you only have two choices. Either never touch a bow and arrow again, or make bows and arrows for us." Saman was still smiling, but the feigned gentleness was gone. He was like a wild beast that had shed its human skin, revealing its ferocious side.
Ren Yifei's fingers tensed, his nails almost digging into the wall, but he smiled and said, "I choose the second one."
And so, Jiang, who had been missing for two days, returned and started a new job; he no longer needed to search for the Black Cube.
Upon arriving at his dedicated workshop, I saw bows and arrows he had made hanging on the wall, and tools for making bows and arrows, such as axes, knives, and stoves, on a shelf to the side.
Raw materials include, but are not limited to, wood, certain insect body parts, adhesive resin, stones, etc.
Ren Yifei doesn't know how to make bows and arrows; he doesn't have that skill. But that's alright; he'll only be staying for four days at most, which is enough time to do preparations.
After getting acquainted with the new environment, he made an excuse in the afternoon to go out and find suitable materials. Wearing a loose cloak, he set off with a skinny worker who was called an assistant, but was actually more like a surveillance camera.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a large number of people coming down from the second floor, carrying food, clothing, tools, and other items, forming a long line and heading towards the big tree.
"What are they doing?" Ren Yifei asked.
"I don't know," the young apprentice replied, looking completely bewildered, devoid of any curiosity.
Ren Yifei was discouraged and continued walking out to find tough materials. The people here really are like ants; at least they do possess some of the characteristics of ants.
They live like cells programmed with instructions, diligently performing their duties without ever asking why.
Only a very small number of people, like 'Jiang', want fairness, want to raise their children independently, and want other things.
"Jiang! I've finally found you!" Not long after he walked into the wilderness, someone called out to him. It was the big boy who had drawn patterns on his hand earlier. He wasn't alone; there was a spirited woman beside him, a soldier.
"It's so good that you're still alive." The young man was so moved that tears were about to fall. He immediately wanted to give Ren Yifei a hug, but Ren Yifei subtly avoided it so that he wouldn't notice the wings on his back.
"I've heard of you, Jiang. Your bows and arrows are superb. Even divinely inspired bows and arrows can't be as easy to use as these," a soldier watching them said sincerely.
"Thank you? May I ask who you are?"
Ren Yifei showed a puzzled expression at the right moment, and the big boy immediately stepped forward and said, "Haven't you always wanted to meet her? We were supposed to meet last time, but unfortunately... But it's not too late now, this is Lady Shuno."
Shuye waved his hand: "You don't deserve it. Jiang is the real genius. We've all seen the letter you wrote to everyone. And the manufacturing process of those weapons and tools... Just by observing and using them, you can recreate the products of God. You're a genius."
Ren Yifei just smiled. He only found out about this after he came down. The resume didn't mention that Jiang had done so many things in private, such as making bows and arrows and other tools.
That's right. On the first day, he felt that Jiang was excessively popular. Since he was sickly and weak, and the place admired the strong, how could so many people like him?
Moreover, the exquisite craftsmanship can be seen in the small decorations in Jiang's room.
She looked at Ren Yifei and said, "I want to thank you. I was hesitant at first, but the fact that you were being targeted by nobles told me that we couldn't wait any longer, and we couldn't hesitate any longer."
Ren Yifei didn't react immediately: "Huh?"
However, he soon remembered the incident of the nobleman shooting him.
"Are you aware that we have a collaboration with the person in charge?"
Ren Yifei glanced at the apprentice beside him, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.
"Don't worry," Shuye said, looking at the apprentice who was pretending to be stupid, "this isn't a secret now."
"I just got back today and I don't know what happened yet," Ren Yifei said, shaking his head. "But it sounds like it's related to those people who went to the sacred tree?"
"That's right," Shuno nodded, looking at the sacred tree in the distance. "The life of being ruled by the gods and having to obey their orders should also come to an end."
Ren Yifei was confused at first, then his eyes widened suddenly: "You mean?"
"We have made a decision: we will leave some of the fire at the foot of the sacred tree. Children, workers, soldiers, and nobles will all be moved there."
Just as expected, they deceived everyone by splitting off their population and leaving their seed elsewhere, while the old members continued to feign compliance with the advanced civilization.
"You have excellent skills, and I want to transfer you there," Shuye continued. This was just the surface reason; more importantly, these rebels needed a new leader.
Cooperation is temporary, but struggle is forever; I suppose the other side thinks so too.
Therefore, they must have a leader; without a leader, the team is just a disorganized mess.
As Shuye made her final arrangements, she had already mentally given herself a death sentence.
After a round of clashes, Shuye, representing the radical faction, and Saman, representing the moderate faction, finally reached an agreement: to first perfect the Fire Seed Project, and then discuss the rest later.
The anthill was divided in two, with young children, those with extensive wilderness survival experience, and those with average combat abilities assigned to the sacred tree. Nobles were also relocated there.
The others, resigned to certain death, awaited the descent of the gods.
"What? And what about you?" Ren Yifei disregarded everything else. "Without a leader, we..."
"And you, you did a great job before." She interrupted Ren Yifei.
Ren Yifei shook his head: "Although I hate to admit it, there is indeed an insurmountable gap between workers and civilians and soldiers. They are born stronger."
Shuye said, "The distinction between workers and soldiers is a false proposition. They are born of the same mother, but their talents are different. If we fail, you can take them far away and leave this place to live."
"Failure?" Ren Yifei sensed something was wrong.
"We've had enough of living on our knees. The divine intervention is a huge hoax."
Ren Yifei was taken aback: "You want it?"
"Kill God."