Several systems

Yu Ji had been thinking about moving the tribe for a long time, and he had taken time to return to the tribe to discuss it with Ying Xi. Ying Xi fully agreed and had no objections.

Just when he was about to find a chance to talk to Shen Nong about this, Yu Ji heard that the tribes along the coast were going to move to the vicinity of the Wood Tribe. So Yu Ji quickly told Shen Nong about the migration of the Yu Tribe.

Shen Nong said it was no problem. After allocating land to the orcs of each tribe on the coast of the Yu tribe, he was busy building a glass factory.

The glass factory had been built before, so Shen Nong had experience and didn't need to watch over it all the time. He spent most of his time watching over the beast city.

The nano camera has been put into use, and I have to say that everything produced by the system is impeccable. The picture is high-definition without lag, the sound quality is clear without sound leakage, and the picture can be zoomed in and out. No wonder it costs 10 million infrastructure points to build one.

"Hurry up!" The whip soaked in brine was swung violently on the back of a thin orc. The already scarred back instantly had another red mark. The orc groaned and didn't even have the strength to scream.

The orcs guarding the salt field held whips in their hands, looked around, and shouted sternly: "Hurry up! If you delay the high priest's work, no one will survive!"

The huge salt field is covered in white, and looking through the screen, it looks like a snowy field.

Shen Nong slid the surveillance screen and switched the view to the streets of Beast City. When he first saw the whole picture of Beast City, especially the salt field, Shen Nong kept wondering if the high priest of Beast City was also a time traveler. Because the development level of Beast City, in the entire Beast World, is simply beyond the times.

The perspective switched quickly. The streets of Beast City were paved with bluestone slabs. There were stone houses on both sides of the streets. Some houses had wooden sheds in front of them. All the houses with wooden sheds were selling goods.

There were a lot of pottery for sale on the street, but the shapes of the pottery were not very good and the workmanship was crude. Shen Nong also discovered that the Beast City had already started to use currency, but their currency was not gold, silver or copper, but something similar to a crystal. It was said to be similar, but in fact these things were too small, and it was like a whole crystal was broken into pieces and a small piece was taken.

They vary in size, color, and value, with green being the most valuable, blue being the second most valuable, and red being the least valuable.

Shen Nong thought about how Mu Qi got the crystals in Wushan, and he couldn't help but feel a little nauseous. If the crystals used by the orcs in Beast City for trading were all taken out of people's heads alive, and after the energy was consumed, they were broken into pieces for trading, with such a large amount, Shen Nong could hardly imagine how many people died.

"Stop! How dare you, a mere beast slave, walk on the stone road! Are you looking for death?" The tall beastman kicked the skinny and shriveled beast slave away. The beast slave fell to the ground, covered his chest and coughed twice, then immediately knelt down, knocking his head loudly. "I didn't mean to do that. The master wanted to eat live fish, and he said that walking on the stone road would be faster...ah!"

The beast slave's shoulder was kicked again, and he fell backwards on his back, revealing the black words "Upper Slave" tattooed on his forehead.

"I don't care whether you want to eat live fish or dead fish. Beast slaves can only follow the path of slavery. Those who disobey the order will have their legs chopped off. This is what the high priest said!" The tall orc waved his hand, and two orcs jumped out and dragged the frightened beast slave on the ground away, "Send him to the torture chamber."

The so-called torture chamber was nothing more than a wooden shed, but it was surrounded by dried blood. The splattered blood had soaked through the wooden stakes. With dull bangs, the screams seemed to be able to shatter the screen.

He had learned a lot about the situation in Beast City these days. Similar incidents to the one just now happened at least once or twice a day. The shock he felt when he first saw it had faded a lot after seeing it so many times.

The entire city of Beast City is revered by the high priest, who is more like the king of a country. Moreover, this high priest rules Beast City and implements a system recorded in ancient books - slavery.

This surprised Shen Nong a little. It’s not that the Beast World would not develop into this way, but the special system of the Beast City and the rule of "martial arts is respected" and whoever is stronger will be obeyed in other tribes in the Beast World are really far apart.

Shen Nong controlled the camera and began to observe the situation of the tribes around the Beast City.

As soon as he locked onto the nearest tribe to Beast City, Shen Nong heard something very strange.

The tall and long-legged orc sat on a rock outside the cave. He asked worriedly, "Priest, does the Beast City still say there is no salt to trade?"

The young priest sitting in the shadows shook his head and said weakly: "The high priest said no."

These two short sentences made Shen Nong feel a little confused.

The Beast City has such a large salt field, and the orcs inside work day and night, with a huge output. How could there be no salt exchange?

On second thought, perhaps Beast City wants to strictly control the amount of salt traded with each tribe in order to achieve the effect of controlling each tribe.

In the next few days, Shen Nong kept observing the tribes around Beast City, and he found that these tribes were extremely short of salt. The Beast City Salt Field had a large amount of salt every day, and all the salt was transported to a cave for storage.

The cave didn't look very big from the outside. Shen Nong controlled the camera and looked into the cave. It was pitch black inside. When he turned on the night vision function, he found that the cave was empty and there was no salt.

Shen Nong was stunned. How could the salt disappear out of thin air after entering the cave? Why did this operation seem so familiar?

He quickly tapped the system, "Will there be two systems in the same plane of the world?"

The system said firmly, "Of course not. That would mess up the mission. It would also disrupt the energy of destiny that supports the world plane. In serious cases, the world might even collapse."

It’s not that Shen Nong doesn’t believe what the system says, it’s just that the system itself has a lot of bugs. What if there is some undiscovered bug that causes two systems to exist in the same plane without being discovered?

"The Beast City transported a large amount of salt into a cave. When I controlled the camera to go in and investigate, I found that there was nothing inside. It was only a few seconds." Shen Nong told the system what he saw, and asked: "You don't think there are invisible salt-eating ghosts in the Beast World, do you? Or is that cave actually a black hole?"

"This..." The system got stuck for a moment. Obviously, the two reasons Shen Nong mentioned later were not as reliable as the two systems in the Beast World.

[I'll copy the video clip and send it to the main system.]

Regarding major events involving the world plane, the main system responded quickly, but based on this one fragment alone, it is not possible to conclude that there is another system or a similar highly intelligent AI in the Beast World.

After all, there was nothing abnormal in the data monitoring, and the main system finally gave the four words "doubtful, to be investigated."

Based on his observations over the past few days, Shen Nong knew that a head-on confrontation with the Beast City would definitely not work. Even though there was oppression everywhere in the Beast City, the oppressed beastmen who were used as beast slaves had no determination to resist. It could even be said that they had never thought of resisting.

In their eyes, the high priest is a god, and no one wants to kill the god, because they know that no matter what, the god will not die.

Even if he could incite the orcs to rebel, it would take a lot of time. Not to mention that the Beast City would not give him that time. The guards of the Beast City were not there for show. Their entry and exit checks were even stricter than those of the Wood Tribe.

Now they can only start from the tribes around the Beast City. The Beast City does not give them salt, but the Wood Tribe does. The Wood Tribe has what the Beast City has, and the Wood Tribe also has what the Beast City does not have.

However, these tribes are all subordinate tribes of the Beast City. If they want to rebel against the Beast City, either the chief priest of the Beast City is dead, or the priest of the tribe that made the contract is dead, or the crystal stone of the contract is destroyed. Otherwise, under the influence of the contract, they will only be loyal to the other party.

The high priest of the Beast City will not die, and the priests of the tribe will not choose death easily. The crystal is the foundation of the tribe, and the awakening of the orcs depends on it. It is impossible to destroy it.

This is a bit tricky.

Shen Nong looked at the tree branches extending out of the window, tapping the table lightly with his fingertips. He suddenly asked the system: "System, do you remember when I first came here, you told me that my spiritual core could replace the awakening crystal of the beast world, right?"

[Yeah, why did you suddenly think of asking this? ]

"The awakening crystals in the beast world are energy stones, which have the same energy as the supernatural spirit cores. Then, can other priests who have awakened supernatural spirit cores also use their own supernatural spirit cores instead of awakening crystals to awaken orcs?"

The system was silent for a while. "Logically speaking, you are right. But... no one has tried it, so we don't know..."

Shen Nong smiled and said, "Okay, let's give it a try."

If the priest himself can awaken the orcs, then for the better development of the tribe, the probability of escaping from the Beast City and choosing to destroy the crystal will be higher.

When Shen Nong said to try it, it didn’t mean we had to wait until the Awakening Day in Autumn to get the results.

There is a reason why the beast world awakens at that time. Orcs will be in heat in spring, so that is not the right time to awaken.

The summer is too hot, and the beast blood in the body of the awakened orcs is in an activated state. The newly awakened beast blood will slowly increase the body temperature of the orcs. It takes a period of time to adapt before the beast blood can be fully used by the orcs.

If there is no ice to cool down, the temperature of the beast blood in the body will continue to rise. The orcs may eventually die of heat because they cannot stand the high temperature.

Autumn is short and refreshing, and it is the perfect time to awaken orcs. Winter comes before the orcs' body temperature rises to the point where they can't stand the heat.

Although there is ice to cool down in winter, the climate is too cold and people can still freeze to death. However, the number of orcs who freeze to death after awakening is less than that of those who are not awakened.

The Mu tribe filled up the ice cellar last winter. Saltpeter ice cannot be eaten directly, and in summer, ice cannot be cooled as quickly as adding ice cubes. In winter, Shen Nong filled up the ice cellar directly, so that it can be eaten directly in summer.

So, even though it is early summer now and the weather is getting hotter, because of the ice to cool down, when Shen Nong found several tribal priests who had awakened their spirit cores and asked them to use their supernatural energy to awaken an orc each, they all agreed without hesitation.

The awakened orcs were placed in a room with an ice basin. Shen Nong and several priests kept an eye on their conditions.

Seeing that Shen Nong had been up all night for several nights and was so concerned about this matter, the system couldn't help but ask him, "Aren't you afraid that these priests will know that the supernatural energy can awaken orcs and will destroy the crystal and betray the Wood Tribe?"

Shen Nong hadn't slept for a few days and was taking a nap. When he heard the system's words, he couldn't help laughing and asked, "Do you remember what the task was given to me at the beginning?"

The system was stunned for a moment, and Shen Nong continued: "You said that you want me, in this primitive age, to enter a higher social civilization, not that the Mu tribe should enter a higher social civilization."

Shen Nong's sleepiness disappeared as he spoke. He said seriously, "The Wood Tribe is already at the forefront, and its development is even much higher than that of the Beast City. As long as these tribes want to move forward, they will not easily betray. Moreover, if they really want to leave, you can't stop them. Holding on to the disengaged tribes will only hurt yourself in the end. Instead of being suspicious and guarding against this and that all day long, it is better to teach the beastmen to read a few more words."

..

The body temperature of the orc whose spiritual core was awakened became more and more stable, and Shen Nong knew that it was successful.

When Hu Xiao came to report the situation of the orcs in the military guards that day, he also had a smile on his face. He himself had recently been promoted to a level nine orc warrior, and Tu Feng and Mao Yun were now also level eight orc warriors.

The levels of the three of them are still rising, and Hu Xiao is likely to be promoted to a level 10 orc warrior within this year.

The military guards now have nearly 30 level 7 orc warriors, more than 40 level 6 orc warriors, and more than 60 level 5 orc warriors. Among these orcs, some are at the critical point of promotion.

If we add the orcs from the hunting teams of the affiliated tribes, the number of level seven and six orc warriors will be very small, but the number of level five orc warriors can be doubled.

Shen Nong later gave Bao Qiu, Lang Yu, and Lu Chun the marrow cleansing pill, and the levels of the three of them, which had been stagnant for a long time, also moved up one level. Now they are all level 8 orc warriors.

The orcs of the guard team are now very good at archery. They have also learned to partially transform, enhance their vision, hearing and leg strength, and can now shoot with rapid movements and hit the target every time.

The tribal orcs became visibly stronger, which gave Shen Nong some peace of mind.

Taking advantage of the fact that there was no movement in the Beast City for the time being, Shen Nong prepared the goods and had the orcs of the Yu Tribe transport them by air, thus avoiding the hassle of crossing rivers, going through dense forests, and climbing mountains on land.

In addition to the orcs of the Yu tribe, the other orcs that followed Shen Nong included Ze, Lu Shuang, Mao Yun, Bao Qiu, Lang Yu, Lu Chun, and Hu Shan who was familiar with the Beast City.

Lu Shuang's water ability is now level 6. After passing the level 5 barrier, it's time to go out and gain experience. More importantly, Lu Shuang's ability can make Shen Nong's wood ability more powerful than the current ability level.

——

"Priest, the high priest still doesn't want to trade salt?" The patriarch of the Fruit Tribe met the young priest who had returned from the Beast City. Two wrinkles appeared between the other's brows, and he gritted his teeth and said "hmm".

Xiang Guo was obviously getting anxious, "The tribe's salt is gone. Without salt to eat, how can the beastmen have the energy to hunt?"

"The high priest said there is no salt. What can we do?" Guo Ye rubbed his brows. He said, "Several tribal priests went today, but none of them could exchange for salt. That's fine, but the high priest also wants each tribe to send ten priest candidates to Beast City for study."

"I can't go!" Xiang Guo refused without even thinking.

Guo Ye rubbed his brows harder. How could he not know that he couldn't send them? None of the tribesmen he sent before came back. Every time he went to the Beast City, he couldn't see any trace of them.

After a long time, Guo Ye just thought they were dead. What else could he do? Could he still ask the high priest for someone else?

Xiang Guo thought for a moment and suggested, "Why not say that there are no priest candidates in the tribe? There aren't many people who can make the crystal stone react, and we have to send ten to the beast city every season. It's possible that there are no priest candidates in the tribe."

Guo Ye rejected the suggestion directly. "That's what the priest of the Thunder Tribe said. The chief priest sent people to the Thunder Tribe and asked them to take the crystal stones and test them one by one. If they find any, they can take them back."

"Is the high priest doing this to ensure that each tribe has no successor priest?" Xiang Guo asked puzzled.

Guo Ye shook his head. He didn't know either. He didn't even dare to think about what the high priest wanted these people to do.

"Priest Candidates" are people who can make the crystal react. Such people cannot awaken into orc warriors, but can become priests of the tribe.

In theory, a tribe can produce a priest candidate before the previous priest dies. Even if there are more, there will not be more than three, and the number is extremely rare.

In some tribes, no new priests were born until the priest died.

For those tribes with multiple priest candidates, since there is only one priest, the rest cannot awaken into orcs and cannot become priests. If they have not learned anything from the tribal priest, they can leave the tribe and look for opportunities in other tribes.

If you learn from the priests, you can no longer leave the tribe and can only stay in the tribe and join the gathering team until you are old. If you are found to have escaped, you will be burned to death in order to prevent the tribe's "knowledge" from flowing to other tribes.

But they didn't know what was going on with the tribes surrounding the Beast City. There were countless people in the tribe who could make the crystals react, and at least half of them were unawakened orcs.

This news did not make them happy, but made them very worried. This was because every season, all tribes had to send ten people who could make the crystal stones react to the beast city.

Once it is sent, it will never come back.

Guo Ye was helpless, but he didn't dare to say anything. Not only did the Beast City have divine beast warriors, but the high priests and young masters could control water, fire, trees, and earth. As long as they moved their fingers, the Guo tribe could be wiped out.

No, don't even lift a finger, if you don't give them the trade salt, they won't survive.