Chapter 172 Butterfly
Thea breathed a sigh of relief, and then she pretended to be calm and said:
"Babel received a revelation from the gods, but what did she do? She increased the amount of farmland, used fertilizers lavishly, and destroyed the oasis on which we depended for survival.
He also encouraged the followers of the King of Sand to leave the tribe and set out in groups of three or five to search for the secret treasure. Three times, three times in total, none of the members of the exploration team came back alive.
Our strength is gradually weakening. If this continues, we will lose the ability to hunt sandworms.
Failure to hunt sandworms means we cannot obtain the sandworm fat that city dwellers treasure so highly, and we will lose our biggest bargaining chip with rainforest merchants.
Eventually, like other weak tribes, they could only dedicate most of their manpower to working day and night, relying on the large sale of cheap handicrafts in exchange for a small amount of food and books.
The book records that the agent of the King of Sand once chose a human to manage the country for him. After that human broke his oath, the agent of God brought down severe divine punishment, and the subjects of the entire country could not escape. Babel is leading us to that dead end!"
She only learned this after Babel promoted education within the tribe. At this moment, she was very grateful to Babel for this move. This true history strengthened the faith in the tribe, but also gave her the courage and opportunity to fight against Babel.
Sure enough, just as she expected, after she told this fact that everyone in the tribe knew, the shouting and cursing gradually stopped, and some people even showed a look of fear on their faces.
I was so foolish and ignorant that I finally understood why Babel only allowed the circulation of books on planting and some history. Sooner or later, the position of the mistress would belong to me.
Theya planned the future route in her mind. I must be patient and conceal the news of "overcultivation leading to land degradation" until the oasis shows signs of desertification and then send trustworthy people to spread the news.
Only then will the panic and anger of the tribe shake Babel's foundations.
I will also have a few people spread the word that Barbel knew long ago that over-cultivation would cause land desertification, but he concealed these things because he wanted to enhance his own prestige.
She even asked Elder Breda, who doted on her and treated her as his daughter, to multiply the amount of farmland. The eternal oasis, the establishment of a dreamland, and the love for her family... were all lies! She only loved power and herself!
Humph, she has monopolized the best resources and read so many books, how could she not know something that everyone in the rainforest knows? !
She just takes advantage of the fact that we don't understand and don't have access to more paper books to fool us, treating us as blind sand eels caught in a trap that she can play with and enjoy at any time.
Theia felt a strong sense of dissatisfaction and jealousy in her heart. She was dissatisfied with Babel's autocracy, but also jealous of everything she could enjoy in that position.
No matter what Babel's idea was to plant on a large scale, when those things happened, Elder Breda would definitely lose power. Babel would most likely choose to sacrifice the pawns to save the chariot, claiming that all this was Breda's own decision and she was just bewitched.
The power to plant will naturally be divided among the other elders, and I, as the leader of the hunting group, will get the lion's share. I will also seize the power to raise crocodiles.
After this battle, everyone will realize that the most primitive hunting is the most stable source of food, and the leader of the hunting group should enjoy more rights. I will get closer to that position little by little until I replace Babel and become the new mistress.
Thinking of this, Theya's mood improved a lot. She looked at the campfire in the distance, where the caravan was preparing for today's dinner.
The caravan coming from the city might be an opportunity bestowed upon me by the mistress of the oasis.
Her eyes flickered as she pondered how to use external aid to compete with Babel.
"If we surrender to you, can you keep our land?"
The bound man spoke carefully. After careful consideration, he realized that whether he would rather die than surrender, or had a one in ten thousand chance of escaping from Theya's clutches and reporting to Babel, he could not stop the oasis from disappearing.
He knew the character of the matriarch very well, and knew that rather than giving up the power in her hands, she would rather risk everything and gamble with the lives of all the members of the tribe, betting that she could find the eternal oasis before it turned into a desert.
But he is a believer of the Red King. Compared with the Eternal Oasis, he pays more attention to the collective interests and is more obsessed with the golden dreamland that can allow everyone to reach bliss. In his opinion, letting another ambitious elder take over Babel's position is far better than watching his homeland turn into yellow sand bit by bit.
"Of course, and when I become the new mistress, I will cooperate with the merchants in the rain forest and ask them to find scholars who are good at mechanical engineering and understand the secrets of the ruins for us.
Then let the followers of the King of Sand follow them to search for the ruins of Gur City, instead of letting them die in vain because of their passion for blood."
Theia showed compassion on her face, but she said in her heart: That's not necessarily true. What I can guarantee is that by then none of you who know my secret will survive.
These words moved all the followers of the Red King. They voluntarily followed the guidance of the stone tablet to search for the lost treasure, but they had suffered too much loss. Almost all the powerful ones died.
If it is true as Theia said, that the rainforest mechanics and archaeologists can join the exploration team, they may be able to obtain the treasure left by the King of Sand at the lowest cost.
"I promise, as long as you swear allegiance to me here to the Mistress of the Oasis and the King of Sand, I will give you what you want most."
Thea extended her hand to several people. Her sweet voice seemed to have a unique magic that made people want to believe it involuntarily.
Under her coercion and inducement, the bound people moved their lips one after another, hesitantly uttering clear words.
"I swear to the noble, great mistress of the Oasis, the King of Sand..."
"King of Sand, your loyal followers swear to you..."
"...I will follow Elder Theia and follow her guidance..."
...
Amid the devout oaths of the believers, a desperate cry suddenly broke out:
"No! You just want to be the new prophet! You have no intention of fulfilling your promise at all!"
[Do you dare to swear to the mistress you believe in? ! ! ]
He didn't ask this question, he suddenly felt the world turned upside down, he suddenly lost the ability to control his body. The last thing he saw was the nimble Theya retracting her scimitar, and the last thing he heard was the cold words she uttered.
"He's crazy and talking nonsense."
...
The flapping of the wings of a small butterfly eventually brought about a hurricane. Babel had not yet received Jade's help and could only secretly collude with the Fatui to weaken the power of other elders.
But Theya's actions were several years earlier than in the game, and several of the nine elders had conflicts with Babel over the distribution of textbooks. No one knew whether the scales of victory would eventually tilt towards Babel.
Similar things happened in every tribe the caravan passed through:
When this extremely powerful caravan knocked on the doors of the closed tribes one by one with rich supplies and knowledge, the residents who lived under the yellow sand and scorching sun all day long saw fine wine, knowledge, and customs from the rainforest.
Compared with the mercenaries in the caravan who walked out of the tribe and the desert, were born in the same desert as them, had the same black skin as them, but were able to control their own lives and began to pursue knowledge,
Their numb eyes began to light up, their desires were awakened, and they, who originally believed only in "collective" and "tribe", began to have their own selfish desires.
Many people began to be dissatisfied with the tribal leaders who forbade them to go to the rain forest and kept them in captivity like livestock. They also began to hate the people in power for pocketing the newly purchased books.
As a result, the conflict between the dictator and the exploited intensified, and the tribal system suffered a shock.
Although there is still a long way to go before these people abandon their backward tribal system and accept the guidance of the Little Auspicious Grass King, the seeds have been planted and they are just waiting for it to take root and sprout.
The wealth accumulated by one or two tribes in the desert for several generations flowed into Dolly's hands. They would become the starting funds for the desert reconstruction plan. The seeds of new ideas had also been planted. Everything was developing in the direction that Harold had expected.
A long time later, Alice, who had been watching all this silently, told her sisters an unforgettable story while drinking tea at the witch's tea party:
A butterfly from another world landed on an ancient tree. Unlike other butterflies, he did not like to gather in groups, nor did he dance among the flowers to show off the patterns on his wings. But he just flapped his wings and brought a storm to the desert, turning the place upside down.