Monster - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: The Hypocritical Lord Lin Sandie

At night, the group camped in the jungle to rest. Lin Sandie, in the form of a rabbit doll, didn't feel physical fatigue like a human, so she continued reading materials about this era. Although Pie had said that the history of this Tower World wasn't identical to the Main World's, it didn't stop Lin Sandie from doing her homework. Even if only fifty percent of it matched the Main World's history, it was better than leading Little Fool and the others to Europe in a state of ignorant bliss.

By the dim yellow light of a kerosene lamp, the pages of a book leaning against Little Fool's sleeping bag were turned from time to time by an invisible hand. It was a book about 16th-century European customs, and Lin Sandie was studying against the clock. Like a long-dried sponge, she eagerly absorbed knowledge about this world.

After two years of study, she had basically mastered the Huaxia language and common European languages. However, she had no body in this Tower World and couldn't appear before everyone. And Little Fool was still young; her words carried little weight in the adult world. This was where Eagle and Branch became particularly important, but that presented another problem.

Eagle and Branch were genuine local residents. They had never received any modern education, and Pie couldn't possibly convert their language for them. If Lin Sandie wanted to fabricate an identity for Little Fool that wouldn't be looked down upon, they were crucial.

At the very least, their demeanor could no longer be that of savages from the jungle; they had to appear as if they came from the ancient, civilized nation of Huaxia. This would require many enhancements, such as language, dress, and conversation.

It was a long and arduous road... Lin Sandie let out a small sigh and continued reading. She had originally wanted to buy a small e-reader with large storage, but in an era without electricity, charging it would be too troublesome, so she had to give up the idea.

Just as Lin Sandie was soaring through an ocean of knowledge, oblivious to the time, the loud blast of a conch shell startled her awake. She subconsciously glanced at the soundly sleeping Little Fool. Seeing she hadn't been woken, she then raised her field of vision.

By now, Lin Sandie had become completely familiar with her abilities in her Spirit Separation state. When she was in her black fog form, the maximum height she could raise her vision to was about five meters. Although her range of sight was still that of a human eye, it was enough for her to grasp her surroundings.

They were currently heading to the White Bear Tribe, located northwest of Lake Texcoco, which was also Little Fool's homeland. This main quest didn't offer many points compared to other side quests and was troublesome, but Lin Sandie still hoped to take Little Fool back to her homeland once before leaving the Aztec world.

The Maple Bud Tribe was located east of Lake Texcoco, near the Gulf of Mexico. After confirming their location, Lin Sandie planned to take a detour to the north, passing through a large stretch of primeval jungle, which would take about half a month to reach the White Bear Tribe.

Raising her line of sight, Lin Sandie looked to the southeast. At the edge of the jungle near the coast, the sun was just rising. A group of Aztecs, blowing conch horns, was launching an attack on the invaders who were moving cargo. The Aztecs were covered in red and white paint, wore feathered headdresses, and were simply dressed, with only coarse cloth covering their vital parts. The round shields they carried were woven from rattan or palm leaves, with bird feathers hanging from the lower half. Their weapons were primitive machetes made of sharp stones embedded in wooden sticks.`

The Aztec warriors let out strange cries. Urged on by the horns, they charged courageously toward the Spaniards. In contrast, the latter had clearly anticipated such a battle. Aside from the enslaved Aztecs carrying cargo, the Spanish soldiers were almost all in full armor, holding well-made shields.

"Wooo—" The conch horn blew even louder. Lin Sandie saw the Spanish commander wave his hand. Soldiers who had already lit their matchlocks knelt on one knee and fired at the surging Aztec warriors.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Countless Aztec warriors at the front fell to the ground. The Spanish commander issued another order, and a dozen soldiers on horseback, holding long spears, charged toward the Aztec warriors with raised hooves...

Lin Sandie, who already knew the outcome just from watching this brief exchange, sighed softly and withdrew her gaze.

This wasn't a battle; it was a massacre.

"Little Rabbit?" Little Fool, still in her sleeping bag, called out as she groggily rubbed her eyes.

"I'm here," Lin Sandie replied immediately. She saw that Eagle and Branch had also been woken up. She simply took out the "Whisperer," stuck it in the ground so they could hear her words, and told them what she had just seen.

"What are your thoughts?" Lin Sandie asked the three Aztecs on her side.

"Kill them all!" She received three identical answers.

"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must (Note 1). In truth, this is all part of the historical process..." Lin Sandie struggled with it a little. After all, as someone from a later time, seeing these historical events made her sigh while also feeling they were an inevitable part of development.

"Drive out the bad guys!" The people of this era didn't care about this so-called historical process that Lin Sandie, a person from the future, was talking about. In their eyes, enemies were enemies, and bad guys were bad guys. So even Little Fool was frank about her opinion.

"Alright..." Besides, Little Fool and the others will need a lot of money to live in Europe, Lin Sandie thought gleefully, abandoning her internal struggle without a second thought.

She dog-eared the page of the book she hadn't finished, closed it, and put it back in her Space Bag. The hypocritical Lord Lin Sandie was already thinking about how to win the upcoming battle. Without her needing to say a word, Eagle and Branch had already packed up the camping gear and stowed it on the back of the off-road motorcycle.

"Respected Goddess, the army you just mentioned should include the Eagle Tribe from the southeast. We've traded food with them before. The Mexica have been urging them to join the war against the white-skinned people," Eagle said.

"Do you know anyone from the Eagle Tribe?"

"I know their chief, 'Five-Person Killer.' The potatoes you grew are excellent; they traded feathers with us for them before."

Lin Sandie didn't bother commenting on the Eagle Tribe chief's name and instead turned her thoughts to what came next.

After some consideration, Lin Sandie decided to have Eagle lead the way to the Eagle Tribe to check things out. Of course, they took the extravagant off-road motorcycle with them.

Lin Sandie knew that if a person's level of knowledge and culture was low enough, their capacity for shock would actually diminish due to a lack of context and understanding. For the Aztecs, the shock of seeing the Spaniards with their unprecedented cannons was about the same as seeing Lin Sandie and her group riding an unprecedented off-road motorcycle. So Lin Sandie didn't worry too much. Besides, she truly didn't care about any historical process.

Pie had thrown her into such a primitive, ancient environment; was she really supposed to care about the tide of history? Don't be ridiculous. Lin Sandie had never been the type to follow the rules.

Arriving at the Eagle Tribe's village, which was so small you could see from one end to the other, Lin Sandie raised her vision and saw a bleak scene. Although they had managed to somewhat strictly control the smallpox ravaging the tribe, they lacked food. When Lin Sandie arrived, she saw a slave, whose heart had been cut out for a sacrifice, tossed like livestock next to a large cauldron under which a fire was burning fiercely.

To Little Fool, Eagle, and Branch, this was a common sight. But Lin Sandie almost wanted to vomit. To her, killing a monster holding a weapon was different from killing a defenseless slave. Lin Sandie had her own moral bottom line.

She didn't try to correct anything. Lin Sandie knew that these religious rituals, deeply rooted in the Aztec people, couldn't be stopped just by her pretending to be a god or running her mouth.

"Little Rabbit, are you not feeling well?" Little Fool asked considerately, sensing Lin Sandie's emotional fluctuation.

"I don't like dead people," Lin Sandie replied. Little Fool immediately turned her gaze to the slave's corpse that was about to be eaten. After thinking for a moment, she said, trying to make Little Rabbit feel better, "Then why don't I use my points to buy them food?"

"I'll have them buy it themselves." Lin Sandie patted Little Fool's head. She had Eagle, who was more familiar with the Eagle Tribe, enter the village to negotiate, telling him to make it clear that their side had enough food for them and a shaman who could heal illnesses.

Before long, Lin Sandie and the others waiting outside the village were welcomed in. Eagle, who often traded with the Eagle Tribe, had easily gained their trust.

Entering the Eagle Tribe's village, Lin Sandie saw that only the old, weak, sick, and disabled remained. Anyone with any fighting ability had gone off to war.

A man in his sixties, already suffering from severe cataracts, was helped out. His upper body was bare, his wrinkled skin a light brown. He also wore a feathered headdress and held a staff made from a deer antler. It seemed he was the most prestigious person currently in the Eagle Tribe.

"You are the girl from Maple Bud who is favored by the gods?" the old chief of the Eagle Tribe asked after hearing his tribesmen's report.

"I am," Little Fool replied. "Little Rabbit has a way to drive off the white-skinned people. Are you willing to listen to our opinion?"

"Little Rabbit? You mean the god?"

"Yes." Little Fool was a little impatient. These people were always going on about gods. Little Rabbit was just Little Rabbit.

"What is the god's opinion?" A fanatical expression appeared on the old chief's face.

"First, burn that slave. Little Rabbit doesn't like to see you eating people. Then we will provide enough food and help you treat your wounded. At the same time, send one person with Eagle to call back the warriors. We will attack again after we've made preparations."

Little Fool communicated with the Eagle Tribe's chief according to Lin Sandie's instructions. Lin Sandie was already roaming the village in her Spirit Separation state, checking the condition of the wounded. Although she wasn't a professional, Lin Sandie had learned some basic medical knowledge over the past two years.

"But, God's Favored, those white-skinned people are going to leave with our gold at sunset," the old chief said helplessly.

"Are they moving it to the coast in batches now, and then taking small boats back to their big ship after sunset?" Little Fool continued to ask.

In this period, large Spanish ships already used extensive rib reinforcements, which allowed their large vessels to withstand numerous heavy cannons. This was why European overseas colonial plunder was at the forefront of the world during this era. However, the places where the Aztecs lived at this time had no seaports, so the large ships couldn't get close. They could only anchor in more distant waters and dispatch small boats to land.

The gold plundered by the Spaniards could naturally only be moved back to the large ships in batches via small boats before they could set sail for home.

"Yes," the old chief gave an affirmative answer.

"There's enough time," Lin Sandie also gave an affirmative answer.

Tower World: Leviathan

"I decree in my name: All Outsiders in Leviathan outside of the Disorder Land must go to the Disorder Land headquarters in Center City to register for entry before April 25, 2024, of the Mirror Calendar." In a dim little room, a well-maintained hand wrote this regulation in a very thick book.

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