Chapter 1005: Descendants

Chapter 1005: Descendants

"Pfft—"

What the hell is an ancestor?!

Ye Shi never expected the old man to speak the Common Language of the Human Alliance, but his opening words instantly left him dumbfounded.

It reminded him of a time long ago when they first landed at Golden Harbor.

The people there were equally astonished by their gear, exclaiming that they were "iron men."

But at least those people could communicate, and soon enough, everything became normal.

"Hurry, act it out!"

A rushed urging came through the communication channel.

Ye Shi could tell that Jiang Xuezhou, floating in synchronous orbit and watching the drama unfold, was even more anxious than he was, standing there dumbfounded on the ground.

"I know..."

Ye Shi replied in a low voice, then cleared his throat, activated the speakers of his power armor, and looked at the old man and the group of young men prostrating before him.

"All... stand up and speak."

Most of them couldn't understand a word he said, but the old man did. Muttering something under his breath, he tremblingly rose to his feet.

The young men prostrating behind him did the same.

The confusion that had been written on their faces gradually transformed into solemnity and reverence as the old man rambled on.

"What are they saying?" Ye Shi, utterly unable to understand their discussion, tried to appear calm on the surface but was panicking inside.

Jiang Xuezhou: "I don't know either... but I once built a language-behavior analysis model; maybe it can come in handy."

Ye Shi's heart leaped with joy upon hearing this.

"Awesome! When did you make that?"

Jiang Xuezhou: "A while ago... It's because you always say such strange things!"

Ye Shi chuckled.

Seems like talking nonsense every now and then has its perks—it's finally paying off now, isn't it?

While he was joking around, more and more "little green men" emerged from the forest, eyeing the iron hulk by the river with a mix of curiosity and fear.

They wore clothes woven from hay and flax, both male and female—or rather, male and female of their kind.

Not all of them carried weapons; some held woven baskets and containers filled with berries gathered nearby and oddly shaped insects.

The old man kept speaking fervently to his tribesmen behind him, his emotions growing more intense with each word.

And those young men who had gathered belatedly gradually shifted from fear and curiosity to devout reverence.

"...They seem to regard you as some kind of religious totem," Jiang Xuezhou whispered in the communication channel. "I tried to translate some of their language. Roughly speaking... in their culture, they are a race from the heavens, and their earliest ancestors descended to this world wearing clothes made of 'iron.'"

"They know about iron?" Ye Shi was astonished, looking at their primitive spears.

Jiang Xuezhou replied in an uncertain tone.

"Well, that's just my translation. It could also be translated as 'metal' or something similar. Of course, I don't think they've mastered forging techniques, but they must have seen metal before—after all, the wreckage of the Gemini is scattered around this area."

Wearing clothes made of the same material as that "starship"—that might be a more accurate translation, but if you stick to the literal words, it sounds too awkward.

Ye Shi tried to understand and roughly grasped what Jiang Xuezhou was trying to convey.

"I think I get it... So these people are the descendants of the Gemini-class missile cruiser?"

Jiang Xuezhou was clearly just as confused and answered ambiguously.

"Hard to say. I can't extract more information from their conversation... It's also possible they could be survivors of a colony from the Human Alliance era. After all, early colonists also descended from high orbit wearing protective gear similar to power armor. Many sentences can be interpreted in different ways."

Ye Shi rubbed his temples in frustration.

In truth, both theories—that they were descendants of the Gemini-class missile cruiser or survivors of a Human Alliance colony—had significant problems.

After all, the former had been hit by a neutron torpedo, and the latter had been swept by a neutron torpedo or a neutron sterilization device. Logically, they should all be dead.

Yet here he was, seeing a different reality.

They had survived in another form, even becoming another kind of human.

Just then, Jiang Xuezhou's voice came through the communication channel again.

"The only thing certain now is that civilization here has severely regressed, back to a tribal era. I know it might be a bit of a detour... but I still suggest you check out their settlement. Maybe you'll find the answers there."

Jiang Xuezhou ultimately left the decision to him, and Ye Shi was thinking the same thing.

He knew nothing about this forest; he had been stumbling into pitfalls the whole way. Who knew what bizarre troubles awaited him in the valley ahead?

This was a one-life run, with the nearest respawn point five light-years away. Blindly charging into the bushes might not be wise—maybe finding a guide was the right approach.

After all, these people were treating him like an ancestor.

After the Orion incident, Ye Shi suddenly realized he was gradually learning to use his brain to solve problems.

Just as Ye Shi was feeling smug, the old man seemed to have finished communicating with his tribesmen and, with a devout expression, extended an invitation to him.

"Respected ancestor... would you please... come with me... to our tribe."

The old man's command of the Common Language was limited, and his sentences were peppered with many words Ye Shi couldn't understand.

But fortunately, with Jiang Xuezhou's help, using that so-called behavioral language model, she guessed the meaning of those vague words, pieced them into sentences, and relayed them to Ye Shi in real time.

Looking at the devout old man, Ye Shi nodded his head inside his bulky helmet and gave the most concise answer.

"Alright."

Seeing Ye Shi nod, the old man looked as if he had received some great honor, his face beaming with ecstatic joy. Ye Shi couldn't help but wonder if this universal human gesture carried some other meaning here.

But regardless, this accidental "first contact" had gone relatively well.

The old man let out a series of garbled shouts into the forest, and soon, bird-like calls echoed back.

Amidst the rising and falling cries, the birds and beasts in the forest were startled and driven away.

And so, surrounded by the singing and dancing of the little green men, Ye Shi followed the winding stream upstream to higher ground.

According to the old man, their tribe was built at a bend in the upstream.

Along the way, Ye Shi kept observing his surroundings.

He was astonished to find that the farther upstream they went, the thicker the trees became, and the strange vegetation between them grew more lush and bizarre.

In contrast, the paths they could traverse became fewer and narrower.

Based on Earth experience, such densely vegetated areas were not suitable for settlement; places with mountains and water and open terrain were preferred for building homes.

But those Earth experiences didn't seem to apply here. In particular, the agile little green men appeared completely unaffected by the dense forest, moving even faster and more nimbly than they had in the open areas.

The only one suffering was Ye Shi.

Even with someone leading the way, squeezing his bulky gear into the dense woods was no easy task.

Especially the half-man-tall box on his back—it was a miracle he could squeeze through the forest at all!

He couldn't help but wonder if, without these people's help, he would even be able to get out of there.

He had a few incendiary grenades on him.

But such individual equipment was good enough for driving off wild beasts; clearing forests for farmland was still a bit too much.

Not to mention that "Gaia" lurking somewhere unknown.

Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want Her to know that an opponent from two centuries ago had returned.

Pushing through a dense thicket, a towering "city wall" soon came into Ye Shi's view, making him widen his eyes involuntarily.

What shocked him even more was yet to come—

He was astonished to find that this wall had grown out of the ground!

Row after row of thick tree trunks were tightly spliced together, their lush roots intertwining as they spread underground, like a hand gripping the earth firmly.

Ye Shi couldn't help but look up, seeing the dense canopy crisscrossing in the sky, like a sea growing in the heavens.

No wonder Jiang Xuezhou's drone hadn't spotted this settlement!

Without a guide, even if he had passed right by, he might not have discovered this settlement buried deep in the forest!

Noticing the commotion outside the wall, a guard holding a spear strode over briskly.

He wore wooden armor woven from vines, and his elongated helmet and visor bore a certain resemblance to the wood elf armor from medieval warhammer.

Ye Shi was dumbfounded to realize that this world five light-years away was a completely different style from the wasteland of the solar system—he wouldn't be surprised if these people suddenly started chanting magic spells the next second.

Of course, that possibility was slim.

He was more inclined to think that these bizarre forms were just a unique set of habits and traditions evolved by the local survivors to adapt to this strange environment.

"...I didn't expect a city hidden here; I saw nothing from the sky," Jiang Xuezhou whispered softly in his ear.

"Then you'd better look more carefully... I have a feeling there are more such settlements hidden in this forest."

Whether it was an illusion or not, Ye Shi felt that just as Jiang Xuezhou spoke, the guard with the spear cast a wary glance at him.

But it was only a fleeting moment of eye contact.

The guard quickly looked away, turning his gaze back to the seemingly venerable old man.

"What happened? Why bring outsiders back? What if he's... of... what then?"

"...@%#!" The old man said a few words emotionally, apparently refuting his claim, then repeated the earlier words with renewed vigor, "The Progenitor... our Progenitor has returned!"

As he spoke vividly, the vocabulary Jiang Xuezhou could translate gradually grew richer.

Essentially, they still used the Union language, but it had evolved into a different form after two centuries of independent development.

Listening to the old man's explanation, the man on duty at the camp gate showed a look of surprise and shock, then hurriedly ran back toward the city gate.

Before long, a large group of little green people in wooden armor emerged from under the roots of the tree wall, staring at Ye Shi with eyes that were seven parts tense and three parts reverent.

Under those strange gazes, Ye Shi felt quite uncomfortable inside, but he made no sign of it.

Instinct told him that playing the mysterious was the best choice when he didn't understand the situation.

He waited for these people to explain themselves.

Sure enough, after arguing with the guards, the old man turned his respectful gaze to Ye Shi.

"Honored, Progenitor. My name, Saqui Doma. We, your children."

Jiang Xuezhou quickly translated his words.

Doma was probably the tribe's surname, and Saqui might be a title, like a priest or monk.

Ye Shi more or less understood his words, suppressing the urge to laugh.

Then he pinched his throat and spoke in a tone of kindness he had never used in his life.

"My children, you have waited long."

Whether he understood the words or the compassion in his tone, tears of emotion welled up in the old man's eyes.

Seeing that devout look, Ye Shi almost felt reluctant to keep fooling them.

He was no celestial being, never cut out for playing the divine.

But Jiang Xuezhou took it lightly, even praising his acting.

"Playing the divine is a good approach. Our technology is too advanced for them; rather than trying to make them understand concepts beyond their cognition, it's better to let them worship us first. That effectively reduces communication costs... Hmm, that's from the extraterrestrial communication class."

Though these people looked human, from any angle it was hard to explain them as part of human civilization.

That was why she was less squeamish than Ye Shi, and besides, they didn't intend to use their divine status for anything bad—just to get the fuel they needed to go home and gather some local intelligence.

Ye Shi muttered under his breath.

"What kind of strange knowledge does your academy teach..."

Jiang Xuezhou laughed.

"Not that strange, I told you, our dream is to go to distant worlds; we have to prepare in advance, right?"

"Whatever," Ye Shi sighed, "we're not deceiving them anyway. We'll try not to interfere with their civilization's progress, get what we need, and leave."

Legally speaking, the things on the Gemini missile cruiser already belonged to the survivors on Earth.

What he said wasn't wrong.

Just then, Jiang Xuezhou suddenly had a bright idea.

"Wait, I just remembered... I'll make something fun for you."

Hearing this, Ye Shi became wary rather than curious.

"What are you going to do?"

Jiang Xuezhou chuckled but didn't explain, only urged him.

"Don't worry about it, just raise your right hand above your head and hold it there!"

Ye Shi was a bit confused.

But thinking that Jiang Xuezhou wouldn't harm him, he obediently raised his right hand.

Not only was he thrown off by this superfluous action, but the little green people around him also stirred in confusion, unsure what the Progenitor intended.

Just then, a pattering sound came from the clear sky.

It was the sound of raindrops hitting leaves!

The dense trunks spread like an open umbrella, delaying the falling droplets in the air.

But before long, the heavenly rain enveloped the entire settlement!

All the little green people present were stunned.

Especially the armored guards—the remaining seven parts of vigilance in their eyes were replaced by intense awe.

Water is the source of life.

And what it meant to summon wind and rain was self-evident to these people still living in an age of primitive worship.

Since it was artificially sprayed dry ice, the downpour came and went quickly.

A colorful rainbow pierced through the gaps in the leaves, hanging over the canopy where droplets still fell.

Witnessing this miraculous scene, the old man's face instantly flushed with excitement, and with reverent demeanor, he prostrated himself on the ground once more.

Ye Shi was dumbfounded as well.

But the faceplate of his power armor concealed his stunned expression, so he didn't betray any fear.

After a long moment, he lowered his voice and asked quietly.

“……Was that you?”

A silvery, tinkling laugh came through the comm channel, and Jiang Xuezhou spoke in a cheerful tone.

“There happened to be a cumulonimbus cloud drifting by, so I used a drone to scatter some dry ice… Didn’t expect it to work just like in the textbook—these people really were fooled.”

Watching the rows of believers prostrate on the ground, Ye Shi couldn’t help but wear a look caught between laughter and tears.

Just then, from beneath the towering wall of trees, another man emerged—a robust figure.

He wore wooden armor inlaid with dark green crystals, and on his head rested a crown carved from crystal.

His aura of disdain for all living things made it easy to recognize him as the chieftain.

What especially surprised Ye Shi was that he sensed a familiar oppressive pressure from this man.

That pressure, piercing straight into the depths of the soul, was almost identical.

But perhaps due to a difference in rank, the pressure emanating from the man was not as pure or intense as that of the Administrator.

And maybe because this fellow wasn’t aware of the talent he possessed, that rough power was like wild grass growing by the roadside—unable to be controlled at will, let alone restrained.

While Ye Shi was observing the man, the latter was observing him as well.

His gaze lingered on the angular armor for a long time, then the man pressed his palm to his chest and spoke.

“……Honored Ancestor, I am Tun Nan·Doma, chieftain of the Doma clan.”

This fellow actually knew more of the Human Union language than the priest named Sa Kui, suggesting he was likely a noble among these people.

Ye Shi nodded, looking into those surprised and bewildered eyes, and said in a solemn tone.

“Greetings, chieftain of mortals. I am… Ye Shi of the Alliance, the one you call the Ancestor.”

Tun Nan stared blankly at Ye Shi, utterly confused by his words, but still nodded and said.

“May I ask why you have come here?”

Ye Shi didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

“We dropped something on the ground—something you cannot handle, and it will bring disaster upon you. To avert that calamity, we must take it back to the sky.”

Seeming to understand his meaning, Tun Nan’s face took on a serious expression.

“The Doma clan will do everything in its power to assist you!”

Seeing this “little Administrator” so cooperative, Ye Shi couldn’t help but show a satisfied smile.

“We won’t let you help for nothing. As long as you assist me, we won’t be stingy with our rewards.”

Steam engines and printing presses were still too far off for them, but sharing a bit of metallurgy’s “Eureka” with them was no problem at all.

Just as he was secretly gloating, a teasing voice came through the comm channel.

“Didn’t someone just say they’d try not to interfere with their civilization’s progress?”

Ye Shi coughed dryly, unable to save face.

“Did I say that? Fine, just pretend I farted a moment ago.”

Jiang Xuezhou: “……”

After hearing Ye Shi’s words, Tun Nan exchanged a few words with several elders behind him, then his face lit up with great joy.

Then, he looked seriously at Ye Shi and asked in a grave tone.

“May I ask what that object is, and where it is?”

“I can’t describe its appearance. Its location should be across the river, in a valley about a thousand or two thousand paces away… I need a guide, and I will find it myself.”

Ye Shi tried to describe his needs.

But to his surprise, upon learning that his destination was the valley across the river, the chieftain Tun Nan and the elders behind him all showed expressions of extreme fear.

Even Sa Kui, still prostrate on the ground, lifted his head with a terrified look.

“Honored Ancestor, that is the Forbidden Forest… We cannot go near it.”

“Forbidden Forest?”

Ye Shi frowned, sensing an ominous note in the name, and pressed further.

“What is the Forbidden Forest?”

Sa Kui explained in a trembling voice for a long while.

Thanks to Jiang Xuezhou’s simultaneous interpretation, Ye Shi barely understood the gist.

In short, that valley was not unclaimed land. Beneath the forty-to-fifty-meter-high trees lived a group of tribespeople whose culture and beliefs were completely different from the “Forest People.”

The tribes of the forest called them the “Sinful People.”

These people were not only numerous and physically strong, but also wore hard armor, had tamed fierce wild lizards, and could ride on the backs of those lizards into battle.

And this “wild lizard” that Sa Kui mentioned seemed to be the same mutant creature Ye Shi had encountered earlier in the woods.

If these were the only threats, Ye Shi would find them troublesome but not frightening.

However, according to Jiang Xuezhou, the dangers Sa Kui described seemed to go beyond that.

Besides being skilled in warfare and forging, those people could also wield a power that the forest dwellers did not understand.

And that power was what truly terrified the latter…

“I hope it’s just a few drones playing tricks…” Jiang Xuezhou muttered softly over the comm channel. “But working in an oxygen-rich environment for two hundred years… the quality of this thing is too good.”

Tun Nan stared at the iron lump before him with a dark, brooding face, his expression shifting as if weighing the pros and cons.

As the chieftain of the tribe, he had to consider the tribe’s future more pragmatically.

Yet the Ancestor’s prophecy was also part of that future.

Calamity, or blessing.

He had to make a choice.

After consulting with the elders behind him, he answered in a solemn voice.

“The children of the Ancestor always heed the Ancestor’s call. We will assist you in retrieving the ‘sacred object’ from the sky, from the Forbidden Forest and the hands of the Sinful People.”

“But this is no easy task. We need to gather the other tribes of this forest together.”

“Please grant us some time.”