The Monster is Coming

Chapter 470 Blood Sacrifice Prologue (Second Update)
The energy railcar came to an abrupt end at the border post.

Tu Hu stepped off the vehicle alone and onto the muddy ground.

The only items he carried were a slightly worn wine pouch at his waist.

Tu Hu also considered his unique talent: automatic translation, when he chose to come to the border to negotiate in person.

He had already discovered this during his journey leading the second generation of Rongling on a wandering trip after leaving Xingxing Valley.

He could understand all the inscriptions on the ruins he explored along the way.

It seems that there are no language or writing barriers in front of him.

Although he didn't understand why he possessed such an illogical talent, it would obviously be an important asset in his negotiations.

At least there are no communication barriers.

Before his arrival, the Rongling tribe's envoy had already made contact with the Liegu tribe.

With carefully prepared gifts, they conveyed their willingness to submit to the Bone Splitter through sign language and other means.

Although the language barrier made communication very difficult, the humble attitude and the gifts offered at least made the other party understand that the Rongling tribe dared not be an enemy.

Now, what he needs to do is make this "surrender" more valuable.

Several days later, Tu Hu appeared in front of a fortress built of huge animal bones and black rocks.

The fortress, known as the "Bone Crusher," was more primitive than he had imagined.

There were no technological artifacts. Dozens of decaying corpses hung outside the city walls, their forms revealing them to be creatures of different races. They seemed to be spoils of war for the Bonebreaker Clan to flaunt their achievements.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

At this moment, some guards clad in bone armor and resembling lizardmen patrolled nearby, their eyes gleaming with ferocity and their throats occasionally emitting low growls.

Tu Hu noticed that the bone armor worn by the patrolling guards was not standard equipment; each piece was different, as if it had been roughly modified from different creatures.

This confirms one of his conjectures: the strength of the Bonebreakers lies in individual evolution, not technological development.

His appearance quickly attracted the attention of the patrolling soldiers, who all gathered around him.

Before long, he was escorted through a gloomy passageway decorated with skeletons.

Eerie green flames burned in the niches along the way, illuminating the figures of various slaves imprisoned and kept nearby.

Most of them have numb eyes, like walking corpses.

Tu Hu noticed that these slaves were strictly separated according to race.

Some of the smaller races were in charge of cleaning, while the stronger races, wearing heavier shackles, were doing the carrying work.

This shows that the Bone Splitters knew how to maximize the value of each slave group, and different slaves had clear roles.

Upon reaching the depths, the fortress's main hall was unusually empty and chillingly cold.

At the far end of the main hall, on a platform made up of countless enormous skulls, sat a figure.

It was nearly twice the size of an ordinary guard, clad in dark, iron-like bone armor with dark patterns, its head covered in fine scales, and its vertical pupils were pure gold, carrying an emotionless indifference.

I had already learned from previous contact that this was a general of the Bone Splitter Clan: Da Ge.

"According to the message conveyed by your previous envoy, you wish to submit willingly?" Da Ge raised his head at this moment, looking directly at Tu Hu with an aggressive gaze, and asked.

Tu Hu nodded slightly:

"Yes, the Rongling tribe seeks the protection of the Liegu tribe and is willing to offer value."

Da Ge slightly moved his fingers, and a terrifying force, a mixture of mental shock and physical pressure, suddenly descended, like an invisible mountain, threatening to crush Tu Hu completely.

The eerie green flames inside the hall momentarily froze.

However, when this force was applied to Tu Hu, he did not feel any discomfort.

It was like a gentle breeze.

This surprised Da Ge. A golden light flickered in his eyes, his aura intensified, and his words were filled with undisguised contempt:

"Provide value? After the war, your flesh and blood, the resource lands you control, will be the only value... You will all become nourishment for our race. The prerequisite for providing value is to have value."

Upon hearing this, Tu Hu decisively replied:

"Flesh and blood, resources... all energy will eventually be exhausted, but my race can provide the knowledge that makes the Bonebreaker race stronger, allowing you to plunder more races. The value of what you possess far exceeds the value of a one-time consumption."

His large, golden, vertical pupils narrowed slightly, but his tone remained calm:
"Knowledge? With your knowledge? The power of the Bone Clan comes from the evolution and conquest of life, not from the knowledge of the weak."

Tu Hu, meeting the scrutinizing gaze, began to explain the value of the Rongling tribe:
"We have observed that the warriors of the Bone Splitter still rely on primitive shouts to transmit orders, which is slow and prone to misinterpretation. Our race has mastered stable long-range communication technology, which can clearly convey instructions to every warrior in an instant, making the legion as easy to command as an extension of its own limb."

He paused briefly, noticing that Da Ge hadn't interrupted, and continued:

“On the way here, I saw that a large amount of plundered resources were piled up in the open, relying on slaves and pack animals to slowly transport them. This was inefficient and caused transportation losses. Our clan’s energy rail transport network can transport resources to any place you designate, including the front line, at a speed and capacity that far exceeds that of pack animals.”

"That's only part of it. The true value of our race lies in our continuous research and development capabilities. We can address any problems the Bone Clan faces on their path to conquest, whether it's improving the strength of warriors' bone armor or optimizing energy usage efficiency. We can research and innovate based on the Bone Clan's development needs, providing reasonable solutions and continuously creating new value for the Bone Clan."

“I can assure you that we can make the Bonebreaker Clan stronger than ever before.”

"In comparison, destroying us would only yield a one-time resource gain, but if we are spared, the Rongling Clan will become the most powerful growth tool under the Liegu Clan. Are you satisfied with this condition?"

After Tu Hu finished speaking, he waited for Da Ge's reply.

However, the Bone Splitter's general, "Dage," fell silent.

His eyes lingered on Tu Hu for a long time, a silent clash between icy killing intent and a weighing of interests.

Finally, the cold voice rang out again:

"What I'm more curious about is why you use my language?"

"I have a strong learning ability, including languages, which I can quickly master after only a short period of learning."

After hearing this explanation, DaGe believed some of what Tu Hu had just said. After a brief moment of thought, it said in an unquestionable tone:

"I'll give you time to prove your worth."

"as you wish."

Tu Hu was about to turn and leave.

"Wait." Da Ge's icy voice rang out again.

Tu Hu stopped and turned around to wait for what was to come.

His large, golden, vertical pupils scrutinized him:
"What is your status within your tribe?"

"An old fellow who has lived a long time," Tu Hu replied vaguely, without revealing his special "ancestor" status.

Da Ge neither agreed nor disagreed with the answer, but slightly adjusted his posture and stated his conditions again:

"Becoming a vassal is fine, and retaining your so-called 'research and development capabilities' is also acceptable, but you must accept the management of the Riftbone Clan. We will send supervisors to ensure that your 'tool attributes' will always revolve solely for the interests of the Riftbone Clan. All your output, and even the number of your population, must comply with the will of the Riftbone Clan. This is the bottom line."

This condition is extremely harsh, meaning that sovereignty is completely lost and things are heading in the worst possible direction.

But Tu Hu's face remained expressionless as he calmly responded:
"Yes, as long as the Riftbone Clan can ensure the continuation and basic survival of our clan and provide the necessary resource support, the Velvet Spirit Clan is willing to accept management and use our abilities to serve the Riftbone Clan's great cause of conquest."

His straightforwardness, however, caused Da Ge to fall silent for a moment.

Clearly, they hadn't expected Tu Hu to so readily relinquish all autonomy.

"Very good," Da Ge finally said, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.
"Remember your promise, and now go and prove the value of what you said."

Tu Hu turned around again and left the skeletal hall under the watchful eyes of the lizardman guards.

The first step has been taken.

They traded dignity and freedom for the opportunity to accumulate strength in the cracks.

The heavy shackles have been placed; the hope for breaking the deadlock lies in the future.

……

Tu Hu had thought that by sacrificing his sovereignty and dignity, he could gain a relatively safe buffer period for the Rongling tribe.

In his vision, the Bone Clan would raise various demands during this period, while the Velvet Spirit Clan would be responsible for research and development.

For example, improving communication methods or optimizing transportation efficiency.

The other party poses the questions, and the Rongling tribe is responsible for solving them.

In this process, the Rongling tribe can prove its own value, accumulate strength, and even obtain precious resources from the Liegu tribe that the Rongling tribe does not currently possess.

But the Bone Splitter's ideas were completely different from what was expected.

The first order issued by the supervising officer, Broken Tooth, after leading the Bone Clan legion into New Star Valley was to demand that the Velvet Spirit Clan hand over all weapons of war.

The second order was to conscript 5000 young men to serve in the Bone Clan's mines.

The third order was to build a Bonebreaker-style execution platform in the central square of New Star Valley to execute those unruly and stubborn individuals.

The first thing I said when my tooth broke was:

"Learn to obey first, then talk about value."

The Bone Clan ruled over many slave tribes and understood that to maintain long-term control over a tribe, it was necessary to break its backbone using the bloodiest methods.

In their eyes, fear is far more important than kindness.

This was done to leave an indelible mark on the hearts of all slaves: resistance means destruction, and obedience is the only way to survive.

This is a method of domestication.

In the cruelest way, the word "servility" is imprinted on the heart of every living being.

When the initial rule was completed, "Fierce Claw," the contemporary leader of the Rongling tribe, became the first victim of the Liegu tribe's rule.

During this period, the military supervisor "Shattered Tooth" gained a preliminary understanding of the Rongling tribe's development model and then took away their leader, Fierce Claw. He subsequently announced his execution without giving any reason, simply stating that Fierce Claw was the leader of the Rongling tribe.

Upon learning this news, the pent-up anger instantly erupted throughout the entire Rongling tribe.

The soldiers' eyes were bloodshot, the craftsmen threw down their tools, the scholars clenched their fists, and the clamor of the riot nearly shook the city to its core.

But this anger was quickly suppressed.

The Rongling tribe's leadership, along with their guards, stopped all impulsive tribesmen, maintaining the Riftbone tribe's rule with the strictest measures.

The day of execution arrived quickly.

The darkness before dawn is particularly deep.

The morning light struggled to pierce the clouds, but could not illuminate the solidified darkness in the square.

The wind swept across the energy towers of Nova Valley, emitting a low, mournful groan, as if even this steel city was grieving for the impending tragedy.

The square was as silent as a graveyard.

When Fierce Claw was dragged onto the central execution platform, it was almost unrecognizable.

Broken blue scales mixed with dark red scabs, only those eyes remained clear.

At this moment, Fierce Claw's vision was already blurred.

On the execution platform, it was forced to kneel by the lizard guards of the Bonebreaker Clan, its head brutally pressed into the groove of the platform, the shattered scales rubbing against the rough rock, bringing sharp, stinging pains.

"Cough." Fierce Claw coughed up blood.

But this pain was nothing compared to the raging fire burning in my heart.

There was a deathly silence below the stage, but one could "hear" the sound of thousands of hearts pounding wildly with extreme anger beneath the silence.

The tribesmen looked at it, feeling both anger and sorrow for it.

The intense pain made its thoughts somewhat scattered.

Death was imminent, but he felt no fear whatsoever.

In its final moments, it remembered the story its teacher, Lanxing, told about the fall of Xingxing Valley, and how it had never experienced it, yet its escape and sacrifice were recorded in history.

Those ancestors paved a path to survival for future generations with their own flesh and blood.

That's why Xinxing Valley is so prosperous now.

Now, it's its turn.

The Bonebreaker Clan's overseer, "Broken Tooth," once said this to it in the dungeon:

“You weaklings who are good at creating always think that wisdom can overcome strength, but in the face of absolute strength, it is meaningless.”

It remained silent, suspended in mid-air by chains.

Broken Tooth is right, but also wrong.

While wisdom may not be able to defeat absolute power in a direct confrontation, it knows how to lie in wait and how to grow rapidly in the dark.

It was even grateful that the Bonebreaker Clan had chosen it as their first sacrifice.

As a warrior, it knew exactly what a people needed during the dark years of enslavement.

It is not blind passion, nor empty slogans, but a reason with sufficient weight, so that every member of the tribe can engrave hatred into their very bones.

Its death could serve as that reason.

In contrast, the loss of scholars like Jing Si and engineers like Qi Ming is immeasurable for any group.

And this leader, who was born a warrior, was most suitable as a sacrifice to inspire the future of the tribe.

Its blood will become nourishment for the future of its people.

The Bone Clan wanted to use its death to intimidate their people and break the backbone of the Velvet Spirit Clan.

But the Riftbone Clan will never understand that the backbone of the Velvet Spirit Clan has never been about clinging to life.

Its death will etch the word "resistance" into the marrow of every surviving member of the tribe in a more subtle way.

Hatred will be buried deep in the heart, and sharpness will be hidden under claws, waiting for the moment to strike back.

The execution never began; the Bone Splitter seemed to be deliberately prolonging the torture by publicly displaying the torture.

The tall, imposing figure of the military supervisor, Sui Ya, paced along the edge of the execution platform, his cold, golden vertical pupils sweeping over every grief-stricken face below, enjoying the silent intimidation.

Time stretched out in the silence.

Every second of delay was torture in the eyes of the Bone Clan, who intended to crush the dignity of the Velvet Spirit Clan and break the will of their people below the stage.

But a smile appeared on Fierce Claw's face as he roared inwardly, issuing a declaration of retaliation to his people:

"Remember their true colors now, remember this humiliation. My blood is not the end, but the prelude to future revenge... We, the Rongling tribe, may bow down for a time, but the fire in our spines will never be extinguished."

As the roar in my heart gradually subsided.

Fierce Claw struggled to move his eyes, searching for the blurry, silent figures below.

found it.

His hunched figure in the crowd looked so lonely, and his bloodshot and tearful eyes were filled with endless pain and self-blame.

In Lie Zhao's eyes, he was also the faith of the Rongling tribe, carrying everything about the Rongling tribe.

Fierce Claw moved its mouth in that direction, but made no sound.

But Tu Hu still managed to decipher the meaning it was trying to convey from the spoken language.

"Tiger, don't cry."

"The road ahead is long... The people... are now in your hands."

After speaking, it used its last bit of strength to straighten its spine.

Just then, the bone blades behind them whistled down.

Blood splattered, heads fell to the ground.

A suppressed gasp filled the entire square.

Every Rongling seemed to be nailed to the spot, deeply imprinting this scene into their hearts.

As the crimson stains the execution platform, Broken Tooth is pleased to see all the spirits bow their heads.

But what it didn't know was that bowing its head wasn't to submit, but to hide the raging fire in its heart.

With his death, Fierce Claw planted a seed in the hearts of all the Spirits.

Waiting for the day when it breaks through the soil.

Tu Hu stood at the back of the crowd, watching Lie Zhao's head roll onto the cold stone platform. Those eyes, which had once been filled with indomitable flames, now stared blankly at the gray sky.

His hunched body swayed, and the falling bone blade struck his soul at the same time.

A metallic, metallic taste rose in his throat, which he swallowed hard.

Bloodshot eyes endured this heart-wrenching scene without blinking, engraving the last look in Lie Zhao's eyes, his silent entrustment, firmly into his heart.

Another child has passed away.

Familiar figures flashed through his mind.

Alan's resolute figure facing death amidst the towering flames of Star Valley, Afen's unspoken words as she was pierced by bone spurs, Alu's final cry before the collapse of the archives, Lanxing's expectations for the future of her people on her sickbed, Motong's peaceful profile as she lay sleeping at her desk in the snowy night, Huixin's last glimmer of clarity in her distorted figure inside the isolation pod... From Alan to Liezhua, the torch has been passed down through three generations.

Each name is a ring etched on his soul, recording the entire history of this people's rise from adversity.

He watched them grow, stand out from the crowd, and shine in an era.

Yet, I witnessed them approach the end of their lives.

This recurring cycle of loss was ten thousand times more intense than the pain caused by physical trauma, ravaging his will.

is it my fault
Self-doubt, like a venomous snake lurking within him, gnawed at his heart.

He seemed to hear Fierce Claw's last whispered words echoing in his ears:

"The road ahead is long... The people... are now in your hands."

Yes, the road ahead is long.

He cannot fall.

Tu Hu took a deep breath, the stench of blood in the air piercing his lungs, and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, the churning pain in his eyes was forcibly suppressed.

He nodded slightly in the direction of the execution platform.

He was responding to Fierce Claw's entrustment, and also making a vow to himself.

Then, he turned around, no longer looking back at the blood-soaked stone platform, and stepped out of the square, one step at a time.

Their steps were slow but firm, as if they wanted to crush the heart-wrenching pain they had just experienced into the soil and turn it into nutrients to nourish the road ahead.

The road ahead is winding, but as long as he has a breath left.

The Rongling civilization will not end here.

　One more chapter! The later parts of the Civilization storyline will be accelerated, and this part of the story will connect with the main storyline later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)