There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

Back then, I was still on the ranch, chatting with the tribal visitors, admiring the huge bonfire, and discussing going hunting later, preparing some food to have a barbecue here, eating hot pot and singing songs. Our friendship level quickly rose.

But unexpectedly, he was suddenly taken away by the police.

Just as the sound of Thomas the Tank Engine from town echoed through the ranch gates, and someone loudly asked me why there was so much black smoke, the tribal guests who had been standing side by side with me suddenly vanished.

I was left standing there all alone, feeling incredibly awkward, like a criminal caught red-handed. Beside me was a roaring campfire, huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky, the crackling of burning wood echoing through the flames – a veritable mountain of incriminating evidence.

"Mayor, Sheriff, please let me explain..."

Thomas and Harris exchanged a glance.

"...Come with us."

…………

After receiving Harris's promise, Boss Dart left satisfied, patting me on the shoulder as he left, signaling me to relax.

Harris was a little helpless about Dart's bullying of an acquaintance, but since he would be drinking at the pub again in the future, he still had to give him this much face.

Everyone in town knows that Marcus spends all his time at Dart's tavern, and some even say that Marcus has started calling him "father-in-law."

After half a day of questioning, I still couldn't clear my name of suspicion.

After all, the ranch is mine, and no one else lives there. There's also no news of anyone landing at the dock where Zack is. Unless some bored guy from town went to the ranch and painstakingly built a huge bonfire to frame me?

Harris thought for a moment and realized that the only people who were really bored were the drunk Dick and Sebala, but how could they possibly have the energy to do such a big project when they were drunk?

Sebala and Dick, who were getting ready to go to the pub for drinks, both sneezed...

"If the guest you mentioned really exists, please bring him to the police station immediately for filing." Sheriff Harris closed his notebook and earnestly instructed, "Also, you absolutely cannot do such dangerous things again! Otherwise, you'll be spending the night in jail."

"Okay! Sheriff, you believe me?"

I asked, somewhat overjoyed, "The sheriff actually believes my reason? It's a reason that even I find absurd."

But if I don't say it like this, should I reveal the details of the colony system?

“I don’t believe you, I just believe the facts. I checked the riverbank, and there are indeed the footprints of the second person you mentioned.”

Sheriff Harris added, "And that campfire, the way it was set up was very complicated, it certainly doesn't seem like something people in town would use. But if this person goes back to the ranch, he can't run around anymore, the damage he causes could be significant."

I stood up happily, ready to leave the police station and return to the ranch to find my guests.

I casually turned the lock on the door, preparing to open the police station door and leave, still making promises as I did so.

"Yes, sir, I'll go and arrest this outsider right away..."

An arrow flew in through the police station window, shattering the entire pane of glass before falling limply onto the table in front of Sheriff Harris.

As I opened the door, I turned back and stared blankly at the broken window. A short figure dressed in animal skins appeared outside the door and froze when he saw me come out.

The awkward silence lasted for about a second before all three of them started moving at the same time.

Sheriff Harris stood up from his desk, glanced sideways at the broken window, and carefully observed who had carried out the attack.

What he didn't expect was that the attackers didn't stay outside the window, but instead appeared at the front door, seemingly waiting for his reasonable reaction before rushing into the police station.

The tribal visitor snapped out of his daze, grabbed me, and ran out of town. I saw that he was still holding a short bow in one hand, and he said to me urgently, "Run! I'm coming to save you."

Oh no, I'm doomed! The charge has changed from dangerous arson to assaulting a police officer and breaking into a jail! How am I supposed to explain that the ranch guest I mentioned is not only good at wilderness survival but also has obvious antisocial tendencies?

As I was being dragged outside, I quickly realized what was happening and shouted at Harris, "Sheriff, I'll pay for the glass! It's all a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"

I don't know if Harris heard me, but I was dragged and pulled a long way, running over the small roads outside the town, until I reached the area of ​​Mads Mountain.

Perhaps thinking they had entered a safe environment, the tribal visitors stopped panting and squatted there to recover their strength. Seeing me without even being red in the face or out of breath, they exclaimed in amazement.

"I didn't expect you to have such good stamina."

That's when I'm human. With the system's support, my physical strength is basically depleted by normal activities. In Captain America's words, I can run like this all day!

Chapter 80 Jay

The scenery around me has changed from a small town to a wilderness, and the vegetation on the side is gradually becoming denser. Clumps of shrubs cover the exposed areas of the ground, and the wind blowing in has become cool and damp.

"Don't worry, it's safe here now," I explained to the tribal visitor, gesturing to continue up the mountain. "Did you come here specifically to rescue me?"

The short, tribal visitor nodded, brandished the short bow in his hand, and said, "I just hid. I went to the room, got the short bow, and came to save you."

I've gotten used to this person's intermittent descriptions, but I'm a little surprised by such a loyal act.

Why did you risk your life to save me?

Unexpectedly, the visitor pointed a finger at himself, then at me, and uttered a sentence.

"We are allies."

"We're allies? When did we form an alliance?" I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I asked again.

"We lit a fire, held a ceremony, and formed an alliance."

The visitor from the tribe said this earnestly, his eyes full of sincerity and a hint of doubt, as if asking me how I could have forgotten what we clearly agreed on.

I immediately understood why this guest had asked me again before lighting the campfire—he wanted to confirm that he really wanted to light it. Lighting a fire has a very significant meaning in this tribe.

I think it's because fire represents vitality, life force, and hope. In tribal culture, lighting a campfire symbolizes the establishment of a settlement. It not only provides stable energy and warmth to ensure health, but it is also a clear symbol, serving as evidence of the tribe's existence.

So the tribal visitors lit this bonfire for me and held a lighting ceremony, which actually meant that they shared their tribe's hopes with me, symbolizing that the two factions shared the same will and officially became allies.

"Hmm...I think I understand! Thank you!"

This time, my gratitude is not the kind of polite formality I used to express; it comes from the bottom of my heart.

It's clear that this guest's so-called ally wasn't just empty talk. His actions in forcing his way into the police station to rescue me demonstrate a genuine friendship.

"This shortbow is for you; I apologize for my previous disrespect. By the way, I still don't know your name."

I pointed to the short bow in the man's hand, indicating that it was a return gift and a token of my gratitude for the rescue operation.

The tribal visitors seemed quite pleased with the bow. It was a light, delicate, and well-made short bow, perfectly suited to the short stature of this man. So, he instinctively chose the short bow over the stone stick I had placed by his bedside.

"No, it's too precious." Although the tribal visitor liked it very much, he didn't accept it immediately. He probably thought that he was being misunderstood as trying to take the bow because he was holding it, so he quickly stuffed it into my hand.

I could tell that this person liked the shortbow, so I quickly pushed the bow back. After a while, I discovered a problem.

This person's fingers are too slender, and the knuckles are not thick. Judging from the size and shape of this hand, this person should not be the short adult I imagined, but a child!?

I stopped declining the offer and tentatively asked, "Sir, what's your name? You don't look very old, do you?"

Sure enough, from the mouth painted black beneath the animal hide headdress came a voice that I hadn't noticed before, but now it sounded clearly a deliberately lowered, hoarse voice.

"Did you notice? Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Jay, and I'm 12 years old."

12岁？

So, the person standing in front of me is still a child?

I scrutinized the person closely and found that he was indeed short, with a slender frame, the kind of thin, childlike physique. The large animal-skin robe had previously deceived my vision. The animal-skin hat and braided curly hair also made his head appear to be the size of an adult, which made me think he was a short, malnourished adult.

"...Wait a minute, can you speak normally now?" I noticed that this person's speech was no longer halting and fragmented, but rather a fluent and articulate introduction. Surely this person couldn't have only mastered one fluent self-introduction?!

"Yes, I'm sorry, I've been hiding it from you."

The person took off their hat, playfully stuck their tongue out at me, and their face, exposed to the sun and wind, was dark-skinned, but their eyes were very bright, and they had a small nose and mouth, making them look like... a girl?

"You, you, you! You're a woman?"

I was even more astonished this time, and my voice trembled as I spoke. This morning, I was actually taught for half a day by a little girl from a tribe how to dig a well and start a fire, and she even rescued me from the police station! Even a third-rate TV drama wouldn't make something like this!

"Haha, you didn't expect that, did you! This is what the tribal elders taught us: keep the sentences as short as possible and lower your voice so they can't tell our age."

The tribal girl named Jay let out a clear laugh, looking at me with a grin, a stark contrast to her previous serious and mysterious demeanor. She must have been holding back her laughter for a long time.

This also explains why she was out of breath after running only a few steps, which is completely unlike the physical strength that a member of a wilderness tribe should have.

"So all of this was taught by your tribe to deceive people?" I said, both annoyed and amused. If I had known this would happen, I would have just told her about the situation in town, so I wouldn't have been arrested as a criminal.

“Don’t be angry. The elders taught us these things so we wouldn’t be kidnapped by malicious people when we’re out and about. Tribal raids are very frequent,” said the girl named Jay, before adding, “You’re not angry with me and won’t give me the shortbow, are you?”

Well, her persona has been completely shattered. She's gone from a cool, aloof tribal mystery guest to a playful tribal little girl.

"I promised to give it to you, so of course I'll give it to you. Why are you so willing to tell me the truth now?" I said, shoving the shortbow into her arms.

The jay looked confident, with a hint of childlike slyness.

"You'd rather be captured by bad guys than reveal my whereabouts, which means you're not a bad person. Actually, you already knew I was hiding behind the rock, right?"

"..." Sorry, I really didn't find where you were hiding. I just felt like you disappeared as soon as I turned around. Besides, you weren't a bad person. You were an old acquaintance and Little Train, so I followed you.

"You're right! I didn't expect you to see through that! You have such keen insight!"

But flattery will never fail you; just go along with what they say.

"Of course! I'm the youngest fire keeper in the tribe!" Jay said proudly, displaying his noble status.

"Is this a very important position?" I couldn't help but ask. In my memory, this was just a job responsible for watching over a campfire. Could it be that they were actually guarding the spark of Cybertron?!

I quickly and cautiously probed, "Are you Autobots or Decepticons? Is your leader a Decepticon or Optimus Prime?"

"Huh?" Jay asked, looking completely bewildered.

Is the plot wrong? Could it be that it's even later than this...?

"Could the leader be Captain Gorilla?!"

What exactly are you talking about?!

Chapter 81 Breath of the Wild

After some discussion, I finally realized I was overthinking things. It must be those bizarre videos bombarding me in my dreams that kept my imagination running wild; that must be it.

Actually, the jay isn't responsible for safeguarding the spark of Cybertron; that sounds far-fetched. With current human exploration of the universe, no mysterious, powerful, or ever-changing silicon-based life forms have been discovered. All we have are uncontrollable machine races born from the AI ​​crisis in human society.

The jays were in charge of keeping ordinary fire, but what was extraordinary was not the fire itself, but the job itself.

In a narrow sense, preserving fire is a tribe's way of maintaining its lifeline and controlling its cohesion. Keeping a stable and bright fire source in the wilderness is like providing a keyboard warrior with a stable Wi-Fi connection, allowing them to survive in the wild forever.

In a broader sense, this fire also represents the flame of hope and civilization of the tribe. A fire keeper not only needs to learn how to make, store, and use fire, but also needs to learn a lot of knowledge related to food, disease, and manufacturing, since these things are all closely related to fire.

When a tribe migrates, the fire keeper and the tribal elders are the ones who are given special protection, because their survival means whether the tribe's wisdom can be continued and whether its knowledge can be preserved.

In this situation, the fact that a twelve-year-old girl could serve as one of the custodians of the fire already demonstrates her talent in intelligence and operational skills.

"Wow, that's amazing! I thought you were just a human lighter!"