Chapter 521: Serving the Gods
After negotiating with this Shadow Insect tribe, Anno and his group temporarily settled down at their camp.
The leader of this insectoid tribe, along with the tribe's most respected elder, personally came out to greet Anno.
From beginning to end, the Shadow Insects' gaze was only on Anno, and they didn't even glance at Caesar and the others.
However, considering they were Anno's retinue, they were treated relatively politely. But the warriors of the tribe kept a close eye on them the whole time, their gazes occasionally glancing at the weapons at their waists.
This atmosphere made Caesar and the others very uncomfortable.
It's not a matter of their attitude, but rather an innate hostility between them and these Shadow Insects; they all see each other as enemies.
They were clearly at the point of wanting to fight, but because their little prince was there, they had to hold back.
But given their current tense atmosphere, they might start a fight at the slightest provocation.
Caesar and his men stood to Anor's right, while the Shadow Insect warriors stood to Anor's left, and the two sides didn't see eye to eye.
As Anno walked, she talked with the chief of the Giant Tree tribe. From their conversation, she learned that the place they lived in was called the Giant Tree Forest, and that they were the Giant Tree tribe, also known as the Dark Tree tribe, because the forest had been suffering divine punishment and had been eroded and polluted.
After walking for a short while, Anno arrived inside the Giant Tree Clan's tribe.
Compared to the corrosive black rain that kept falling outside, the light here was bright and the trees were green. They must have had some kind of protective shield covering their heads, preventing the black rain from reaching their camp. The ground was also very dry.
The Giant Tree Clan lives inside trees; they hollow out giant trees and build warm dwellings inside.
Outside the trees, they also built some structures and huge ornaments, displaying items that looked like they were used for rituals. These items were brightly colored and very artistic, bearing a striking resemblance to the architectural structures and aesthetics of their Light and Shadow Zerg.
Anno walked to a square in the middle and placed his hand on an exquisite wooden carving. It was a statue-like object with some of the characteristics of the Zerg.
She thought to herself that they were indeed from the same race, and were quite similar in some ways.
"This is the final heart of the Giant Forest."
The Giantwood Chieftain bowed before Anno and raised his hand, saying, "The rest of the Giantwood Forest has been polluted and is uninhabitable. We only have one guardian left, the Spirit of Light."
"The Spirit of Light?"
It was only with the combined translation of Fei Xing and An Guang that Luo Yan was able to determine the meaning of the word the leader had spoken.
"Yes, that is the incarnation of a god, a divine messenger who protects and saves us."
The giant tree chieftain led Anno to the center of a plaza surrounded by trees, where she saw a huge, glowing creature floating in the middle.
Upon seeing the glowing creature, Anno was quite surprised. "Isn't that a golden sand jellyfish?"
Golden sand jellyfish also possess a certain purifying power, and the golden sand they produce can provide energy, which explains why they worship golden sand jellyfish as deities.
“Now, our prayers have been answered by God; we have not been abandoned by God.”
The giant tree chieftain suddenly knelt down on one knee before Anno, looking at her with a face full of piety. "The Book of God is right. Our insectoid supreme god possesses the power to purify darkness, warm and powerful energy, and the most beautiful face in the world."
After the leader finished speaking, the elders around him also knelt down, uttering some kind of prayer.
Looking at the golden sand jellyfish in the middle and the group of shadow insects around her who worshipped her so much, Anno could roughly understand their way of life.
As expected, without the consciousness network, the higher-ranking servants and the Ohmu became gods.
Moreover, their technology has hardly developed. Although their technology is different from that of other civilizations in the interstellar space, their biotechnology is unique and far ahead of others.
The Shadow Zerg are still in a very primitive state; at least for now, they are unable to leave their own planet.
However, because there is no consciousness network for communication, Anno is not very familiar with the core aspects of the Shadow Clan.
The Giant Tree Clan is just one branch of it.
The person who used special abilities to teleport her here is probably of a high status in the Shadow Clan, at least at the same level as Mingxiao and the others, a high-ranking member, otherwise they wouldn't have such strong superpowers.
When Anno left the statue square, he saw Mingxiao and the others staring at each other with the warriors of the Shadow Clan. Their hands were already on their swords, and they looked like they could start fighting at any moment.
The leader rebuked the tall warrior at the head of the group: "Aoki, that is a member of the gods' retinue. Do not be disrespectful."
The samurai called Aoki released his sword, glanced coldly at Caesar and the others, and said to his leader, "Yes."
Then, his gaze fell on Anno, and his eyes softened instantly. But as if he was afraid that looking at her for too long would be a desecration of the gods, he quickly looked away and stood to the side with his head down.
Obsidian scoffed at him, "Just a second-class familiar, yet he dares to talk back to us and wants to fight us? We'll show him what we're made of later."
After hearing this, Anno looked at Aoki and could indeed sense a certain energy aura emanating from him, belonging to a second-class familiar.
But the way he faced Caesar and his men alone without flinching showed no sign of being a second-class dependent.
In her consciousness network, she said to her followers, "We are now their guests. Don't argue with them. They don't have a consciousness network. Their consciousness and thinking are independent. Their concept of hierarchy is different from ours, and their abilities can no longer be classified according to our Light and Shadow Clan. Be more restrained."
Bai Yan nudged Hei Yao with his elbow, and Hei Yao immediately replied, "Yes, I understand, Your Highness."
Mingxiao, however, still complained, "Your Highness, it's not that we want to fight them, it's that they want to make a move, as if we'd kill them if we even glanced at them."
As soon as he finished speaking, Caesar said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will keep an eye on them."
"My Lord, please come with us. We have prepared a warm and comfortable place for you."
The leader bowed and addressed Anno.
The Shadow Clan was simply too tall and imposing, while the little god before them was small and delicate. To look down upon a god would be a great disrespect.
After the leader finished speaking, the familiar named Aoki knelt down on one knee in front of Anno and stretched out his hands to Anno.
Anno didn't quite understand his intention, so the Giant Tree Chieftain said with a fawning expression, "My God, he is the strongest warrior of our Giant Tree tribe. He is still pure and has not yet reproduced. Since my God has descended upon our Giant Tree tribe, we offer this to my God."
“If the deity is not pleased, our clan has other cleansing servants who are prepared to be offered to the deity. They will remain infertile for their entire lives in order to serve the deity.”
After listening, Anno subconsciously leaned back. She didn't fully understand, but she vaguely grasped the meaning. She was puzzled, but she was greatly shocked by what the giant tree leader had expressed.
Fei Xing kept laughing as he accurately translated with her in the consciousness network.
The nature of the Zerg, indeed. Even after the division of the family, their loyalty and desire for the Queen Bee remain unchanged. Isn't this just a disguised way of offering her up as Anno's personal servant?
He was amused by the phrase "not yet reproduced and very clean," and he teased Anunu, "I didn't expect that the Shadow Clan would not only guard their hearts but also their bodies when it comes to worshipping the Queen Insect."
Darklight was utterly speechless, speechless at the Shadow Clan's practice of maintaining so-called purity through non-reproduction and offering it exclusively to the gods.
The characteristic of the Zerg is that there are at most two females in an era: the Queen and the Queen's offspring, the Overlords. Only females can give birth to other females, and males can only give birth to other males.
Apart from the queen beetle, the offspring of other male beetles have no so-called kinship; it's just a reproductive task for them. Anyway, what is laid is an egg, and it's unknown whether the egg can hatch into offspring, or what level the hatched offspring will be. It's all random.
When the Shadow Zerg lays an egg, it is placed directly into the nest. Not every egg will hatch, and these eggs will follow the next generation of Overlords.
They never care which egg hatches or whether it belongs to them. Even if they do know, or if it happens to be a high-ranking member of the Zerg, they will not have the concept of "father and son." In the Zerg, there are only mothers and daughters, not fathers and sons.
If they are at the same level, they are colleagues; if they are at different levels, they are in a superior-subordinate relationship.
They also don't have the concept of "cleanliness"; to them, the word is very strange.
They all reach maturity, reproduce when they are ready, and then throw them into the nest. They don't need to be cared for at all. The nest takes care of the young, and the abundant energy will help them grow strong. They don't need to teach the knowledge of the consciousness network. The young only need to grow up to become the next generation of support for the Zerg.
Obsidian and White Flame became close brothers because they were hatched from the same egg and were both high-ranking members of Anno's family.
Their creators were merely a low-level insectoid race, without even a name. They didn't know whether they were alive or dead, nor did they bother to find out. They only cared about the Overlord.
After listening to Fei Xing's translation, and seeing Qing Mu's bright eyes looking at her devoutly, Anuo thought for a moment and decided to respect the culture of the Shadow Clan.
She placed her hand in Aoki's palm, signifying her acceptance of him as her divine servant.
Seeing her accept, a hint of joy flashed in Aoki's eyes. He reached out to hug her, but Caesar and the others all reached out to them, shouted, and yelled at Aoki, "Let go!"
"what you up to!"
"How dare you! You have such audacity!!!"
"Ahhh, let go of Your Highness!!!"
I'll chop off your hand!
With several clanging sounds, Caesar and his men all drew their long swords from their waists.
Karina watched the scene unfold in silence. She didn't understand the customs and practices of the Zerg; she didn't understand them at all.
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