Work Prophet
Chapter 632 - 5: The Instinct for Survival

Chapter 632: Chapter 5: The Instinct for Survival

Transmigrators, though they came from varied professions and had peculiar personalities, were relatively easy to communicate with since they had all undergone detailed background investigations before arriving and were modern individuals.

In contrast, it was not so easy to speak with another group of people.

Li Yu persuaded Ireya to accept those ten thousand Dwarf prisoners because in every instant strategy game, population is the most important resource.

These Dwarfs could significantly accelerate various production constructions after arriving at Green Field, considering these ten thousand were all adult males with no elderly or children among them, representing the highest-quality labor force.

On the other hand, they could also generate faith.

Yes, the Double Rest Sect founded by Li Yu did not emphasize ethnic or racial attributes, which might have made internal cohesion somewhat weaker, but it helped in broadly absorbing believers.

The first believers of Li Yu were the lizard people from Gai Gu Swamp, and just recently, he historically recruited the first wildman believer from the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range—Iron Spear.

The latter had lost a bet to him and now had to convert to Saturday worship.

Li Yu had thought the wildwoman would play tricks again, feign ignorance and muddle through the affair, but unexpectedly, on the eve of the great battle, Iron Spear sought him out, saying she wanted to stay by his side.

And after the great battle ended, the wildwoman’s enthusiasm for converting to the faith of Saturday grew even more intense, clinging to Li Yu, asking him to explain the doctrines and precepts of the Double Rest Sect.

However, Li Yu had no time, so he sent Iron Spear off to learn the Universal Language of the Continent first, telling her to return to Green Field once she had mastered it.

The Prophet of Double Rest Sect planned to slowly convert her wildman kin into believers of the Double Rest Sect through Iron Spear.

And as for this batch of Dwarf prisoners, Li Yu also had no intention of letting them slip by.

The Dwarfs were now aware of the fire meteors in the sky that night, the inexplicable white light, the illuminated eyes of the Imperial Soldiers, and the overwhelming swarm of rats—all were the masterpieces of the Double Rest Sect and its Prophet.

Therefore, they both hated and feared Li Yu.

In their eyes, Li Yu had probably become some evil Magician with terrible dark powers.

When the Prophet of the Double Rest Sect appeared before them, what he faced was a set of wary eyes.

Some Dwarfs even plugged their ears, afraid of hearing Li Yu’s curses.

Seeing this, Li Yu did not bother trying to change these Dwarfs’ impressions of him and casually pointed out a few individuals from the crowd.

Those who were chosen thought Li Yu was planning to kill them or use their bodies for some evil experiment.

This wasn’t just their own paranoia; there was precedent. Molten Giant Axe was killed by those imperial people and then came back to life.

Moreover, Molten Giant Axe, who had been resurrected, acted strangely, as if he had become a completely different person, no longer recognizing them. The Dwarf Mage among the prisoners said that Molten Giant Axe had been possessed by an Evil Spirit and had become a vessel for it.

Thus, seeing Li Yu select people, the Dwarfs tightened up, and those who were chosen wore a look of tragic resolve.

However, Li Yu then told them they were permitted to leave now, to hide somewhere, as neither the Black Dog Guard nor the guards of the Arias family would follow them.

As long as they were not found before nightfall, they could be sent back to the Dwarf Kingdom.

The twenty-three chosen Dwarfs were all stirred up upon hearing this, none of them had expected happiness to come so unexpectedly.

Because it was already afternoon, there wasn’t much time left until evening, and since they only needed to hide for an afternoon, they wouldn’t have to consider the problem of eating and drinking.

In other words, as long as they found a sufficiently hidden place, they could just squat down inside, and if really necessary, dig a hole and bury themselves, leaving only a small hole to breathe through.

They didn’t believe they could still be found in such a situation; the only problem was whether the man in black would keep his promise.

But now the dwarves had no other choice; they were already captives, and being caught would only mean remaining captives.

As Donia gave the command, the twenty-three dwarves scattered, fleeing in all directions.

Meanwhile, Li Yu had someone bring over a floor clock that the "Eco-friendly Frog" had picked up, placing it in front of the dwarves.

Only after the clock’s hour hand had made one full rotation did Li Yu release all the drones, starting a carpet-like search.

The drones flying in the air were able to see everything beneath them clearly, including the trails left by the escaping dwarves.

Upon discovering suspicious locations, they sent out the black hounds to search, and in less than an hour, Li Yu had found seventeen dwarves, with the remaining six being the better hiders.

It took Li Yu another hour and a half to dig everyone out, and by this time it was only around four in the afternoon, a long time before it got dark.

The Prophet of the Double Rest Sect didn’t punish the captured dwarves after that, but simply returned them to their tribe and then called it a day.

Li Yu wasn’t really worried about the dwarves escaping, because this was the western frontier; as soon as the Dwarf Kingdom went to war with the Empire, the dwarves would stick out conspicuously here.

Being discovered by passing farmers and the like, they would probably be reported to the Lord immediately. Besides, to get home they would have to cross Solid Stone Castle and traverse the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range, which was nearly impossible without the help of the wild men in the mountains.

Therefore, the main reason the Prophet of the Double Rest Sect had displayed such a show of power was to intimidate the dwarves.

After returning from the Dragon Ridge Mountains, Li Yu found many records about dwarves to study, and he also asked Ireya to find some dwarves who had lived for a long time within the Empire’s borders.

He furthered his understanding of their tribes and nation from these individuals, only to find that these dwarves bore a resemblance to a neighboring nation on the other side.

Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that most small states have, to varying degrees, a kind of Stockholm syndrome.

The stronger you are and the harder you beat them, the more they will admire you, an essential survival strategy for small nations.

Only by clinging to the thickest leg can they ensure the continuation of their race; this is less a political wisdom than a species’ instinct for survival.

Compared to that, past wars and conflicts, and the grudges that ensued, don’t amount to much.

Therefore, to subdue this group of dwarves, Li Yu also needed to demonstrate sufficient deterrence in front of them.

The battle in the Dragon Ridge Mountains had been a good start, but it wasn’t enough.

The Prophet of the Double Rest Sect needed to make these dwarves thoroughly aware that defiance was not an option.

Following that, Li Yu even drove his tractor over and roared in front of the dwarves, spewing black smoke.

He wanted them to understand that the Double Rest Sect could also give life to steel, and then he organized the dwarves to visit and study under the Iron Tower.

To feel the shock brought by the tallest structure on the Bratis Continent. He even called over Lu Weijia to compete in mining techniques with the dwarves—essentially, striking at these dwarves from every angle without any dead ends.