Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Automat City Dilemma
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Rakrak did not take the conquest of Automat City lightly.
Even though it was built of earth, the high walls that towered far above a man's height were an insurmountable obstacle in themselves.
Much less, attacking the walls meant enduring a hail of arrows before even reaching them, overcoming the wooden stakes placed in front, the boulders and stones raining down from below the walls, and the spears thrusting out defenselessly.
"If we must seize the salt mine, it's more profitable to use a method that doesn't spill blood rather than one that does."
During the conquest of the northern peninsula, Rakrak had not employed such methods.
At that time, the Black Scale Tribe could not be called a tribe of great scale.
The Black Scale Tribe needed to grow, to acquire technologies from other tribes, seize resources, and focus on occupying land. Such hostile actions would inevitably foster resentment toward the Blue Insect God among other races.
"Of course, we could have forced them to believe in the Blue Insect God."
But Rakrak, and the other Lizardmen as well, did not take kindly to such things.
Even setting aside the moral reason that they had already taken much from their enemies and could not take their convictions too, in Rakrak's view, forcing them to believe in a god would not make them truly believe.
Rakrak knew that faith did not arise from the act of bowing before Guardian Slatis's statue.
Faith comes from the heart, and false convictions would eventually rebound as even stronger resentment.
Seong-un agreed with that reasoning, but he also had another reason to think it unwise.
Seong-un was in the midst of scouting for his second race.
He could not afford to waste faith resources on useless races. That was why he had not encouraged Rakrak to proselytize to races other than Lizardmen up to now.
With his divinity level rising, he now had some leeway in faith resources, and given Seong-un's playstyle preference for flexible builds, it was time to transition to a two-race system.
But unlike the first tribe, which he had to select on the spot and somehow find usable races and tribes within his domain, the second tribe was a crucial factor that determined strategic value and the direction of future builds based on the player's situation.
"Depending on your playstyle, the first race is just an opening to discover the second. After finding the second race, pass on all your tech and let the first one decline."
There were games that called for such strategies from time to time, but this one was obviously an exception.
His first race, the Lizardmen, had grown better than expected, so the second race had to be one that could support the Lizardmen while remaining expandable for the future.
"The northern peninsula is practically under Black Scale Tribe control now. Luckily, the vast highlands at the center suit a nomadic lifestyle well. Some settled folk from the Black Scale Tribe have taken root in certain mountainous areas."
They were all the same Lizardmen race and shared the same god, making them practically one community.
"There are some scattered minor races left, but they're all manageable. The real keys are the southern peninsula and the wilderness region above the north. The wilderness is too vast—it borders the continent and the north coast. Even after conquering the south, the continent and north coast would amount to a double front. And of those, the problem is the north coast. Lizardmen are weak to the cold."
Races relatively strong against cold were those with "fur," and next came the races Lizardmen called "baldies"—orcs, elves, humans, and the like. It wasn't a weakness unique to Lizardmen. Goblins, with their small stature, and amphibian Froglin were even weaker to cold.
"Clothing-related tech would solve it for Lizardmen too, but not yet."
Surviving one winter wasn't a big deal for Lizardmen, but sending them to areas where snow fell constantly outside of brief summers was impossible.
"So furries or baldies... But the furry ones tend to be more bestial. Their physical prowess overlaps with Lizardmen too."
In Lost World, combat and war were among the better solutions, and Seong-un was confident in it, but they weren't always the optimal choice. Lizardmen had slightly above-average intellect compared to other races, but they leaned heavily toward combat and confrontation. Races might look similar barring appearances, but there were definite gaps between them.
"Orcs? Best breeding rate and fast growth. Pre-Holy Orc Build, they'd be used as starters and discarded, with their savage image, but orc intelligence isn't actually that low. It's all about how you use them. Holy Orc did dominate the meta, after all. But physical overlap with Lizardmen means they're out."
Seong-un listed more potential candidates.
"Dwarves? Physical ability holds up, advantageous in caves and mountains. Crafting goes without saying. But too stubborn. They might even defy alliances, and Lizardmen are stubborn too—bad match. What about gnomes? Small stature, but their tech affinity could overcome that, and they'd synergize well with the Black Scale Tribe's many discoveries so far. But they're passive about alliances with other races and individualistic. Doesn't fit my expansionist style. Elves? Worst, skip. Halflings get along with other races and are curious. Great in many ways, but small size is a minus, and they dislike cold as a racial weakness. So among standard races, humans it is."
Seong-un pondered human weaknesses.
"Two-faced, constantly clashing with every race, allies today and enemies tomorrow. Which means... they can befriend everyone. Physical ability below average, intellect average, high sociality."
Thus, Seong-un had gone searching for human tribes.
But humans were scarce in the peninsula, and even when found, they were tiny tribes or lacked standout individuals worth focusing on. It took considerable time before he discovered "Automat City," but at that point, it was too large a tribe. Spreading faith to a human tribe via Rakrak's miracle-leading method would be difficult.
"The city lord is pushing strong secularism on the humans inside the city. Wary of players—no, gods. Without Rakrak's help, it'd just be a waste of faith. The upside is no other players seem to be approaching here. Maybe watch and wait? I'd like to fully secure the south and eliminate rear threats first."
But before the Black Scale Tribe could head south, the Severed-Ear Troll Tribe appeared from the north coast, forcing Seong-un to reach for Automat City faster than planned.
When Seong-un sent the tribe up to the wilderness below via revelation, Black Scale and Severed-Ear scouts clashed several times, triggering a civilization clash event.
Seong-un could only nod at the message.
Possessing faith meant it was a race controlled by an opposing player.
It was an expected outcome from the opposing tribe's size and purposeful movements, so Seong-un wasn't surprised.
When Seong-un tapped the "Local Community" tab, the following window appeared.
There was one player nearby that Seong-un could chat with, and that player's nickname was Hegemonia.
It was a familiar nickname.
"Wait, this name..."
The moment Seong-un sensed unease, the next message popped up.
Seong-un pondered for a moment.
People have various attitudes toward chat in online games, but Seong-un always preferred to block incoming messages.
Talking could be a strategy, but wasn't controlling even one more unit better than wasting time chatting?
"But this time, it looks like I need to talk. No helping it."
Seong-un accepted the whisper and sent a video chat request.
"This way, I can get a bit more info on the opponent than plain chat."
Though it was video chat, what appeared was merely each other's characters created with the "God Appearance Helper."
Hegemonia seemed to hesitate for a moment with no response, then accepted the video chat.
Seong-un checked the opponent's face.
As expected, it was completely obscured by a horned helmet. The inside of the iron helmet was shrouded in dark shadow, but only the two eyes blazed with flame, and the pair of horns jutting from the temples curved upward, piercing the sky.
Below the helmet hung matching breastplate, and behind, a red aura flickered ceaselessly.
Hegemonia spoke first.
It was a remark that didn't match the stern voice echoing from within the iron helmet.
Hegemonia said.
In Seong-un's mind, since the character was what the opponent saw, being called by nickname didn't feel too awkward.
Seong-un replied casually.
Seong-un wasn't the nicest guy.
Hegemonia seemed a bit flustered.
Seong-un reviewed if that was true.
Hegemonia lowered their head, clutching the helmet.
Seong-un guessed Hegemonia was softer-hearted than their appearance suggested.
Hegemonia raised their head and said.
Hegemonia froze.
Going head-to-head for total annihilation from the start was worth considering.
In Lost World, how you played your starting position ultimately shaped mid and late game, and one small early loss could balloon into massive damage later.
Even recovering from early losses wouldn't help if the opponent surged ahead in tech.
Hegemonia scratched the back of their head in a way that didn't suit their look.
It didn't look that way to Seong-un, but he let it slide.
Seong-un remembered Hegemonia's playstyle. Seemed brute force, but had animal instinct in micro battles, great at multitasking. Stats sites showed Hegemonia profiting from early aggression often.
Seong-un thought he could do the same, but...
"No need to play to their strengths."
Chat was part of the game too.