Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The wind lasted for most of the night, only stopping when the sun was about to rise. It took more than a month for Lu Zhiyu and the Rosa Bianca merchants to leave the sandy and deadly quiet of the Great Kafra Desert to reach the Batko border.
Once they arrived, they saw small oases, large palm-like jujube trees, and numerous Batko people. The men and women here either wore simple clothes, such as long gowns that were made with whole pieces of skin, or blouses with short sleeves and long skirts. Some of their unique clothing even exposed their thighs and belly buttons!
When the Rosa Bianca Merchants rode their camels through these small oases and villages, the hot women with bare thighs flirted with the merchants. As the women approached them, the guards all straightened their backs and puffed out their chests, as these beautiful women made them want to strut their stuff!
Lu Zhiyu quietly observed the people in Batko. Compared with the people in the western world, the people in Batko had much darker skin. Most of them were also very lean.
In fact, there were hardly any fat people there. This was not only due to the lack of food, but it was also because most of the people were not rich enough to be able to buy food, even if it was available.
When Lu Zhiyu designed had designed their race, he gave them different gifts from the West. In addition to those differences, long-term isolation from the West had also resulted in their being a very different race from the Crete Empire, the Golden Rose Kingdom, and the Mara Kingdom.
“Look, it’s Pusuote! We Pusuotes are the largest tribe in this area. We have a large area for keeping cows, and we rule the place where the Hashe River flows. Hence, we’re the strongest!” Anke pointed to the city in the distance.
The city walls were made of yellow earth, and the buildings in the city were made with a mixture of earth and stone. Some of the large buildings had been built with stone, while the houses of ordinary people were built with simple earth.
The Batko Empire had a unique architectural style. As such, there were few western-inspired wooden houses here.
Anke was a slim middle-aged man with short hair. He was a nobleman in Pusuote. Most of the merchants that he led were soldiers, while the rest were slaves.
As the group of merchants went into the city of Pusuote, a large number of pedestrians and camels were walking along the street. On both sides of the street, there were also many peddlers, all of whom were selling pots, gold and silver ware, fruits, and salt.
Today was the monthly market day, so the city was very busy. Everywhere, the sound of bargaining could be heard.
“Here we are. We will do business here, then go to the next city. After that, we return to the Church of Light. Do you want to come back with us?” Grumman asked Lu Zhiyu.
Lu Zhiyu got off of his horse and stroked its neck while letting it drink some water. “No, I just may stay here for a long time!”
Lu Zhiyu found himself somewhat fond of the unique culture here. He now preferred to be around a crowd rather than doing experiments in the laboratory alone.
Even looking at the bustling city, he felt instantly comfortable. Compared with being called a god, Lu Zhiyu much preferred to be called the explorer of life evolution!
His plan was to gradually complete the divine system here, improve the level eight Mythological Wizards, and intermediate the mythical creatures’ and the Lord of Dreams’ powers. In addition, Lu Zhiyu wanted to work with Eva to improve mechanical alchemy.
Back in the wizard tower’s library, Pyros had collected a lot of ideas about the new generation of wizards and new witchcraft. Lu Zhiyu would often read through these materials. Although they were mainly about low level wizards, some of the fantastic ideas and creations always gave Lu Zhiyu unexpected inspiration.
At this time, the teenaged slave Cetisius stood behind Lu Zhiyu and said in a respectful way, “My master, Anke Pusuote Huru, would like to invite you to his castle in the city.”
Ever since he had known of Lu Zhiyu, Anke both feared and revered him. As such, he dared not speak to Lu Zhiyu ever.
This was why he had relied on Cetisius to deliver his message. Pusuote was his surname, Hulu was his fiefdom, which was located in a small village in Pusuote.
Lu Zhiyu turned his head and looked at Anke, who immediately bowed to Lu Zhiyu. Then, he spoke to Lu Zhiyu for the first time. “Honorable messenger of god, I hope that you can accept my hospitality. It would be a great honor!”
Lu Zhiyu thought about it, then nodded. There was ecstasy on Anke’s face, as everyone in Pusuote believed in the god of the desert and worshipped the ancestors of the other gods.
In Pusuote, there were many temples. The priests in these temples had great power in the city. In Pusuote, the tribal leaders, priests, and nobles formed the special ruling authority.
“Thank you. Everything is ready!” Anke said.
Anke’s earth castle was similar to Crete’s castle, but was much shorter, having only three floors. Aside from the temples, it was the main building style in Batko.
A large number of soldiers and slaves in the earth castle were busy unloading commodities for the castle’s use. Anke quickly arranged for Lu Zhiyu and Eva to stay in the master room.
The spacious upper floor had a bathroom, living room, and bedroom. As they entered, several tanned, beautiful Batko maids opened the windows, through which they could see the scenery of the entire city of Pusuote.
After Lu Zhiyu bathed, several maids helped him change into white clothes that looked very similar to a large sacrificial robe. Lu Zhiyu found this fact quite interesting.
The Batko maids who changed Lu Zhiyu’s clothes were clearly smitten with him. When changing his clothes, they even snuggled Lu Zhiyu’s chest, while their faces flushed. All of this aroused Eva’s discontent.
Both within the West and in Batko, nobles did not undertake manual labor. As such, household slaves and servants were responsible for every trivial thing, such as bathing, cooking, and so on.
In the evening, Anke sent Lu Zhiyu food and books that were related to the god of the desert. It seemed that Anke really regarded Lu Zhiyu as the messenger of gods, so he was being a very cautious and perfect host.
“This desert god’s theological propaganda is full of Western style, but also with some local color. It is estimated that it was founded by a religious believer who escaped from the West. Now, it seems that it is still developing well.” Lu Zhiyu flipped through the books, while he chatted with Eva.
However, Eva wasn’t speaking. Lu Zhiyu closed his book and looked at Eva. “I didn’t think you were learning to be jealous and angry. It seems that emotions come not only from the body, but also from memory and experience.”
“I’m not angry. I just feel that the human women don’t respect you.” Eva sat stony-faced, while talking to Lu Zhiyu.
Lu Zhiyu laughed, then moved on in the conversation, giving her time to simmer down from her temper tantrum. “I like Pusuote. We’ll stay here for a while.”
After the return of Anke’s merchants, rumors of the messenger of the gods spread throughout the city. Stories that were filled with a huge stone castle that suddenly emerged in the desert, a slave named Cetisius who could suddenly speak and hear, and other merchants that had seen the castle all proved to everyone who heard them that Lu Zhiyu was indeed this messenger.
In fact, everyone was talking about it! The common people, the slaves, businessmen and nobles spread the news. It even reached the ears of the senior priest of the palace of the god of desert and the leader of the Pusuote tribe!