Winding streams wove through the continuous valleys, converging into a ceaseless river across the open plain.
On the sun-drenched slopes of the valley, a sparse smattering of caves and modest terraced fields dotted the landscape.
Shielded by towering vegetation, the earthen ridges carved into the mountainsides were nearly impossible to see.
This was the realm of the Valley People.
The Forest People called them the "Sinners."
Yet this was clearly not what they called themselves.
They called themselves the "Qiu."
The syllable carried no special meaning, handed down by their ancestors and passed along unbroken to this day.
Though the Qiu living in this valley did not huddle together clan by clan beneath single massive trees like the forest tribes, their solidarity was every bit the equal of the forest dwellers.
Clans large and small all identified as "Qiu."
Not only did they share a common culture and traditions, but they also recorded their history in the same pictographs, followed a unified code of commandments and conduct, and elected elders from each clan to form a "Senate" to arbitrate matters great and small.
In practice, they had already birthed the concept of a state and evolved into an organized society.
In this regard, the forest tribes were still a loose heap of sand.
Though the Qiu's advantage over the Forest People was not yet obvious today, in the long run, the rise of the former and the decline of the latter was practically inevitable.
Of course, that was only under ordinary circumstances.
Taking the powerful wildcard of Gaia into account, the future of the two peoples remained hard to predict.
The reason the Forest People called the valley-dwelling Qiu "Sinners," aside from distant history, stemmed from one very direct factor:
The latter completely lacked the "ability to communicate with nature."
While not every forest dweller awakened this power, the strength flowing in their bloodline had never died out among the forest tribes.
In contrast, the Qiu seemed forsaken by the gods, confined to cold stone caves and surviving on dry seeds and sour, astringent wild fruit.
Naturally, that was also merely the Forest People's perspective.
From the Qiu's own point of view, cooked grains were far from unpalatable, and wild berries and mushrooms had a distinct flavor of their own.
If anything, it was those "Apostates" living in the forest who were truly pitiful, eating raw meat and drinking blood, living like monkeys.
Atop a rugged ridge of hills, a youth mounted on a lizard gazed out toward the south of the valley.
Deep within the dense forest, golden-yellow luminescence was rising from the leafy canopy of a massive tree.
It was the Apostates' signal to assemble, seemingly sent from Doma City.
Watching the fireflies dancing in the twilight, the lizard crouched on the rock paced restlessly back and forth until the youth astride its back pulled taut on the reins around its neck.
"Chhh—"
Mist puffed from the lizard's nostrils, and it tossed its head left and right before finally settling down.
In contrast, a shadow of foreboding gathered between the youth's brows.
According to the clan elders, whenever the Apostates sent out a rallying signal, terrible things were bound to happen.
He had to report this to the Senate at once!
With that thought, the youth tugged on the reins, preparing to turn back.
Just then, a pale-blue glow suddenly lit up beneath a low tree not far away, followed by a faltering voice.
"You there... wait."
Startled by the sound so close at hand, the youth's heart leaped into his throat. Almost instinctively, he unslung the bow from his shoulder, nocking an arrow as he drew the string taut.
"Who's there?!"
The pale-blue beam seemed to shine from among the leaves, illuminating a tin-can-like figure standing in the center of the light.
The moment he saw that tin can, his mind went blank, and he froze where he stood.
Then, a gentle voice drifted from the light.
"I am... your... Progenitor."
Before the voice could even finish, the youth had stowed his bow, dismounted the lizard in a hurry, and dropped to his knees, scarcely daring to breathe.
"I pay my respects to the Progenitor!"
The figure in the pale-blue glow gave an appreciative nod, continuing in a measured cadence.
"Stand and speak."
Trembling, the youth rose, keeping his head bowed, not daring to look directly at the silhouette standing in the light.
His mind was in total disarray.
On one hand, he was stunned that the legendary Progenitor had actually returned and descended right before his eyes; on the other, he was terrified by his own disrespectful action moments ago.
Yet the Progenitor did not seem to blame him, even magnanimously telling him to stand.
"What is your name?"
The youth answered truthfully, "I have no name. I am a warrior of the Link Clan."
The Progenitor asked, "What is the Link Clan?"
The youth hastened to explain, "A branch of the Qiu people. Though the valley folk have split into various clans, we all still use the surname you bestowed upon us."
The tin can standing in the light fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"I see. You are a soldier of the Link Clan among the valley's Qiu people... is that correct?"
The youth nodded repeatedly. "Yes, exactly so."
The tin can in the pale-blue light nodded and, looking at the youth who was holding his breath in suspense, continued:
"For ease of communication... from today on, you shall be named Qiu Ling."
Hearing the Progenitor's decree, the youth was stunned for a moment, and then ecstatic joy washed over his face. He threw himself to the ground once more in feverish excitement, babbling out profuse thanks.
The tin can in the light waited quietly. Only after the boy had exhausted his outpouring of joy and excitement did it speak again.
"...Do not celebrate just yet. The reason I have descended to this land is that I scent catastrophe."
The air went dead still.
The youth, who had been dancing with joy a moment ago, instantly blanched, his expression tightening as if confronting a mortal enemy.
Almost instinctively, he thought of the omen he had just witnessed in the forest.
Swallowing hard, he ventured cautiously, "Catastrophe... Do you mean the Apostates in the forest?"
The Progenitor replied in a mild tone, "Perhaps. But perhaps it is not just their doing; a part of it may also be because of us."
A flicker of terror rose in Qiu Ling's eyes.
"Are you... going to destroy us?"
He believed the Progenitor's words without a shred of doubt.
Precisely because of that, he could not fathom why the revered Progenitor would do such a thing.
Looking at the terrified youth, the Progenitor in the pale-blue light spoke on in a calm, steady voice.
"I have never thought to do such a thing, my children... Otherwise, I would not be standing here trying to make amends for past mistakes."
"In the foreseeable future, I have seen burning flames engulf the forest, seen countless lives extinguished amid black smoke... among them both yourselves and the children of the forest."
"Yet beyond that, I have seen another future—one where you walk together toward shared prosperity, putting an end to centuries of enmity and ushering in a new era... Do you believe me?"
Qiu Ling bowed his head respectfully.
"...I shall heed the Progenitor's teachings."
An approving voice drifted from the pale-blue glow, and the light began to fade.
"Very good. It seems I did not choose the wrong person... Come here, my child."
Qiu Ling looked up blankly. The stalwart iron man was gone; only a faint beam remained in place, as if guiding his path.
"Upon the branch before you rests a silver metal disc."
"Carry it with you at all times. I will tell you what to do next..."
...
While a certain green-skinned youth was scrambling up a tree with all his might, a certain researcher drifting in geosynchronous orbit sat before her terminal screen, stretching lazily with satisfaction.
"Done!"
Half an hour ago, while circling overhead, her drone had spotted the little green man standing on the valley's high ground. Guessing he was likely one of the "Sinners" who lived in the valley, she hatched a plan, dispatching a quadcopter equipped with holographic projection from the research vessel.
How could primitives like these have ever seen such incredible technology? Sure enough, he had been thoroughly bamboozled, buying into every word of her bluff on the spot.
Just like that, at the cost of only a single drone, she had secured an insider among the natives.
Next, she just needed to perform a few more "miracles" through the boy, and she would have the reactor fuel tank in hand in no time—all without Ye Shi even having to risk his neck.
The mere thought of Ye Shi left Jiang Xuezhou simmering with indignation.
He was usually decent enough, but at times he could be as stubborn as a bull.
Just because she disapproved of him inciting the natives into a war to fish in troubled waters, he had accused her of not caring about his safety, piling labels onto her head like having an excess of bleeding-heart sympathy and failing to consider his plight.
What an ungrateful jerk! Her good intentions had gone completely to waste.
Didn't he claim that negotiating with the "Valley People" was pure fantasy on her part?
Now she had handled the whole thing on her own without him having to take any risks. Let's see what he had to say to that!
Of course, angry venting aside, she privately acknowledged that Ye Shi had put in plenty of legwork.
At the very least, the language she used to fool the native boy had been pieced together from materials Ye Shi had gathered.
Fortunately, the languages spoken by the Forest People and the Valley People had not diverged, and even their cultural concept of the "Progenitor" seemed cut from the exact same cloth.
Looking over the compiled data on her terminal screen, Jiang Xuezhou took a sip of coffee and mused under her breath:
"The Qiu... Was there a crew member named Qiu on the Gemini missile cruiser?"
"Still, it's really bizarre... Both groups came from the sky. Could they both be descendants of the Gemini's crew?"
One group awakened psychic abilities, while the other did not.
A conflict erupted between those with awakened abilities and those without, or perhaps out of fear of Gaia or some nameless entity, those without psychic abilities used their numerical advantage to drive the former into the forest.
That would certainly explain why the Forest People called the Qiu "Sinners," while the Qiu called the Forest People "Apostates."
From the standpoint of the Gemini—or rather, the Human Alliance Aerospace Force—hadn't the Forest People betrayed them by siding with Gaia?
Yet that raised another question.
If both groups were descendants of the Gemini, where had the original colonists gone?
Granted, the Human Alliance Aerospace Force had carried out exhaustive orbital bombardments against the colonial rebels, but if even the Gemini had survivors, it was hard to imagine that not a single soul on the surface had lived through it.
While Jiang Xuezhou was wracking her brain, Little Koala, who had been squatting nearby, walked over carrying freshly heated canned food and rice.
"Your meal is ready."
"Ah, thanks." Pulling her thoughts back to reality, Jiang Xuezhou took the tray.
Truth be told, the Human Alliance had really mastered freeze-drying and dehydration technology.
It was hard to imagine that food over two centuries past its expiration date could still emit such an appetizing aroma after heating.
Her stomach rumbling, she dug in immediately, eating voraciously.
"You are welcome. Serving you is my honor," Little Koala said, nodding its camera lens in a gentle tone. "Though, if I may ask, Master, do you truly not intend to communicate with Ye Shi?"
"...I'll talk to him later."
With her mouth stuffed, Jiang Xuezhou mumbled vaguely, reluctant to linger on the topic.
To tell the truth, angry as she had been, she no longer harbored any real blame toward him.
Thinking it through, she wasn't entirely blameless either.
At the very least, she should have put herself in his shoes: he was in a high-stress environment, practically walking on the head of a monster, incapable of remaining detached and watching the drama unfold from ten thousand kilometers above like she was.
He wanted to resolve things quickly, grab the reactor fuel, and return immediately. The natives living on this planet were not his primary concern. She shouldn't have accused him of being heartless just because he didn't act the way she wanted.
In the end, he was not her tool, let alone a child she could boss around...
They were entirely capable of resolving their differences through communication.
Observing the faint remorse between Jiang Xuezhou's brows, Little Koala said softly from the side:
"Humans are often overly harsh on those closest to them, confident that the other person will never leave... Yet you rarely seem to remember how brief your lives truly are."
"My previous master never had the chance to give me a proper name before I next opened my eyes to find him reduced to bones. Perhaps it is not my place to say this, but I hope that before you become bones like him, you leave no regrets behind."
Jiang Xuezhou said softly, "I know... I'll have a good talk with him."
Was that supposed to be comforting?
Yet on second thought, it held quite a bit of truth. She felt no irritation whatsoever at the odd remark.
Perhaps, just as Little Koala had said, she was being too hard on Ye Shi.
She hadn't used to be like this...
At the thought, Jiang Xuezhou suddenly felt a wave of self-doubt and insecurity, worrying he might grow to dislike her this way.
She really needed to find an opportunity to talk things through.
Speaking of which, it was mealtime down there too; she wondered if he had eaten yet.
Thinking thus, Jiang Xuezhou tapped the holographic screen, linking up to the power armor's action recorder.
Right at that moment, a curvaceous silhouette appeared on the screen.
It was a pitch-black space, illuminated only by fireflies flitting around that shapely figure.
Normally, that would have been fine.
She wasn't the type to fly into a jealous rage just because her guy looked at another woman twice.
The problem, however, was that the camera of the action recorder seemed to have vertical stabilization locked on, dead set without flinching on those two massive fruits.
As if sensing the impending tempest, Little Koala swayed its spherical body and quietly rolled away from the bridge.
Almost simultaneously, a grinding sound echoed before the terminal screen.
"That bastard..."
Glancing down at her own chest, Jiang Xuezhou gritted her teeth so hard they creaked.
The fists she had with great difficulty unclenched hardened right back up!
...
Around the waist of Doma City's Sacred Tree, where branches intertwined, stood an entirely wooden palace.
The chieftain of Doma City—or rather, the monarch of the entire tribe—was seated on the dais of the great hall.
His name was Tun Nan.
In the language spoken throughout this forest, that name, carved into the roots of the Sacred Tree, meant "leader," but could also be interpreted as "warrior of boundless magic."
Generally, the two meant the same thing.
The so-called "magic" was simply the ability to communicate with the Sacred Tree.
And in this land granted by the Sacred Tree, only the bravest warriors could please it and earn its favor.
As for what the Sacred Tree was, that was a long story.
Even the oldest sages of Doma City could not finish telling it in two days and two nights.
A man clad in wooden armor entered the hall, dropping to both knees, and spoke in a muffled rumble.
"The Progenitor is awake."
He was a champion of the tribe and one of Tun Nan's most trusted guards.
Looking down at the man prostrated below the dais, Tun Nan asked in a steady voice, "What are his orders?"
The guard bowed his head respectfully. "He ordered all the maidens of the temple that none may step foot into his lodging without his permission."
Tun Nan's expression did not change in the slightest as he continued flatly, "Anything else?"
The guard went on, "He kept one person behind."
"Who?" Tun Nan asked.
"Dora," the guard replied.
Tun Nan glanced aside. An elder standing near him leaned down and whispered a few words into his ear, briefly recounting the background of the maiden favored by the Progenitor.
After listening to the elder's account, Tun Nan gave a composed nod and turned back to the guard.
"Have the other tribes received our signal?"
Cupping his hands respectfully, the guard answered, "Over a dozen tribes nearby, large and small, have responded. The envoys they dispatched are currently rallying toward us."
At the guard's report, joy spread across not only Tun Nan's face, but also across the faces of the priests, including Saqui.
"Heaven blesses the Doma tribe!"
Slamming a calloused hand onto the vine-wrapped armrest, the burly Tun Nan rose from his throne. Striding vigorously forward two paces, he stood at the edge of the dais, surveying the priests and tribal nobles gathered in the great hall.
This was an unprecedented opportunity.
They would reclaim the entire Forbidden Forest Valley from the hands of the "Sinners"!
"This time, even the Progenitor stands on our side."
"It is time to end these centuries-long grudges!"
...
Meanwhile, strolling alongside the murals in the temple at the roots of the Sacred Tree, Ye Shi couldn't help letting out a sneeze.
Hearing it, Dora, walking ahead surrounded by fireflies, turned back and looked at him with gentle concern.
"Is something the matter, my Lord?"
"Nothing... keep telling me about the Sacred Tree," Ye Shi muttered.
He didn't know if it was just his imagination.
He couldn't shake the feeling that someone had their sights set on him...
Chapter 1008