Alien Knights

"This creature is somewhat similar to the monster that destroyed the secular kingdom in the "Biography of the Saints of the Heavenly Father Church." Brother Joe looked at the sketch of the creature drawn by Todd and said while touching his chin.

The southerner Kendi thought about it carefully: "It looks a bit like "Th'uban" in the mythology of the Southern Empire, a flame-throwing demon dragon, and a servant who is easy to serve."

Todd looked at the two people in front of him, thinking quickly in his mind. So that is to say, in both the Heavenly Father religion and the southern religions, there are such dragon-shaped monsters?

But is there a similar legend in Beidao mythology?

Thinking of this, Todd became more and more curious about the "sacred forest". He made up his mind and decided to hand over the research and development of the electron microscope to the scholars, and he went to North Island as soon as possible.

After asking Cumberland about the dispatch of troops and arranging everything in Muxi Town, Todd took a boat, packed some necessary supplies, and set off for Claw Island again.

During the days when Todd left the North Island, Huggins led the soldiers to defeat several raiders who hated heretics one after another, and hung their bodies on the treetops as a warning to others; the craftsmen helped the two tribes repair some buildings on Claw Island and Blackhead Island, built some basic living equipment, and built a simple trading post; the accompanying monks broadcast the teachings while helping the North Islanders cure diseases. Under this practice of giving both kindness and strength, the relationship between the expeditionary force of the Muxi Knights and the local tribes became more and more harmonious, and everything was moving in a good direction.

Todd's arrival surprised both the tribe and the expeditionary force. Huggins, who was cautious, finally breathed a sigh of relief after repeatedly confirming that there was no serious problem between Muxi Town and Beidao.

Todd found the patriarchs and elders of the Talon tribe, and showed them the pattern of "dragon" he had drawn. One of the oldest elders recognized the creature at a glance, and found several old shields in the tribe's warehouse, and put them in front of Todd.

Pointing to the faded pattern on the shield, the elder said in a serious tone never seen before: "A long time ago, the gods and their world ushered in an end of the world - the twilight of the gods (Ragnarok). Winter came three times, fierce beasts raged, and wars flooded the universe. The big snake Jormungander woke up from the mud bed of the sea, and the turbulent sea flooded Asgard; the Scorching Legion rose from the ground, and the waves of flame burned Burning every corner; the Goddess of Death brought frost giants and undead, chasing and killing every creature. In the end, the gods chose to perish with the invaders, and the whole world was destroyed like this..."

Listening to the elder's words, Todd recalled the Nordic mythology of his previous life. There are too many similarities in these two legends, and they can even be said to be exactly the same. Is this just a coincidence? Or is there some deeper truth?

The elder took the "dragon" painted by Todd, pointed to a huge figure on the shield and said: "This painting is very similar to the black dragon Nidhogg (Nidhogg). According to legend, it spewed venom and plague and destroyed the roots of the World Tree. It is the Lord of Despair in Ragnarok."

Todd looked at the black shadow flying above the sky on the shield, and began to connect recent events together in his mind, trying to find the most reasonable answer.

A different world similar to the previous life, alien species that exist because of microorganisms, Sutherland archaea, the end of the world, the emergence of dragons...

The more he thought about it, the more headache he felt. In his opinion, it was like a puzzle. To get the truth, there were still several important pieces missing.

"I want to enter the 'Sacred Forest'."

Todd's words made the people of the Talon tribe frown. The old men looked at each other, but no one responded to his request.

Todd lowered his head and pondered for a while, then said slowly: "I can provide the Claw tribe with ten sets of heavy armor and ten heavy swords, guaranteed to be of the best quality."

The oldest man said to Todd: "Master Todd, it's not that we don't want to help you. It's just that the "Sacred Forest" is guarded by Valkyries, and anyone who enters needs their consent, not to mention that you are not a believer of the gods..."

Looking at the expressions of the other people in the room, Todd finally understood that due to events such as the "Battle of Muxi Town" and "Duel of Honor", the Talon tribe still did not let go of their guard against themselves and entered the "Sacred Forest". It seemed that they could not be rushed.

After bidding farewell to the elders of the Talon tribe, Todd found Huggins who stayed behind and asked him what had happened recently.

Based on the information obtained by himself and his men, Huggins summarized several things that Todd might be interested in:

1. Although the Talon tribe and the Blackhead tribe have signed a peace agreement, and the two sides have also launched trade activities together, the feud for many years is not so easy to resolve after all. There were several small-scale conflicts between the two tribes. Fortunately, they were discovered in time and were finally suppressed by Huggins one by one.

2. There is an interesting thing about Jerry. The cause was a wrestling held by the Blackhead tribe. By accident, Jerry also participated in this wrestling and won the championship. After the game, a woman in the Blackhead tribe saw the birthmark on Jerry's back and shouted that he was from our tribe. According to the memories of the old man Heikuan, when the tribe was forced to move out of Heikuan Island, there was indeed a child who fell into the water from the boat, and there has been no news since then. Originally, the clan members had given up hope, but they never expected to see this child here again.

3. The last message is about Valkyrie. According to Todd's instructions, Huggins sent them wine and meat, weapons and shields respectively. Surprisingly, Brunhilde, the leader of the Valkyries, rejected the items and declared that he would not accept gifts from heretics. Huggins, who was suffering from headaches, accidentally discovered that every once in a while, the tribe would place newborn baby girls at the entrance of the "Sacred Forest", and the Valkyries would take these babies away. After inquiring, I learned that from a long time ago, the Talon tribe would perform an ancient oath, dedicating the tribe's baby girl to the Valkyrie in return for their protection. After hearing the news, Huggins took the attitude of giving it a try, purchased some goat milk that babies can eat, and sent it to the "Sacred Forest" regularly. To his surprise, the Valkyries finally accepted the gifts after hesitating for a moment.

After listening to Huggins' report, Todd was surprised at the bold and careful character of this Slavic man, but he was even more delighted that the other party had helped him a lot this time.

Patting the opponent on the back repeatedly, Todd happily praised Hudgens' actions loudly, and he gradually had a general idea in his mind about the admission ticket to the "Sacred Forest". But first, there must be a way to earn the trust of the Claw Clan.

In the following days, Todd lived in the camp of the expeditionary army, began to draw drawings of some strange objects, and asked the craftsmen to create these objects. Amidst such busyness, a week passed, and the first cargo ship that the two tribes went south to trade in seafood returned.

People gathered at the seashore and dragged the cargo ship ashore with ropes. When Morgan raised his head high and lifted the oilcloth on the cargo hold with an expression of great pride, the piles of coins and exchange items that piled up like hills made everyone in the Claw and Blackhead tribes forget to breathe.

I don't know who shouted first: "We are rich!"

Afterwards, everyone burst into applause.

Three days later, at the entrance of the "Sacred Forest", patriarchs Claw and Blackhead knelt down on one knee in front of Brunhilde, praising the good deeds and grace of the Muxi Knights.

Todd saw the affirmation in the eyes of the leader of the Valkyrie, and with the idea of ​​striking while the iron was hot, he quickly directed his craftsmen to present a lot of weird things.

A small bottle made of silver, with treated sausage casings made into the shape of a pacifier; fine birch wood painted with exquisite paulownia lacquer to make a small bed 60 cm long and 40 cm wide; a small bathtub carved out of a whole piece of wood, with beautiful patterns painted inside; the most surprising thing is that there are a lot of animal dolls made of sackcloth, cotton wool and buttons...

Just when everyone was still curious about the purpose of these things, Brunhilde got off his horse and stroked these newly created objects, with indescribable emotions in his eyes.

"The leader of Muxi Town, I accept your gift. Tell me, what do you want?"

Listening to the silver-haired woman's words, Todd lowered his head, a smug smile slowly appearing on his face.